Daytona Value

[73rallye440magnum]

Hey guys, im trying to talk my dad into buying a daytona (unrestored) for investment oppurtunities, as in restore it and sell it for profit. How much could you expect to spend on an extremely well done to original restoration. Car is numbers matching 440 AT, not sure on colors. complete with window mouldings, nose, wing, all the goodies for XX car. Car is somewhat rusty as seen from pics. try not to get all hyped up about it, he said he'd consider it if he could come out alright on it. just looking for a price on resto kind of, keep in mind i could do some work (trim resto, small parts)

[Ghoste]

Kind of an open ended question really.  Without seeing the car, we have no idea what it needs but as an "average", if you took it to a professional, you could easily spend over 100 grand.  By professional, I'm talking about a place like Roger Gibsons, not Joe's A-1 Autobody.  You could also spend 20 or 30 on resto and make out like gangbusters.
Not much of an answer I realize but there isn't much detail here.

[Troy]

You could spend close to $150k on the resto and it would be a concourse car when finished. Heck, you might even still make a profit these days but that really depends on the initial purchase price. If you were best buddies with an excellent body man and got decent disounts on all the parts then you could get by much cheaper. When restoring a Daytona I'd go with original sheet metal if at all possible because the final selling price will reflect that. It's hard to say without seeing the car but you're better off restoring a rusty Daytona than a 318 column shift car. You just better have deep pockets to do it right (the rusty parts are probably all the same though). You may want to check with 60_500 though to see if he knows about the particular car. I know he's looked at a lot of overpriced rusty Daytona projects. You can bet if they were good deals he'd have grabbed one by now...

Troy

[73rallye440magnum]

here's a pic, some of you may have seen this car on the net. asking price is 85k.

[73rallye440magnum]

I'm sure we'd have the car done at mcr probably, its about an hour south of where i live ( www.musclecarrestorations.com ) they have done a superbird, look at the completed gallery for mopars, i think that might be Johns car. they did the factory five cobra in last 2 months HOT ROD magazine. I've been there, they do stunning restos. I know that 69 RT/SE has been brought up a few times here at dc.com.

[jaak]

my opinion.... I do not think this would be a profit maker having to fork out 85g's upfront, meaning a quick turn around.... if it was restored (concourse) and you sat on it a few years... I would say yes. How rusty is it??? how much is missing?? If there is substantial rust, you may need to find a rust free 318 parts car (and even that is costly these days) You just need to weigh everthing out and make a logical decision, and I would definately try to get the purchase price lower, good luck.

[Ghoste]

John Balow ain't coming cheap either.

[73rallye440magnum]

well, 85 is asking price... from pics it does not look terribly rusty, but you really cant see the tail panel, valences, fenders, trunk lip, all the XX special items are with the car (window mouldings, trunk lid, fenders, wing, nose, etc.) say you can get the car for 80, spend 80-100 on a very nice high end concourse resto, could this car sell for 200+?

[73rallye440magnum]

the words cheap and restoration dont really go all that well together.

[jaak]

John Balow ain't coming cheap either.

MCR does outstanding work, photos always look great and I have seen 2 or 3 cars "in person" but from what I always saw they are not 'concours" they are over restored, too perfect.   
Some one like Roger Gibson, now he's all about concours.... correct #'s, finishes, paint daubs, factory markings, even runny orange-peeled paint, Although thats not my thing, thats what a car like this needs to bring top dollar.

[73rallye440magnum]

I know what you mean by over restored... i think they could do cars as original though, go into the awards section on his site, i think he has done decent on OE certification at mopar nats with a few cars.

[jaak]

I know what you mean by over restored... i think they could do cars as original though, go into the awards section on his site, i think he has done decent on OE certification at mopar nats with a few cars.

Ok... I have checked out his site before, but just looked at a few pics, really didn't check everything out. Thats cool though, I think that is a group of workers that a passionate about cars, and that goes a long way, great work and a great attitude.

[69_500]

73Ralley you have a PM now.


Daytona's are always worth the value in my opinion, but getting your money back out of any car is hard to do sometimes. You have to find the right buyer with the right amount of cash. Only thing with a wing car is there are tons of people who want 1, and only 503 to go around. Well more relistically only about 360 to go around as the others are unaccounted for or crushed.

[451-74Charger]

Well, you could always let HLPAG do the resto, i hear they offer that service now....
A few cardboard patches, loads of Bondo, and spread the paint on with a trowel....about $30k i would guess, heck you may even be able to sell it after for $15k......wait only if it was in Orange, had 01 on the side, and didnt show there other cars up .. !!

