> I am just wanting to know as I am > getting ready to completly restore it > if its worth it. You'd have to define "worth it" to yourself and do an analysis from there. New cars depreciate when you drive them off the lot. Steeply for the first few years, then leveling a bit. Old cars are usually at the bottom of their value cycle (fuselage cars sure are, anyway), and very very few old cars are worth more than you pay for them/what they cost to fix unless you find an exotic in a barn and the owner doesn't know what they have. There are exceptions, but when it comes to Imperials, 31-33 & 55-63 are the high point of the price/appreciation curve, with convertibles and limousines always popular. Really good, clean cars from most years seem to come next, followed by everything else that's in some varying degree of dis-integration. This based on what similar condition cars fetch across all years when sold on the market with some exceptions. That's monetary value only. I've got stuff from lots of years, so I'm not poking at any year being better/worse - just valued differently in the marketplace. If you have a 1973 and it speaks to you, you're spending money that will likely not be 100% recouped financially; -broke even at best, but it can pay you back in other ways, like in terms of satisfaction. Post 1968 Imperials, and sadly many before that which are not convertibles are not worth a heck of a lot unless absolutely perfect, in comparison to other top-value cars from their respective years. Even being close to perfect isn't enough to bring a higher premium on the fuselage cars at this point in time (which makes them a SUPERIOR purchase for what you get!). The good news is that you're not in the Rambler, Matador, or Hupmobile club, as some other marques are even less well-known than the Imperial, and consequently can struggle to find appreciative ($$) buyers as compared to the '57 chevvy craze that rewards what could be a very commonplace, high production car and puts it on a pedestal that does not neccessarily have a lot to do with engineering or quality, but with craving/popularity amongst buyers. Lots of people really, really like 1957 Chevvys. Nice to well redone cars in similar condition to a good 50k 1973 Imperial can get into 6 figures. Go figure. I got my "good" 1973 for $1000. Put $2000 into it, and the car, while not perfect, is now "pretty good". It's probably worth $1500-2500 depending on who buys it. I am now theoretically in the hole and the car will need rear tires at some point soon. Probably wants an engine rebuild/refresh to be really super. Do that and it's still worth about the same. The good news is that it likely won't go down in value, but I'm not counting on it being something like a finned convertible or early 300 car. Those have gone to $40-$100k. Won't happen before I retire in 30 years unless you want to count on inflation would be my guess. Do what you feel your car deserves. The moment that you introduce economics into your equation, much of what everyone here is doing starts to become wobbly logic at best (don't let the spouse know 'bout that). I'll be happy if I get close to what I have in back out should I sell, and consider any negative difference the cost of the experience/use I got from the car. On the flip side, the car is PAID for, is accumulating no interest payments on a loan, is likely not needing smog checks (if they do that where you live), has cheap parts/registration/insurance (compared to a 200x model), is comfortable, and you can work on it yourself. That is worth something to me. I'm very happy with my 1973. Nobody around town knows what the hell it is, but I'm very happy with it. My money would be better invested in financial instruments, but they don't leave oil stains or take your buddies to dinner. Good luck with your investment decisions. Choose wisely, but not by logic alone, OK? -Kenyon Kenyon Wills ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm