New car vs. Restored classic?, What are the possibilities? Options

[JeffBowlsby]

In another post it was said. ‘Wife bought a new Bronco in 2022. We sold it a few months ago and bought a 1972 Bronco to replace it.’

Been pondering the same dilemma. Not talking about sports cars in this thread.

New cars are expensive to buy, maintain, repair and insure. Loaded with tech, and numerous features they can be very complicated. Even lower cost new cars can fit this description. A recent article says new cars average $50K now, even an F150 pickup is reportedly $65K. The new cars we really want can be over six figures. New cars depreciate like rocks whereas vintage car values are much more stable. I’m thinking fully restored cars that would pass a thorough PPI. No project cars. No complicated cars. No “they only made X of these” with an inflated cost. No 40 Ford restorods or Model As. Nothing particularly ostentatious.

I think the possibilities, risks, rewards of a good quality vintage car instead of new could be advantageous. We need to consider at least reliability, availability of shops that can provide service, parts availability. Certainly reasonable safety is important which most older cars are not well equipped. Collector insurance may help reduce costs if that fits the situation.

Which specific vehicles would you consider as good candidates for a family car be it a sedan, SUV or minivan? Both domestic and imports, low mileage, well cared for. Condition is more important than collectibility. Probably A/C is a must but could be retrofitted. Want to focus on vehicles that would be reliable as daily drivers.

I am thinking of 60s-70s Chevys, Fords, 2000s Hondas and Toyotas. 1975 and earlier would be beneficial to those of us in CA. Valued at something less than $50K. What are your ideas?

[Chris914n6]

90s are kinda the sweet spot. Multi-port FI on a basic engine. 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto. But the interiors are old, used parts are old. New parts for lights, bumpers, usually damaged stuff is hit or miss. My 1988 Pathfinder is in that dead zone... no new interior parts and nothing at the wreckers.

My 2004 Chevy Blazer I 'reconditioned'. Parts readily available and cheap. Still plenty at the wreckers. I'm only missing a good drivers bottom seat cushion. Installed a large screen radio with backup camera. Qualified for classic insurance as a towpig. Meets my needs except the mileage sucks.

Her 07 Highlander is doing fine except the paint.

Been eyeballing a gen2 Cayenne in a couple years. I just don't drive enough to justify spending too much for a nice ride.

I made the 914 comfy. A big 6 allows that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Also had an 05 beetle and 07 GTI. The beetle was a plastic breaking POS. The GTI was nice and parts were available.

Also have Dad's 73 Squarebody. I can gets parts for it pretty easy except a few 1 year only things. Likely will put the Blazer drivetrain in it for driveabilty as it practically bolts in. A carbed 454 and Th400 suck a lot of gas. Also the brakes suck and the undersized tires and the rust so it will need to be modernized.

I don't think I want to touch something made in the past 15 years. Too much fancy engineering in the variable cam engine & 8-9-10 speed trans that seems to fail more often.