Sizzle Chest:
Your point about keeping this rare Super Snake in factory-new condition is well taken and I now understand your reluctance to polish the aluminum in the engine bay.
My nephew restores old hi-performance Mustangs/Shelbys for a living and he can attest to this. I even think that Carroll Shelby himself, while not appalled, stated that some of his older Shelbys had been "over-restored" and that some of the things that were done to them (like fully hand-wet-sanded and polished paint in engine bays) were, as he stated, something Shelby America would never do in his shop on the assembly line.
That said, I can also attest to detailing more "pedestrian" vehicles (AKA, daily drivers) and having the owner/leasee/driver state that this is the way the vehicle SHOULD have looked when they bought/leased it from the dealer and/or off the showroom or from the used-car lot. I do take pride in doing that for them, BUT I know of few car sales places, both used or new, that will take the inordinate time and expense (at least in their eyes) to do what I do, and yes, it is "inordinate". There is this "law of diminishing returns" which is simply how much of an advantage or gain is measurable for the time, effort (work), and money spent to do so. Some appreciate AND recognize it; most do not and see this as a waste of time that is representative in money or an excess of overhead that cuts into profits. It is, indeed, a fine line between excessive waste and true attention to detail and just plain obsessive-compulsive detailing (OCD). This point of detailing can be argued/discussed ad nauseum and no consensus or agreement will ever be reached. Let`s just say that "the best is never cheap". Or as I have stated before from my father`s wise admonishment and insight, "If you wanna run with the big dogs, you gotta pay like the big dogs."
