Is a 73 Mach 1 Resotration Worth It?

[Hemikiller]

My car is an F-code as well. PS, PDB and used to be an auto. Now has a 4 speed & 9" rear. Next step is to finish the rebuild on a 351C and get it to where it should be, performance wise. I put my car on eBay back in '08 just to get a "value". Auction topped out around $15K, which is where I figured it would end up. Today it *might* hit $20k. I look at F code cars as the perfect canvas to make a car your own, and you're not "hurting" the value. That said, if I restore another car I want an M or Q code.

Only way to make any money on a restoration is to get the right car in the right condition at the right time and do all the work yourself - or have someone paying you to do the work on their car.

A friend of a friend has been a Mustang hoarder for 30+ years. The family owns a construction company and he's been storing shipping containers filled with all manner of high end cars and parts that need restoration. Pretty much anything from 69-73 with Q, R, S, M & J in the VIN. He's getting closer to retirement and was talking to my friend, who owns an autobody shop, about working on his collection. Long story short, he ended up opening his own body shop to do collision work, and his guys work on his cars in between insurance jobs. Smart, really smart.

 

[Pegleg]

It never ceases to amaze me how a post can get so many responses to one subject.

Thats why the forum will always stand head and shoulders above facebook. All thanks to Rocketfoots creation 7173

 

[Stanglover]

It never ceases to amaze me how a post can get so many responses to one subject.

Thats why the forum will always stand head and shoulders above facebook. All thanks to Rocketfoots creation 7173

Totally agree!! Well said.

 

[Don C]

Bottom line, if you want to make money on restorations open a shop and do them for other people. There are a few exceptions, of course, but most are money pits, as most of us know. I never intended to try to make money, or even break even, just doing what I want.

 

[Tnfastbk]

Where are you located and do you have any pictures of your car? I might be interested in it being its not worth doing anything with according to the replies. It might be time to add another to my house. I agree with what a lot have said but I also know that 70 and below cars are starting to be unobtainable for the average buyer so the next step may be the 7173. I watch a lot of cars being sold that believe it or not are not all original for some big time money so there are always more than one direction for a build to go.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I love my 71 Grandé. It just has a 2V 351C in it but it will be grabber lime again one day.My favourite colour on the 71-73 is grabber lime.

If i was to tackle another big full on restoration it would have a 1955-57 Thunderbird. Preferably in red.

I was tempted to buy this one for the shell(note the Mustang in the background)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-Ford-Thunderbird/392250561796?hash=item5b53f49504:g:GyMAAOSw3qVcaFeS

and this one for the motor

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-Ford-Thunderbird/222944574950?hash=item33e8883de6:g:XCQAAOSwU8xa33Pj

Steve, so what's stopping you? It's only money!! I know, yeah but!!!

LoL thats whats stopping me...Money. Then theres getting the 2 cars in one place and relying on someone to transfer the bits from the donor car to the shell. Then importing it into the UK. When a car won't start with RORO shipping the dock workers stick the forks from the forklift truck under the back end and lift & push the car off the ship which causes damage to the underside. My old gas tank from my 71 had a pair of dents that matched a forklift trucks forks. If i focus on the 71 it will get finished but if i had 2 cars to work on i may get disheartened by lack of progress

When you ship a non running car you should put it in a container for sure. Then there is also room to ship extra bits and pieces.

 

[Studdley]

When your first thought is am i going to make money then your love of the owning the car is questionable. Buy a car because you love that particular car then money won't even be part of the equation. Anyone who loves their hobby gets payback from the shear enjoyment of their hobby

I like the car, except I wanted to replace the cancerous metal, throw some paint on it and drive. I love these body styles, but it's hard to justify building a car, that I will take a 10 thousand dollar loss on.

 

[Studdley]

Where are you located and do you have any pictures of your car? I might be interested in it being its not worth doing anything with according to the replies. It might be time to add another to my house. I agree with what a lot have said but I also know that 70 and below cars are starting to be unobtainable for the average buyer so the next step may be the 7173. I watch a lot of cars being sold that believe it or not are not all original for some big time money so there are always more than one direction for a build to go.

I'm in southern Ohio, if you're serious, PM me.

 

[bkdunha]

Lots of good discussion on this and valid points offered from multiple perspectives. Which is all good and hopefully helps you make your decision as it sounds like in your last post you may have. If you go in expecting to make a bag full of money on the resale of a 71-73 it may be a little earlier than the market is ready for. These are still slow on the investment growth, but in my opinion making some noticeable improvements in the mustang market. As others have mentioned the earlier body styles are getting somewhat out of reach for reasonable buyers and their attention starts to move up the years to find one they are interested in and can afford. The 71-73 body is more of a dramatic departure from the "mustang" lines and either you love/like them or you probably won't. Having said that, I love them and have for all of my driving years.

