Editing Assessing restoration jobs

==Overview== Automobile restoration is a mega-dollar enterprise. Cars that sold originally for MUCH less than even the least expensive vehicle sold today can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars at Barrett-Jackson, Gooding & Company, Kruse, Christie's, RM Auctions, and Sotheby's to name some of the better known auctions. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_expensive_cars_sold_in_auction Click] to see a Wiki page on world records for auctioned vehicles. ==Survivor vs. restoration== A car that is totally stock, including paint, engine, chassis, interior, etc. is worth more then one that is rebuilt and/or repainted to look like new. That means if the finish or interior or mechanicals are reasonably good condition it's better to leave it as a "survivor" in many cases than it is to do a less-than-perfect restoration. The value will be exceptional if it's a desirable vehicle and the money saved by NOT doing a restoration will only increase the profit margin of a survivor vehicle. ==Muscle cars== [http://www.autorestorermagazine.com/ar/ Auto Restorer Magazine.com] along with a host of other magazines and TV shows have featured articles on muscle cars sold at auction that were originally from performance-orientated dealerships that briefly flourished in the late 1960s into the 1970s, like: ;CHEVY :Baldwin-Motion :Berger Chevrolet :Dana Chevrolet :Fred Gibb Chevrolet :Nickey Chevrolet :Yenko Chevrolet ;DODGE :Grand-Spaulding Dodge ;FORD :Tasca Ford ;PONTIAC :Royal Pontiac These cars have sold for huge amounts, rivaling even some of the classic cars of the thirties and European makes as well. ==''Too'' perfect?== Sometimes the mistake is made of restoring a vehicle to a "better than factory" state. There has been much written on how vehicles should be restored; instead of being perfect, they should have the same "flaws" like paint overspray, etc. as the original vehicles had coming straight off the assembly line to the dealership. [[Category:General hotrodding]] [[category:Body and exterior]]

| Editing help (opens in new window)