Money We Spend On Our Old Mopars

[rumble48]

Some of my mess of cars...Don't even want to know over the years how much I have blown on the cars and tools/equipment.

great pics!  as for receipts, I collect them, but I don't count them......

[1941Rick]

It is not hard to spend a bucket of cash on a car to get a cool cruiser. Then you find out you can get a few cents on the dollar for them. If they were chev of ford they would bring bigger bucks. I keep all receipts just for insurance purposes. Have to be able to prove its worth at least 25G.

[Plymouthy Adams]

While keeping a list for insurance purposes may be advantageous in home upgrades..the cars are more a listed top end value..and at a stated level of coverage pre-agreed to by both parties and as been discovered..level of coverage is still questionable on payout back to you the insured...it's a  never ending equation..make a change..change your level of coverage..am afraid that any other method may leave you on the short end of the stick...

[T120]

Some of my mess of cars...Don't even want to know over the years how much I have blown on the cars and tools/equipment.

 Bob,Nice to have the space to have kept the cars over the years.A good example of brand loyalty. (the vehicles)

 

Automotive therapy. Cheaper than a shrink, and a lot more fun.

Frankie,Have to agree with ya...

[Dodgeb4ya]

I do have a few too many cars and trucks in my shop but I am a mechanic so it's just natural for me to have plenty of cars and projects to work on at home. I do keep receipts but never look back at them. I also like tools and buy and collect tons of them too. Thats another expensive venture of mine.

I don't want to hurt anyones feelings but currently am not adopting or letting any Vagabonds move in at this time!

Bob

[Robert Horne]

You do not have to spend alot of money to have a nice ride.

In 1986, I paid $800 for a pair of 38 Coupes.

Most of my repairs, and parts came from donor vehicles, trading for parts, or free.

About $300 for my engine, 5 speed trans, and rearend.

About $30 for all the interior, seat, headliner, panels, etc.

I think, the biggest expense was the new glass, and rubber.

Even if my Coupe was not driveable today, I have enjoyed every hour my Son and I

spent on it, and every hour I will spend on it....money is just another tool to do the job....

Edited March 18, 2013 by Robert Horne

[james curl]

Robert, it is not how much you spend on your hobby, as it is a hobby.  If you expect to get you outlay back when you sell the vehicle then it becomes a business decision on when to draw the line in the sand so as not to lose money.  I have no intention of selling my 48 P-15 4 door and had no trouble putting more money in the engine than a crate motor from GM costs.  My car now needs a paint job and an interior, both which will be done someday, but as now they do not interfere with my pleasure in driving my old car.  Car shows are not my thing as I find them to be very boring after the first 30 minutes to one hour that it takes to check out all of the old stuff.  Any thing after 48/49 is new car to me, first cars that I could have bought off of the showroom floor myself.  I am more interested it the way people solve their mechanical problems and improvements such as your 5 speed project.  But in the end it should be a hobby if you are truly into old cars and not an investment, that is what gold and silver as well as stocks are for.

[1941Rick]

You are right it is a hobby. There is no such thing as fun that does not cost money. Boy am I having fun...

[mrwrstory]

Golf, fishing,....quilting, stamp collecting and travel cost money.  It's just a matter of choices.

[Merle Coggins]

Golf, fishing,....quilting, stamp collecting and travel cost money.  It's just a matter of choices.

 

And since I don't golf, fish, quilt, or collect stamps, I sink my money into my truck or motorcycle. Hobbys that I enjoy. I have a rough idea what I spend on my initial build, but I don't want to know the detail. I don't ever plan to sell it, so why worry about how much I have into it and how much I'll get out of it. What I get out of it now is a lot of fun.

 

Merle

[Robert Horne]

 

Robert, it is not how much you spend on your hobby, as it is a hobby.  If you expect to get you outlay back when you sell the vehicle then it becomes a business decision on when to draw the line in the sand so as not to lose money.  I have no intention of selling my 48 P-15 4 door and had no trouble putting more money in the engine than a crate motor from GM costs.  My car now needs a paint job and an interior, both which will be done someday, but as now they do not interfere with my pleasure in driving my old car.  Car shows are not my thing as I find them to be very boring after the first 30 minutes to one hour that it takes to check out all of the old stuff.  Any thing after 48/49 is new car to me, first cars that I could have bought off of the showroom floor myself.  I am more interested it the way people solve their mechanical problems and improvements such as your 5 speed project.  But in the end it should be a hobby if you are truly into old cars and not an investment, that is what gold and silver as well as stocks are for.

