Ontario Superbird Story

[chargerman69]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/reviews/classics/ontario-man-spends-300000-on-vintage-sports-car-axed-by-chrysler/article25754639/

[birdsandbees]

I sure hope it's a Hemi car...  ,

[DonC1]

How can you spend 40 grand on a interior?

[birdsandbees]

By taking it to someone who charges a few hundred dollars an hour and knows that the guy paying has a cheque book and doesn't care what number he writes in above his signature.

[BS27R1B]

The newspaper writer has not got it right. He is not a car guy and it looks like he picked off numbers in a conversation and could not take notes fast enough, or could not read his notes properly. Thus a story is very inaccurate and the car hobby is further misrepresented to the general public.
The $40,000 was spent on the Superbird's body and paint work and this is not an outrageous amount when the amount and quality of work is taken into account. I have personally seen this Superbird, as recently as last Monday and it is awesome. And no, it is not a Hemi car.

I know the restoration company involved and so does Jim Bodanis. I can assure everyone here that they are the most reasonable cost shop around, north or south of the border. They are very open and honest and in no way would take advantage of a customer, no matter the size of their wallet. I am sure Jim can add to this as he also uses this restoration shop.

They completed assembly of my 70 Hemi Cuda earlier this year, reunited my 71 Cuda's transmission(after an OE type refurbish) after a 45 year absence and my 71 440-6 Cuda will be going there when the Superbird is finished.


It is pretty disappointing to see the negative comments thrown out by people on this board based on some article written by a person who writes for a financial paper. No investigation by the sh@@ slinger just accept the story as fact. Did you even read the full article ? It seems the owner got carried away and the writer was obviously dumbstruck by the numbers thrown around.

I seem to remember not too long ago a big time investor from North Dakota/Arizona attracted the attention of the IRS when he was interviewed by a financial reporter.

[hemi68charger]

...
I know the restoration company involved and so does Jim Bodanis. I can assure everyone here that they are the most reasonable cost shop around, north or south of the border. They are very open and honest and in no way would take advantage of a customer, no matter the size of their wallet. I am sure Jim can add to this as he also uses this restoration shop.

...

Personal experience is a valuable aid in the decision-making process....... 

[birdsandbees]

Sorry BS27.. I didn't mean to infer that the restoration shop was trying to pad their pockets. Don asked how you can spend 40 grand on an interior and I just laid out the scenario on how, especially considering door panel, seat cover costs etc and pending their shop rate (that you as a customer could share) to polish every screw when putting it back together it wouldn't take long to come up with big dollars if he needs all the seats recovered, etc. I'm also curious what kind of money body and paint would truly take in this shop as my 'Bee needs a strip and paint, and I'm looking for a good shop, but I'm sure not going to put 40 grand into a 40k car.

There's a big difference between people being discrete with stupid money to spend and people that brag, especially to a financial reporter from the Globe, that they have stupid money to spend. As you note I'm sure that Revenue Canada will have a good eye on Trailcon's next year ends T2 return, watching line 8960/8962 on the P&L for a percentage spike.  

[Beep Beep Dave]

I met the owner of the Superbird mentioned earlier this year. He took time out of his Sunday to show a couple of gearheads his cars and treated us like close pals. I also know the restorer who is also a Top Shelf kind of guy. Just shot the breeze with him and his kids at Moparfest. Nice people.

As Rick said I think the article was just trying for attention....and it did that well.

Dave

[Troy]

And that's Canadian dollars... I think. It gets a little confusing when they mention the one sold in Florida for $575k (which was a Hemi).

Also, it's a "true" restoration which should mean all date coded parts (if they couldn't reuse the originals) and a ton of extra work to duplicate the crappy factory job. But then the pictures show them wet sanding the car.

The article spent a bunch of words on the history of the car without actually saying much about the car. It would have been nice if one of the pictures showed the car prior to restoration because I doubt most non-car people had any idea what the collection of parts would look like when assembled.

Troy

[maxwellwedge]

I owned that car.....I sold it to Al. It was a mostly original paint 440-6, auto, bench seat matching/paperwork Bird. I sold it to get my current Bird.
Mauro was heavily involved in the resto......used my current car for reference many, many times. Normally Jeff Cabot does the body and paint for Mauro - he was jammed up and not able to do it.
BS27R1B is correct - When Mauro and/or Jeff are involved - it will always be a top quality, correct resto at an honest price.......unless the customer wants a "better than factory" paint job.  :^)

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[BIG ZAZA]

How can you spend 40 grand on a interior?

