I know this has been done to death...
...and no offense to anyone, but a current bid price of over 700 bucks for a stripped frame that has clear front-end damage (that the seller is not willing to admit to, apparently)... is frankly insane and I don't get it. By the time the buyer gets done with that frame, assuming it goes at that price, he/she will have nearly 1500 bucks in it. A repaint. Not original. With apparent damage. What is going on???
A year or so ago I bought a somewhat-battered-but-still-sound early cali GC frame, in tomato red, everything there, if rough, for 300 bucks, when it didn't make the reserve on ebay. My size exactly. I built it into a bike, and I've enjoyed it since. I have about 500 bucks in it at this point. The frame is completely original, and quite charming in its grizzled way. Far more charming than any repaint, no matter how pretty.
So I'm just bemused by this auction... and for those who say I'm out to lunch 'cause I spent all that money on that De Rosa frame a little while ago... I can't answer. Just calls 'em like I sees 'em. Or feels 'em.
Charles Andrews SoCal
PS: I also have a quite pretty, very early, Richard Sachs frame that has a couple of modest dents in the top-tube from an unfortunate meeting with the bars.. Paint and graphics good. After some e-mail with e-richie awhile ago, to arrange a tube replacement, and after mulling it over, I've about decided to leave it just as it is, build it up, and enjoy it. A little tressoplast strategically placed will camouflage the worst of the dents... and the frame will retain its original charm. Plus, it will remain a bargain, which is always pleasant to contemplate.
*************** Concerning the late Carlos Kleiber one of the greatest of all post-war conductors:
The glamour often associated with a conductor's life held no appeal for him; he preferred to stay at home in Munich. He once told Leonard Bernstein: "I want to grow in a garden. I want to have the sun. I want to eat and drink and sleep and make love and that's it."