What makes an historic automobile authentic? Gundula Tutt and Sebastian Hoffmann explore the “three pillars” of authenticity and demonstrate how physical evidence, documentation, provenance, and expert analysis can be brought together to understand an automobile’s true history—and inform the decisions we make about its preservation, restoration, and use.
In 1972, Ferrari produced one of the most dominant seasons in sports-car racing history, winning 10 of 11 rounds of the International Championship for Makes. Mario Andretti, Peter Schetty, Brian Redman, and Doug Nye revisit the extraordinary cars, drivers, personalities, and decisions behind a season in which Ferrari seemed almost unbeatable—and consider what made the 312 PB era so exceptional.
The knowledge required to operate, maintain, repair, and restore historic automobiles is disappearing along with the generations who mastered it. Revs experts examine the skills most at risk, what is being done to document and transmit that knowledge, and the role collectors and institutions can play in ensuring these automobiles remain not merely preserved, but understood and operable.
Historic automobiles were never meant to be experienced only as static objects. See, hear, feel and perhaps smell the collection come alive as selected automobiles take to the asphalt. This immersive session explores what is revealed through sound, motion, vibration, and operation that can never be understood from an automobile standing still. Hear, see and feel cars from the collection come to life and take to the asphalt up close and personal.
Every collection eventually faces a moment of transition. As collectors age, families change, and the interests of the next generation evolve, what becomes of the automobiles and the knowledge, stories, and meaning attached to them? Collectors from multiple generations discuss succession, stewardship, dispersal, and the deeply personal decisions involved in letting go and passing on.
Over four days we have considered authenticity, craftsmanship, markets, knowledge, preservation, operation, collecting, and legacy. In this closing conversation, Miles Collier and colleagues bring those ideas together around one final challenge: What responsibility do we assume when we become stewards of historically significant automobiles and how can each of us become “Active Matter” in preserving their knowledge, meaning, and experience for generations to come?