Hi Guys

I was afraid of this type of responses after the article came out. As you have heard before "bad press is good press". This article is so bad I am embarrassed to be mentioned in it. The totals which have been mentioned are so far from the truth I wonder how they came up with them.

As Maxwell mentioned this car was his and really didn't need to be done, but the new owner wanted to do the car.

I have contacted the owner and expressed my concerns about the article and how it makes me look bad.
I will post his reply to Dan Proudfoot after the article came out. I also have forwarded this thread to the Globe to have the article corrected or something.

For the record the interior cost to restore was $2000cdn including materials. Most of the cost was the ECS carpet which is worth every penny.

Please do not use this article to judge my restoration costs.

Thanks to the guys who know me and have had work done with us for backing me up out of this crap article.

Mauro

[Dodge Don]

Mauro does top work. I'm lucky he is here in my town and he has done work on my Charger several times. 

[BIG ZAZA]

Here is Al's response to the article dated Aug 2. Do you think he liked the article?




Sent: August-02-15 11:03 AM
Subject: Thursday Globe & Mail Article - Superbird



I wasn't going to bother writing you about the article but I have received so many emails from friends that know me and the car that I am compelled to give you some feedback on the inaccuracies in the article.



1.       The front page of the Wheels section shows the car  and describes it as a 1971 Superbird. Superbirds were made in 1970 only.

2.       The article describes to car as having 450 horsepower. The car has a 440 c.i. engine with 3 x 2 barrel carburetors rated by the factory at 390 horsepower.

3.       It states that the eighth owner was afraid of falling asleep at 150 miles per hour. This owner never drove the car, the guy that sold it to him delivered the car the 150 miles to his home to ensure it arrived in one piece due to the new owner having narcolepsy.

4.       The new paint is show as acrylic and should be shown as the original paint which is acrylic enamel.

5.       The restoration costs are not accurate. The only way I could spend $40,000 on the interior is if I did it completely new about 8 times. The body, paint and reassembly alone will be $100,000.

6.       The article in two places shows an owner named "Rob Boston". His correct name is Robert Poston.

7.       The article states that I have 9 other cars that I can drive while this project is underway. I have 11 other sports cars not 9.



In addition to these errors the article means very little without a photograph of a completed Superbird. Younger readers would have no idea what one of these looks like in its finished form. I provided you with a photo of the car before I started the restoration and this photo or another one available on line would have been helpful for the reader.



As Mother would say two there are two ways to do things "You can do it fast or you can do it right". In this case taking a little more time and running the copy by me first would have allowed the Globe to print a better and more accurate article.



Al



P.S. Looking on the bright side at least this time the Globe & Mail spelled my name correctly.

[BIG ZAZA]

Then Al sent this to Dan. The link I sent was this thread. When I first read the story and saw the cost of the interior I even said holy chit is it all NOS?



"Please click on the link below and see what a shit tsunami your article has created for Mauro at Performance Restorations.



The car restoration world is very connected and the negative vibes created by you stating that I have spent $40,000 on my interior with Mauro was not accurate and you need to find a way to fix this for Mauro.


Al"

[maxwellwedge]

So what you are saying is that when I paid you 40k for interior work - it was too much?



Kidding!

Thanks for chiming in Mauro - I knew the paper got it wrong......they usually do.

[hemi68charger]

Looking great Mauro   

... Look forward to more progress and when MINE is in that same situation at the paint shop... 

[wingcarenvy]

Was this Superbird the one that was on a recent episode of Legendary Motorcar? Season 2 Episode 15 "a rookie buyer and a Superbird"

[BIG ZAZA]

Was this Superbird the one that was on a recent episode of Legendary Motorcar? Season 2 Episode 15 "a rookie buyer and a Superbird"

Yes same car. The car is completed now and off to a bunch of shows. I have been trying to post pictures but have problems.

[wingcarenvy]

It looked like (on TV anyways) it was too nice to restore.

[maxwellwedge]

It was a very nice survivor - but with 99.99% of survivors - there are always some issues. Me - I would of fixed what I didn't like.....and I wouldn't have painted it.....but the new owner wanted it this way.....and that's fine - it is his car.

[moparstuart]

It was a very nice survivor - but with 99.99% of survivors - there are always some issues. Me - I would of fixed what I didn't like.....and I wouldn't have painted it.....but the new owner wanted it this way.....and that's fine - it is his car.

it's only original once 

[maxwellwedge]

Just like my estranged son - Little Stu