misty56
New member
[ QUOTE ]
As to "What is a classic?" I am afraid that will have to wait till the paying work is out of the way......
[/ QUOTE ]
I said I'd come back to this. It is of course one of the most interesting and thought-provoking questions, though frequently swept under the carpet for fear of upsetting someone.
Well, I thought about it a bit last night and had a look over some stuff I've already written on this.
There are a number of criteria that can qualify a boat, plane, motorcycle, for that matter guitar, as a classic. Not all classics satisfy them all, but they all satisfy some.
1 Design. The design has to have striking visual appeal as well as being functional and exploiting the benefits of the chosen materials and manufacturing methods to the maximum possible. It must both look fantastic and deliver the goods (in terms of the era it comes from) in other words.
2 Construction. This has to be to the highest standards, respecting the limitations of the technology available at the time and the constraints of the design--(eg the Mirror dinghy is unquestionably a classic, but many are amateur built.)
3 Definition of a style. When Leo Fender designed the Strat he basically stated what a certain type of electric guitars were about for over fifty years (and counting.) There are seminal designs in every discipline from yachts to planes-- who would disagree that Concorde was a classic, yet at the same time consider the workmanlike Boeing 747-- just as much a classic. The Jag E-type was a classic from the off, but so was a Routemaster bus-- generations of kids who've never seen anything other than a modern bus, still see a Routemaster when they think "bus."
4 Longevity. A classic design stands the test of time. This is one reason why we tend to equate "classic" with "old," though this is actually a false assumption. I am certain that the Blackberry that is now telling me I have five minutes to finish this and then get on with something else, is a classic design. The Leica M3 was classic the day it came off the drawing board.
5 Viability. All these things are products. They have to successfully stand the test of the marketplace. Beautiful things made without reference to that, made for their own sake, fall outwith classic design and in the realm of art.
Okay the BB's bleeping so, with reference to boats-- pretty much all traditionally built wooden boats are classics, because their designs were the subject of refinement over hundreds of years, and their execution was by real craftsmen.
In GRP I personally can't see the legions of floating caravans or, for that matter, direct copies of wooden classics, as classics. In the former case they fail on account of looking (and sailing) so badly and in the latter, that would be like saying that East Asian knock-offs of Fender Strats are classics. They ain't. Being a copy of a classic is not a qualification.
There definitely are classic GRP boats, but they are true to the design discipline and opportunities afforded by GRP, not wood.
Anyone feeling offended, please take it down the pub and drown your sorrows.
As to "What is a classic?" I am afraid that will have to wait till the paying work is out of the way......
[/ QUOTE ]
I said I'd come back to this. It is of course one of the most interesting and thought-provoking questions, though frequently swept under the carpet for fear of upsetting someone.
Well, I thought about it a bit last night and had a look over some stuff I've already written on this.
There are a number of criteria that can qualify a boat, plane, motorcycle, for that matter guitar, as a classic. Not all classics satisfy them all, but they all satisfy some.
1 Design. The design has to have striking visual appeal as well as being functional and exploiting the benefits of the chosen materials and manufacturing methods to the maximum possible. It must both look fantastic and deliver the goods (in terms of the era it comes from) in other words.
2 Construction. This has to be to the highest standards, respecting the limitations of the technology available at the time and the constraints of the design--(eg the Mirror dinghy is unquestionably a classic, but many are amateur built.)
3 Definition of a style. When Leo Fender designed the Strat he basically stated what a certain type of electric guitars were about for over fifty years (and counting.) There are seminal designs in every discipline from yachts to planes-- who would disagree that Concorde was a classic, yet at the same time consider the workmanlike Boeing 747-- just as much a classic. The Jag E-type was a classic from the off, but so was a Routemaster bus-- generations of kids who've never seen anything other than a modern bus, still see a Routemaster when they think "bus."
4 Longevity. A classic design stands the test of time. This is one reason why we tend to equate "classic" with "old," though this is actually a false assumption. I am certain that the Blackberry that is now telling me I have five minutes to finish this and then get on with something else, is a classic design. The Leica M3 was classic the day it came off the drawing board.
5 Viability. All these things are products. They have to successfully stand the test of the marketplace. Beautiful things made without reference to that, made for their own sake, fall outwith classic design and in the realm of art.
Okay the BB's bleeping so, with reference to boats-- pretty much all traditionally built wooden boats are classics, because their designs were the subject of refinement over hundreds of years, and their execution was by real craftsmen.
In GRP I personally can't see the legions of floating caravans or, for that matter, direct copies of wooden classics, as classics. In the former case they fail on account of looking (and sailing) so badly and in the latter, that would be like saying that East Asian knock-offs of Fender Strats are classics. They ain't. Being a copy of a classic is not a qualification.
There definitely are classic GRP boats, but they are true to the design discipline and opportunities afforded by GRP, not wood.
Anyone feeling offended, please take it down the pub and drown your sorrows.