Just think a Genuine Daytona Dukes clone....yeehaaaaw

[Ghoste]

Of the tons of people who want one though, only a handful can pay what you need to make the car profitable.  Being a Daytona, you will make money on it.  I think even when the musclecar bubble bursts (and I think it may be softening already), Daytona's and Hemi Cuda's are the superstars and will continue to be strong when other cars aren't.
That being said, you will still have to find that person with 1/4 million in disposable income who wants your car.
This could be a good example of why it is always said that you should never buy a restoration project (or any classic car) as an investment but because you like and want the car.

[69_500]

There are still plenty of people out there who have more money than brains. If the market says a HEMI Cuda is worth $600K and the bubble burst, there is still going to be people spending $600K on it. There is plenty of idiots who have tons of money.

Heck in my opinion my 500 is only worth about $50K, but had offers at shows of $90+, but in reality where could I get another 500 for that?

[Ghoste]

At the risk of getting too off topic, do you not think that if the bubble bursts, the strong cars (as I've called them) will hold their own but continue at a more normal pace, leaving a lot of the marginal (where I rightly or wrongly tend to group the more money than brains buyers) players looking for the next big trend?
Just seeking your opinion.  I guess I figure that if you have a 500, it's a topic you've given a lot of thought to.

[69_500]

In my opinion the strong cars as you called them, being the Daytona's and HEMI Cuda's and such I think will lose some value too. Although they won't hit bottom like some of the other cars. I see the inflated prices of DOH General Lee's at the current moment and I think that their inflated prices is going to drop hard and fast at any minute. Then there are other cars that are going crazy and those being the little A body cars. The Duster's and Demon's weren't ever expensive cars yet now some of those are going for some crazy money. I don't think it can last forever. Its definately a good time to dump a few cars if you have some you want to sell and make money on. However its a horrible time to  try to go out and pick up a car that you want to keep for a long time. I don't see the prices of the wing cars or the HEMI cars going down a whole lot. The average Daytona that is restored that I've seen sold in the past year probably averaged about $160K. Some as high as $220, others as low as $120. However I don't think they will stay at that kind of price for too long. I think when the bubble burst they will go down some in price but not back down to the late 80's prices of $35-40K or anything. I think they will flatten out and stay around $120-135K for probably the next 5-7 years.

[hemigeno]

There was a thread about this particular car when it was on the 'Bag a while back. ? We talked about what a resto added to the initial cost would do for that car. ? IMHO it's currently a break-even proposition at best (to restore it correctly) unless the market continues to rise.

Here's the link to the previous thread:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,3889.0.html

[Ghoste]

I've mentioned before that I work part time for an old car auction house and beginning by the end of the summer I saw the market getting very soft.   One year ago, people could make decent money on Hemi clones and recently those have been unwanted as an example.   I guess I figure the fakes are the point guards on the coming trends.
The last auction I worked was in the end of September and a lot of cars went unsold.   The common refrain was that it's now a buyers market but the sellers haven't quite realized it.   We'll see what happens in January but much of what is seen on TV is bs.   The real indicator are the cars that actually sell and change ownership and get trucked to a new destination.   There is a lot of smoke and mirrors involved.
That being said, if I knew so much, I'd buy and sell cars and become an easy billionaire.
Eventually you will get your money out of the car but you may have to sit on it a few years as 69 500 points out.

[chargervert]

I would build a clone instead.A well built clone,will run you about 50k,and he would be able to drive,and enjoy the car.If you want to throw the coin for an original wingcar,you have to factor in how much you want to drive the car.If you are just going to restore the car to flip it,there is not a lot of room for profit,with an 85k asking price!Only the ones that are concourse restored are bringing the astronomical prices,and the resto cost will be very high also.If you want to buy cars to flip,theres more money to be made by buying the right E bodies!

[Ghoste]

Not necessarily.  There is a guy here in town that was trying to make a business of flipping E-bodies and he is about to get out of it.  The media hype on those cars is so strong that everyone is beginning to clue in on the value.
There are plenty of flipping deals still out there to be sure, but you have to search and have cash in hand.

[73rallye440magnum]

thanks for pointing that out hemigeno, bidding went up to 56k, gives you a slight idea of what its worth, 85k in my opinion is quite high, i have also noticed prices starting to drop.

[Blown70]

This is at most a personal choice,  It is a rare car that needs a good resto, which, as stated will not be cheap.  I really could not see spending that much 85, on it.  Maybe 60.

However the question remains as to what to do with it. Concourse Restore, or driver condition,

I personally do not want to have a car that I look at.  I had one I just was too afraid to drive...... Never again,

Tom

[451-74Charger]

The only reason i want to be affraid of driving my Charger, is Scary power.
If i had to sit and just look at it, i wouldnt bother buying it.
Chargers (even Daytonas) need to go play !!