 This 38 project has been so much more than a hobby for the past 26 years, and for hopefully many more years. It has been my therapy for when difficult time come along. I have spent hours and hours on the speedometer and gauges to try to keep them close to original, rather than just buy ones in good condition.

My Coupe will never be a show car, for sure, but it gets alot of thumbs up at the cruise-ins, and along the highway. Not very many flatheads around here.

[DCurrent]

Here is another way to justify spending money on an old car. Thousands of folks spend $20,000 -$40,000 on a new car every day only to trade it in 5 years later For $5,000. If you have $15,000 in an old car while having fun, chances are 5 years later you will still get a better return than 20% back. No you probably won't get the full amount invested, but again better than 20%. Likely more than 70% back! That's how I talk my wife into spending the money anyway!

Darren

[TodFitch]

Here is another way to justify spending money on an old car. Thousands of folks spend $20,000 -$40,000 on a new car every day only to trade it in 5 years later For $5,000. If you have $15,000 in an old car while having fun, chances are 5 years later you will still get a better return than 20% back. No you probably won't get the full amount invested, but again better than 20%. Likely more than 70% back! That's how I talk my wife into spending the money anyway!

Darren

I find it is a lot easier and cheaper to have the oldest car on the block rather than the newest car.

 

It is amazing the number of people in very expensive high end cars that give us a "thumbs up" when we are out driving around. I guess they don't realize that my car has a market value that is 1/10th of their car. And I'll have mine next year while they will probably feel their vehicle is obsolete and needs replacement because it isn't the latest and greatest.

[austinsailor]

Here is another way to justify spending money on an old car. Thousands of folks spend $20,000 -$40,000 on a new car every day only to trade it in 5 years later For $5,000. If you have $15,000 in an old car while having fun, chances are 5 years later you will still get a better return than 20% back. No you probably won't get the full amount invested, but again better than 20%. Likely more than 70% back! That's how I talk my wife into spending the money anyway!

Darren

 

So true. I sometimes feel guilty about the 2 drivers and 4 or 5 projects in the works. This fall I was considering a new truck, but was having trouble justifying it.

 

Then I added up what my wife has spent on high end cars in the last 10 years, and compared that to my 2 trucks (including the new one I just bought)  and all the old ones mentioned above, throw in the Boss Hoss motorcycle I bought recently, and realized after the math I was WAY behind. She does too, and never complains.

 

Another way to look at it. A friend is into Model T Fords. Recently he was trying to convince me to get one. My wife heard him and said, "Steve, he doesn't need to drag home a model T."  He replied "Would you rather have  him drag home a model T or a model DD?"  She thought about 3 seconds and said "I guess if you want a Model T you should get one."

Edited March 18, 2013 by austinsailor

[martybose]

I refuse to keep track of the money I spend on my cars.  If I had to guess, I've probably spent $20K on the 47 over the last 2 decades, but who cares.  I've also spent a few grand extra on my 2002 BMW M Coupe.  I've also probably spent $15K on my commute car, a 1990 Honda Civic with over 290K miles on it, but there isn't a drivetrain or braking piece in it that hasn't been rebuilt and upgraded, and it is a hoot to drive.  I don't care if the rest of the world thinks it's a $2K car, it's worth every cent I've put in it to me!

 

Marty

 

PS  What I spend on cars is nothing compared to what the wife and daughter spend on the 2 horses, so they don't hassle me about it either!

Edited March 19, 2013 by martybose

[DCurrent]

^{Hey there aren't no $500 computers to go bad on these old cars either!}

[Young Ed]

I've not spent a huge sum on either my car or truck. The truck has older paint thats presentable the car really needs paint. When we told a few people that we were expecting they asked if I was going to have to sell my old cars. I of course said no and asked why would I have to?

[pflaming]

To some extent the cost of restoring is perfection based. I'm convinced there are always two choices and two prices on most expensive expenses. Impulse is very costly so patience is one choice and brand buying is another. I have a high regard for those who rebuid to exactness but also to those who are creative builders. I am not a restorer just a novice 'cleaner upper', thus my interest in the original patina finish. One exception is safety. I'm getting on in age so I have some friends who marvel at what I'm doing.

