Classic Car Weekly "don't Restore Base Models"

[120y]

This doesn't make sense to me surely there needs to be some saved as in years to come people will think there was only the "GTI" etc.

I always think there is a space to restore the unloved ones, or maybe its just me ?

[HmmDK]

Any link?

[fredtransit]

Transit Popular, millions sold. Now very few left, due to 'upgrades', one of which I committed myself, making a Mk2 phase1 V reg tin front into a phase2. To make up for it, we have a round headlight late Mk2 phase1, which we deliberately left alone! She's respelndant in her dark grey vinyl and lack of frills. Not that the custom package is huge, being
clock
trip meter
intermittant wash wipe
cloth seats (early ones are genuine bri nylon!!)
2 door bins
extra pull handles
glove box door
a bit more sound deadening

er, that's it!!

[120y]

Basically it was an article on 100 money saving tips, the writer stated don't restore base models, his meaning was that it usually only costs a few hundred more to purchase a ratty volkswagon gti needing welding than a rusty 1.1 golf.
I personally rightly or wrongly don't see it this way.

[sarkie83]

I often prefer a base model (at least on the outside - less tacked on bits of rubber/chrome!)

[Deleted]

Ugh, restore a car because you want the car, i just get so annoyed and angry at miffs who are all about the money, it gets on my nerves, it really does! don't even get me started on the "Scrap it, so mine will be worth more!" crowd...........

[fredtransit]

May 16, 2014 18:24:17 GMT 120y said:

Basically it was an article on 100 money saving tips, the writer stated don't restore base models, his meaning was that it usually only costs a few hundred more to purchase a ratty volkswagon gti needing welding than a rusty 1.1 golf.
I personally rightly or wrongly don't see it this way.

so how does spending a bit more on a sporty model save you any money? If the base model is sound and needs very little, how would it be cheaper to save a top of the range shed? Many base models are bought by old giffers who don't want the frills. They get kept in the garage and end up being taken out down the shops.

Commercial vehicle owners can ignore the above......

[grumpy]

Isny all driven by demand ? Simply more peolpe want a gti version of a car than a half baked one .

[markgenesis]

A load of journalistic tosh, restoring old cars is mainly about nostalgia so someone may desire to restore a four door 1200 base model MK1 Cortina because their dad owned that exact model and it was the first car they drove etc and have no desire what so ever to own a Cortina GT.

Besides i'm sure i read somewhere before about base models surviving better as they have less strain on the shells and are less likeley to have been crashed and repaired than the hot version of the same model.

[ratchart]

I can understand from a purely financial point of view you're unlikely to recoup the costs in restoring a lower model, but I hate the view that classic cars should be seen as an investment anyway. One of The things that makes old cars interesting is the fact that you can make some sort of emotional connection with them which can't be measured in financial terms. 

I've got a thread elsewhere about the old cars my parents used to own and most of them were base models which hardly anyone would bother cherish to restore for profit but some of which are also quite rare now, possibly for the same reason. 

Where would period dramas be without all these base models? It always stands out for me when I see a film or TV show set in the past where all the cars in the background are pristine looking top of the range models. 

[dodgerover]

May 16, 2014 19:01:59 GMT fredtransit said:

May 16, 2014 18:24:17 GMT 120y said:

Basically it was an article on 100 money saving tips, the writer stated don't restore base models, his meaning was that it usually only costs a few hundred more to purchase a ratty volkswagon gti needing welding than a rusty 1.1 golf.
I personally rightly or wrongly don't see it this way.

so how does spending a bit more on a sporty model save you any money? If the base model is sound and needs very little, how would it be cheaper to save a top of the range shed? Many base models are bought by old giffers who don't want the frills. They get kept in the garage and end up being taken out down the shops.

Commercial vehicle owners can ignore the above......

I'm seriously thinking about buying and mothballing the next really nice Mk3 and Mk4 transits I see at a sensible price - prices have started going up already for nice ones even the 'popular' ones .

I don't think there are many people who take on a restoration based on making a profit (not unless you count your time as costing £0 p/h) so its basically the restorers choice/ preference, at one of the Australian events I went to there was a guy from Ford there looking at the GT-HO's his comment went something like 'we built 500 of this model and there are 600 here!' The hot models are always going to be more sought after.

[taurus]

Restore whatever you like, and drive it. Old cars are about having fun not making money.

Personally I prefer base models, the simpler the better.

[BenzBoy]

Surely it doesn't matter if it's going to be modified?

[fredtransit]

Where does it say you HAVE to modify it?

[Mercdan68]

Base models are generally more sort after now due to rarity,, i myself always buy my oldies based on body and structure being good, whichever model i don't care. Another classic car mag/paper talking nonsense, normally ccw is a good read so hope its a one off!

[stealthstylz]

May 16, 2014 20:09:17 GMT fredtransit said:

Where does it say you HAVE to modify it?

Until I'm Prime Minister it doesn't.

[grumpy]

May 16, 2014 20:11:38 GMT Mercdan68 said:

Base models are generally more sort after now due to rarity,, i myself always buy my oldies based on body and structure being good, whichever model i don't care. Another classic car mag/paper talking nonsense, normally ccw is a good read so hope its a one off!

I wouldnt say thats true , i would much rather have a golf gti mk1 than a 1.1 no question.

And people cant say vehicles are not restored for money , thats ridiculous . Plenty of people buy classics as investments , its better than money in the bank in some cases .

[BenzBoy]

May 16, 2014 20:09:17 GMT fredtransit said:

Where does it say you HAVE to modify it?

This being Retro Rides, I assumed most would approach a classic car with a view to modifying it and so the exact spec of the car wouldn't really be an issue, and the views of this one journalist in this one magazine don't really matter to us much.

[darrenh]

i might be wrong, but i'm sure i was the only one with a bog standard low mileage astra "merit" on the astra-mk2 stand at billing. in a see of GTE's, sri and lxi, that actually stands out.

standard is the new modified

and in answer to CCW, the answer is own one of each, see signature

[fred]

You ride what you ride, you like base models thats ok,
you like bells n whistles - thats ok, one mans black is another ones white
I like quality real ale, but like base bottom ass priced beans, another may be opposite
all the same, do what you want!