Reproduction, NOS or used: choosing parts for a driver versus a show car

Every part on this site is one of three things, and the listing says which. The distinction matters more than almost anything else in the purchase, and it is the thing newcomers to the hobby find most confusing.

01Reproduction

Newly manufactured to the original design. For most sheet metal, trim, upholstery and weatherstrip, it is the only realistic option — the originals are gone, and the ones that survive are on cars. Quality varies enormously, and it varies by tooling. A panel stamped from dies taken off an original has the right body line and the right crown. One developed from photographs and measurements does not, and no amount of filler hides a body line that runs out halfway down a fender. This is why we list the manufacturer prominently rather than burying it. On reproduction sheet metal, the brand is most of the information. What it costs you: fitting time. No reproduction panel drops on without trimming and adjustment, and anybody who tells you otherwise has not hung one.

02NOS — new old stock

A genuine factory part that was made in period and never fitted. It sat on a dealer shelf for forty years and it is exactly what left the plant. What it costs you: money, and sometimes condition. NOS rubber is usually worthless — it has been slowly curing on a shelf since the Ford administration and it will be hard, and it will crack the first time you flex it. NOS steel is generally excellent. NOS electrical is a gamble. For a judged car, NOS is the gold standard on anything where the marking matters. For a driver, it is often money spent on a part that a good reproduction would have covered.

03Used original

A serviceable part off another car. For anything cast, forged or stamped that does not wear out — brackets, housings, some trim — this is frequently the best value available, and it is correct by definition. What it costs you: uncertainty. You are buying somebody else's wear. On a wear item, do not.

04So which do you buy?

It depends entirely on what you are building, and being honest with yourself about that is the most useful thing you can do before spending money. ### If it is a driver Buy on function. A disc conversion on a 1969 C10 is not correct and never will be, and it is unambiguously the right call for a truck that goes out in traffic. An aluminium radiator cools better than the copper-brass one. Electronic ignition means you are not setting points in a car park. Nobody is judging it. You are the one driving it. ### If it is going to be judged Buy on correctness, and read the listing carefully. A part can fit perfectly and still cost points — casting numbers, plating finish, head markings on fasteners, the presence or absence of a date code. We mark parts as concours correct and say exactly what makes them correct, including where they deviate. A reproduction that has the right casting number but no foundry date code is correct enough for most classes and not for the strictest ones. That is the sort of detail worth knowing before it arrives. ### If it is somewhere in between Which, honestly, most cars are. The useful principle: be correct where it shows, be sensible where it does not. Correct wheels, correct emblems, correct interior, correct engine bay appearance — that is what people see, and that is what makes a car feel right. Modern brake fluid, a modern filter, a hidden electronic ignition module inside the original distributor, a modern seal profile — nobody sees any of it, and each one makes the car better to own. That is not cheating. It is how most of the best cars in the hobby are actually built.

05A note on the middle ground

The Pertronix ignition module we sell is a good illustration. It sits entirely inside the original distributor with the original cap on top. It is invisible. It is also completely reversible in twenty minutes with nothing drilled or cut. Keep the points and condenser in a bag taped inside the glovebox. Drive the car all year on electronic ignition, and put the points back the week before a strict judging. That is the sort of decision that makes a classic genuinely usable, and there is nothing dishonest about it.