<VV> Is it ok to sell a corvair here?

[RoboMan91324 at aol.com]

Mojunk,
 
I have been into collectible cars for more years than I care  to admit and 
I have observations which may or may not fit your situation but  here goes.
 
Stating the obvious, when it comes to  buying, restoring and selling these 
cars there are generally costs that fall into a few general categories 
including the original  purchase price of the vehicle, costs of parts, costs of 
services and the value  of your own labor.  I view these as  follow.
 
What you pay for the car is negotiable.  You need to know  what you are 
looking at (and for) and the real value including the "upside"  value.  I won't 
get into too much detail but the rarity,  desirability and condition of the 
car are most  important.  
 
Parts and services are critical costs, of course.  We are  lucky to have 
many reasonable sources for parts and services.  Of course,  the word 
"reasonable" is subjective.  If you can store parts cars to pick  apart and can 
perform most, if not all "services" yourself, you have fewer  dollars invested 
which may allow for a profit down the line when you sell.   More on this 
below.
 
Once you have purchased a car, the biggest variable is in the  purchased 
services vs. your own labor costs.  I don't know, but I  suspect that you are 
more invested in purchased  services than in your own labor.  Depending on 
what you want, services like  paint and body work can reach well into 5 
figures.
 
I know people who have some very nice cars but have invested  nothing other 
than money into them.  They brag about having invested  $100,000 or more 
and they expect that if they sell.  I pissed off a friend  when I told him I 
could buy the same basic car as his for  around $60,000 in the case of his 
50's T-Bird.  I told  him what I am now going to tell you.  Buying a car from 
a talented  self-restorer is usually the best deal.  It is often the 
psychology of this  individual that the labor he (or she) invests in the car is 
"for free."  He  will keep track of the original purchase price and parts but 
depending on the  condition of the vehicle when it was purchased the ignored 
value of his personal  labor can be significant.  A $5000 (or whatever) 
body/paint job can cost  you a mere few hundred dollars if you have the skill 
and equipment to do it  yourself or have a friend who will do it for the cost 
of materials.  This  also goes for rebuilding engines, trannies, brakes,  
etc.
 
In general, your best value is probably to buy a car from  a talented (and 
honest) self-restorer.  Similar might be to buy a fixer  upper and be your 
own self-restorer if you have the ability.  Fairly low in  value is finding a 
fixer upper and then outsourcing all of the "fixing up" to  professionals.  
Of course, the worst could be paying someone for his full  perceived value 
of his car when he has paid professionals for all the  work.  Professional 
car restoration services can be VERY  expensive.
 
The bottom line is that your car is worth what someone is  willing to pay 
for it.  If someone can buy the same car as yours for $4000  from a 
self-restorer, why would they pay you $7500 even though that is what you  are "out of 
pocket?"
 
It is often said in the collector car industry, "Buy or fix up  a vehicle 
to the level that makes you happy.  Do not throw money into a car  expecting 
to get it back out or even make a profit unless you are a  professional."  
Professionals will buy, restore and sell cars that have  significant upside.  
It is beginning to get better lately but our  Corvairs do not fit into this 
category yet.  
 
People, please don't quote me a wacky high number that you saw  in a 
Barrett-Jackson auction.  By definition, the far points of a bell  curve are not 
the norm.
 
Doc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
In a message dated 11/6/2015 4:17:18 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:

Message:  6
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 2015 17:49:30 -0500
From: rnojunkmail  <rnojunkmail at aol.com>
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject:  <VV> Is it ok to sell a corvair here?
Message-ID:  <xmry73qpjpkgp1t9jiirca6f.1446850039604 at email.android.com>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=utf-8

How come I put over $7500 into a great  running 63 2 Dr Monza and can't get 
$4000 for it? I'm in  PA