The IKEA effect and the lack of a Rule Book

jefflit

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my car projects and I’m interested to hear from others on the subject of why we do this. I’ve been working on cars for 40+ years now and I’ve completed a number of projects in that time. At the moment, I’m knee-deep in the unexpected complete restoration of my 73 Baikal coupe. What started as a simple B35 swap has turned into a project that is currently on the rotisserie getting media blasted.

The scope of that project has me considering “why?”. Why do we spend so much time, money, and energy restoring these old cars? Objectively, no matter what we do to them, they are inferior (as transportation) to almost any new car on the market. I’m sure most on this forum would agree that our coupes are prettier than new cars but we often go to great lengths to “restomod” them with newer engines, suspensions, wheels, tires, etc. in a futile effort to make them drive half as well as the neighbor’s Hyundai Sonata. So why?

Yesterday, I was listening to Hidden Brain and learned of a concept by Researcher Daniel Mochon called “The IKEA Effect” that seemed to have relevance to our projects. The idea is that we tend to overvalue the things that we have created ourselves. Obviously, we (those on this forum) would take little pride in screwing together some flat-pack furniture but we all have our egos wrapped up somewhere in our coupes.

“People who spent time and effort building something felt proud of what they had built, fell in love with it and were willing to pay lots of money to keep the things they'd built. From the perspective of a rational economist, this doesn't make much sense.”

That resonated.

The researcher’s hypothesis was “that people tend to use products to signal valued identities to both themselves and to others. And we know that an identity that people really care about is showing that they're competent. This is sort of one of the basics of human motivation. And so we hypothesized that people use self-made products as a way to signal competence to both themselves and to others.”

To test the theory that people's feeling of competence was behind the Ikea effect, the researchers had some participants think about other qualities they might value in themselves besides competence - things like honesty or intelligence or humor. Basically, the idea was if they made it less important for people to demonstrate competence, would they still overvalue their own creations? They found that the Ikea effect disappeared when they did that manipulation. Once competence wasn't that important to people, the participants no longer seemed to get much value out of creating their own products. Again, suggesting that the reason why we tend to like our own creations is because we use them as a way to signal competence, both to ourselves and to others.

Maybe that explains why there are so many build threads?

And that had relevance to me. I’ve been proud of some of the things I’ve accomplished so far in my nascent project and I’ve considered starting my own build thread but it felt a bit narcissistic. My neighbors are all impressed at my skills but I’m painfully aware that they pale in comparison to many others out there – you on the forum know who you are. Spend a few hours with Don or Chris or Mike or Rey, etc. and you quickly realize how much you don’t know.

Side note: You can make the Ikea effect stronger by getting people to question their competence. The participants who had their sense of competence threatened tended to be more willing to build their own product.

Does the world really need another build thread? Why assume that the world cares a tinker’s cuss about my little endeavor? But would I even own the car if there was no one to show it off to? Because I have an ego, I’ll probably eventually start a thread, telling myself that others may benefit from what I’ve learned or how I’ve tackled some specific problem. But I wonder if you all haven’t already “been there, done that”.

One person who’s thread I find highly entertaining is Paul Dexter’s CSE project. He is clearly doing things others haven’t already done and I admire him for it. But this leads to another conundrum of car restoration – the purists versus the customizers. BMW owners (as opposed to the NCRS Corvette or FCA Ferrari crowds) tend to be awfully tolerant of performance-oriented modifications but I’ve discussed the electrification of classic cars with a number of people and there seem to be more detractors than fans. I worry about the pace of battery development and the possibility of having an albatross of an EV in 10 years but my wife has no particular affinity for the smell of unburned hydrocarbons and those 5 speed transmissions are getting harder and harder to find so why not make a unique, fast, remote emissions E9 EV? As Gary Beck (m5bb) once commented: “The haters gona hate. Is there some rule book we’re supposed to follow?”

I thought about that rule book comment when I was talking to Rey Rivera at his shop, where he has a tendency to stuff big modern M-motors into older BMWs. He said, “modifications are okay so long as they appear in a way that BMW might’ve done.” Not an exact quote but the sentiment seems like a good rule of thumb to me. It precludes the “drove through Pep Boys with a magnet” mods yet leaves room for the occasional Alpina injection or Getrag 265.

