Resale values, original versus modified Options

[BK911]

I have a pretty original ’72 1.7. I’ve been toying with the idea of putting in a -6. The car runs great, it’s just sloooooow! I was curious about opinions on resale value. Say 5 years from now, if I decided to sell, would an all original 1.7 be worth more than a conversion? Or at least close enough to not justify the money for the conversion? How about 10 years? I would think as any car gets older, originality would demand a premium. Thoughts?

[ptravnic]

If you think of this car as an investment you will go mad quickly... 6 will be worth more, but prob not as much as you put into the conversion.

I'm sure lots of folks will chime in on this

[lapuwali]

Resale is a terrible measure of most cars.

The 914s rising in price now are perfect 73/74 2.0s and original /6s. There is a vast difference in the collector market between "pretty original" and "perfect", and a lot of that is documentation. Just driving a perfect car will lower its value to the collector crowd.

So, if you want to enjoy the car, forget resale and do what you want with it.

A really nicely done /6 conversion can certainly fetch $15-20K, but a conversion done at that level will likely cost more than $20K unless you do a LOT of work yourself.

[Mark Henry]

If your looking for an investment think real estate.

[fuch toy]

Screw investments, have fun.

[BK911]

I didn't buy this car for an investment, but resale value is always something to consider.

[jhadler]

"Project car" and "resale value" are two things that should never be thought of together.

Unless you make a bussiness of it, and can afford to run in the red for a while. You won't come close to recovering the investment of building project cars.

Some folks here have done it, and are doing it. But it takes a lot of work to get to that point. A shadetree project car will rearely (if ever) recover the costs on resale. So don't even worry about. Biuld that six and enjoy it!!!!!

-Josh2

[Mueller]

unless the 1.7 is bone stock Concours d'Elegance condition in 5 years, I'd say a nicely done /6 conversion will have a better resale value....and it'll be more fun to drive for those 5 years as long as it doesn't take 4 years to build (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[markb]

Personally, if I was going to do a 6, I'd buy someone else's unfinished project. Most of us get pretty deep in these, and some have to bail before it's finished. Al least that way, you'd have a driver while you finish the 6, and then you can sell the 4 when everything is "done". Just my .02.

[balljoint]

as long as it doesn't take 4 years to build (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Ah Hah! Sad, but true. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[LvSteveH]

Modified cars are always going to be judged as the sum of their parts. In other words, how much would it cost to duplicate. From there you have to look at what you would want to redo or undo to suit your tastes. So.... if you build a nice 3.2L conversion to extremely high standards, and everything is tasteful, you stand a good chance of getting back what you spent on parts, but probably very little on the labor.

Original cars are a commodity, and it's a matter of how rare they are and who wants them. I've got a 912E, and they made roughly the same number of 914-6's as they did 912E's, but the six has a much higher value for like condition. While most of the guys here would say they'd like to have a 912E, they would raid their kids college fund for an original six.

All that being said, I doubt you have too much to worry about if you decide to do a six conversion. The trick is to keep it very clean, use the best parts available, and build a car that other people are going to envy when all is said and done. The trick to getting your money out of it is seat time and having a car that other people want. Your smiles per dollar ratio will improve the more you drive the car.

Most people don't have the desire, patience, knowledge, or attention to detail to build a truly exceptional car. I just bought a six conversion that has a bunch of great parts, but was lacking attention to detail, consequently, it sold for about the value of its major components. Do it right, or buy one that's already done if you want high resale value.

I should add that there are plenty of people out there having a great time in cars that were thrown together (you know who you are), so you just have to decide what you want, but a haphazard car will always have a low resale value.