Andrew writes: > > It's interesting how the prices of pristine unrestored models > uncannily reflect the cost of purchasing and then restoring a > less than perfect example of the same car. My sense is that > restoration costs have inflated way faster than general > inflation, which acts to suppress the market value of > tired/rusty/oogy 111 coupes,108 sedans, and soon to be > classic 123 diesels.
Restoring a car is usally a labor of love, not an investment. I fell in love with a '62 Volvo P1800, one of the early ones with the bull horn bumpers, made in England by Jensen. I had owned two of the later coupes (one being my first car, a red '66 coupe) and a sportswagon, and really wanted another. It was a solid $500 southern car -- most of the pieces were there. When I sat down and figured out that to properly restore it would take me a year + and $20K, I bailed. If I wanted a *nice* late model driver in pristine condition, I could have had my choice of a number in the $6-8K range. And I was not looking for a trailer queen. I ended up not buying that car, and in fact not buying *any* car. Lee '93 300D 2.5 180K