Does it leave room to ditch that silky smooth BMW 6 and replace it with a bunch of laptop batteries? If Paul’s website is any indication, it seems a good bet that he’ll finish off all that Tesla hardware in a way that would make BMW proud. Maybe I should go electric too?

There is clearly a place for 100% stock preservations and restorations. They honor the heritage and serve as touchstones for future enthusiasts, but I think there were enough coupes built that many of us can do what pleases us without guilt. What do you think?

I still haven’t decided what wheels (steering or rolling) or interior color or wood veneer and finish, or 100 other choices I’ll use on my car but it will be mine. Until then, I will stand on the shoulders of the giants who have posted before me. I will try to provide useful tidbits while remaining humble. I will respect all other owner’s decisions. And someday, I hope my coupe reflects my good taste and competence. In the meantime, I enjoy seeing yours at the various get-togethers in SoCal. Let me know what you think I should do -- and why you do it.
 

Markos

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Good insights Jeff. Did the researchers skip the fact that Ikea furniture is cheap? That’s why I am doing my own build (someday). Putting it together is just the cost of doing business for me. I love to tinker but I would still be doing that while having a streetworthy machine. I can’t say that I am cheap because I routinely spend money on parts or products that I perceive as valuable, desirable, or effective. I can’t bring myself to paying full price for a move-in-ready home, large power tools, quality furniture, etc. Putting together Ikea furniture is easy but it still sucks. I have purchased used ikea dressers because it is even less money and preassembled. :D I won’t discount the effect because I know plenty of people that are beaming after assembling an ikea bookshelf. I get that same sense of pride, just with more complex efforts.

Do a build thread! Call it narcissism or whatever but I know that I have gained some level of insight from every build thread I have read. I love the all-in tech build threads, as well as the “I have no idea what I am doing threads”. I place a lot of value on transparency. My favorite build threads are the ones that highlight rust, sunk cost, accident damage, unexpected hiccups etc.
 

jmackro

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The scope of that project has me considering “why?”. Why do we spend so much time, money, and energy restoring these old cars? Objectively, no matter what we do to them, they are inferior (as transportation) to almost any new car on the market. I’m sure most on this forum would agree that our coupes are prettier than new cars but we often go to great lengths to “restomod” them with newer engines, suspensions, wheels, tires, etc. in a futile effort to make them drive half as well as the neighbor’s Hyundai Sonata. So why?

Sure, it's irrational. But is hitting a little, white ball around an over-manicured park any more rational? Everyone needs some outlet - something other than work - to help them feel good about themselves. Restoring e9's seems like a pretty harmless outlet.
 

Bmachine

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Excellent stuff there, Jeff. We tend to get so involved with the nitty gritty details of our hobby that we often forget to step back and contemplate the big picture. As you know, I've gone through very similar soul searching about what to do with my car. The electrification option is still very much at the forefront of my mind. For me, one of the main reasons is my kids. I really loathe the smell of that 30 years old motor and the damaging effect it has on our environment. We probably wont be around to pay the price for it. But our kids will. Is that a legacy I would be proud to leave them? The answer is obvious. Solar panels on the house and you get the best of both worlds.

As to the reason we do this, it reminds me of a conversation I had with my daughter a bit ago. I posted it in another thread so I will just quote it:

I once had a discussion with my 19 y/o daughter about fashion. I explained to her how much I hated it (I did some fashion photography in the past) and thought it was a useless waste of time and money.

She thought about it and then said "Some people like its fun and creative aspect. Purely useless, but highly pleasurable for them. Isn't it the same with your car? You don't need it for any practical purpose, like going to work. It costs a lot of time and money. But you derive pleasure from it on an aesthetic and visceral level. Same thing, really."

Dammit, she was right.

Ever since that day when I go to the garage I tell her "I'm going to work on my fall collection". And when she goes to the mall, she says "I need to get some new piston rings".

;-)
 
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Marco 54

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my car projects and I’m interested to hear from others on the subject of why we do this. I’ve been working on cars for 40+ years now and I’ve completed a number of projects in that time. At the moment, I’m knee-deep in the unexpected complete restoration of my 73 Baikal coupe. What started as a simple B35 swap has turned into a project that is currently on the rotisserie getting media blasted.

The scope of that project has me considering “why?”. Why do we spend so much time, money, and energy restoring these old cars? Objectively, no matter what we do to them, they are inferior (as transportation) to almost any new car on the market. I’m sure most on this forum would agree that our coupes are prettier than new cars but we often go to great lengths to “restomod” them with newer engines, suspensions, wheels, tires, etc. in a futile effort to make them drive half as well as the neighbor’s Hyundai Sonata. So why?

