Found a 68 Mustang.....salvage title...thoughts?

I’ve got three old Mustangs myself, one of which is a 69 drag pack Mach 428 SCJ in the restoration queue.

A salvage title won’t hurt the value because all of these cars are rebuilt.

While my drag pack car is a 6 figure car (or capable of) I do not see a lot of 68 fastbacks as 6 figure cars…maybe $50k.

If you have to put a $17k driveline in it it seems difficult to pencil out how you’ll turn a decent profit on it by the time you do up everything else…especially with today’s prices.

Please don’t make it an Eleanor unless you like dealing with the car buyer’s equivalent of frat boys.

Yes I am a a Mustang purist and snob.
 
Lizer said:
I’ve got three old Mustangs myself, one of which is a 69 drag pack Mach 428 SCJ in the restoration queue.

A salvage title won’t hurt the value because all of these cars are rebuilt.

While my drag pack car is a 6 figure car (or capable of) I do not see a lot of 68 fastbacks as 6 figure cars…maybe $50k.

If you have to put a $17k driveline in it it seems difficult to pencil out how you’ll turn a decent profit on it by the time you do up everything else…especially with today’s prices.

Please don’t make it an Eleanor unless you like dealing with the car buyer’s equivalent of frat boys.

Yes I am a a Mustang purist and snob.
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I'm in agreement with you about the Eleanor's. Although our good taste may not reflect where the market is at. :)
Looking at the BJ archives I think it would bring low 6 figures if done correctly. Probably around 150K? I wouldn't consider doing this if the car would only being 50K. Just trying to figure out a way to make some money.

Rbm said:
Salvage title has no bearing on price before or after rebuild
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Could you expand on that? Years ago I worked in it, buying, repairing and selling late model salvage. It mot certainly affected the purchase and resale price of those cars.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
I'm in agreement with you about the Eleanor's. Although our good taste may not reflect where the market is at. :)
Looking at the BJ archives I think it would bring low 6 figures if done correctly. Probably around 150K? I wouldn't consider doing this if the car would only being 50K. Just trying to figure out a way to make some money.


Could you expand on that? Years ago I worked in it, buying, repairing and selling late model salvage. It mot certainly affected the purchase and resale price of those cars.
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If you’re using BJ as your baseline I think you’re basing it more on the exceptions than the rules. BJ is accounting for only a tiny fraction of all the fastback Mustangs sold.

Look at listings on EBay. Completed auctions are all selling around that $50k mark. Active listings above that have no bids; the active listings which are getting bids are also in the $50k range.

For your latter comment, classic cars are a completely different game than late model cars. Most people accept that a classic car has been through a lot, was likely very rusted out and probably been in a lot of accidents. But it’s been completely restored and rebuilt.
 
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Lizer said:
If you’re using BJ as your baseline I think you’re basing it more on the exceptions than the rules. BJ is accounting for only a tiny fraction of all the fastback Mustangs sold.
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If I did it I would sell it a one of the auction houses like BJ. So yes that would be my baseline. It would be done to a very high level. Only online auction I would think of using would be bringatrailer. That's my thinking anyways. Other folks are doing it and making money, why not me?:) I could be wrong though. Wouldn't be the first time.:)
 
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One other note Chris. Will you stop the customer work to built this car? No customer work no income for a while. Outside work then Mustang sits and take up space. Salvage title will always affect the price maybe not so much on a resto rod. The last point is liability factor...............yes I know guys will come one and say OH I have been building salvage cars for years and no problems. Well in to days wold of Greed and law suites who knows. Please don't ask me. But all of us support you and good luck. I personaly like the car and I just finished a 96 Bronco last month and the owner sold it very fast on facebook Driver quaitly for 34K Tom
 
I'd never buy a salvage title car if newer as selling it if persons wanted a bank loan good luck and rule of thumb if redone perfectly, its worth 50% of market value.

But the mustang, if restored still going to be an issue to make money, but if done as a restro-rod, all goes out the window.

If the price is reasonable, I will buy it in a heartbeat as a non issue, and the person that will buy that car will not need a bank loan.

