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One way spend a bundle

Started by Paul Flykt #18899, July 20, 2005, 06:48:35 PM

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Paul Flykt #18899

Last night I went to a 1st annual car show at a neighborhood bar & grill not far from my house. They were expecting 35 to 40 cars max, 117 showed up. One of the cars was a customized 59 Sedan de Ville. This person used 4 59s to put together one car and a trailer made up of 59 parts.
The car had an Art Morrison custom frame with air bags, Wilwood brakes, 502 Ram Jet crate motor and 20" spoked wheels. The only mod to the body was shaved door handles. The interior, trunk upholstery and trailer upholstery was all custom. The body work, paint and upholstery was exceptional.  All chrome and stainless pieces were very well done.
The trailer was complete with front bumper, headlights, grill, hood, fenders, rear quarters, deck lid rear grill and rear bumper. It just looked like they cut a car in front of the cowl and just past the rear bulk head and welded it back together.
The 3 x5 billboard detailing all the mods claimed 5000+ manhours spent on the car and trailer. Most of these hours were by professionals.
I cannot imagine the total cost of this affair. I know the shop that did the body and paint, they do not work for peanuts. Dont get me wrong I like all cars from restored to custom. I also believe you are free to do as you please with your car. In my book a ridiculous amount of money was spent on the wrong car.

Barry Wheeler #2189

That is my point exactly in relation to modified cars. People spend inordinant amounts of money on these (admittedly beautiful) cars, and then wonder why no one wants to pay them anywhere near what they have expended. I believe the main reason is that no two people have the same ideas about a custom car. With an original car, returned to as-new condition, you have the value of getting "what was" returned to how it left the factory...(No, lets not start THAT thread again...You guys know what I mean...As near humanly possible, OK?) ... you are preserving history. Not trying to make it, no matter how fine the workmanship. Keep em original guys. One guy in our local club has a 51 Frazer with chrome wide spoke wheels. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Porter 21919

To be restored and then they get parted out.

I picked up a free 67 CDV that has a good low mileage engine but very severe rust problems, Im welding in all new steel patch panels and will have some fun with it, custom paint, etc.

Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt customize a vintage restorable Cadillac, should we part out all the old decrepit ones or restore them to some capacity ?

The leaking rear windows on the 60s tape set GM cars rot out the window opening, the rear floor pans, sailpanels,rear deck, not to mention the rust damage from the vinyl roof, at least my 67 is a slick top or forget about it.

My 66 CDV has custom paint and a new custom vinyl top, looks as good as any color scheme GM offered for 66, at least in my opinion and everyone else that has seen the car. I have done all the work on the car myself, it really has little value even in stock factory form, nothing special option wise.

The 50s color schemes were great, the pastels.

When it comes to customizing some people have more money than brains.

Porter





Matt Mersereau

Hi Porter,
Youve done an exceptional job with your 66. I enjoyed all the pictures you sent me of the work in progress. I totally agree with your style of modifications. I dont see the harm in changing the color to suit ones taste when it has zero affect on the value of the car. Yes, there are some cars that should be restored to factory specs, but I think cars like ours dont fit in that category. I am mulling over the idea of not using the factory code 16 Regal Silver when I repaint my 68 CDV. I really like a silver that Volkswagen used a few years ago, the metallic in it is very fine, and the overall color is brighter than the code 16 silver. Its not a pearlescent silver, but it does seem to glow in bright sunlight. To me the Regal Silver is a bit too gray.
Anyway, as long as the erector-set spoilers and the like dont make their way onto a classic Caddy, its all good!


Johnny

Whenever I see top of the line Cadillacs, especially a 53 Eldo in this condition, I always wondered about its history and how it got to this point.  You would think that a car, that was so expensive from the beginning, would have survived these years in better condition.

Ken Andersen # 21420

I tend to wonder that myself of my car. I took on a 1928 Cadillac 341-A project, my first in the realm of vintage car restoration. It has been a dream of mine to restore an older car for about the past 30 odd years. Sure I have had, as a youngster, car that have been "done" up, but they have been the everday homegrown cars that most youngsters do up after they have first received their licences. I bought my 341, about 3 years ago, in a state that most restorers would class a scrapping car. The only good thing about it was that it had all the panels and all the running gear, and all the correct numbers. Now at about half finished, and about AUD$ 80,000 later, I wonder if I am fuelling my ego, or whether the people who will view my car when finished, will appreciate what I have done, in restoring my 341 back to factory original. (Other than paint). Have pics if anyone is interested.