Yesterday, I was listening to Hidden Brain and learned of a concept by Researcher Daniel Mochon called “The IKEA Effect” that seemed to have relevance to our projects. The idea is that we tend to overvalue the things that we have created ourselves. Obviously, we (those on this forum) would take little pride in screwing together some flat-pack furniture but we all have our egos wrapped up somewhere in our coupes.

“People who spent time and effort building something felt proud of what they had built, fell in love with it and were willing to pay lots of money to keep the things they'd built. From the perspective of a rational economist, this doesn't make much sense.”

That resonated.

The researcher’s hypothesis was “that people tend to use products to signal valued identities to both themselves and to others. And we know that an identity that people really care about is showing that they're competent. This is sort of one of the basics of human motivation. And so we hypothesized that people use self-made products as a way to signal competence to both themselves and to others.”

To test the theory that people's feeling of competence was behind the Ikea effect, the researchers had some participants think about other qualities they might value in themselves besides competence - things like honesty or intelligence or humor. Basically, the idea was if they made it less important for people to demonstrate competence, would they still overvalue their own creations? They found that the Ikea effect disappeared when they did that manipulation. Once competence wasn't that important to people, the participants no longer seemed to get much value out of creating their own products. Again, suggesting that the reason why we tend to like our own creations is because we use them as a way to signal competence, both to ourselves and to others.

Maybe that explains why there are so many build threads?

And that had relevance to me. I’ve been proud of some of the things I’ve accomplished so far in my nascent project and I’ve considered starting my own build thread but it felt a bit narcissistic. My neighbors are all impressed at my skills but I’m painfully aware that they pale in comparison to many others out there – you on the forum know who you are. Spend a few hours with Don or Chris or Mike or Rey, etc. and you quickly realize how much you don’t know.

Side note: You can make the Ikea effect stronger by getting people to question their competence. The participants who had their sense of competence threatened tended to be more willing to build their own product.

Does the world really need another build thread? Why assume that the world cares a tinker’s cuss about my little endeavor? But would I even own the car if there was no one to show it off to? Because I have an ego, I’ll probably eventually start a thread, telling myself that others may benefit from what I’ve learned or how I’ve tackled some specific problem. But I wonder if you all haven’t already “been there, done that”.

One person who’s thread I find highly entertaining is Paul Dexter’s CSE project. He is clearly doing things others haven’t already done and I admire him for it. But this leads to another conundrum of car restoration – the purists versus the customizers. BMW owners (as opposed to the NCRS Corvette or FCA Ferrari crowds) tend to be awfully tolerant of performance-oriented modifications but I’ve discussed the electrification of classic cars with a number of people and there seem to be more detractors than fans. I worry about the pace of battery development and the possibility of having an albatross of an EV in 10 years but my wife has no particular affinity for the smell of unburned hydrocarbons and those 5 speed transmissions are getting harder and harder to find so why not make a unique, fast, remote emissions E9 EV? As Gary Beck (m5bb) once commented: “The haters gona hate. Is there some rule book we’re supposed to follow?”

I thought about that rule book comment when I was talking to Rey Rivera at his shop, where he has a tendency to stuff big modern M-motors into older BMWs. He said, “modifications are okay so long as they appear in a way that BMW might’ve done.” Not an exact quote but the sentiment seems like a good rule of thumb to me. It precludes the “drove through Pep Boys with a magnet” mods yet leaves room for the occasional Alpina injection or Getrag 265.

Does it leave room to ditch that silky smooth BMW 6 and replace it with a bunch of laptop batteries? If Paul’s website is any indication, it seems a good bet that he’ll finish off all that Tesla hardware in a way that would make BMW proud. Maybe I should go electric too?

There is clearly a place for 100% stock preservations and restorations. They honor the heritage and serve as touchstones for future enthusiasts, but I think there were enough coupes built that many of us can do what pleases us without guilt. What do you think?

I still haven’t decided what wheels (steering or rolling) or interior color or wood veneer and finish, or 100 other choices I’ll use on my car but it will be mine. Until then, I will stand on the shoulders of the giants who have posted before me. I will try to provide useful tidbits while remaining humble. I will respect all other owner’s decisions. And someday, I hope my coupe reflects my good taste and competence. In the meantime, I enjoy seeing yours at the various get-togethers in SoCal. Let me know what you think I should do -- and why you do it.

Well done Jeff - the most considered and thought provoking contribution for a long time.
If I told my mates what I have spent on an E9 restoration they would send for the men in white coats; and I might volunteer to go with them.:p
 

deQuincey

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thank you for a good discussion indeed,

there is one starting thought, though, that i can not suscribe:
“Objectively, no matter what we do to them, they are inferior (as transportation) to almost any new car on the market. I’m sure most on this forum would agree that our coupes are prettier than new cars but we often go to great lengths to “restomod” them with newer engines, suspensions, wheels, tires, etc. in a futile effort to make them drive half as well as the neighbor’s Hyundai Sonata”

if you are worried about this, then you are in another part of this world, define “inferior”,...that would be too long

a classic car could be transformed into a piece of furniture, or even a piece of furniture that is able to move (i.e. place an electric motor on it), but it will not be a classic car if it is not a classic car, and that includes performance, what is the interest to have a car that behaves like a modern car but with a classic look ? obviously some people are interested in them, but it makes me think what for...

again the comment about “modifications are okay so long as they appear in a way that BMW might’ve done.” gives endless path to do what you want, as you have not asked Fritz and Hans about the truly spirit of that entity called bmw, i think it is ridiculous to justify what you are doing with this kind of thoughts, do what you want, it is your car you can set it on fire and it might be a nice performance to someone

as to the ikea ways, i really found interesting your digression, but there are other points, some people get the ikea basics and then improve or transform their designs, i.e. rigidizing that filmsy drawer with some structural additions, it is not the same if you follow the instructions...

and it makes me think too about the people that restore a car with their own hands, and others that supervise the project and pay for have it done

with regard to sustainability and ecology there is a lot to talk about electricity, maybe you think that there is enough of renewable electricity available, but the truth is that it is not, you are simply swaping the point of emissions from distributed to concentrated, that is all for now, maybe in the future ?

and remember this statistic: in europe, greenhouse gases (GG) are generated in a 24% from transport sector, a 70% from that is road transport, and 95% from that is private vehicles, so clearly speaking private cars are responsible of 15% of the GG generation, not to mention these are not daily driven cars, is that something to feel bad about ?

and Bo, you mentioned fashion, thank you, it is really crazy to see literally mountains of clothes thrown away in undeveloped countries, just consider the energy needeed to produce those enormous ammount of textile waste

unfortunately i feel that nothing is harmless, nothing is innocent, but you need something, right ?


 

eriknetherlands

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Very interesting views. Always nice to be able to scout another's mind like this.

For me it does function like the IKEA guy explains. Building something yourself gives me satisfaction. Even if no-one ever sees it.

To me, the non-sensible, irrational choices are what makes life fun. And therefor it does make sense (for me) to sink lots of time money into that black (brown) hole; it makes me smile. After you've covered your basic needs, isn't that the essence of life?

Everything else in life has to be optimal already. Optimal doesn't provide fun; it perhaps gives satisfaction but only on a scientific scale: economical /environmental/health etc. Important? Sure, but to me the optimal choices are less fun, and just give you more worries: "Perhaps that other option would have been better after all? "

Didn't New Zealand government not just base it's next years financial planning on increasing happiness rather then GDP? (as does Bhutan since '71)
 

Belgiumbarry

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haha, indeed good thread ! for me restoring a oldtimer is killing time useful , ( and money :rolleyes:) finding pleasure in solving a problem , doing something with own hands and mind , on what we love a lot … "cars". A hobby.
A escape from daily life … with all the things that "must" be done . In the garage we have time , if not today , tomorrow, next week... we have a "project" !
Sure, everybody can do with "his" car as he wants.... they are no holy relics that must be saved for mankind , no, in many cases just a rusted collection of problems , meanwhile so far passed by modern "available" tech , but we do love NLA and keep looking for it …..:)

I assume many will never drive it as long as they restored it … either it isn't the expectation , or became to expensive , to nice to use it . Yes, a car show ….

I bought one in 2013 for historic rallying , changing things after every rally , for years to what it is today. A good reliable historic rallycar , and it's nice to look at ! Meanwhile i bought/restored a second one to have a "spare" in case we should have a big mishap during the season.
But.... for weekend trips , enjoying sun&a glass of wine , i prefer my Morgan, of course open driven. Strange, i don't see me take one of the coupes for a "family" trip ….. never done it.