 

This truck has siginificantly reduced my pharmacy expenses, maybe extended my life,  and I will have something to play with when I get done playing. Oh, and I have a second vehical waiting in the house garage.

[Don Coatney]

I have seen folks dump thousands of bucks into a old car only to end up with something they cannot drive around the block with out calling a tow truck. Most of these folks do not have a clue about what makes there car work but they have a fat wallet and a desire to be cool by owning an antique car. They come here to ask questions about what they should tell there mechanic to do next. 

 

I have seen others who want the old car experiance but they do not know how things work nor how to do research.They have selective hearing and do not listen to the correct answers but only listen to what they want to hear. They end up spending more money to fix there car incorrectly.

 

I have seen others who buy an old vehicle and first thing they do is strip it to the frame with dreams of building a super car that will be on the cover of hot rod magazine. They spend gobs of money on what they think they need but soon lose interest. Ten years later the vehicle gets crushed as nobody wants to buy a disassembled vehicle.

 

I have seen others scrimp and save, do all the work themselves, comprehend what the old timers tell them about how things work, do there own research, and build a car that can be driven anywhere anytime.

 

So as I see it the bottom line of what you spend is a direct indication of what your skill level is and how much research you do yourself.

[Scruffy49]

"I have seen others scrimp and save, do all the work themselves, comprehend what the old timers tell them about how things work, do there own research, and build a car that can be driven anywhere anytime." -DC

 

This. I've been in the garage since I could stand on the bumper or sit on the fender and change points in Dad's 73 F100 360/C6 and Grandpa's 60 D100 A318/3spd. I'm 40 so about 36 years... My uncle owns a rod shop, apprenticed with him. One of the neighbors was an old time scooter bum, apprenticed with him to learn vintage motorcycle repairs. Had my first 1930s motorcycle, built by me with his tutelage, when I was 15.

 

I'm doing my trucks a piece at a time. The 69 needs to be rewired and have some rust repair. Farm use primarily, so no great rush. The nose is pulled from the 49 right now to make it easier to pull the dead 218 (lots of broken rings, heard them go tinkling into the pan). Good time to overhaul the front suspension, clean and paint (Rustoleum brush on since I already have it) the front of the chassis, repair and paint the front clip (with bomb cans, it's an old truck, not a show car). Then the bed can be fixed, rear suspension overhauled, chassis cleaned and painted.One wheel cleaned, primed and topcoated at a time, then the wide white goes on and it gets put in the barn for storage.

 

I'm 85% disabled and rather financially challenged. Doing a little here and a little there on my toys helps me stay focused on what's good instead of dwelling on what is screwed up in my life. No hurry on any of it. I'd do the work myself with help from the forums even if I could afford a 100 point restoration. 100% shiny new better than stock isn't what I'm into. Hardest part for me will be the engine work, I know the donor 230 needs attention too.

 

Take my time, do the best work I can do, use what I can afford (scrounge or repurpose mostly), build something I can enjoy cruising in without worrying that a high dollar paint job will get dinged or similar nonsense.

 

A pre-muscle era Mopar (with a few exceptions) has next to no collector value. I intend to have fun with my pair of them.

[Larry Wood]

I kept very detailed records of money spent when I started my restoration........after the divorce, not so much.  Its better to not know the exact amount spent and to keep repeating to yourself, "Its a hobby, not an investment."

 

Larry

[Barabbas]

When I got my P23 I told myself that I would not spend over $7500 reconditioning her.  I kept decent records for 3 years and found I was I approaching the limt, so I stopped...stopped keeping records that is

[Chuck51631]

Why do we spend the  money? Simple, we enjoy our cars. I also like to think, it is my way of preserving our automotive history. If we all gave up our hobby, Plymouth, DeSoto, Rambler, Studebaker, Hudson, Nash, Mercury, Pontiac and the list goes on would be forgotten.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Some of my cars are natural draws to the community...my 51 Packard hearse gets so many folks stopping by to photograph it and such..just a minute ago I had a knock at the door and guy wanting to buy the vehicle for a prop...took his name and number in case I do decide to sell...but..it eats nothing ..