JIM CLC # 15000

07-22-05
Ken, I would love to see photos of your project,on the CLC board or via email.(just click-on the name on the left-side of the post).
Good Luck, Jim

Rhino 21150

This car is featured in the August 2005 issue of Street Thunder magazine. The article has not been posted to the net yet. http://streetmachineclub.com/ TARGET=_blank>http://streetmachineclub.com/ if you are into street rods.

Michael Stamps 19507

Barry it is a known fact that if you restore a car like this to factory correct you get 50 cents on the dollar back when you go to sell.  I do agree that by doing major mods you limit your market but either way you loose money.  From what Ive seen of the guys at http://www.modifiedcadillac.org TARGET=_blank>www.modifiedcadillac.org we are the ones that cannot afford to pay a shop to restore nor modify our cars.  We do the work ourselves when time and money allow.  In some cases like interior we cannot afford a Jenkins but we can afford a tastefully done job by ourselves.  Not all modifieds are wild and not every owner of these cars can afford a correct restoration.  What matters is that there is yet another Cadillac on the streets instead of being made into a Kia.

Stampie

Mike #19861


 I have seen Porters 66 in person, and it is truly stunning. This is a colour combination that really should have been offered by the factory. Porters work is first rate.

 A modification such as this really improves the car. No doubt better than the chocolate brown/beige top colour it was beforehand.

 But, I do see many misguided modifications on cars. Money poorly spent. In many cases the workmanship is good, but the overal effect is compromised. An overall concept should be derived at BEFORE any modifications take place. All too often, they are done during the process and do not fit into the overall theme. There are too many weekend Harley Earles and Bill Mitchells out there that really do not have any concept of design integrity. Often great amounts of cash are spent on a result of questionable taste. Then they cant figure out why they cant get anywhere near their investment back if they decide to sell.

 I had a discussion with my neigbour yesterday. He has a line on an original 67 or 68 Camaro SS (he mentioned the die cast grills in the hood). Straight, rust free with original paint. All he could talk about was tubbing it, putting in a big block, and you know the story line. Do what everyone else does and end up with a car that is almost undriveable and almost worthless, despite an investment of over $20K. I argued with him that there are not a lot of these cars left after so many being cut up in the 70s and 80s and that it should remain original. If he wants to go this route, buy one that is already cut up and go from there. Well see if he does this or not. I certainly cant find it in my constitution to aid him in the process.

 Another shameful thing I saw yesterday was a 94 STS that was all beat to s***. The rt doors had been bondod poorly with a questionable paint job, the exhaust was noisy despite having a new muffler, the rt frt tire was almost flat and the rest were bald. All the centre caps were missing. The AC did not work and the car just looked tatty. My wife even commented on its generally poor condition. Here is a car that was very expensive when new and just allowed to fall to pieces through owner neglect. It is by far the worst one I have seen on the road to date.

  Mike

Paul Flykt # 18899

Rhino
That is the one. Its too bad the pics are so dark. As I said in my original post the craftsmanship was exceptional. The lines of this car were not enhanced with a snake killer stance. Its hard to describe but it just looked cumbersome.

The show was sponsored by the Minnesota Street Machine Association and drew a good cross section of cars, restored, street rods, customs and muscle cars, something for everyone. It just did not do much for me or most of the people I talked to at this show.
Paul

Porter 21919

Will make an old classic car look better and run better.

If you choose the right color you will get nothing but compliments, otherwise you will have a silly looking car with no resale value.

If GN judging and trophies is your goal keep it stock, otherwise build the car the way you want it to be. Funny, everyone asks me if I will sell my cars when done, yeah right, and make $ 1.50 an hour ? It is just a hobby and I build/modify them to suit my desire, not for profit !

Have fun, I prefer stock but cant afford rare stock classic cars anymore, so I make my plain Jane Cadillacs a little more desireable. Maybe someday I will get to drive them. The 66 is 90 percent done and I spend all my time working on the 67 CDV basket case these days, gotta have a new project car in the works, some of us drive them and collect trophies at shows, some of us spend all our time working on them, to each their own.

Porter