so bag him all you want but
you need to understand that Tens of Thousands of people see his cars every year and he travels all the way around Australia letting people see them and that costs a huge amounts of money to do and people need to pay bills.
I am not bagging him personally, only his methods. Most of his collection were by his own admission acquired for cents to the dollar by his old man from the racing teams back in the day. If he is doing this to make money or self promote then he is in it for the wrong reasons as it should be more about preservation. His car care kits as part of his separate business would have covered any day to day expenses without it being an additional requirement for entry. This is just milking the public for that little bit extra.
Quote:
"Dad's done well, so he's put his own money into old race cars because he saw them being wasted."
When the Bowden's started collecting, the cars were cheap and they cornered the market. Since then the prices have gone ballistic. "We couldn't afford to do it now," Bowden says. "People even blame us for inflating the prices of muscle cars."
Now compare the sticker price of a 1972 GT-HO Falcon at $5250AU. A Ferrari GT from the same year was $15,000AU. Average wage at the time being around the $100 mark. Not all of us are in it to try and turn a profit.
As cool as those Super cars are. Lets put it this way, if you put that Red Ferrari at a car show next to the Rock car or the Brocky Torana no one would even look at that Ferrari
so these are important cars.
unfortunately there is a Brock and a few other important Aussie race cars locked up in a collection in Vic some where that hasnt been seen for over 20 years sadly
Obviously where that car show is being held is a crucial factor.
No doubt the cars he has collected are important to a segment of the Australian regional motor racing history but I am not sure exactly how popular they would be on a global level.
The cars he has would generate regional appeal. A Brock Torana would generate little interest or numbers through the door outside of Australia. Whereas a Ferrari is instantly recognisable and has almost universal appeal. In the same way a NASCAR museum would generate little traffic through the doors outside of the US (and most likely restricted to Southern US).
Going back to the original post, I am just glad that the Clipsal organisers are adopting this same universal approach and broadening the market interest for what has been traditionally been a much more limited consumer base. That is why the crowd numbers for Clipsal are increasing year to year and should continue to do so.
