But it's a Classic! It's Priceless! No, it isn't!!

I talk to people all the time who have over-invested in and over-restored their cars, and are shocked when they try to sell them and find they can't begin to recoup even half their investment. Here's some good tips so you don't fall into this trap. #1 If it isn't broke, don't fix it. I know a guy who didn't follow this rule. I don't begrudge him wanting to rebuild the engine on his car. But he replaced the power steering pump, even though it worked perfectly, didn't make any noise, and didn't leak. He also replaced the alternator and starter, even though they worked perfectly and bench-tested fine. He replaced the radiator, even though the stock one didn't leak, wasn't clogged up, and cooled the old engine just fine, even in 95 degree weather. I could go on, but you get the drift. He spent a lot of money unnecessarily, that drove his restoration cost way up, but didn't increase the value of the car one ounce. #2 A deal isn't always a deal. Sometimes your better off spending more money and just buying a better car. Especially if the car your looking at is missing important and expensive parts, or needs work beyond your capabilities-i.e. a bent frame, or a car with water or fire damage. #3 A Musclecar is a toy, not a retirement plan. There are only a handful of cars that are worth restoring from a "basket case" or that you could actually make money on. Here's the list- in no particular order. #1 Any 1966-71 Hemi powered Chrysler vehicle. #2 Any "Boss" 302 or Boss 429 Mustang. #3 Any 1965-70 "Shelby" Mustang. #4 Any 1969-70 Dodge Charger Daytona or Plymouth Superbird. #5 Any Z16, LS6 or Yenko Chevelle. #6 Any Ram Air IV or Ram Air V Pontiac GTO or Firebird. #7 Any L88 Corvette. #8 Any 1973-74 SD-455 Pontiac Trans-Am or Formula Firebird. #9 Any 1968-69 Hurst/Olds. #10 Any 427  Ford Fairlane or Galaxie. #11 Any 1969-71 Pontiac GTO "Judge". #12 Any 1967-69 Z/28 or Yenko Camaro. #13 Any 1970 Buick "GSX". That's a baker's dozen, and that's about it for cars that are "Investments". The reason being, is a few years ago at the height of the craziness people were paying insane money for clones. Everyone was turning clunker Tempests and Le Mans models into GTOs, small-block two-door Malibus into SS396 and SS454 clones, two-door Satellites and Coronets into Super Bee and Road Runner/GTX's. Numbers matching or not, theres a lot of everything else on the market. No matter how nice it is, you are not going to pay off your house by selling your 340 Road Runner. #4 I just listed most of the desirable super-rare cars. Two-speed automatics, three-speed sticks, four-speed bench seat or column-shifted automatic bucket seat cars, radio or heater-delete cars, two-barrel engines, and so on, aren't collectible, their just weird, and no one but you thinks their cool. #5 A super-rare car missing a critical component-i.e. a Hemi car without the Hemi engine for example, or a Boss 429 without the Boss 429 engine, is not a deal no matter how cheap it is, because the cost and time an trouble involved in procuring a usable original engine and all the brackets, tin, and accesories,-if you could find one for sale at any price-would be just about impossible. #6 Unless you have a lot of money, and want to race it at the Monterey Historics or on the vintage racing circuit, old race cars are a horrible investment. So you find one of the "B.F. Goodrich Tirebirds campaigned in the 1970 Trans-Am series. It's still a gutted 1970 Firebird Race Car. The ultra rare- Ram Air IV Headed 303 Pontiac engines proved unreliable so it won't have that in it. It probably won't have one of the 485 hp 302 Chevys that most of them were campaigned with. Doubtless someone in the past took that to restore a 67-69 Z/28. It'll probably have a junk 350 Chevy or junk 350 or 400 Pontiac in it, if it has an engine at all. The made in england ultra-rare,ultra expensive mini-lite wheels will be long gone. So what are you going to do with it? You can't race it in any modern class, and the cost of returning it to street trim would be so prohibitive, you'd just be better off buying an already restored "Regular" T/A. Hope this helps everyone out. Mastermind