About Old Car Pricing Guide on Collecting page 2

Classic Car Parts Co.

Classic Car Parts Co.
Old Car Pricing Guide on Collecting by Padgett Peterson (Reproduced from Year One Catalog) (continued)

    On the other hand is the SS Chevelle with aftermarket fuel line and a Holley, headers, traction bars and turbo mufflers, plus a few decals for good measure. Somewhere along the way the LS6 was replaced by a 327 and Turbo 350. There is a Dixco tach on the hood and a Grant wheel on the column. He probably spent five grand on accessories and the Imron paint job. It looks okay at the drive-in but it is going to take big bucks to make a showable car out of it, mostly for the stuff the kid threw away. Remember, ignorance is curable.

    CLASS 5

    This is not a junker despite what people think. Rather, you see these at curbsides and in the classified ads all over America. It may need a trunk lid and some bodywork, the seats probably show their stuffing, it burns oil and the lights may work randomly, but it is still licensed and inspectable. Unless there is some overriding reason to rescue it, it will probably not be in a collector’s stable even as a “future work”. Since the cost of a restoration to even a class 3 is probably greater than the value of a class 2. Most of our “beaters” fall between class 4 and class 5.
   For most of us, our first restoration project is a class 5 and teaches us not to do it again. For me, this was a ’68 OHC Firebird that was probably used to justify the base price ads. It had maybe two options, but I’m not sure about the radio. When I bought it, there was no reverse (did you know that a ’73 Vega 3 speed would bolt up to a ’68 Firebird?) and it had either been in one of the better Texas hail storms or it had been turned on its side and used as an infield for patting practice. It did run well, though…

    Class 6

    This is the junker, the kind of car you pay $100 for it you take it away and $200 if you can leave what you don’t want. More marriages have been broken over bringing home class 6 cars than any other cause in the hobby. It might make a good planter but isn’t good for much else. (Like the ’70 SS convertible a friend and I bought last year; it looked like the pictures brought up with the Titanic—including the bow and stern separation. We figured it must have spent the last five years in the ocean at Daytona).
    As a rule of thumb, the cost of upgrading a car from one class to another is usually twice the price difference between the two classes, and the interclass relationship is exponential. In other words, to go from a class 4 to a class 3 (which is what most people do) is not too bad cost-wise. Going from a class 2 to a class 1 is merely astronomical. As far as class 0 is concerned figure what it would cost to manufacture the car by hand. Then triple it.

    Also, there are four axioms I’ve discovered to be true about restorations:

    No. 1: The maximum increase in value after restoration equals one half of the money invested.

    No. 2: Labor invested is worth zero at selling time.

    No. 3: Maintenance/repair is also worth zero.

    And finally, axiom No 4: The only way to make a profit in restoration is to restore other people’s cars.

by Padgett Peterson