Owner or Steward?
09-20-2016, 10:53 PM
#21
Le Mans Master
Is this a trick question?
09-21-2016, 12:40 AM
#22
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While this "stewardship" concept seems to bring with it a certain implied slavishness to stock, I will reject being called a steward while admitting I want to car to remain as close to factory as possible and would never consider serious modifications or restomodding.
I respect the car as it was produced, and want it to stay that way, but that doesn't change the fact I spent years looking for it, paying for it, taking care of it, spending piles of money getting it into the condition it's in today, insuring it, storing it, et cetera.
Stewardship implies I owe someone else something. I don't. It's mine. I'm the owner. It's very possible the unnamed next owner might not respect the car as much as I have. I can't worry about that.
I respect the car as it was produced, and want it to stay that way, but that doesn't change the fact I spent years looking for it, paying for it, taking care of it, spending piles of money getting it into the condition it's in today, insuring it, storing it, et cetera.
Stewardship implies I owe someone else something. I don't. It's mine. I'm the owner. It's very possible the unnamed next owner might not respect the car as much as I have. I can't worry about that.
09-21-2016, 09:35 AM
#23
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Very interesting discussion.
I've been playing around with the idea that there are significant collector cars and then there are cars like mine.
There is nothing special about my '58. Lots of people have far better cars. Cars that are much better examples of a '58. Restored or Original. My car falls someplace between original and quasi-restored. I guess that makes me an owner.
Now had my '58 raced at LeMans it would qualify as being significant and then I would be a steward.
I'm starting to think this whole collector car thing is overblown. Most of us just like old cars. Old cars are cool.
I'm going to blame the auctions on TV for all the crap that goes on in this hobby. All the auction hype seems to be sucking the fun out of old cars. Just Say'n.
Richard Newton
I've been playing around with the idea that there are significant collector cars and then there are cars like mine.
There is nothing special about my '58. Lots of people have far better cars. Cars that are much better examples of a '58. Restored or Original. My car falls someplace between original and quasi-restored. I guess that makes me an owner.
Now had my '58 raced at LeMans it would qualify as being significant and then I would be a steward.
I'm starting to think this whole collector car thing is overblown. Most of us just like old cars. Old cars are cool.
I'm going to blame the auctions on TV for all the crap that goes on in this hobby. All the auction hype seems to be sucking the fun out of old cars. Just Say'n.
Richard Newton
09-21-2016, 09:58 AM
#24
Melting Slicks
I am a steward. My '64 was given to me in 1970 from my Dad as a bribe to stay in school. I spent 14 years after high school for my profession so I feel I kept my end of the bargain as did my Dad. My Dad is no longer here. My kids will eventually have the car since it will exist on this earth longer than I barring a crash or fire. I suppose the argument can be made that a current possession is "owned" but since a car cannot be consumed such as a fine wine, it will be passed on either by selling while alive or when we are gone. My $.02.
09-21-2016, 10:19 AM
#25
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Nothing I own is valuable enough or original enough to be a steward of. Great article! All my stuff was modified by myself or others decades ago.....my Day Two '65 GTO has the latest and greatest, up-to-the-minute early '70's mods....and they're staying because they work for me. Unless it's a pristine time capsule original or a mega buck import, it is, after all, a car.
09-21-2016, 11:43 AM
#26
Drifting
No matter what car we own, we are all "owners" but some are also stewards when the car has historical significance that you as an owner see as something to be preserved for the future. I don't mean to preserve it for the next owner but for the sake of the car itself if it has lasted as long as it has and is still an example of how it was built in the first place.
Whenever you own a car with original features that you want to preserve, you automatically become a steward of the car.
Verne
Whenever you own a car with original features that you want to preserve, you automatically become a steward of the car.
