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So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

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Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#31

Post by Ekaros »

fake-name wrote: post #24

> “Younger kids do not have the same work ethic,” says RM’s Morreau. The immediate satisfaction normalized by cell phones and social media is antithetical to the know-how required for fabricating, say, the burled walnut dashboard of a pre-war Rolls-Royce. Oooooor, the pay is crap and the work environment is abusive. Any time someone trots out the "kids don't have the same work ethic" argument, they can immediately be…

I wonder if those same people have ethic to pay their employee well? Then again, I do not think it is easy industry. But passion takes people only so far especially when receiving wages.

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#32

Post by NaOH »

I'm not certain why folks are talking about cars they've restored to working order, the kind that get taken out on weekends when the weather is just so, as if that's the same class of vehicles the article is discussing. I used to know someone who owned a bunch like the article describes. To him it was an investment. Some had undergone expensive restorations like the article describes, they were meticulously stored, people were paid to maintain these not-driven vehicles, etc. Well, this guy wasn't young, but he died kind of unexpectedly. In a few weeks he went from not feeling well to gone.

So the family sold the cars in one auction at one of the big events like the Concours d’Elegance. This was not a sale timed to maximize the return but rather a sale to free the family from the obligations of ownership. Even so, it was 30 or so vehicles and they went for about $70 million.

The cars in this article are more like artwork investments. These may get three miles added to the odometer in the course of a year with multiple event showings or loans to museums. The cars are absolutely drivable but they are not driven.

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#33

Post by userbinator »

glitchc wrote: post #13

Sorry to burst bubbles, but I've been in a few: The new cars really do drive better. Smoother shifts, better engines, effective climate control, better seats, just more comfy, more driveable, more responsive, even feel better. This isn't like vintage pens I'm afraid, where old meant high quality materials. Old cars are mostly just crappy (barring a very small set of outliers). I think it boils down to the fact that c…

Take a ride in an early 70s "land yacht" and you'll get an idea what "comfy" really means. All newer cars regardless of actual type somehow seem to be converging on a "sporty" feel, which is very different.

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#35

Post by helloworlddd »

glitchc wrote: post #13

Sorry to burst bubbles, but I've been in a few: The new cars really do drive better. Smoother shifts, better engines, effective climate control, better seats, just more comfy, more driveable, more responsive, even feel better. This isn't like vintage pens I'm afraid, where old meant high quality materials. Old cars are mostly just crappy (barring a very small set of outliers). I think it boils down to the fact that c…

I bought a new car and have since decided I would prefer an older car. * The features are annoying and you can't disable everything you don't need. I had to download an app and by a connector to disable the warning message that told me not to crash everytime I turned the car on. There's still plenty of things that I can't disable. If I want to turn off the centre console (which is most of the time), it's several clicks through a clunky ui. * It only looks nice when it's clean and keeping a car clean is not something I want to invest my time in. * It's too powerful, so I can't really give it a bit of a push without going well over the speed limit. * it aluminates the logo onto the sidewalk when I park. Very embarrassing. * it's heavy which you can feel (despite it being a tiny new gen car).

I preferred my old beater that I could just thrash around. It's worth having to deal with some sort of mechanical problem every now and then.

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#36

Post by labcomputer »

userbinator wrote: post #33
glitchc wrote: post #13

Sorry to burst bubbles, but I've been in a few: The new cars really do drive better. Smoother shifts, better engines, effective climate control, better seats, just more comfy, more driveable, more responsive, even feel better. This isn't like vintage pens I'm afraid, where old meant high quality materials. Old cars are mostly just crappy (barring a very small set of outliers). I think it boils down to the fact that c…

Take a ride in an early 70s "land yacht" and you'll get an idea what "comfy" really means. All newer cars regardless of actual type somehow seem to be converging on a "sporty" feel, which is very different.

Land yachts still exist. We just call them by "SUV" today.

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#37

Post by vintermann »

thrown-0825 wrote: post #11

Why would you buy a classic without the ability to restore and maintain it yourself? Ive restored a couple and I cannot imagine the cost of outsourcing all that work.

I'm not a car person, but I can sort of relate. I have a vintage computer, a Commodore 64. I am absolutely tempted to buy other vintage computers - For instance I see old Norwegian Tiki-100 machines for sale on occasion.

But I know these machines require a bit more electronics work to not become self-destructive due to various aging components (one memorably caught fire during a demo event a few years ago). Work I'm honestly not very good at. So it's better to leave it to those who can do it. The C64 requires little or no work, and they're also not remotely as rare as the Tikis, so even if something should break I wouldn't feel too bad about it.

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#38

Post by herbst »

glitchc wrote: post #13

Sorry to burst bubbles, but I've been in a few: The new cars really do drive better. Smoother shifts, better engines, effective climate control, better seats, just more comfy, more driveable, more responsive, even feel better. This isn't like vintage pens I'm afraid, where old meant high quality materials. Old cars are mostly just crappy (barring a very small set of outliers). I think it boils down to the fact that c…

I don't agree. I was in the market for a European offroad SUV just recently and the most looked after models are between 1995 and 2005.

The gear, the V6 boxing motors, the massive steal frames, the actual pulling power and that all on 13 litres.

Newer models have 3 thousand sensors I haven't asked for, can't even reach common repair things without special tools, effektive usage hasn't changed or depends on hybrid (which is a joke for pulling), repair parts are 5-10 times as expensive, you loose half of the cars worth first time you visit a forest ...

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#39

Post by M95D »

asdff wrote: post #26
glitchc wrote: post #13

Sorry to burst bubbles, but I've been in a few: The new cars really do drive better. Smoother shifts, better engines, effective climate control, better seats, just more comfy, more driveable, more responsive, even feel better. This isn't like vintage pens I'm afraid, where old meant high quality materials. Old cars are mostly just crappy (barring a very small set of outliers). I think it boils down to the fact that c…

Mid 90s acura transmissions were great for me. Shifts really solid and stiff. Stiff clutch with clear engagement point. I drove 2015ish era manual transmissions too (nissan and vw) and they were jokes in comparison. Gear shifter felt like a toy, like it was plastic or something even though I know it couldn't be. Clutch was way too light with engagement point not as crisp and a lot lower in the pedal travel too. Worst…

Stiff clutch with high engagement point is a sign of wear and should be replaced.

Re: So You Bought a Fancy Vintage Car. Now Who's Going to Restore It?

#40

Post by e40 »

aspenmayer wrote: post #30
interstice wrote: post #10

I've just about got my 1981 Mini I bought in highschool for $600 NZD back in one piece. Wasn't going to touch the engine originally but thought why not, so almost 20 years later with almost everything aside from the shell refurbed or replaced here we are. It's been expensive and slow and I'd have been better off now having put the money into a house deposit instead. But now I know a fair amount about rebuilding a 45…

Have you documented the rebuild process? It would be cool to see if you have a write up when it’s done. You might post it here. I think restoration and repair projects by HN users are great to see here when we get them.

People have launched youtube careers filming and posting stuff like this.
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