If you don't feel the passion in your blood for it than it becomes a dollars and sense question and only you can answer that question for yourself on what make sense for you and your budget. Either way, I hope the information shared so far has given you some factual information to draw from and you make the best decision for yourself.

 

[72MustangSprint]

When your first thought is am i going to make money then your love of the owning the car is questionable. Buy a car because you love that particular car then money won't even be part of the equation. Anyone who loves their hobby gets payback from the shear enjoyment of their hobby

I like the car, except I wanted to replace the cancerous metal, throw some paint on it and drive. I love these body styles, but it's hard to justify building a car, that I will take a 10 thousand dollar loss on.

I think you can replace the metal (depending on how extensive) and put on a decent paint job for under $18K. I bought a decent driver for in the $5K range to enjoy while I do a total restoration on another car

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Don C]

At least your restored car should hold it's value, and have a chance of increasing. Better than buying a new car that depreciates faster than the payments pay it down.

 

[mach71351c]

If your concerned about being 10k over value I have news for you that when all said and done you will be 20k over like the rest of us.

 

[OzCoupe72]

If your concerned about being 10k over value I have news for you that when all said and done you will be 20k over like the rest of us.

Is that all! Only $20K? I was planning on $30K over but then again I'm $AUD so you could be about right

But really I don't care what it costs me nor am I keeping tabs on expenditure, just love the car

 

[Pegleg]

If you go buy a brand new car it will loose 20% in value as soon as you drive it off the dealers forcourt. Cars like houses are money pits

 

[jowens1126]

I bought my 71 302 fastback for 14,500 2 years ago. It was in driver condition. Paint is a 20 foot 20+ year old paint job, cracking in places, but minimal bondo. Interior was a 8 out of 10, C4 transmission. I think we put about 2500 in it fixing a bunch of minor things, but now its very reliable. It still could use a new carb, but theres always going to be a thing or 2 it needs. I have 3 spots in the floor pans that need to be replaced, other than that its a great driver car. With the money I have put into it, its barely a break even now. But I didn't buy it as an investment, I bought it to enjoy. If you love the car, a cheap 302 car is the perfect car to restomod. You wont be ruining a more valuable car, and you can do whatever you want to it. It is conceivable that you could restomod the crap out of it and make a profit selling it to the RIGHT person. Remember, there are rich people with more money than sense all over the place. It just takes time to find them. Ive seen people pay 700k for a truck restomod project that wouldn't be worth 50-60k at auction.

 

[NOT A T5]

I bought my 71 302 fastback for 14,500 2 years ago.  It was in driver condition.  Paint is a 20 foot 20+ year old paint job, cracking in places, but minimal bondo.  Interior was a 8 out of 10, C4 transmission.  I think we put about 2500 in it fixing a bunch of minor things, but now its very reliable.  It still could use a new carb, but theres always going to be a thing or 2 it needs.  I have 3 spots in the floor pans that need to be replaced, other than that its a great driver car.  With the money I have put into it, its barely a break even now.  But I didn't buy it as an investment, I bought it to enjoy.  If you love the car, a cheap 302 car is the perfect car to restomod.  You won't be ruining a more valuable car, and you can do whatever you want to it.  It is conceivable that you could restomod the crap out of it and make a profit selling it to the RIGHT person.  Remember, there are rich people with more money than sense all over the place.  It just takes time to find them.  Ive seen people pay 700k for a truck restomod project that wouldn't be worth 50-60k at auction.

WHADDAYA mean a CHEAP 302  :huh:

 

[Silverback]

What's the best way to build a $100k car? Spend $250K on a car...

"flipping" a car is not like flipping a house. With a house all you have to do is find something undervalued that needs some work, fix obviously bad stuff, dress it up a little and collect your money... and then something will still go wrong.

With a car, you either need to find one of the rare cars that are really worth something for nothing and restore it or find whatever car is hot in the restomod market for next to nothing and figure out the mods that someone will want on the car for it to sell well. EVERYTHING else is going to cost more to restore or modify than it will be worth when it's done. Honestly, for most of the car market, the cheapest way to get what you want is to find something as close as possible to what you want that someone else has already spent their money on and buy it from them at a loss. The problem comes in when someone believes that the car they spent $50K on is worth $70K when the nicest possible example of that car is only worth $25K.