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Has the hobby of car restoration become a rich man only game?
When I started restoring classic cars in the early 90s, a working stiff could afford to buy a decent "driver" that was restorable without having to get the pros involved. In the last ten years, even rust buckets are out of the reach of the average hobbyist except for late early 2000 models, which require a computer degree to work on.
It seems young men and women will never the joy of taking an old classic and bringing back to life with their own hands.
I think so. I had a ‘68 Mustang which I got in 2002...in high school. Even drivers now are pretty pricey, and as they age more, inevitably they need more work. The one saving grace is that the bloom is off of the golden age of American cars and shifting to 80s and 90s cars. I’m OK with that since my driver 97 Civic might hold value, and eventually a ‘58 Chevy or something might just have so little interest in it that I can get one for a steal. Luckily I can do basic and intermediate level stuff myself, which has also come in handy on my drivers and beaters. Look for me to do a timing belt/tensioner/water pump swap in my Civic within the next year.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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1) no 'new- to -mechanics' want to get their hands dirty.
2) finding parts is getting tough, as swap meets are failing due to lack of interest / ability.
3) actually the value of general class restored vintage has fallen or not climbed like other investments.
4) ICE is no longer 'popular'
5) younger 'rice grinder crowd' is not into the thunder and roar of v-8 noise
I.e. I plan to buy and enjoy several more classics that have already been restored. I have way too many to finish them all, and time is running out!
Just had this conversation yesterday with TX neighbor who has over 300 cars / projects in his field. I'm looking for a 57 Ford truck cab to plant on one of my 4 CTD 4x4 1T dually chassis. He has 7 of those in his field. Another project!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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My work in the past was a 1963 Ranchero, then a 1972 El Camino. Both were affordable to me at the time, $1,500 and $7,000 respectively. Despite the apparent push toward EVs and lack of interest by younger generations, prices have continued to go up. I'm in the market for one now, in fact. I'd love to go with a 1970-72 Nova or 1964-67 Chevelle, but will probably end up going for one of the less popular and cheaper models, like a 1964-69 Falcon, or a 1967-72 Dart with a 6 cylinder and do an engine swap for a V8. There are still many sources for NOS and reproduction parts for many of them, and those are still fairly affordable, even sheet metal. Paint is about 10 times higher than when I started working on cars in the 70s.
Has the hobby of car restoration become a rich man only game?
When I started restoring classic cars in the early 90s, a working stiff could afford to buy a decent "driver" that was restorable without having to get the pros involved. In the last ten years, even rust buckets are out of the reach of the average hobbyist except for late early 2000 models, which require a computer degree to work on.
It seems young men and women will never the joy of taking an old classic and bringing back to life with their own hands.
Because young people are becoming less interested in cars in general with uber so convenient. Most young people are more interested in EVs and late model cars than older folks.
Restoring old cars is a very lengthy, time consuming process, I doubt even many middle age folks are interested in unless they have ton of time and no children.
My work in the past was a 1963 Ranchero, then a 1972 El Camino. Both were affordable to me at the time, $1,500 and $7,000 respectively. Despite the apparent push toward EVs and lack of interest by younger generations, prices have continued to go up. I'm in the market for one now, in fact. I'd love to go with a 1970-72 Nova or 1964-67 Chevelle, but will probably end up going for one of the less popular and cheaper models, like a 1964-69 Falcon, or a 1967-72 Dart with a 6 cylinder and do an engine swap for a V8. There are still many sources for NOS and reproduction parts for many of them, and those are still fairly affordable, even sheet metal. Paint is about 10 times higher than when I started working on cars in the 70s.
Ha, my first car was a 1962 robin’s egg blue Ford Falcon. Cute little car, automatic on the column with a choke. It would usually stall on my way to work on the train tracks. I paid $500 for it and was paid that amount when I sold it 2 years later.
I am not mechanically inclined but enjoy looking at cars mainly from the '50s and '60s as I admired them as a kid. As stated, I would have to have someone do work on a classic car as I don't have the tools or mechanical knowledge. I am in awe of those that have the money and ability to restore old cars and keep them running. My absolute dream car would be a '59 or '60 Caddy. As a kid, I just thought those were SO cool. Cars nowadays all look basically the same. :-(
I would say so. If you've got the space and tools to work on a car (not cheap in its own right), you could maybe get by upgrading cheaper cars, but it's not exactly as much fun working a Corolla as it would be something that's more of a classic. Bottom line is vehicles are expensive, even if you're restoring them so I can see why young people, who tend to have less money, are not as interested. Those that do are likely getting their money from the tech or social media world so they may not exactly be the type to restore cars or trucks anyway. It's too bad.
Has the hobby of car restoration become a rich man only game?
When I started restoring classic cars in the early 90s, a working stiff could afford to buy a decent "driver" that was restorable without having to get the pros involved. In the last ten years, even rust buckets are out of the reach of the average hobbyist except for late early 2000 models, which require a computer degree to work on.
It seems young men and women will never the joy of taking an old classic and bringing back to life with their own hands.
I was looking for an AMC gremlin to work on and the cheapest one I could find was $3,000 with a rust holes in the floorboards no engine no transmission.
since I want to put my own engine in transmission in it anyway I talked to the owner and they were firm on it. If that's what you have to pay for that crappy of a car yeah it's a rich man's thing.
I remember back in the '90s seeing this sweet Malibu for sale it wasn't anything special just to run out of the mill Malibu. It was in great shape it did need a little work. It was $3,000 but you could drive it. If I had $3,000 at that time I would have bought it.
I blame C4C. That boondoggle took a LOT of "restoration candidate" cars off the road and turned them into beer cans.
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