"Ran well when parked"
Is another line I used to encounter in relation to old Cars and Trucks.
Usually meaning, still sort of 'ran' ( if smoking badly, and with a Rod Knock and a leaking Head Gasket, and having to be 'Push Started' after liberal Carb dousing with Ether, ) when it limped it's last few yards to then be left to sit for forty years under that shedding Tree, outside out of the way, where everything deteriorated from there from Rain, Wind, Sun, and wet Ground as it sank down past it's Rims bottoms.
The fact that the Engine was eventually 'frozen' from that leaking Head Gasket, Upholstery rotted out and full of Cat musk and Rat Nests and gnaws, and the Floor and Door bottoms rusted through, Windows all broken from kids throwing rocks at it, and on and on, does not in the least detract from the claim in the ad, of 'Ran well when parked!'.
I solved the vexation of the 'Good shape for it's age!' claim, by pointing out to the claimant, how condition and age have nothing to do with one another, or, are at most, merely unrelatedly co-incidental.
One could just as easily claim a brand new Gun is in 'good shape for it's age!'.
Lol...
Aging or Elderly people or other Animals, sure, the claim of 'good shape for their age' can or does make sense!
A 35 or 40 year year old Morgan or light Draft Horse, still Plowing the Back Forty, is definitely worth mentioning for the admiration it ought to invite, for that splendid old Horse ( assuming the Horse still enjoys 'Working', anyway ).
For Guns, "no" - it is either in 'good shape' or it is not, and it's age is a separate consideration.
