How to buy a collector car

When the snow starts to melt and you've finished your income tax accounting, the smell of spring is just around the corner. This is when you find yourself thinking about your dream car and count the days left before it comes out of storage. Spring is also the time when many seek and purchase a hobby car. Unfortunately, some get so excited and eager they forget to remain objective and buy something they regret.
Sometimes the problem is a lack of knowledge about cars. You know what you like, but understanding where and what to look takes experience, time and knowledge. If the car in question is fairly desirable, you won't have enough time to carry out a thorough investigation on your own.
That's when you'd be wise to consider having a pre purchase inspection performed for you. Some who is objective, qualified and working in your best interest is going to give you a valuable edge when it comes to negotiations. I've done pre purchase inspections and pre restoration consulting for clients and in every case it saved them time, money and aggravation. I've inspected collector cars for clients on their behalf and acted as their eyes and ears, delivering complete, recorded evidence on the car's condition. The buyer gains a good idea what they're getting into if they purchase the car in question.
The orange 1973 cuda on horse stands looks pretty sad doesn't it? Those quarters are rough. Clearly it needs lots of TLC to get back on the road. The good news is its a factory 340 cuda with four speed and rally dash. It was originally metallic blue. If the original drive train was present it'd be worth restoring. The 1957 Chevrolet convertible by contrast, almost looks ready to paint and put a drive train in. The punch line here is, it's a complete rebody. It started out as a four door sedan! This project was conducted by CARS group in Michigan to demonstrate their complete line of restoration sheet metal and convertible pieces. You literally can make a convertible from a sedan and no one would be the wiser unless you know where to look. Partial rebodies happen all the time on muscle cars. When the money is large, make sure you get what you pay for.
My ground rules are simple. The seller is told up front that I am working on behalf of a client. An owner with a honestly represented car will have no trouble with that. I do not report my findings to the seller, only my client gets the information. With pre restoration consulting, the car's examined for major problems that will impede its restoration by adding time, cost and potential loss of value. The findings are reviewed with the owner's intended goals and planned budget, time frame of completion and a recommendation is given. I also have access to noted experts in the field for answering technical or historical issues. Again, this saves you money and time knowing what's ahead before diving in.
Remember, inspections save you more money than they cost in time, expense and effort to repair a bungled effort.

Muscle market goes soft at Barrett Jackson 2008

Are you ready for a soft-on? That's what many owners are sporting this week in Scottsdale, Arizona. The prime player, Barrett-Jackson has been televising all week and it's not a pretty sight for speculators. The highest bid as of January 18th was $141,000 for a restored Packard Carribean ragtop. Granted they're saving the heavy artillery for Friday evening, but the over all numbers are waaay down compared to last year's record prices. I predicted this awhile ago in Muscle Car News magazine so it comes as no surprise to me. Those who are in position to cherry pick the good numbers matching, no stories cars available from guys who bought at the top of the market and have to liquidate will do well. The other vehicles will make excellent hobby cars and return the hobby back to those who really know what its about and understand the heritage of the muscle car. (Hint..it has NOTHING to do with Monterey and Carmel lifestyle events with $400 a night hotels!) If you bought at the top of the game and the music stopped, you're just going to have to enjoy the car for awhile until you hear music again. Hey you might get to like it even. A&W was made for cruise nights and sound of glasspacks and Torquethrusts squealing is better than someone squawking at the microphone.." it's red, it's red, it's resale red!"

A new year, a new ride

After driving and working on a sweet 1980 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition the last seven years, I decided it was time to change saddles. Since the Trans Am was a great ride, I wondered if finding an older Poncho would be easy. I searched for a long time. Part of the problem was sky high prices for muscle cars in general.Late in the summer, the sub prime crisis opened up and as fall and early winter set in. The situation deteriorated enough to knock asking prices down. I started looking after New Year's Day and followed up on an old ad from last year. The car was still available. I made an appointment and decided to buy on the spot. Check out my 1972 Pontiac GTO hardtop. It's factory original with Cardinal Red paint, black custom interior, rally II mags and 455 250 hp four barrel engine. That makes it one of 235 made. A southern states car that came into Canada years ago, this goat really hustles. I like the custom touches like the GTO emblem on the dash, the 1968 style His'n Her Hurst shifter, hood tach and ram induction system. Oh it also came with the rare code 614 racing stripes, one of 130 cars. I don't really like the stripes so they're staying off for now.

Barrelcuda Lives!

Hello all, I just finished examining the world famous "Barrelcuda" in person. What a machine! Owner and restorer, Alan Gallant, did a heroic job saving and resurrecting this piece of Canadian Mopar history. This is the same car that first broke cover a few years ago on the "Cars in Barns" website. It was called barrelcuda due to the fact one of the previous owners placed the entire car on five 85 gallon oil barrels as a way of preventing the car from making perilous contact with the ground. I also saw this car in person before restoration began. The transformation is breathtaking. Guys, this wasn't just a quickie get it out the door and running job. The car today is as complete and factory original as possible. Can you imagine restoring a car using mostly New Old Stock parts or excellent donor pieces? Alan doesn't do things by halves. This car is concours competitive. It has been an honor and pleasure to see this icon rise from the ashes. Even the tires and wheels are factory style. This baby came to Newfoundland in fall of 1970 wearing Goodyear Polyglas Custom Wide Tread white line tires! That was the upgrade tire for running an E body with styled steel road wheels. Everywhere you look is a new, correct period clip, hose, electrical connector or lens.If you get a chance to see this magnificent automobile this year, have a look at it. Not only was a classic saved,a new benchmark in dedication to the restoration craft was set. Check it out at AGAR restorations on the web.