Hey guys just looking for some advice on what would bring the best money for my car. I have the 49 chevy coupe pictured below that is a very nice original car. To orginal for me to the point I don't want to start modding it. It is bone stock with a updated valve train 216. I was going to modify it with a period correct 261 that I had built with patric cam out of a 54 chevy truck with the only year of short shaft waterpump so it was a straight drop in. I also had a 51 powerglide torque tube with 3:55 gears to replace the unfriendly highway 4:11 behind the 216. All new LUK clutch kit and engine mounts. (I wasn't going to use the turbo setup in the picture that was for another project perhaps). Also had the blocks and springs to drop the car 4". My question is would I be better of selling this car as a nice running original daily driver and sell the engine and parts seperate or go ahead and drop the built 261 in and slam the car down and try and sell it. Thanks for any input guys!
Worth more upgraded than stock, unless it's a super low milage car that's all original (paint, interior, etc). However if your time is money, it works out to a wash in the long run.
I would sell it stock and also offer the buyer the opportunity to buy all the upgrade stuff you have. That way he knows he's getting an original "uncut" car that already drives along with the upgraded parts and you are not losing time and money re: your labor. Plus he gets to have the fun of building it himself.
Sell it like it is. You'll have a larger number of people interested. If somebody wants a stocker, it's a nice one. If somebody wants a hot rod, then they can hot rod it the way they want to.
stock. a lot of potential buyers would think 350/350. easy to do and have a sweet, reliable car. I think the mods would not only drive up the price but limit the appeal. my take on it.
Is the bottom line, making the most money? If so sell it as the stone stocker, and sell the engine as is. Remember your time does have value, and time and parts can't always be recovered in a sale.
I totally agree I have plenty else i need to be doing with my time. To be honest with ya the biggest reason I even considered doing before selling is to because I have been driving this weak stocker at 60mph to work and every show and cruise in the state for the past year while building this 261 and I have a huge curiousity of how it would have run in this car with the new gears, but not at the cost of hurting my pocket book right now.....does that make any sense? I appreciate all the feedback guys!
Im going to try and fix up my 52 on a real cheap budget so i can sell it. Its no where near as nice as yours looks though. Im just going to fix the rust holes (not with bondo), get the brakes working, buy new tires, and rebuild the holley carb so it can be driven. Im guessing it will be worth about $3500 when im done. its worth about $1500 now. To me anyways.
Sell it Stock...then potential buyers can dream of what they want to do to the car...Modified...ya gotta find the right buyer that can live with your mods... Bigger buyer pool...Stock...IMHO I'm lookin for a daily...how much?
sell it as is. oh yeah... thanks for not ****ing up a nice stocker. hopefully the next guy will appreciate it for what it is as well.
Sell it stock. Modified is great, but most will want to mod it to their liking, so you limit your buyers when doing a mod.
I think we are headed for a change in car pricing. In a town of around 70,000 people there are five hot rod shops that will do anything for a buck. They are all busy in this poor economy. Un molested cars are going to bring a lot more than a car somebody spent $120,00 to $200,000 to customize. It is a matter of supply and demand. There was a real nice 38 Ford convertible on e-bay a couple of weeks ago, it was copped and had a sbc. There were only a small number of these cars made.The car only got $30,000 offer which included a camper trailer painted to match the car. I would have paid $30,000 for the car if it was stock. I think the stock car would have brought $40,000 to $50,000 easy. I think the trend in a few years will be to restore a lot of high dollar cars to original. This will be real expensive.
Sorry to bring back a 6 month old thread but I decided to sell the car finally and kept it stock. I put it up for no reserve on ebay. Thanks for the input. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chev...3e8QQitemZ110721680360QQptZUSQ5fCarsQ5fTrucks
I don't even understand some of the replies to the thread, I've researched values on a bunch of cars when we've had them to sell. A good example is a 49-51 Ford Woodie. Stock, nice, you can buy them all day for $30,000-$35,000. Turnkey hot rod with the usual upgrades - late model engine, trans, disc brakes, new suspension, all the power toys, etc. - $45,000 to $65,000. That might be down some with the economy and market these days. This particular car, it's a nice stocker and I'm sure it will sell/sold easily. The 261 as an upgrade is kind of an odd choice, but if you did it cookie-cutter with a small block and the 1-800 kits for a M-II front end, Vintage Air, a new tilt column, and so on - it's going to bring more money. In fact based on what I remember from researching these, you'd double the selling price of an average stocker. The only real key is to not make the car so personalized/individual that the uniqueness turns people off. But at the same time the upgrades make the car more easily enjoyed without the additional maintenance and attention the early drivetrain requires. That ups the buyer pool. But the general public is car-dumb, 9 times out of 10 the guy who thinks an old car with all the paint baked off and a coat of surface rust is junk, is completely fooled by a ****py coat of shiny paint. I do hate to see a nice original car cut up, but the trickle-down is the original parts may end up helping a less nice car go back on the road instead of being parted out.
If I had the money I'd buy it just the way it is...not even sure I'd upgrade it. That's a nice stock driver IMO.
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