Collectibles can be a curious concept. If someone makes a mistake in printing a stamp or stamping a coin, it's eventually worth jillions [I am reliably informed by accounting that that is a 'really big number']. But when I make a mistake designing a new freight train brake which goes on to derail a line of tank cars full of battery acid in the middle of a neighborhood between a hospital and a school yard, I get yelled at! Go figure...
Still I have to admit that some objects gain real character from what are clinically defects. So, it was more than a little puzzling to read about what happened to this classic vehicle.
"Dillinger’s 1930 Ford Model A for Auction at Barrett-Jackson"
http://mafiatoday.com/
'“This Ford was at the center of one of the most famous shootouts in gangster history,” added Jackson. It is, more than any automobile and even firearm, identified with Dillinger. It’s been owned by only two families since it played a crucial role in the Little Bohemia Lodge escape."
Yep, a very famous car. The thing is, somebody decided to restore it! The filled in the bullet holes and replaced the blood-stained fabric. And not when it was just another car, but as recently as 2007.
"The Ford was carefully restored in 2007 to appear in ‘Public Enemies’, preserving the original bullet holes and dimples under body filler and carefully documenting the original appearance including the upholstery soaked with blood. This car is comprehensively documented with its transfer paperwork, articles, books, before-restoration photographs and a selection of documents copied from the federal files."
Could they really not find another Model A to fill in for a MOVIE PROP? Cripes... the movie has Johnny Depp playing a human being - how much more unreal can they get??
Supposedly the car did fetch a decent price, so it sets a scary precedent. I can already see what's coming...
'Philadelpha PA is proud to return to public display, the Liberty Bell - with that ugly old crack completely repaired!'
'Dear Mr Pope: We thank you for the contract to clean your Sistine Chapel. We are so honored to have been trusted with this task, at no additional charge we went ahead and got all that old graffiti off the ceiling. (Boy, taggers were very dedicated in those days!)'
'Here at the Smithsonian we listen to your comments. So when people complained that the signatures on the original Declaration of Independence were hard to read, we bleached them out and re-typed them on a freshly-refurbished IBM Selectric.'
'For Sale: Standard Strat. Well used, but fully restored. Some knucklehead had destroyed the starburst finish and pasted his initials on the thing.
But don't worry, we scraped all that off and redid it in a nice metallic glitter flake. $200 obo.'
