Rust and the classic cars have a complicated relationship. Rust can be the bane of the car owner’s existence—extensive rust can drive a car to the junkyard or to expensive refabrication and restoration. Rust can render a car dangerous to operate. Even a spot of rust can spell doom to a car owner as it can spread quickly and without regard for make, model, and year. For all of the pain that rust can cause, though, it can also tell the car collector a human story about the lives of the people who drove the car, where they lived, what they did, and what their particular brand of life was like.
In the early days of the automobile, rust was a nuisance, an embarrassment, a cancer that had to be removed. Rust removal did not begin as a concern for the aesthetics of the car but as a utilitarian enterprise. The average automobile was the second largest investment for a family besides a house; it had to last a long time. Early car owners repaired their cars so that the drivetrains could survive long enough to get them from point A to point B. Families did not take their cars in to trade them up for the newest model like we do so often today.
The ’40s and ’50s saw the birth of the collector car hobby as we know it. Full restoration was in vogue. The mindset in those days was to present a car that looked better than it did the day that it rolled off the assembly line. My father, Robert Carini, began his long career in automotive restoration with a Model A Ford that he found behind a barn in a small Connecticut town. He made that car look brand new, and along with two other friends, founded the Model A Restorer’s Club of America.
When my father restored a car, he did it to absolute perfection. From a young age, I helped him in the shop. Whichever car he was working on—be it a Packard, Duesenberg, Buick, Lincoln, or Ferrari—it had to be an award winner. Every year we would pack up and head from Connecticut to Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Mecca of the collector car hobby, with our latest work in tow. These were both exciting and stressful times. Everything about the car we brought had to be absolute perfection. We went as far as to take a jack to the car show, jack the car up, and rotate the wheels so the name on the hubcap was perfectly horizontal and the valve stem was pointed straight up. I cannot recall a time when my father didn’t take home a trophy.
For my father, restoration was the ultimate joy in the classic car business. He lived for the details, for giving an old wreck a new lease on life. Being witness to such perfection, and getting a chance to learn hands-on, has been incredibly formative to me and to my work. I too love to restore a car to absolute perfection, but I find myself being drawn to old barns and garages. Maybe I’m lured by the promise and hope of complete originality, the excitement of finding a piece of history, frozen in time. I don’t fear rust—in fact, rust is in itself beautiful, a badge won for a car’s survival. My television show, Chasing Classic Cars, has given me the unique opportunity to share this passion with viewers. I feel as if I am on a constant treasure hunt for rusty gold, and I’ve never had more fun.
Tom’s books perfectly capture the unhindered joy of what we’re now calling automotive archaeology. There’s something about finding that car, hearing the stories, and getting a glimpse into not only an automotive history, but also the personal history of the previous owner—it’s intoxicating. From all the time that we have been collecting and restoring cars, we have finally caught on to what art collectors have known for years. The piece of art, or in our case the automobile, should be treasured for what it is, in the condition that it is in. If the car shows a little sign of rust because the paint has been worn through, that’s all the better. If the interior is worn and the seats have a bit of a tear, it should be left alone. Now we say that these cars have a “patina.” Cars with patina tell a story, much like works of art. This has caught on so much that there is now a preservation class at Pebble Beach. Rat Rods are being built out of rusty old car parts and enjoyed by a whole new type and generation of car collector. Cars with surface rust on them are being clear coated to preserve the rust. Things certainly have changed in the past few years. Rust is finally in!
There is always a fear in the back of my mind that we’re going to run out of cars to find, that soon every barn will be without rusty gold, but every time this fear rears its head, I’ll get a call or an email about a barn full of cars, and I’m on the chase again.
