Atlas Muscle Cars in Texas -- anyone have experience?

[tpetty]

Atlas Muscle Cars frequently has a couple 2nd Gen Chargers for sale.  Anyone have any experience with them?  Quality of work, reliability, etc?

http://www.atlasmusclecars.com/amc/mopars-for-sale/22/

[electricjed]

tpetty, Atlas is a legitimate operation,  It appears that they buy run down vehicles, do a quick paint job on them and turn them for a profit. I recently bought a vehicle from them (65 Mustang). After getting the vehicle home, I've found several problems. Thermostat installed backwards. Wiring under the hood is very shoty, washer pump not connected, no resevior bag, stripped out bolts on some of the brakets, condenser wire cut from the condenser... They just painted everything under the hood black to cover all the flaws. My car appears to have been in an accident. They claimed there was little rust and after digging into further, there is rust EVERYWHERE. The car had no license plate light, Bezel missing off wiper studs, paint had runs and spots in it, heater hoses just thrown behing the dash, not connected to the ports. Found a screwdriver behind the gauges.
Now this is just my experience, If I had a little more patients and had a better eye for detail and did a more thorough inspection I would have noticed these issues. They did give me an opportunity to view the car so I can only blame myself for purchasing the vehicle. I had envisioned getting a totally restored Mustang but I definitely got what I paid for. I was so unhappy the following day I called Matt to share my thoughts and asked him if he could re-list the car...he never got back to me. I've cooled down a little since last week. I've spent $6k in additional parts and decided just to take the time to clean it up myself.
They did have other cars that were completely torn down and I'm sure they have the talent to do a nice restore job. Just dont be impatient like me. Take some time to inspect their paint job, peak under the dash and make sure everything works properly. Check under the body and under the paneling for covered up rust. Good luck bud.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Usually most of the R/T's they list on e bag look top notch. Like everything you'd need to pick it apart in person. Sometimes camera angles and lighting does wonders.

[jscomm]

Ive had excellent service from Atlas muscle cars.  I have bought 4 mopars from them and had them to restore 3 cars for me and I have had no problems at all.  Exceeded my expectations every time and always come through on what is agreed on.  Totally trustworthy organization.  I would use them for anything I need! 

[tan top]

 like what was mentioned you need to see the car for your self , & or get someone  who knows about these cars  &  also knows  body / paint  mechanical etc etc  , to look it over    

got a nice  69 J- code charger there    going by the pictures ,  although looks to have the engine & trans  out of a 69 roadrunner &  a 70 K frame  

[hemi68charger]

I got my Daytona from them (Harvey-owner). I traded two cars to him for the Daytona.. He has a big shop in the back. He's a legit business. But, as with everything and anything, it pays to ask a lot of questions, get lots of pictures and if you can like I did, go look at the car. Harvey had no problem with me really looking over the Daytona on my visit.

Which ones are you interested in? I believe I remember the two blacks ones on a trailer the day I went and looked at the Daytona.. They weren't black then. I believe they were there original colors of blue and red....

T

[riivattu440]

I bought a ´70 Charger from them. I'm quite happy actually even though they "forgot" a few things & their communication was just plain sad.

It's always going to be a matter of opinion how well a car is restored, especially as everybody loves to buy a bargain, don't they? So it's rather impossible to ever agree on what sort of quality you should've got for X amount of money.

However, it's far easier to tell it's bullshit if Atlas Muscle Cars say there's a spare tire & a jack in the trunk, and it turns out there's not. If they say the only thing not working is A, and then it turns out B, C, D and E don't work either, it's equally easy to say they've ripped you off.

This is all fair enough, no news to people who are in the car trade. Honesty equals naivety, right?

It boils down to the question if you like to do business with honest guys or guys who do not care. I licked my wounds & weighed money spent against the vehicle standing on my driveway.... I reckon I did good - Hey, I have a Charger, I wouldn't have it otherwise!!

But they lost a very good customer in a friend of mine who just spent 90k on a ´69 Camaro. That money just might have gone to Atlas Muscle Cars, if he had thought they were worth it.... 

