Hot Rods Do People Really Spend like This?

I bet its much more enjoyable to drive and own your A vs that coupe.

Owning a perfect car will give you ulcers and ass aches. Building perfect cars makes some guys famous. Fame can give you ulcers ass aches as well.

Still can't see 350 hrs into making a body part.
Now,, if they changed their mind 10 times and they had the guy modify it 11 times or build 11 different ones to get to the perfect example,,, well maybe thats how 350 hrs gets past and tallied. R&D time had to go someplace.

I know a little about one off parts and flow and 350 hrs still seems off.

 

One thing for sure it's really easy to under estimate time you spend on something ...
can't tell you how many times I have sat down thinking it will only take a couple hours and I'm still on it two days later ..

When the time clock keeps track it's scary how fast time passes... Unless of course you want to go home...

 

IMHO: A car like that will probably be a trailer queen all its life. It more than likely never be driven (at least on the public hiways), and make it's life being displayed at hi end car shows tryin to win the ultimate trophys at each event so the owner can brag about his "hot rod". It will rarely be started & will probably be pushed around by handlers with white gloves. I always wonder who will have the kind of cash to aquire these kind of builds when the rich owner gets bored with it & has to take a loss on it when he decides to get rid of it. Waaaaaay out of my league. I still enjoy looking at them though. I can't hardly afford to put my junk together as it is. Bill

 

You forgot the Dadgum Mullett market!
No Badger Hair repro's now...

 

Every Friday evening ,a bunch of us hot rod hoodlums gather at Wendy's to tell lies and the like. Last night this car was the topic of the conversation and the overall cost. I figured at least a quarter million. When I see one off wheels, I figure they have more in the wheels than I have in my whole car. But this isn't anything new. Those people that can afford to spend that kind of money give us guys something to talk about Bill

 

A largely circulated newspaper here in Southern California wrote an article on a local very well known, big-name builder. This was maybe twenty years ago. It was describing the time and efforts involved in competing for the AMBR trophy. One of the details mentioned was the brake pedal. 150 hours @ $100.00 = 15k ... For a brake pedal.
The effort invested in that shell doesn't surprise me.

 

I have put 300 hours into a grille shell before but that included all the sitting and drinking beer while I figured out how I wanted to go about it.

 

Maybe it's a frame of mind?....if ya' got that kind of money, and want precision work...maybe it's worth it?...that kind of money spent on a car, would leave me terrified to actually drive it on the road!-----Perhaps, it is considered an extreme investment, just like a fine painting on a wall...don't drive it, or touch it...but appreciate it from a distance .....I've just never had that kind of money so I may be a bit naïve....I just wanna drive my cars and have fun with em', without worrying about the occasional 'ding' along the way....----Ray

 

Some guys spend silly money on Yachts or Airplanes. Some, spend silly on high end cars . I like the idea of a Craftsman being able to make a good living from his craft...keep on spending !

 

It really isn't any different than a high end $250,000 kitchen renovation, some people enjoy the design work along with watching the work progress. Changes do get made along the way, in the end the customer gets the finished product they dreamed about for years. They may know how to cook, maybe not, but a lot of families got taken care of as the build took place. I always feel bad when the house gets sold and the kitchen gets gutted, but some crew has to build another. Bob

 

Yeah, get some of that money back in circulation.!!

Ben

 

Not possible , skilled craftsman could do it in a fraction of that time, can be 3d printed now.....

 

i would love to hear the argument from the tech with the insurance adjuster for the guy that backed into it.

 

Some have more.... others less. Even a high dollar grill catches the same bugs as my much, much less expensive junk. A fool and his money..... as the old saying goes.

 

I have a old friend that is fond of saying,"Everyone don't make as much as we do,some actually make more,lot's more."

If you can afford to pay to have your dream but that's great,I don't begrudge anyone that can but 99% of us don't fall into that category. HRP

 

I have no idea how the grill has that much work in it, but I do know if I had millions of dollars in the bank, that I wouldn't care what I spent to get the car I want.
I'm in the same boat as most here, but I don't ever feel jealous of rich folks, they have their own issues.
I enjoy this whole car thing, love what some can do with little cash, but lots of talent and determination, and enjoy looking at what the goldchainers come up with.
In the end, its only material possessions, its not important.

 

I personally talked with a Ridler winner several years ago and asked him if the rumors that his car cost $1,000,000 (million ) to have Chip Foose build it were true. He said no, it only cost $850,000. Those cars you see at the shows are VERY EXPENSIVE.

 

even if I were filthy stinking rich if some shop billed me 350 hours for that grille we would be going to court in a hurry and my car would be out of there. I think maybe when you are rich telling people how much you spent on something gives them a hard on.

 

Its not just the grill, its the grill and grill shell, not that that will make any difference.

 

The fact that the cost of the grill is in print in a national publication now gives credibility to a high auction reserve or asking price. There have been times that I've advertised a car at a high price in the last two weeks of the year in Autoweek so that I could tell my wife, "sure I tried to sell it, no one called". Don't believe everything you read.

 

At first glance the hours look strong, but without knowing what the number was based on, and knowing if in fact it wasn't a number thrown out that lost some detail along the way, who knows. Then again, who cares, its a beautiful car no matter what it cost. Someone could afford their dream, and a bunch of others made their livelihood fulfilling that dream.

I've made a career in the boat business dealing mostly with things that I will never be able to afford. We can take the same parameters and build to 250k, or build to 2.5 million. From my perspective the big money builds are much more fun - there is more challenge to design and execute something special. Its amazing how hours creep up on you doing that type of work - I had a customer ask for something that at first glance didn't seem that bad - hell, it took three weeks for two guys to do the math, build the jigs, and create some temporary tooling. One hundred twenty man hours work to prepare to actually begin to do something.

I'm not going to be jealous of someones ability to spend . . . . they got there by developing an ability to earn!

 

You can go to McDonalds and get a Big Mac meal deal for around $7.00. I`m sure you could find a restaurant and pay $100 for a meal. Then there`s people that will skip a meal to keep from having to spend money.

 

he,he, he...

 

Some things aren't a bargain at ANY price...

 

Apples to apples.

1925 1 oz gold = $20 SO $15,000/$20 = 750 oz and $300/$20 = 15 oz

2015 1 oz gold = $1100 SO $1100 x 750 oz = $825,000 and $1100 x 15 oz = $16,500

 

I read that amount about 5 times, did the math, talked about it at the Donut shop and know Eric from work. He does amazing work in his shop and you will pay the price if you want that type of quality Hot Rod. Hours really ad up and the article states it was done over several time before the owner and Eric liked it….still a staggering amount for a truck grille. I love the car but not the cost of building one.

 

It's not the grill that took the work, is it? it's the transition from truck grille to car hood shape, and making the shell have the correct proportions to work on a car. Like I said, I can easily see how it could take that long to make that part of the car. And it's a special part of the car that makes it unique, so it was worth the effort.

 

QUOTE="kiwijeff, post: 11292542, member: 73230"]In the end, its only material possessions, its not important.[/QUOTE]

Two thoughts on this subject:
You can't put a price on a good time!
You can't take it with you!

 

bingo.

 

Two thoughts on this subject:
You can't put a price on a good time!
You can't take it with you!

[/QUOTE]

This took me about an hour to build, cost no money, but to the five year old pilot, its priceless.
It would be OT, if it wasn't for the traditional speed holes!