Making the decision to improve the looks and performance of my Willys was easy; deciding how to do it was the hard part. My first thoughts were to restore the vehicle but I realized that I didn’t really understand what that meant. I realized that I had just encountered my first problem; the need to figure out what it was that I was trying to do with my vehicle. Was it a restoration? Was I fixing it up? Or was I modifying the vehicle? Certainly there is no lack of debate on this topic. To put the issue to rest, for me at least, I did some research to define categories of work that I could live with. The most influential information came from the Antique Automobile Club of America’s (AACA) 2016 Official Judging Guidelines; Section 1, Paragraph III – General Policy. Following is what I came up with:
- Original – “A vehicle that is in the same state as when the dealer received the vehicle from the factory.” Dealer options are acceptable if the option itself is in its original condition. Original Restoration – “A vehicle that has been restored to the same state as when the dealer received the vehicle from the factory.” Dealer options are acceptable if the option itself is in its original condition or has been restored to its original condition. Non-original Restoration – “A vehicle not meeting either of the above definitions. When one goes beyond a certain limit in this category names like custom car and street or hot rod are probably more appropriate.”
- The AACA states that “Over-restoration and non-authentic restoration are not the same. ”Paint with a finer finish and higher gloss than original paint would be considered over-restoration. Chrome plating or varnishing a part which was originally painted would be considered non-authentic restoration.” I like their clarification and will add that using the words original and authentic interchangeably is acceptable to me since their meanings are so closely related. By definition, the work that I am doing to my vehicle is considered to be a non-original restoration. I am sure that not everyone will agree with my classification, but as I said previously, I can live with it.