Friday, February 06, 1998
A Classical
Fribble
by George Runkle
(TMF Runkle)
Recently, there was a post on the "Buying a Car" board on AOL about getting an old classic car. Is it worth it? As an owner of a restored 1964 Thunderbird, I think I am uniquely qualified to comment on this. The first thing to remember is a car's age is like dog-years, seven to every one human year. So, a ten-year-old car is like a seventy-year-old man. Still can be vigorous, but showing signs of age. However, like that seventy-year-old man, if that car wasn't taken care of, it can be having real problems by now. A twelve-year-old car is really going, and by about fourteen, which is about 98 in human years, a car has done all it can. Like a 98-year-old man, it drools all the time, but it drools oil, transmission fluid, and antifreeze. When I look at those stains on my garage floor, I get to wishing they made "Depends" for cars.
Now, you've just seen an add for a 1967 Mustang with a 289 V-8, just like you had as a teenager. Wouldn't it be great to own one again? What would it be like?
First off, the Mustang wouldn't be bad. They are popular enough as a restored car that a strong after-market exists for parts. However, that '65 Volvo that your sister has in her garage is another story. It's not easy to find the more difficult parts for all cars. The power brake assist unit died on my Thunderbird, and I had to send it to a guy in Chicago to have it rebuilt. There were no new ones on the market.
This brings us to another problem with having that classic car. Did you understand what a power brake assist unit was? If not, I wouldn't mess with that Mustang. Although it probably doesn't have power brakes, if you are not mechanically inclined, you'll have a real hard time with that classic. I don't do everything on my Thunderbird, but it takes a lot of mechanical know-how to chase down the parts, and for some things, it's not worth paying a mechanic to do it. There are just too many hoses to replace, too many parts that have to be sent off to be rebuilt, and too much time spent up on jack stands.
Going forward from jack stands. You'll probably spend a lot of time working on that '67 Mustang. You'll want to get the rust fixed on the body, the upholstery replaced, and maybe the engine rebuilt. Also, if you live up North where they salt the roads, you won't want to expose it to corrosion in the winter. If you live by the coast, you don't want it getting salt on it by parking it close to the ocean. In summary, old cars make lousy daily transportation. It ruins them fast (like when the lady dings your door at the supermarket parking lot), and they need a lot of work.
Speaking about working on the car, at the very minimum, you will probably need to have that old car repainted. A cheap acceptable paint job will cost you over $1,000. Of course, we can argue about what is "acceptable." You may settle for a $199.95 special, or may want the $5,000 job from the custom shop down the street. There's the coffee-stained carpet to replace, along with the nicotine stained headliner. Oh, the new master cylinder for the brakes too. It adds up. For me, I spent over $3,000 on the Thunderbird getting it in shape after I inherited it. I tried driving it once before the restoration, and its brakes failed when the master cylinder went, which is not a pleasant experience. You don't want to drive an old clunker that has the equivalent age of 150 human years before getting it in shape.
When I was working on the Thunderbird, it sat on jack stands for over a year while I did a slow motion repair. It didn't matter, I didn't pay for it; my mother did in 1965. I didn't need it for transportation; I had my own car for that (the famous Foolmobile which went to 225,000 miles). I had the space in the garage, so that didn't matter either. So, the annoyance factor was down, and since I spread the repairs out, it didn't hurt my budget as much as it might have.
What about the value of this restored car? Compared to the value of the same money put in stocks, it's a certifiably lousy investment. Like anything else, value is determined by demand. If your restored car is your grandmothers old 1968 Ford Galaxy that she only drove to bingo on Saturdays, it isn't worth much more than those little wooden bingo chips. If you have a 1957 Thunderbird, you can probably sell it for enough money to buy your own (although very small) country. In general, you will be lucky if your classic car is worth what you put into it. Also, selling one takes time. You may have to bring it to a car show, like the one they have in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, or advertise it nationally in Hemmings Motor News. That's not the liquidity you would want for an investment.
Is owning a classic car worth it? Yes, if:
1. You don't need it for daily transportation.
2. It doesn't present a drag on your finances.
3. You have a lot of patience and mechanical knowledge.
If you don't have those three, get a picture of the car you like, and enjoy that. Then take on an easier and cheaper hobby, like HO trains.
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