“I’ve been looking at, toying with, buying an old car, antique automobile, that I could take to cruise-ins, antique car shows, or just cruise around town in. They’re cool! Are they good investments? You have a couple of them. What really do they cost and how much does it take to maintain them?”
This inquiry is something that I frequently encounter in public arenas where people are viewing, looking at my cars. Because this is a complex question to answer I have found that the best way to handle this is to use whatever car I have at that show as an example, and begin to relate my history with it. None of my cars are considered high dollar, exotic “classic” cars. Rather, they are average working man’s automobiles, and NOT Corvettes, Porsches, or coveted sports cars.
I generally start the conversation by saying, “Personally, nobody I know has ever made money on their antique cars.” Damned few have ever broken even. That is the nature of this old car endeavor. It is a lifestyle. First, let us consider me, and then you. I am at a point in my life where, due to age and injuries I can no longer do restoration work. Therefore, I need to be looking at an already restored automobile that I might drive maybe a thousand miles per year. So, it has to be desirable to me, look really good and be mechanically first rate, and dependable. I will need to pay top dollar for whatever I buy, and I need to be very particular and circumspect about what I buy. Now, considering you, what is your fancy– Cord, Packard, Ford Chevy? What will be your involvement in the restoration and maintenance of this proposed car? Are you mechanically inclined; do you have an array of tools, or will you rely on mechanics and shops? Do you like to tinker with old cars? If you perform much of the work yourself the whole she-bang will cost you much less.
Several issues come to mind; affordability, desirability, and your proposed level of restoration—as in driver quality, higher quality-approaching show car, strictly show car, or high point judging quality. Let’s start with some basics. What is your budget, what can you afford to spend on this old car endeavor? How much money are you initially willing to spend on an old car ? Are we talking $5K, $10K, $15K, $20K? Research shows that you will eventually have $20-25K in your higher quality antique automobile if you are seriously into this endeavor. It makes a difference because you’ll end up paying it either up front, or down the line. The next is desirability, as in what kind of car are you really interested in? Keep in mind that it will cost you much more to restore a Jaguar than a Studebaker or Model “A” Ford. What level of quality are you looking at starting with? Will it be something that needs a lot of work, a little work, very little work, or no work?
Now consider me. I bought this 1969 Volkswagen convertible that I have here today about 8 months ago. It took me two years to find it. It is very desirable to me because I have owned at least 10 prior VWs, a couple of them being convertibles. Those were some of the best times in my life. This car was described as in show condition and advertised for high bucks. The Old Car Price Index suggests a number one convertible VW show car is valued at $35,000. The asking price was $26K. I know from watching the market that the only place I’ve ever seen a car sell at the suggested Old Car Price Index is on entertainment TV at those highly advertised, circus-like, famous name old car auctions. Personally, I believe that those auctions are not at all representative of the real world you and I live in. I did my homework, gathered as much info as I could about this particular car from the owner and the man who restored it some 10 years ago. I talked with those men extensively, judged them as basically honest, and also obtained actual pictures of the restoration in progress. And then I made some judgements. Obviously it is best to see and drive a car for yourself before you lay your money down. I could not easily travel to where the car was located so I would have to rely on the information gathered and the judgments of the restorer. He said that the owner was honest, but not a “car guy”. The current owner admitted that he bought the car as an investment and, to preserve it, only drove it sparingly about 1500 miles over that time period that he owned it, or about 100 miles per year. I also knew that his ad in Hemmings ran for about 4 months. It did not sell and we were well into December, not prime time for convertibles. I don’t know what he paid for it but I’m assuming that it was in the 20-22K range, maybe less. Based upon my gathered info I offered him $18K. He countered with $22K and we settled on $21K.
So, I took a chance and bought the car. My expectation was that I would need to go over it well and re-restore some things because of it’s not being driven much for 10 years. Cars do not do well when they sit undriven for long periods of time.
Initially getting it running off the delivery truck indicated that the carburetor needed to be rebuilt. It seemed gummed up from the old gas deteriorating in it. The car, as expected, had a beautiful body, top and interior, and the engine bay was pristine—too pristine. It was obviously built for show, the engine compartment was filled with chrome. Any ductwork, shrouding or parts that interfered with the chrome were eliminated. When you do this to an aircooled VW, you significantly sacrifice everyday performance. You have to put back on those unsightly but essential original air cleaners and carburetor heater shrouds and such so the engine runs properly. Lots of little things needed attention, including, dashboard lights, wiper switch, ignition switch, light switch, horn switch, turn signal switch. That first run to the shop cost about $1100. After driving it for a couple weeks after the snow and ice cleared out it became obvious that several other things needed attention to make it roadworthy and dependable as well as pretty. I had disc brakes installed up front and the rear brakes rebuilt with new parts. The carburetor was rebuilt again. It turns out that it is a Brazilian re-pop that is not nearly as good as a German original carb. So, that’s at the head of my list for things to find at swap meets. That bill was $1100 also. At this point some 8 months after buying it (four months of sitting because of winter) the car is performing pretty much as I had hoped for and I am reasonably happy with it as a number one show condition car. I have about $23K invested in it. In talking with many, many old car owners I do believe that figure to be somewhere near the median range investment for average work-a-day people with nicely restored old cars. I do expect other issues to surface as we go through the driving season.
