After reading numerous posts on here mainly about cars listed on ebay makes me wonder. Do you think our chevelles are worth more money than they are getting on the market? I just finished my 65 Beaumont and did all the work myself except for some help on final body prep and painting. I have had it appraised and it came in at what I kinda figured it would. After looking at what I spent to do this and not really even looking at my labour I probably could never recover all my costs if I wanted to sell.. Now I didn't restore this to factory correctness, but to a very presentable car. Trying to find trim parts for a Beaumont is next to impossible. I have seen lots of pics of some exremely well done cars on this site. They are absolutely beautiful examples of the cars of the 60's and 70's. How do you fellas feel about this. I think they should be worth a lot more money. Just my opinion


Jerry

Well, that's a double edged sword. If the prices shot up fewer and fewer people would be able to be in the hobby. And fewer and fewer people who are in it for the love of the cars would participate. I remember in the 1980's when values of these cars shot up, especially Corvettes. They were, at the time, a better investment than real estate! That was not good for the hobby in any way.

It would be nice to be able to recover the cost of restoring a car if it came time to sell. But value is a hard thing to judge. Something is worth what someone is willing to pay. Also, a wealthy person is willing to pay a lot more for a marginal car than the more well informed but less wealthy buyer might be.

I believe many of the top end cars out there are way overpriced. Maybe that's just because I wish I could personally someday afford a Z16 or an LS6 which given the way things are right now will never be the case.

I'm happy that my car is fairly highly valued, but that's not my motivation for having the car or restoring the car. I have WAY more in the car than I could ever get out of it. Again, that's not what motivates me personally.

I will agree more with Rich on this point.

I am in this hobby because I love it. Not as any kind of investment.

Sure it is a shame that, if someone has to sell a recently completed restoration for some reason, they will likely not get their money back out of it.

But if the cars were worth more than the costs of restoring, etc, then more investors would be in it, and less enthusiasts... I really would hope anyone looking at these cars as an investment would lose money bigtime...

Like Rich, I would love a nice Z16 or LS6 (maybe a convertible too), but doubtful I will ever get the chance. I guess I really could afford one, but I have priorities and a family. Heck, I would love to get a true SS convertible project car, but even those are almost beyond the realm.

Everyone seems to think his/her car is worth $$$. I am no different, if you wanted to buy my car, I would want way more than what I could buy a replacement for. And then with something like Ebay, I think alot of people go crazy with bidding, so that in turn causes other sellers to overprice their car in hopes someone will bite...

I sold a 65 Impala Convertible (non-SS) last year. 85K, 327, not much else. Relatively rust free and running California black plate car, but needed a complete resto (every panel had numerous dings, needed a fender, etc, top ripped, engine leaked water from freeze plugs). I had all the paperwork: POP, window sticker, etc (it was my grandmothers car).

I listed it on Ebay, figuring it was worth about $3K... It was up to over $6K with almost 2 days left on the auction...

I freaked (stupid me?), stopped the auction and sold it locally to a guy for the $3K I thought it was worth (I guess I am kinda a nice honest guy ;) )... I kick myself everyday now thinking of what that extra $3K+ could have bought for my Chevelle.

But I think my conscience would have bugged me worse had I actually sold it to someone willing to pay that much...

I am sure anyone with an Impala in similar shape would see that ad and think theirs is worth at least that much... and the prices go up...

As for appraisals, I would trust them too much... I have seen appraisers give clone cars the same value as true SS cars (even though the marketplace indicates clones are worth less). I wonder how many of the appraisers are licensed, etc?

So you could buy or build... Building gets you exactly what you want and you know what you got (quality). Buying means your likely have to sacrifice and are taking a risk on all aspects of the vehicle... Building too, I can invest a little at a time taking many years, but not having to pay interest or drop a huge sum of cash...

For me, the labor is therapuetic... Its funny, my wife asked me why, if I enjoy working on my car so much, then why am I always swearing when I work on it...

Boy, I could just write all day smile.gif

I realized before I started this project that I would never probably be able to get my $$ back out of it if it became necessary. I did it also for the fun and experience. I had lots of both.I guess its just now I realize what some people went through to get their car to that point. I just feel for those people that have to sell knowing full well that it might be because they need the money and they will not recoup a good part of their investment.


Jerry