Verne
09-21-2016, 09:36 PM
#27
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St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14-'15, '19
The whole concept of ownership is kinda nebulous. You own things until you're dead, it's dead or you get rid of it. Not much different than renting a car - the difference is the length of time it's in your possession. Since the car will outlast us in many cases, "ownership" refers to your legal status with regards to its use, but once you get the concept it's not always going to be yours, you're a steward.
Maybe a better question would be - are you a consumer or a caretaker?
Maybe a better question would be - are you a consumer or a caretaker?
Last edited by Zoomin; 09-21-2016 at 09:53 PM.
09-22-2016, 01:07 AM
#28
Melting Slicks
I think I'm a bit of both, especially with our oldest cars. I thrash them pretty regularly, but often fret to keep them as pristine as possible - probably to a fault. I damage parts, cry a bit, then proceed to fix and repair them...Then repeat. I drive our cars as much as possible, because reality is, I'll eventually be gone and then it'll fall into the hands of some idiot who'll proceed to promptly wrap it around a tree! 
09-22-2016, 01:35 AM
#29
Safety Car
I dunno... I don't like these opportunities to get into arguments about who is doing the Corvette thing the right/wrong way.
People buy these cars for MANY different reasons, and no one is to say one is correct or more correct than the other.
Whether we have our cars to restore, restmod, drag race/track it, show & shine, watch it dicintigrate on the back 40, or bury underground to be opened in 3016... if you have the pink slip, you can do what you want and what I choose to do with my car is no better/worse than what anyone chooses to do.
We already have debates over
NCRS/Non-NCRS
Restorers/Restmods
Drivers/Show Cars
Big Blocks/Small Block
C1s/ Everybody else....
The Corvette brotherhood is and should be an inclusive big tent where all are welcomed. You don't have to "LIKE" what somebody else does, but that shouldn't get in the way of all that we do have in common.
People buy these cars for MANY different reasons, and no one is to say one is correct or more correct than the other.
Whether we have our cars to restore, restmod, drag race/track it, show & shine, watch it dicintigrate on the back 40, or bury underground to be opened in 3016... if you have the pink slip, you can do what you want and what I choose to do with my car is no better/worse than what anyone chooses to do.
We already have debates over
NCRS/Non-NCRS
Restorers/Restmods
Drivers/Show Cars
Big Blocks/Small Block
C1s/ Everybody else....
The Corvette brotherhood is and should be an inclusive big tent where all are welcomed. You don't have to "LIKE" what somebody else does, but that shouldn't get in the way of all that we do have in common.
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Oaker57 (09-23-2016)
09-22-2016, 10:39 AM
#30
Le Mans Master
I believe what I do with my cars is better than what the guy who is letting his classic old corvettes disintegrate in the back 40, or in the shed, or the driveway under the remnants of the blue tarp is doing with his. I am willing to be that judgemental. But beyond that, I don't care if the Rick Hendrick type wants to collect one (or 40) of each and only display them, or a guy has just one 63 FI coupe and drives it all over the country to every NCRS Regional/National meet (I know that guy). Or a small time collector has two mid-years and babies them and alternately drives one or the other every weekend, and spends too much time on the internet (I know that guy well). To each his own. We all love our corvettes, until life throws a curve ball at us and we can't love them anymore.
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09-22-2016, 10:47 AM
#31
Le Mans Master
I believe what I do with my cars is better than what the guy who is letting his classic old corvettes disintegrate in the back 40, or in the shed, or the driveway under the remnants of the blue tarp is doing with his. I am willing to be that judgemental. But beyond that, I don't care if the Rick Hendrick type wants to collect one (or 40) of each and only display them, or a guy has just one 63 FI coupe and drives it all over the country to every NCRS Regional/National meet (I know that guy). Or a small time collector has two mid-years and babies them and alternately drives one or the other every weekend, and spends too much time on the internet (I know that guy well). To each his own. We all love our corvettes, until life throws a curve ball at us and we can't love them anymore.
Greg-I agree division can lead to nasty exchanges but an opinion thread like Richard started is kind of enlightening.
09-22-2016, 01:40 PM
#32
Melting Slicks
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Steward of what I own. We are the stewards a 160 year historic southern home but don't use candles, like AC, feel safer with new wires, new plumbing, satellite connections, and new roof. Kinda like our '66. We don't burn incense to either and my son will eventually own both. Fun thread.
09-22-2016, 02:16 PM
#33
Burning Brakes
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I'll take the opposite tack here - just for the sake of argument. I do consider myself somewhat of a steward of my 1962. It's a bone-stock, numbers-matching car in very nice (but not 100-point) condition. It gets driven sparingly, goes to about a half-dozen local shows, and gets treated very well. Do I enjoy my car? Yes, I certainly do . . . but then again, it isn't my only Corvette. Would I ever resto-mod it or cut it up? Nope.
The reason I said I consider myself "somewhat" of a steward is because I do agree that I own my car. I keep it as it is because that's what pleases ME, I'm not doing it for the next owner. I drive it as much as I want to, and living here in snowy, salty Central New York, it sleeps in heated comfort all winter while we are at our Florida home. At the current rate, it's 64,000 original miles won't grow very much or very fast. Years from now - many years, I hope - my three sons can decide what to do with my cars, including this one. Someone will be getting a very nice, very original and complete 1962 Corvette passed on to them . . . a car I took care to keep that way. So, I guess by some folks definition, that makes me a steward. So be it. The fact that it was my own decision as to what to do with the car, and how, and when, in my view reinforces the "owner" aspects. I think the one thing that describes the issue best is this: I have never done, or NOT done, anything to the car I did not want to do, and I have never limited my enjoyment of the car in the name of preserving it.
So I guess we both win - my Corvette and I. Just my opinion, of course.
The reason I said I consider myself "somewhat" of a steward is because I do agree that I own my car. I keep it as it is because that's what pleases ME, I'm not doing it for the next owner. I drive it as much as I want to, and living here in snowy, salty Central New York, it sleeps in heated comfort all winter while we are at our Florida home. At the current rate, it's 64,000 original miles won't grow very much or very fast. Years from now - many years, I hope - my three sons can decide what to do with my cars, including this one. Someone will be getting a very nice, very original and complete 1962 Corvette passed on to them . . . a car I took care to keep that way. So, I guess by some folks definition, that makes me a steward. So be it. The fact that it was my own decision as to what to do with the car, and how, and when, in my view reinforces the "owner" aspects. I think the one thing that describes the issue best is this: I have never done, or NOT done, anything to the car I did not want to do, and I have never limited my enjoyment of the car in the name of preserving it.
So I guess we both win - my Corvette and I. Just my opinion, of course.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Pilon; 09-23-2016 at 03:24 PM.
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fyreline (09-22-2016)
09-23-2016, 08:20 AM
#34
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Lots - You have a Resto-Mod home. 
I think we have to be careful of setting up straw men. I don't know of anyone who simply parks their Corvette. Even the Grand Sports are driven. #004 is regularly raced.
The driver/show car thing is a false dichotomy. Sometimes the cars don't get driven as often as we would like but that's a different issue.
Richard Newton
I think we have to be careful of setting up straw men. I don't know of anyone who simply parks their Corvette. Even the Grand Sports are driven. #004 is regularly raced.
The driver/show car thing is a false dichotomy. Sometimes the cars don't get driven as often as we would like but that's a different issue.
Richard Newton
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Lotsacubes (09-23-2016)
09-24-2016, 11:11 AM
#37
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2023 C1 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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Model T's have never been a particular favorite of mine - although I do know how to drive one (do you?). They are more of a utilitarian appliance than a motorcar - but that is exactly what Henry Ford wanted. Never very valuable, even now - but without the Model T, I think it would have taken our mobile society a lot longer to get to where we are today. So, love it or hate it, I don't think you can find a more "important" car. Just my opinion, of course.
09-24-2016, 12:45 PM
#38
Melting Slicks
