1971 Fastback base model

[Bill Kanode]

I am restoring a 1971 Mustang Fastback front to rear. This includes rebuilt front and rear brakes, 4spd toploader, 9" axle assembly with 3.00 open gears, complete new front and rear suspension, steering gear, new power brake booster/master cylinder, all SS fuel lines, brake lines, parking brake cables, mandrel bent 2 1/2" dual exhaust, replacing all rusty panels, and seat covers. The question is with all moving parts replaced how should I insure the car and what mileage should I claim the car has? I am not selling the car but what should I claim as mileage since I see others listed with low mileage?

 

[Sheriff41]

I have stated / agreed value coverage on my '72. I probably need to update that value based on the changes in the market for our cars. For mileage, I stated my actual mileage showing on the odometer - 56,XXX plus the 100,000 since I know it rolled over that mark in the time I've owned it.

 

[detritusmaximus]

Yeah, I never did like ads for fully restored/restomodded cars that say 0 or low miles. Just because it has everything new does not mean the seller can honestly claim 'low miles'. There is an implied connotation to that term.

 

[mjlan]

As has been stated above, I also have an agreed value policy on my 429SCJ Mach 1 through State Farm. I did not have to provide any documentation or get an appraisal for this policy, I just provided a description and some photos of the car and the number he came back with was ok with me. I also have no useage limitations on the policy. This was a sticking point for me because talking with specialty insurance brokers made it seem like there could be issues if you had to make a claim and couldn't prove you were only driving to a show or parade (this was the stipulation from Haggerty- you could only use the car for shows or parades).

I have the same type of policy on my Cobra replica, this policy needed an appraisal before my agent would agree to the replacement cost I needed. I think the policy is for $60k if I am remembering correctly.

I don't remember about the mileage. I think I assumed that the odometer was inaccurate and it didn't affect the agreed value so I didn't worry about it...

So, I got wordy, but my suggestion would be to talk to different agents about an agreed value policy, if they don't come back with replacement costs that would satisfy you, you may have to find a collector car dealer or appraiser and pay for an appraisal to convince your broker that your car IS worth the $$ of the policy...

 

[detritusmaximus]

I may be wrong, but if your title mileage says exceeds limits or something like that to mean the speedo has rolled beyond the 6 digits, then claiming lower mileage may constitute fraud if the buyer is not made aware.

 

[giantpune]

I'm going with the hive on this one. You say whatever mileage is on your odometer unless the title says it has some dependency. If the car has driven 90k miles and then you replace 5 parts, there's still a few thousand other parts that have 90k miles of use on them.

 

[Hemikiller]

I reset the odometer to 0 when I restored my '71. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Simple solution is "true mileage unknown" or just run with whatever is on the clock.

 

[donkost]

I have used Hagerty since 2015 for my '71 Mach 1 J-code 429 4 speed. I have spoken with agents a few times and there is no restriction to only drive the car in parades or to shows. I believe some other classic car insurance companies do have those restrictions. I add very little mileage per year with that car regardless, but I don't really think about it when driving. My Allstate agent who covers our daily drivers couldn't do anything with the classic car. Some of the regular insurance companies will cover them. I have read a bit about Grundy classic car insurance, another good choice and possibly more affordable than Hagerty.

I "shop around" the day before my Hagerty policies are to renew, so I end up sticking with them. ha I am covered for $65K replacement value for the Mach 1 which is right around their condition #3. This car is somewhere between condition #3 and #2, but condition #2 is valued at $90K with them and the coverage would of course be more expensive. It's a crap-shoot IMO since if one of these cars would ever need to be replaced it is extremely difficult to find another 429 car in a similar condition. Or you just buy whatever you want with the payout of course.

It's nice in some ways that values have gone way up for certain models, but I prefer the old days when no one wanted these cars due to drinking huge amounts of gas, or just being impractical as daily drivers. I'm in the hobby from the late 1970's and you could even afford Hemi cars back then. My '68 Pontiac GTO was $800 back in 1980 and it was my daily driver even in the northeast US winter, being driven as I restored it. Didn't really need much done at that time since it was a twelve year old car.

 

[Don C]

I am installing a Speedhut speedometer with electronic input. I had the option to have the replacement speedometer set to the mileage indicated on the old speedometer. I decided to go with zero miles.