Fixer Upper

We are going to start a new series of posts here on www.LegendaryCollectorCars.com called Fixer Upper. Although I love the high end cars that are beautifully restored, restomoded or customized they generally fall into the “dream” category for most enthusiasts. The reality is that most of us can only afford a nice driver car and even those can often exceed our budget. The goal of the Fixer Upper posts is to demonstrate that an affordable collector car is still possible.

Here are the ground rules:

1. Our intent is to go out, look for and purchase a collector car for less than $5,000 but not more than $10,000.
2. The car will then be looked over for deficiencies and ugly. That is, what needs to be done and what would we like to do before we hit the street with it?
3. Our goal is to not put more into the car than $15,000 total.
4. We also hope to have a 20% potential profit in the car when done. In other words if we have $15,000 in the car we hope to be able to sell it for at least $15,000 plus 20% ($3,000) and sell it for $18,000. This will help us move on to the next project which in your case might mean moving up to a better car next time.
5. One of our strategies is to stay away from the main stream where cars in demand command higher prices. That means we won’t be looking for a Camaro or a Chevelle. It means we will be looking for stuff that is cool but a little different. We will even look at pickups.
6. We will also try to stay away from vehicles needing major repairs. We want to be able to start driving them almost immediately if possible. Rust must be minimal and no major structural repairs.
7. We will also be keeping and publishing a detailed cost accounting for all expenses for the Fixer Upper. Even when we screw up and have to send it out to a shop to fix are mistakes you will know about it.
8. If we do send out for parts we will tell you where and what we thought of their service and products.
9. We will look for cars on Craig’s List, eBay, insurance auctions and anywhere else we can find a good deal. Heck, if you have a candidate for a Fixer Upper, drop us an email at rfleener@comcast.net.

   

We have been looking for a possible candidate for our first Fixer Upper and just got delivery on it. We purchased it online through an insurance auction. I hate to buy a car base on photos with not so much as a description of the condition and try to never purchase a car for over $5,000 without seeing it in person. However, sometimes you just have to take the gamble and I did. Now to see if it paid off or not.

Next time we will give you our first inspection and reaction to our purchase, it was less than $5,000 and drives but not safe for the street, yet. It has a 425 cubic inch engine, automatic transmission and air conditioning (doesn’t work) and appears to meet all of our previously listed criteria. It is a 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. We will show you picture of it next time!