Want to Pay to Restore and then sell my 1956 Mark II. C5601503

[Amcontinental]

Interesting: the picture # 7 is from an Avanti dashboard!

Great pick up!! That’s another car I inherited from my father. Don’t care nearly as much about that one.

[Amcontinental]

Correct no labor. This was a veiled attempt to demonstrate that the business plan of paying someone to transport the car, fix the car, detail the car, and sell the car is not a good idea. It is a plan which most likely ends in a negative cash flow. All of these costs are expensive and the selling price points are low. There isn't much margin here. He's not going to get back dollar for dollar.

Another option is sell it on bring a trailer, it could bring $12,000 to $20,000 as it sits.

Thanks for this. Are these cars really not worth much? My car runs, but overheats; so it wouldn't take much to get into drivable condition (I think). So as beautiful as these cars are, they are really not "collectibles"; more like " sentimentals," right? A drivable version in great condition can't go for $50K?

[jdsnoddy]

That's why you need a professional appraisal.
Values range from around $12000 for a complete project.
To $750,000 for a flawless #1 car.
You can take it to a professional restorer and easily spend $300,000. Most cars currently for sale are in the $45,000 to $35,000 range. These cars are drivers; they are not show cars. Larry had a 99 point car for sale for just over $100,000. He had a flawless car and countless hours invested. So, in short, values vary based on condition.
It is super easy to get upside down in any classic car especially when you hire out all the work. Everyone gets paid but you.


Please go to the for sale section of this forum. Look at the cars currently for sale. Getting $50,000 for these cars means you have a car in superior condition and it usually costs big money to hire people to get it there.

Many cars for sale start out overpriced. They stay unsold for many months or years. Eventually prices are reduced to a reasonable price based on market conditions. It's a very competitive market and your car has to be the best at that price point; economics 101.

[Milsteads Garage]

I did a post not too long about overheating and steps I took to correct it. Not the end of the world.

[Knickoliss Iv]

A Mark II is not an investment car. I am in somewhere around $8,000 in parts for the chassis assembly only. Front and rear suspension all related, driveshaft, brakes, all lines, fuel,brake, and exhaust. There is still more I need. Hardware, paint, tires, miscellaneous parts. I have about $200 in on metal to make brackets just to mount the chassis on the rotisserie. Oh and a days work making them. In a shop you will pay that so there's about $1,400 (at $150 per hour shop rate) for something that will never be on the car when completed. Further down the line is the physical cleaning, media blasting, painting, and finally reassembly of all parts. I am doing all of my own work if not imagine how much I'd be upside down in labor. You have to restore a Mark II because you like it, not to make money. They aren't very valuable indeed because of availability. It was a special car back then so people held onto them so the advantage that so many are accounted for is also the disadvantage economically. Did I mention that this is all for the chassis assembly only?

[Barry Wolk]

When I test drove my car it had some type of transmission hiccup that shook the whole car. I babied it and I never happened again.The seller said it never happened before, but I learned to not trust much of what he told me. A transmission guy that lost his shop did private transmission work diagnosed it and said the engine had to come out. He told me to have it pulled and send the trans out to a shop at 8 & Southfield. They rebuilt it, even after finding out there was nothing wrong with the workings of the trans. They did it because they were told to.

I had had the engine removed by another hobby shop guy at a cost of $2,800 2002 dollars. The rebuild cost $800 more, but it went back together and had the same problem. I was fit to be tied. I couldn't be mad at the guy that took it apart and put it back together again. I couldn't be mad at the trans shop so I had words with the guy. He offered to check it again and found it had a bad pressure regulator that was easily replaced through the pan. He swapped one from his Thunderbird and the problem was fixed. In that time shop time has gone from $35 hr to $150 hr.

The problem was fixed. I thanked him but avoided him when I could.

Like most have said, it's a labor of love. It's great to have the family connection. That's a great story. If I had the means I would do it simply because I could. We're just cautioning you that realizing a profit from its survival could get expensive.

There's a whole class of cars called Survivors. I believe one took a top prize at Pebble Beach. Not every car that's perfect is valuable. I agree with the sentiment that they're not very rare.