Budget wise , i don't understand some , as the CSL's hype…. yes, a investment perhaps... But driving a 200K CSL ? don't think the feeling is much different of a 50K CS. In that price range i would prefer a new Porsche GT3. :D
 

WALTER

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I think it absolutely useful to “modernize” classic cars from a practical standpoint. At one point I owned a mod’d coupe with 3.5L motor, modern engine management, etc. and a bone stock 3.0 CS at the same time. The mod’d coupe was fast enough to keep up with modern traffic; the stock coupe not so much and I always felt more vulnerable driving it as a result. The coupe I have in the works will have upgraded wiring, bigger motor, bigger brakes, 3rd taillight, LED headlights, R&P steering, updated ECU, and other things that have been improved in the last 40 years of automotive history. I really think updating things is the only way to keep them on the road in a busy urban area, and I want to drive as frequently as weather permits; heck, I’m having mine built so that you could put it in the ocean and the body won’t rust out.

Budget wise it makes no sense as others have mentioned because I could have a perfectly good used M3 for what I am going to spend on my coupe and that M3 will have 5x the performance, reliability, safety, etc., but... none of the uniqueness that our coupes have. The coupe has a timeless design but maybe not an iconic design like let's say a vintage Bugatti or a '59 Cadillac El Dorado. In other words, there is something that is still fresh and contemporary about the E9 40+ years later that I can't say about other classics even though they may be prettier. So, keeping them up-to-date (however one goes about it) enables us to keep them usable and ultimately on the road and not in a museum.
 

teahead

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The internet has created #1 condition envy.

It not only has allowed us tons of information to get it to #1, and parts availability, but also seeing others' cars in excellent condition and going for big bux.

Before the internet, my standard was what I seen in a few magazines and car shows. But the internet now has made it too easy to spend big bux to create huge projects to get our cars restored to perfection.

My problem is I just buy tons of parts, but not getting off my arse to get the resto started (albeit, I'm knee deep in other projects).
 

Ohmess

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We do this because passion keeps a man young. Several years ago, I posted here inquiring about why I should acquire an e9. Here are some the responses:

Duane Sword:

For me the E9, is *the* coupe, not just a two door European car. I distinctly remember seeing an E9 when I was 15 years old in Australia at a classic car event with my father, who is a Jaguar man so I remember him telling me why British cars are better than German; my Dad was proven wrong when I was 15 :)

So at 15 I had the poster of the Batmobile with all 4 wheels in the air at Nurburing (you know the one)... While my friends had Ferrari or Lamborghini.

When I was 30 years old I purchased my E9 , my coupe, my car , my outlet, my thrill. I have owned several fast cars, old and new. Frankly the coupe is for the enthusiast who "gets it". Respect for the E9 requires someone who appreciates the whole package and passion of classic car ownership. You can buy a classic Ferrari, or Porsche, or Aston Martin and every one of them will be inspiring but owning *and* driving an E9 BMW requires an element of independence, charisma and car-enthusiast eccentricity.

I will own many more classic and modern cars, but I will never part with my E9, my coupe.

If this scares you. Buy a Porsche.

Thehackmechanic:

Why buy an E9?

Because you know you want to.

Because life is short and cars are cool.

Because, though there are many cars that you'll park, walk away from, look at, and say "DAMN that's a pretty car," the E9 isn't the pretty girl in the bikini -- it's the 40-something woman you just can't take your eyes off.

Blumax:

…This was the start of an over 40 year ownership and love affair with e-9's--two others passed thru my hands, including the first one I had tried to buy from my neighbor--but the BLUMAX was my first love and remains so even when having shared garage space with my M-1 for 5 years…

Now 40+ years have passed since that first drive in February 1972, many articles in car mags, a short subject in 2010 by BMW-AG and this last month another online article @ www.driving-line.com--scroll down to the 2nd story. Our journey continues and the love has not diminished.

