Wow!! I feel like this has a very familiar ring to it. I'm pretty much in a similar situation, but mine doesn't run. I have this project for more than 15 years going, and for one reason or another it doesn't seem to get finished. The car is at the point where body work and fab is done and ready to come apart for paint etc. But what do I do?? sink another 50K ++ into it and who knows what next. I have put it out there for sale with the hope of getting some money back to buy a done car but again who knows.
Hello, Nice convertible. The smooth lines are what makes this model so nice. The body looks straight and well kept. My wife will not see this convertible as she might make a bid on it. She has been into a convertible hot rod/customs ever since riding around in the early 50s with her mom in a 47 Buick convertible. Over the years we have been married, we have seen and checked out sporty car convertibles, a custom lowered and fast vw golf convertible and but has an affinity for a myriad of old Ford convertibles. This is her favorite and alas, it is not for sale, otherwise it would be sitting in our small two car garage. She even presented me a series of photos she took with her Iphone just to be sure I got the idea of a convertible in our future... or not! Jnaki Our daily drivers are relatively new and in excellent shape, but with travel expenses saved for the last three years, someone is ready to purchase what she wants. She still points out convertibles every chance she gets, while on our long road trips (last one in 2019) and our weekly beach/harbor cruises. YRMV
Much like my date on prom night, I go all the way. If you sell a car incomplete it only appeals to the gear head among us, and they want a deal. Adversely, if you finish the car, you get a lot larger audience and that means more money. Case in point; a roller brings more money than a collection of parts. A running engine in that roller makes a great deal more money. A runner/driver will bring even more offers. When I part with a car it is turn key, I have found a lot of buyers have no imagination, they need to see a complete car anything less is parts. That is the world we live in today.
It has a lot to do with the audience you present it to. Here's a good comparison, totally stock 32 Ford roadster, restored. What's it really worth at a decent auction? 62-70 seems to be the hammer prices I've seen. Take a proper early style rod, even a hiboy, all the "good stuff" like a righteous flatty, cool rollers, black (what else?), might hammer over 75-80, but the difference you'll see is how many want the rod vs stock. I'll really reach and say 10-fold the number of interested parties. We can test this in 2 weeks, nice little stock restored Deuce roadster at the Worldwide Enthusiast Auction in 2 weeks. I'll let you know...
Read the blog again, he said it was at the guy’s shop for 2 years. I’m a patient guy but that’s way too long IMHO. I would clean it up a much as possible and put it up for sale, maybe someone will make a reasonable offer that both parties can live with.
In this particular case you need to go all the way. You'll miss that Car. It's timeless and spans so many areas from Custom to Hot Rod to Really Classy Stocker and at any point in your Age cycle you can drive that one. - Tim
Put it up for sale today as is, no top. You will find out soon enough if you're going to have to finish the top. You can create a poll and consider all the opinions from scores of votes but nothing is a better indicator than real-world greenback feedback.
I think that car will attract the right owner in unrepaired condition. It won't be for everyone unfinished, but the interested person will have the desire to follow through and bring it back to its glory. Just my opinion.
While it is damned if I do damned if I don't I'd think that it already is posted for sale right here and some guys on here who have been in love with that car for a while are looking at the photos thinking about how they would have the top done and how they would have the interor done to make it their car rather than your old car. Truth is it probably won't end up far off from what you would have done but it will be the way they want it. On the other hand, True you might have a wider market if it is all done and ready to head to a show but are you going to get that pretty large investment back out of it or increase the sale price that much? I'd fix the wiring and any mechanical issues that need attention. and maybe take care of the scratch or ding and fix the paint. Then figure out if it is worth the effort to do the top and interior on one I intend to sell.
If you are fed up with the car why bother investing more energy into it? Fixing it is not only cost but also time. Time is money as well. I would sell it as is, only do the things that make it better without too much time/cost, like cleaning. I would also remove the top if that is easy to do. I bet it will look much better without that skeleton sitting there. Sell it and move on. I bet it will bring good money as is. And even if you make a little loss - at least then you don't have to bother with something that obviously does not make you happy anymore.
I don’t think you’d recover dollar for dollar the cost of having the top done, but it would open up the eyes of potential buyers. But the wiring, what’s wrong with it,?what needs to be done etc? ie it’s a hack job, or are things not hooked up. Flip side is that anyone looking at the car could send a pic to “their guy” and get an idea on what the top would run. Issue with the wiring really needs eyes on it, or a solid description.
The Jalopy Journal
