Absolutely. This is (for most of us) a hobby. Do people expect a return out
of gardening, smoking, playing golf or sailing? If you're lucky the garden
might enhance the value of your house, you might make business contacts on
the golf course or travel 'for free' by sailing, but that's not the goal.
The likelihood is that the gardening will be hours of back breaking work
just to keep it the same, the golf will be something to get nagged about at
home and the boat will be an expensive indulgence (#1500 for a sail that can
be wrecked ever so easily). As for smoking...
I'd rather spend my time and money in the garage.
(and I love sailing, beer and many other activities)
Neil
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Garside" <Paul.Garside@seagatesoftware.com>
To: <british-cars@autox.team.net>; <BritshIron@aol.com>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2000 9:43 AM
Subject: RE: Is it worth it?
> Roland,
>
> This is a question as old as time, but still worth talking about. I have
> done all sorts of restos, from buying a good Aston Martin and Fiat 124
> spider, improving them a bit then selling them on, to buying complete
wrecks
> of XK140 and (currently) Lancia Montecarlo and getting them back on the
> road. I usually have sold them for more than I paid out to buy, but have
> spent more in total than I got for them. I carry on doing it because I
love
> the work itself, even more than driving them.
>
> The short answer is, financially, no. If you buy at the bottom of a rising
> market, and do very little, then you _can_ make some money on an old car.
> But generally, you will seldom get your money back. If you do want to
cover
> your costs, you have to choose the right car in not too bad a condition
very
> cheaply. Someone else's failed project is sometimes a good idea. A project
> is usually cheaper than the parts it contains, and there may be some
> expensive replacement parts included. My Monte, for example, cost me GBP
> 500, but included mag wheels, new tyres, wings, doors and other bits alone
> worth more than GBP 2000. To have needed to replace these items would have
> made the project uneconomical. As it is, I expect to spend about GBP 3000
on
> it, which I might just get back. But this isn't counting my labour, of
> course. I do it because that's what I like doing.
>
> How to make money on a project:
>
> Buy a rare two-seater with racing history very cheaply. Two-seaters are
> cheaper to restore because they are smaller and have less interior trim.
> Racers don't have expensive-to-restore chrome and other trim parts. So
> Rovers or Cadillacs cost more to restore than Ferrari GTOs. Sell on a
rising
> market.
>
> If your classic is a daily driver, you can compare it favourably with the
> alternative. If I run a scruffy MGB, it will not depreciate. If I get it
> sorted mechanically and electrically, and rechrome the bumpers, it will
add
> a bit of value, and it can be more reliable than an old econobox which
which
> has reached the end of its design life. When I rebuild the econobox's
engine
> or replace the bumpers, it will most likely cost me more in parts and will
> not add any value to the car. Looked at this way, it can make some sense
> economically to have a classic.
>
> What the hell, it's a hobby, and hobbies cost!
>
> Paul.
>
> From: BritshIron@aol.com
> Subject: Worth The Price?
>
> It's come to my conclusion, that any certain vehicle has to be important
to
> the owner to put so much into it. I am speaking of trying to restore a
> vehicle, from purchase to rolling beauty. I am in the midst of having the
> body work and upholstery done on the P5 and it's looking pretty good. Of
> course I'm going to own the most expensive $3000 Rover, as Rover prices
have
>
> not really commanded Ferrari prices. My question is this: is it worth it?
I
> know a friend of mine that has a $10,000 MGB and he knows he can only get
> between 6-8K. Saloons get even less. I know this question has weighed
> heavily
> on many minds. I can do the mechanical work, but the more expensive labor
> work I have to source out. There's also the wood work and the chrome that
> still needs doing. Is it all without regret? Or should we all just buy
> cheap
> import cars and park the old ones out back. Guess I'm wondering if
everyone
> is happy they did it instead of just buying a new car.
>
> Roland
> 52 Austin Somerset
> 54 Rover P4
> 60 Rover P5
> 66 Rover P6
> 67 Sunbeam Minx
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