DeQuincey:

I own three cars, including a 1971 3.0 CS, the daily car is a AUDI A4 turbodiesel Avant, this is a superb machine, I live in a very hilly area in the north of Spain with enough rain and bended roads and bended highways, that means that the AUDI is performing very well with all his electronics when you ask for power and speed and the road is wet, I usually drive at 120 to 160 Kmh up to 42.000 km per year, mostly in the mentioned highway, 8 litres per 100 km diesel consumption, and so on

...but that is not driving !, That is a mere use of a transport device that moves you from one point to the other in a highly efficient and functional way

Then, when the sky is blue, and the weather forecast is good I woke up 20 minutes earlier, I check the levels, I quickly clean the car with a cloth, and start the engine to warm it up at idle speed. I wore comfortable clothes, and sunglasses, and I prepare myself for a nice driving experience.

The sound of the big-six engine is giving you the soundtrack so no additional music is needed, that day the cruising speed is always less than 120 kmh, the car performs smoothly and solid, you have a corresponding feeling and actions according to a classic car, you have to anticipate driving and traffic situations, you have to take into account the reaction of other drivers (owners of new bmw´s will usually slow down to have a better choice of looking at your car), you feel comfortable with yourself and with others, you forgive, you become generous,...

And when you happen to be alone in a small road with the adequate proportion of turns, slopes, forests, straight paths, and the river or the sea as neighbor, you feel that you are in the right place with the right car…

Walter:

It was love at first sight. Had to have it. Despite the fact that it's not that fast, I'm afraid to get caught in the rain with it, and my limited funds should be spent elsewhere, it does not cease to put a smile on my face every time I drive it.

Decoupe:

I find myself sneaking into the garage and just sitting in it. Usually a big smile. Coupe therapy as my wife calls it (she has caught me a couple of times). Cheaper than psychoanalysis and none of the nasty side effects of prozac.

Driving it is even better.

Bwana:

We saw one on a trip to the SF area and instantly had to have one. We're big BMW fans and this fit the bill perfectly. My son calls it my James Bond car. I get thumbs up where ever I drive it. I love driving it!!

Stevehose:

I agree with all the posts here, love at first sight for me, I was 21 and one drove past me as I was walking up St. Charles Ave, I ran out into the street after it to get a look at the badge on the back so I could remember what this thing of beauty was for later identification. Dark blue 3.0CS. Bought my malaga '73 soon after and drove it every day until I sold it to get married.

After a 23 year hiatus, I am now on my second CS, the passion for the model had not subsided over the years. I appreciate the beauty of many cars, but this particular one just "does it" for me. I never get tired of looking at its form from all angles.

Driving it is special, maintaining it is a labor of love, can't say which I like more to do really. The car lives for both.

Vince:

My e39 M5 is the most capable car I've ever owned. I still love it but it has become just a car.

Not so with my coupe. After almost nine years of ownership, I still can't wait to get in it and drive it. I instantly get better looking and cooler. On weekend afternoons, I take the back roads to our club to workout. Between the feeling I get from a good run and pushing the coupe through the curves on the way home, life is truly good. It's my escape pod.

Stan:

I have been in love with the elegant grace of the E9 from the first time I saw one. When I bought mine, I did so in complete ignorance. I learned more over the course of ownership. Sort of like dating an enigmatic woman.

Living with one... Well, you learn to protect her. You don't drive in the rain if you can help it and in the northeast, she hibernates for the winter. There is always a new part to buy, always an improvement to make. I sometimes replace a part in good condition with a part in great condition.

The driving experience is wonderful. No blind spot, comfy on the long haul…

When I am in my coupe, I get as much attention as a rock star!

Johanaxelson:

I would go for love at first sight too, saw my first one when I was maybe 12? and it stuck with me. There are many sports cars out there, old and new, but this is what I (we) fell for. I like it for many reasons:

- it is not too expensive
- it is driveable
- good performance and comfort
- still possible to find parts
- its classic beauty

And one less tangible reason, the car feels more personal than many other vintage sports cars. Don't know why but it strikes a different chord than say, a Porsche, from the same era. You notice that with us owners and as some mentioned above, the reactions from people see it. If you pull up in an equivalent Porsche pretty much no one would even notice. But people do notice the E9.

Waynesie:

You could also ask: So why would you want a really hot girlfriend?

I consider owning an E9 is like having a really hot girlfriend. She does not need to be the strongest, fastest, or smartest.... she could be, but not necessary. She is stunning to look at, from any angle, and is great fun. She is unique from other hot girlfriends (Porsche, Ferrari etc.) and is classy and charming in her own way. People look at her and not you in public, then wonder how you got so lucky.