[tsmithae]

I've none a couple people that have dealt with them and while they build lookers, they don't quite have the attention to detail that commands the prices they are asking.  For what you are paying for one of their cars, you should be be getting a little more focus on the final product.  I will be honest, this is not my personal experience but that is what I have heard talking to those that have dealt with them.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

When I see a car that has been taken down this far...




but door latches and hardware are completely painted over...





complete with a newer power brake booster, master cylinder & gold anodized fender bolts.....





....lI'm left wondering how good these people really are? 

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Ive had excellent service from Atlas muscle cars.  I have bought 4 mopars from them and had them to restore 3 cars for me and I have had no problems at all.  Exceeded my expectations every time and always come through on what is agreed on.  Totally trustworthy organization.  I would use them for anything I need! 

Tough to find such a glowing post to have much validity when it's one's first post 

[1974dodgecharger]

Amateurs making a buck and they do.....

What happened to the one posters at lol...signed up and left.

[charger Downunder]

Amateurs making a buck and they do.....

What happened to the one posters at lol...signed up and left.

I'd say he has now had a closer look at his 3 restored cars and can now see what type of restoration he got as per post above.

[cudaken]

Amateurs making a buck and they do.....

What happened to the one posters at lol...signed up and left.

I was just thinking the same thing.

[xs29bb1]

I have no experience w/ these guys, but IMHO all these joints are basically the same.  They're out for a nice profit, and they've got a lot of overhead - something's gotta give.  Their job is essentially to hide from you as best they can all the places they cut corners or didn't do things the right way.  

You've just got to ask yourself - if they're offering car-X at what looks like a great price, but they had to restore it and then pay for overhead - what did they actually pay for the car, and how did they get it so damn cheap to begin with?  And why on earth would they spend an extra nickel doing anything when if they can just gloss over it they'll get the same (or even larger) profit?  

I don't think I'd ever buy a car from any of these places, but hey to each his own.  

[Dino]

Some of you know that restoring cars was my previous career.  You do not restore cars to flip, ever.  There is rarely a profit in restoring a car unless you have something out of Wayne Carrini's stable.

You restore a car because the customer brings it to you and agrees to pay $50K for you to do the work, that's when you restore a car. 

When you flip you fix the damage and do what you need to do to make it a good buy, but as with everything there is a right way and a wrong way. 

Any place that intends to buy a car like a Charger to restore and sell will quickly find that they will be deep in the red if they do.

Buying a classic from a dealer is like walking in backwards while grabbing your ankles.  You are asking for it.  The shop bought it from CL where you should be looking as well.  Now you're just paying a huge markup and will be spending weeks to unfix their 'clean up' techniques.  Ever try to remove a gallon of armor all from an interior??   

[myk]

I hate Armor-All...

[1974dodgecharger]

Love armor all 

[myk]

Isn't Armor-All alcohol based and ultimately bad for interior pieces? 

[Dino]

I'm not sure, you can look up the msds online and you'll likely find the main chemical.  Whatever it is, I don't want it near any of my cars.

[Ghoste]

There are other products that do a much better job of cleaning and preserving your parts from uv without feeling greasy.

[1974dodgecharger]

I'm used to armor all....

[remta1]

So while we are sort of on the subject , what happened to Texas toy box ?

[1974dodgecharger]

So while we are sort of on the subject , what happened to Texas toy box ?

Hlpag?

[surmanajaja]

I bought a ´70 Charger from them.

But they lost a very good customer in a friend of mine who just spent 90k on a ´69 Camaro. That money just might have gone to Atlas Muscle Cars, if he had thought they were worth it.... 

watched that car when it was on ebay. nice to know it came to Finland, did it have bondo under that paint?

is the 69 camaro also in Helsinki? would like to see a pic and info about that one too even though its a chebby,,,,

[NHCharger]

So while we are sort of on the subject , what happened to Texas toy box ?

Hlpag?

Pretty sure TTB is still around. From all the negative comments I read about it, it's a bit surprising considering how easy it is to research info on the internet.
Didn't HLPAG change their name to American Muscle Cars, or something like that??