Remember what the people want in that car, the most modern high hp engine, and all power options, but it still looks like an original one except for wheels and tires.

See how Ken does his vettes, a perfect example.

Also, pictures to give the buyer as to how it looked before you started will increase the sale price big time as an engine fire, who cares, wrapped around a tree would be a concert as if fixed right.

Buy it!!
 
i am far from a pro on this subject and know nothing about selling or the value of old cars BUT it seems to me that all restorations if done correct with a high level of detail then it seems to me you will always have more in it than its worth unless its some kind of rare low #'s model that is worth a ton of money. even of you pull a little profit it seems like a hard way to make a buck. the small handful of cars i have done i have always told the customer the car better have sentimental value or its your childhood dream or something because you will have way more in it than its worth. its alot of hours. you could prob make more per hr working at mcdonalds. dont know, maybe i am way off here or have no idea the market right now. it has been prob 10 years since i touched a car.
 
Jim C said:
i am far from a pro on this subject and know nothing about selling or the value of old cars BUT it seems to me that all restorations if done correct with a high level of detail then it seems to me you will always have more in it than its worth unless its some kind of rare low #'s model that is worth a ton of money. even of you pull a little profit it seems like a hard way to make a buck. the small handful of cars i have done i have always told the customer the car better have sentimental value or its your childhood dream or something because you will have way more in it than its worth. its alot of hours. you could prob make more per hr working at mcdonalds. dont know, maybe i am way off here or have no idea the market right now. it has been prob 10 years since i touched a car.
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There is a good sized market for these cars. High rollers on BAT and Barrett Jackson etc. You have to know the market and what brings money and what doesn’t. A couple of seemingly small bad choices can really hurt the market appeal. I’ve been building pro-touring and restomod cars for 16 years and still would never attempt it. As I said I make more money with less risk building for others. I also don’t have to tie up six figures before I can realize a profit.

Don
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
If I did it I would sell it a one of the auction houses like BJ. So yes that would be my baseline. It would be done to a very high level. Only online auction I would think of using would be bringatrailer. That's my thinking anyways. Other folks are doing it and making money, why not me?:) I could be wrong though. Wouldn't be the first time.:)
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More power to you if you can swing it. If you're able to absorb $80-100k initial cost of build and thousands of hrs until auction then go for it.

Though remember the other guys doing it are shops dedicated to doing exactly this type of thing so they have the benefit of efficiency.

Otherwise, buy it and find a guy who's willing to pay you to restore it exactly as he wants. That's how you'll make the $$$ and you don't have to put up any capital in advance.
 
I don't know anything about flipping high end hot rods. I do however have an opinion on the Mustang , when you said engine fire my mind went to burned twisted warped hood pried open with a fire axe kinda burned. Most of what I see in the picture could be fixed with a pressure washer, the fire didn't even melt much of the rubber. A little cleaning and attention, I say a couple gear heads and a Saturday afternoon could have that thing running like it is. Get it get it going and cleaned up, get the title worked out. It really looks to me for a few hundred dollars you can repair it.
 
Thanks guys lot of good advice. I'm probably guilty of dreaming a little. Thought was to set it aside and use the proceeds from the sale of a car I have now and do it in the future. Knowing myself things would not go according to plan. :)I've always been the one to do things the hard way, but just trying to figure some way to make a living. Hard enough to get any business, have one job now but nothing after that. Gotta trust in the Lord but that's hard to do sometimes.:)
Still would like to get the car if I can swing it.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
Thanks guys lot of good advice. I'm probably guilty of dreaming a little. Thought was to set it aside and use the proceeds from the sale of a car I have now and do it in the future. Knowing myself things would not go according to plan. :)I've always been the one to do things the hard way, but just trying to figure some way to make a living. Hard enough to get any business, have one job now but nothing after that. Gotta trust in the Lord but that's hard to do sometimes.:)
Still would like to get the car if I can swing it.
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Chris, once you get a job or two done and people begin to see what you produce, the work will come in.
 
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