[hot427cobra]

I previously owned a Kirkham with the brushed finish for 2 years and now own a polished finish.

The brushed finish was pretty cool and it looked OK when it was not perfectly clean. After a while it actually looked slightly oxidized and the minor scratches just added character giving it a raw mean look. Once a year I got out the scotchbrite and wet sanded the car going with the grain and it looked good as new. Other wise some warm water and a micro fiber towel to keep it clean. If need be a few drops of mild dishwashing soap in the bucket if you had some grease, tar, bugs, or general road grime to remove. That first Kirkham car was excellent and it was the best.

Last summer I picked up a new polished car. WOW! What a difference. Everywhere I go people are either taking pictures of the car or stopping to ask ... is that chrome? is that stainless steel?, etc.... It grabs people's attention more than I could ever have imagined. Way more attention than the brushed car. Even women who generally are not into cars make comments. As far as the maintenance, I still wash the car down with a bucket of warm water and a micro fiber towel. I use another micro fiber towel to dry it as I clean an area. This is the second driving season and I have a few swirls from the cleaning process. I plan to once a year get out the polishing buffer and take out the few marks that have occurred. Every so often on a sunny day I might get a little glare on the windshield from the sun reflecting off the dash board surface. No big deal though. Other than that, the polished finish has never affected my vision in driving the car and I have yet to hear any comments from other club members who we cruise with stating that they got blinded by the mirror finish. The car body has many curves with no real flat surface to bounce the light off with any great magnitude. I think being behind a pickup truck with a cab over the bed throws off more reflection from the rear window if the sun hits it just right. Don't let the worry of sun light reflection be a concern in your decision process to buy the car.

Having owned both I can say the polished car is my favorite. It is a show stopper. I am not into all the attention it creates, but it just comes with the territory. Your biggest concern might be whether you yourself want all the attention. I guess this is what the celebrities go through on a daily basis being chased around by the paparazzi. Good luck!

Mark