Re: [FWDLK] 57 Dodge Coronet on EBay

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From: Adam Lindenbaum

If the car is really as perfect as stated I would guess the labor of taking a typical 50 year old car to perfection would cost about that much.I think the price really isn't out of line in reality if you look at it that way.

Adam Lindenbaum

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A really good point, and one that seems impossible to reconcile amongst the old car community. What is "value" ?

Many of us happily recall the days when Forward Look cars were a dime-a-dozen and nobody wanted them, but a few of us weirdos. Some were lucky and found pristine originals at junk prices when they were at their low ebb of desirability, but most got a cheap old car that needed a lot of work and the true cost was incurred during restoration. So how much IS an old car worth in terms of parts and restoration ? I paid $125 for my 58 Adventurer convertible in 1981. It was a hulk, delivered on a pallet !!! I paid ten grand for my rust bucket (but very complete and presentable) 58 Fireflite convertible in 1995. I dumped an easy 10K into the Adventurer to make it a nice, rust-free rolling body/chassis. The Fireflite has consumed no less than 20K to restore it to where it is now, and I will easily double that expenditure to finish it. So, what is a car worth ? I will have 50-60K into the restoration of a car I paid 10K for. At Barrett-Jackson I might expect to bid well over 200K to get a car like mine. A car that 25 years ago might be found in Grandma Pittipoo's garage for less than a thousand dollars. A lot of old car guys still operate from that paradigm. I know I would like to ! But that isn't reality anymore.

Some cars (even FL cars) can be had at anytime you want to look for one. Just how many red / white 58 Belvederes are for sale at any given time ? Others are close to impossible to find, even with unlimited funds and a lifetime spent on the hunt. This is how I look at my car. If I had not bought it when I did, there is not a chance in hell that I could own this car today unless I found one in that million-to-one chance find, just quietly resting in a barn somewhere. So how much is a car worth ? How much would all those years searching be worth vs. the time spent enjoying one ? The older I get, the more this last question means to me.

I look at it this way ....

If a run-of-the-mill new car is worth $30,000 or more in pristine condition, and it honestly takes about $40,000 to restore even the cheapest of cars to pristine condition, how is it that a well restored car could be worth any less than the cost it takes to build it ? Or asked differently, how is it that we car guys are still stuck thinking this supposedly restored Coronet could be worth anything less than the cost we all know it takes to restore it ? How many of these same thinkers are making payments on a 30K+ Durango or Jeep right now ? How is it that any really cool car is worth *less* than some dumpy new bar of soap ?

Blue Book thinking ?

We often find ourselves in a strange logic that is completely contrary to itself when this subject comes up. I wish they were all $500 beaters again and no one cared. I liked them just as much at $500 as I do now at $50,000. It isn't about the money. That is, unless it comes time to sell.