Grading lugers

[tony k]

Actually, there's a growing movement in collector car circles valuing "survivors" -- well-maintained originals -- as high or higher than those cars restored to better-than-new. It got sorta crazy there for awhile, with fanatics dressing every weld on the undercarriage ..... suddenly collectors have discovered the value of "patina." Unfortunately, a lot of nice original 85% cars underwent ground-up restorations before that value became known. Not unlike what happened to a lot of Lugers in the '50s and '60s. Old lessons just get learned over and over, I guess.