What has perhaps been one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of the entire restoration project to “as original”, has been creating the Perlita community through social media; blogging and commenting on the blog BarnFindRiva; integrating all this new-fangled stuff like blogging with the old way of doing things; including strategically placed print (yes, print) during August and September, to coincide with the important car/boat concours and auction events (see our AD below …… JUST IMAGINE ….).

All this is the culmination of my continuing learning experience, spearheaded in no small part by a commitment to twitter. The twitterchat called #blogchat hosted by Mack Collier has been instrumental in honing the blog strategy for BarnFindRiva (I edit the Blog). Debra Ellis & Lois Geller and Beth Harte & Anna Barcelos who co-host the chat #IMCchat have given me inspiration to integrate social media with the more traditional marketing & PR media we have used for 20+ years; all this via twitter, conversations, twitter chats (I must also mention #innochat with a great group who talk innovation), and finally blogs written by savvy social media proponents.

As many of you know, I have spent 3 years managing an interesting and often very challenging classic wooden speedboat restoration project, where original, meaning as built by the factory in 1953, is king. I wrote two posts on the subject last year: “Essence of Italian Design” and “Managing Perfection”, which morphed into my partner James’s blog PERLITA TOO ~ The BarnFindRiva.

Now that the project is finally nearing completion; what actually have I learned about myself, learned about historic preservation, and “restoration to original?” And, is there really any innovation in a project like this, or is it ALL cut and dried “just follow the guidelines”?

As it happens, I have never been one to “paint within the lines”, let alone adhere to the prescribed colors, so quite honestly I would much rather be building a one off “hot rod” with “design as you go” being the modus operandi; yet I have enjoyed the innovative detective work required to find and establish ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’, what was in fact original on this 1953 Riva speedboat prototype, named Perlita Too. It may be noted that Perlita Too is considered by many to be the most important Riva existing; so deviation from ‘“original” has never been an option. And to think, I had at one time fantasized about replacing the cumbersome yet stately Scripps V12 motor with a sleek Falconer 900 hp racing motor… But alas, in view of Perlita’s position, it would be blasphemy to think such thoughts.

Early photographs like the one above were very helpful in determining the history. Here is Hollywood Producer Roland Reed (the first owner) and his long time girl friend and often star in his productions Dian Fauntelle. Unfortunately our letter to Dian arrived 6 months to late, but just imagine how much more we would have learned had we communicated with her.

Finding the specialized resources and the people who make up our restoration team has been part of an innovative process and often very challenging at that. When I manage a project, I like bringing on players with whom I have worked before; we already have an existing relationship, we are a known quantity to each other, and I know I can trust them. Whenever possible I start with a small project to see how things go; just as I did with Queen City Plating, who is doing the brightwork on our Riva project. President & owner Richard Frisch has been extremely helpful throughout, and of course they do superb work! And in addition, I greatly appreciate both his communication, and documentation skills.

Some relationships started anew with the project, and it takes time for everyone to find the best way to work together. Often the craftspersons, who we have chosen because they are the best at craft for a restoration project like ours, don’t have the communications or modern technology skills I normally require to make a project run smoothly. This is an instance where I have to be innovative in bringing the players up to MY speed

Several years prior to starting on this project I asked Chris, who was starting Sea Sonic Boats at the time, to restore a prized piece of antique furniture (he used to do this in Europe before building boats). This George III desk had fallen apart when it arrived at Lake Tahoe from the UK; but Chris came to the rescue (see the pix below). Having already collaborated on a project successfully with him is one of many good reasons why Chris was selected over several other shops around the world to work on this boat restoration significant project.

The old glue dried out and literally everything disintegrated and fell apart. Antique furniture and even antique boats do this in the dry Tahoe environment.

It pays to do that little job well, as you never know what big one can result from it. This antique desk turned out totally as original and will give me years of enjoyment and use.

No matter what the project, boat, furniture or car restoration, house design or remodel, original or one of kind you always learn from it, especially about working with people. And though this type of meticulous recreation of something that existed is not my cup of tea I can conclude that the ‘innovation fix’ has been well satisfied by the social media aspect which we created around the project; bringing the awareness of our project to an international following. Not only have we brought awareness, but we have inspired continuing participation and considerable interest.

Will we accomplish our goals? What do you think is the logical conclusion to our restoration? Comments below & suggestions by email

CASUDI
Building Bridges Between People ~ Designing Success