| There aren’t a lot of people who have the excess capital to be 50-100k upside down in a hobby. You need a person who cares about the cars, has 100k to spend to restore, has some technical knowledge to do the work and have enough room/tools/time to do said work. That’s a BIG ask these days.
People will justify the above to their significant other if there is a belief (even if not true) that they can at least break even on the other side. On Mar 5, 2024, at 2:55 PM, Ron Waters <ronbo97@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
If you’re concerned about being ‘upside down’, then the perception is that it’s an investment. If you don’t have the skills, then watch videos, attend classes at the local vocational school, read books, ask a relative or friend to teach you, etc.
If you don’t have the money, then get it to the point of drivability and address future repairs as money and time allow. It should be a ‘labor of love’. If you really want to be ‘upside down’, then take a trip to Disneyworld. 10-15K right there, depending on how many kids you have. Ron
I agree it shouldn’t be an investment, but where people struggle is the enormous cost of restoring one of these cars only to be significantly upside down afterwords. Most don’t understand you’ll be upside, but if you started with the car for free, you’re still a good bit upside down. With almost no reproduction parts, every restored car is the by product of parts cars. This guy parted out everything from the car he didn’t use, allowing other people to finish their cars. It’s the best ending for the car. 90% of people who would have bought it for 22k at auction, wouldn’t have the financial ability or technical knowledge to actually restore it. Mike
I would argue the opposite. If demand softens and prices go down, it puts the cars within reach of more folks of modest income who could do a credible job of correctly restoring our cars. The 300E languished on the market and bounced around auctions because, for the amount of work it needed, it was not worth what sellers were asking. It finally sold to the present owner for 22K, which IMHO, was way too high. People tend to view car collecting as an investment, rather than a hobby. How many times have we heard, ‘you shouldn’t restore that because you’ll have more into it than it’s worth’ ? If you’re in this hobby to make money, you’ve made a serious mistake. Go invest in real estate instead. These are difficult times for purists that I suspect many of us are. I’ve struggled with this sort of thing while learning to keep my opinions to myself or if not among the likeminded. Yes the 300 E is among the rarest and automotive history might have been better served had the car been left alone. However there are now plenty of letter cars that have been left alone. There are not enough of us left who want to fix them and the prices keep inching down. I wish this had not happened to this car. On the other hand its future beforehand was in doubt. The car survived even such as it now is. Probably better for it than in the hands of someone without the capital or inclination to restore it properly. When I see things like this I come home and pat my F on the roof, reminding it and myself how lucky I am we have each other!. I'm not a "hot rod" or a "restomod" guy but even among those types of cars, I find this to be very unattractive. And that's not because he butchered a 1959 300E. The description says the roof pillars and doors are modified. Realistically, he could have started with a 4-door sedan Windsor and made this. I recognize there is a lot of work, skill and craftmanship in this but it sure illustrates beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I also understand the guy who owns the car and pays the bills gets to make the decision. I just don't get why someone would use a real, salvageable letter car when the final product is so far from where it started anyway. Virtually any 1959 Chrysler (including a complete parts car) could have been used. Maybe I'm too narrow minded and in the minority because the judges in Detroit obviously liked it. Evidently it wasn’t such a waste.
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