Quote:
Originally Posted by Deez Nuttz
No kidding. Those fools make me laugh...talking about how they're gonna fix it up and "sell it on the Barrett-Jacksons" thinking they're going to come out rich....truth be told body work is EX$PEN$IVE if you have to farm it out, and even if you don't I doubt anyone who lets it sit and rot into the ground has any body work experience anyways - no it's not as easy as trialing over a ton of mud over rust holes which is a no-no anyways. (probably how they were thinking they were going to tackle the rust)
And let's not forget when restoring an old car you almost never get out of it what you have invested. Especially in today's economy.
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This is 100% correct. I have a 2 door hard top 1968 Chrysler Newport that I am almost finished with. I have over $12,000 into it with doing the majority of work myself. I still have a few minor things to do and then I am sending it for paint. The majority of the money I have into my car is parts. If I had shops do all of the work on my car I am sure I would be closer to having $25,000 into it. I know if I were to sell my car I would probably not get near the $12,000 I have in it due to the fact that the Newport is not one of the more desirable cars.
I am not doing this car as an investment but rather for me. I like it and am going to keep it. Once the car is done I will be looking for another project to do. It probably will still not be one of the more desirable muscle cars due to the fact that people that have project cars think they have gold and want much more money for it than what it is worth. At least that is how it is here on Long Island in New York. I stopped and looked at a 1969 Charger a few days ago. The asking price was $15,000. The car was not as bad as many that I have seen but it does still need body work, paint, interior work and I do not even know if it runs. I knew just from what I mentioned so far that I would not pay $15,000 for it. People do not realize how much money it costs just for the parts for these cars. I do not know who pays these insane prices for these projects. Then again, I do see cars with asking prices like this sitting around for many years so there is a good chance that nobody is paying these prices for these projects.
My favorite car is a 1970 and up Cuda. I will obviously never own one of these since the asking prices on the worst condition projects I have seen are insane. There is actually a storage place near my house where there is a Cuda sitting. The car is outside in the elements with no cover and it has no trunk lid. I inquired about it and the lady who runs the place said the guy is not interested in selling it. She says it has been there for over ten years and he pays the storage each month saying that one day he is going to fix it. I do not know what people like this are thinking. If someone has the know how to do this car and is waiting until they retire or something to do it I can understand. This person obviously does not have the "know how" because if he did he would not have it sitting like that uncovered.
I owned my Newport for one year before I started working on it. I put it in the corner of my backyard on 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood so that grass and weeds could not grow under or around it. The point I am making with this is that anyone who actually works on these cars is not going to leave it in the grass with weeds growing under, around or through the car because they know that this will just be more work for them when they get around to doing it.
A lot of people also do not realize that a car that is as wavy as the Atlantic Ocean, half body filler with a cheap paint job but runs is NOT a restored car. A vehicle in this condition is a project car and I would pay less for it than I would for the Charger in the original post on this thread. Why? With the Charger in the picture you know exactly what needs to be done with it while you are looking at it before you buy it. The type of car described in this paragraph needs what you see it needs and usually a lot more once you start taking it apart and sanding it down.
I apologize for the long post but I really needed to vent. As I mentioned, I have been looking for another project since the Newport is almost done and I get angry with the amount of money people are asking for rough projects that can still be saved now but I know the owners will keep until they hit their asking price which will probably never happen and then the car will eventually go to a scrap yard after a few more years when it reaches the point of not being worth doing even if the owner gave it to me for free!
Barrett Jackson and other nonsense auctions have definitely helped kill the classic automobile hobby due to the fact that they make people with cars that need a ton of work think that they are sitting on a fortune. It is truly sad and frustrating. People do not even realize how hard it is to get a car into the Barrett Jackson auction. It is basically a millionaires club and from what I have been told from someone who I know that brings cars to local auctions, where prices are nothing like those you see in these televised fiascos, there is something to do with taxes or something that the people paying these high dollar prices at those auctions take advantage of.
All of this really hurts people like me who enjoy working on these cars as much as driving them and are not buying them as an investment. The way I see it, these are more than vehicles, they are pieces of American history.
Okay, I am done venting now and am feeling a little better. That is, until the next time I see a potential project sitting somewhere and inquire about whether or not it is for sale and the asking price.
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