But, like any hot girlfriend that knows she is hot, they can be high maintenance. You can shower her with gifts, but they need to be the right gifts, thoughtful and important, and she will perform beautifully. You can buy her bling (nice wheels, etc.), but she also looks great all-natural.

If you treat her right she will stick around. Constant attention will eventually become routine. Or you will tire of the exhaustive struggle to keep her happy and move on..... but you will always remember how hot she was.
 

jefflit

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Looks like dq is always the contrarian in the room. Always good to have one.

In lieu of a build thread for now. My car in its current state:

Charlie: You were in a 4G inverted dive with a Mig 28?
Maverick: Yes, ma'am.
Charlie: At what range?
Maverick: Um, about two meters.
Goose: It was actually about one and a half I think. It was one and a half. I've got a great Polaroid of it, and he's right there, must be one and a half.
Maverick: It was a nice picture.
Goose: Thanks.
Charlie: Eh, lieutenant, what were you doing there?
Goose: Communicating.

Updisedown.jpg
 

mark99

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The first 'instant' cake mix, you just added water, they didn't sell, so they remade the mix so you added an egg, then they became very popular, people like the feeling of DIY
 

Gazz

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Perhaps you should read -
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work
by Matthew B. Crawford


Crawford addresses, in a somewhat prolix fashion, the issues around why it is necessary to engage in craft.
My own take is that craft, crafting, craftsmanship, is kind of the opposite of efficiency. I would describe Ikea and its products as an epitome of efficiency yet to spend years on an E9 project, as I am also engaged in, I would describe as craft. Doing it the right way, the inventive way, the careful way, the long way, all for your satisfaction. Yes it can be very frustrating and there are times when I just have to walk away however another element to satisfaction is persistence. Eg. after much fiddling, looking at, measuring, etc, I think I have come up with a way route my power steering hoses. I have spent many hours on just this problem alone but the moment of realisation is what makes it worthwhile.
Check out many of deQ's projects - now here is a craftsman. ( I am assuming he derives enjoyment from what he does ). Who would restore an old work tray to an as original condition in the name of efficiency? It's the love of the process, and only you can know what it means to you, and your soul.
 
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deQuincey

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Perhaps you should read -
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work
by Matthew B. Crawford


Crawford addresses, in a somewhat prolix fashion, the issues around why it is necessary to engage in craft.
My own take is that craft, crafting, craftsmanship, is kind of the opposite of efficiency. I would describe Ikea and its products as an epitome of efficiency yet to spend years on an E9 project, as I am also engaged in, I would describe as craft. Doing it the right way, the inventive way, the careful way, the long way, all for your satisfaction. Yes it can be very frustrating and there are times when I just have to walk away however another element to satisfaction is persistence. Eg. after much fiddling, looking at, measuring, etc, I think I have come up with a way route my power steering hoses. I have spent many hours on just this problem alone but the moment of realisation is what makes it worthwhile.
Check out many of deQ's projects - now here is a craftsman. ( I am assuming he derives enjoyment from what he does ). Who would restore an old work tray to an as original condition in the name of efficiency? It's the love of the process, and only you can know what it means to you, and your soul.

agree, i can not explain why i need it, but i enjoy every minute, from conceptualisation, design, preparation, buying the necessary elements, and the craft process itself, and of course “the prestige”
 

autokunst

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Not sure if anyone else touched on this, but another aspect of this IKEA concept is cost. As a real world example, my wife and I came home with (4) kitchen cabinets from IKEA yesterday. This was for a little home office project in our own house. As an architect that specializes in modern, clean houses - I almost always specify custom millwork. This results in very nice, rather expensive cabinetry. Which is to say, I would likely never have a custom cabinet shop make cabinets for our little office project. But the IKEA cabinets are fine. In fact, I would argue they are quite nice for the money. And I can say this having used VERY expensive german and italian cabinet systems on projects. Honestly, the cabinet "carcass" on those spendy cabinets is extremely similar to what one can get at IKEA. But I digress. The value that one gets with some elbow grease can be measurable. It is true not only for the IKEA cabs we just bought, but also on my car restoration. My car will receive a LOT of love and care in my garage. Far more than I could afford to pay someone. But I feel that I will not only end up with a beautiful example of automotive history, and with a deeper knowledge of every detail of the car, but I will also bask in the self reward of "crafting" the work. It' ;) s a win-win!
 
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