70 T/A project car

[Katfish]

Just like then, your best bet now is to buy a used muscle car.
There's a point, 3-5 years, where you can pick up these cars for 1/2 the sales price.
Being the 3rd owner is the sweet spot,
1st guy shells out all the cash for a special car and never drives it and babies it.
2nd owner gets a deal, and a 20% price cut, drives the car but takes care of it because it's still like new and special.
3rd guy is just buying a used car and gets the big drop in price.

[jimynick]

Sounds like a plan and I wish you good luck with it! God knows, I wanted a hemi E body or to be truthful, ANY hemi Mopar, but barring winning a lottery, it'll likely never happen. C'est la vie! 

[Rich G]

Well it was an interesting 8 hour round trip to see a supposedly rusted back end of a T/A . Apparently he never looked at the rest of the car because I've never seen a car as rotted as this! It was stored in an old trailer that I was just about able to fit in to check if out. There literately wasn't a single piece of metal that couldn't be saved. It was from what I could see a blue,a/t non ralley dash car. Didn't see an engine or trans but after what I saw with the car it didn't really mater. The interesting thing was he had in a different garage with an AAR, a T/A and 4 other E body's all in real decent shape. Nothing perfect but one hell of a collection! And a convertible challenger in a different garage! All tucked away in back road farmland. Pretty amazing what's still hidden out there.

[Beekeeper]

Well it was an interesting 8 hour round trip to see a supposedly rusted back end of a T/A . Apparently he never looked at the rest of the car because I've never seen a car as rotted as this! It was stored in an old trailer that I was just about able to fit in to check if out. There literately wasn't a single piece of metal that couldn't be saved. It was from what I could see a blue,a/t non ralley dash car. Didn't see an engine or trans but after what I saw with the car it didn't really mater. The interesting thing was he had in a different garage with an AAR, a T/A and 4 other E body's all in real decent shape. Nothing perfect but one hell of a collection! And a convertible challenger in a different garage! All tucked away in back road farmland. Pretty amazing what's still hidden out there.

What was he trying to get for the rusted basket case?

[Rich G]

$7,500

[Beekeeper]

Not as bad as I thought it might be. For $7500, it would need the original VIN plate, fender tags, and some of it would need to be salvageable, maybe even some usable parts.

[Katfish]

Sounds like a candidate for a rebody

[MoparJunkie]

Damn $7500 for what sounds like a pile of rust seems like he's asking too much if it is that bad (Then again it's a T/A, so I guess it's worth its weight in gold). Unless you can save it, then yeah it sounds like a rebody. Which even with a T/A vin, fender tags, and anything else that would seriously kill its value. Sounds like you made up your mind quick about it though. Did you take any pics of it?

[Rich G]

This is what I don't get. To spend $7500 for a fender tag and then rebody  it, is it really a real T/A ? Why not just get a nice Challenger and turn that into a dare I say T/A clone? Really aren't you doing the same thing but saving the 7500? I bought a rough 71 barracuda and put the gilled fenders and a shaker hood on it and it looks great. Sure its really a 318 Barracuda and that bugs me a little bit but I get nothing but complements with it except from the die hards that just look at the vin tag instead of the car! Cant see that Tag when I'm cruising down the road! LOL

[Rich G]

I took some pics but unfortunately there wasn't much room to get a good shot. Ill try to post them but it doesn't show the true rot everywhere. It was pretty sad that anyone could let something of this value sit and rot!

[Beekeeper]

This is what I don't get. To spend $7500 for a fender tag and then rebody  it, is it really a real T/A ? Why not just get a nice Challenger and turn that into a dare I say T/A clone? Really aren't you doing the same thing but saving the 7500? I bought a rough 71 barracuda and put the gilled fenders and a shaker hood on it and it looks great. Sure its really a 318 Barracuda and that bugs me a little bit but I get nothing but complements with it except from the die hards that just look at the vin tag instead of the car! Cant see that Tag when I'm cruising down the road! LOL

Yeah, your right on that. Let someone else pay that kinda dough. If it's as bad as you say, I Personally might pay $1000 just for fun and the challenge of trying to save it. I agree that it's probably not the same car with a rebody. The new body is probably $15k plus and then you got the original purchase of $7500. If the original drivetrain is missing, it's value would always be lower. You could throw 50k into a project like that super fast.

[YellowThumper]

Agreed that most cannot afford the purchase of a "finished" car. In the end it always depends on who you are.
Are you the take a loan and write the check person? Car is done and you are now paying the bank intetest for outstanding balance. "Wow look at how much I saved on purchasing the finished deal" but don't look or talk about the other 30k spent to the bank when it is all done.

I on the other hand am the type to start low and bring it up. No instant gratification. However the "bank" is me. So all the $$$ in interest payments is non existant. Now my 50k expendature is still 50k. To me my labor is free. In the end I also know exactly there is no hidden damage, rust, rebody issues, etc... I have the same mentality with the homes I have purchased. I have purchased them in "used" condition and finish them to my liking. Not someone elses with all the cover ups that come with them.

My2c

[Tonefiend]

I have people hammer me to sell them my car all the time. When I ask if there are slightly under market value the most common response I get is "well I can't make any money on that". Restoring a car is a money losing situation.

[Tonefiend]

$7500 my not be a bad deal for the TA motor, drivetrain and usable parts. Not to mention the fender tag. 

[70chall440]

Anything can be saved with enough $$ thrown at it, that said IMO this whole situation is indicative of what has gone wrong with the hobby. Everyone asks "what could it be worth" as pretty much their first question. Yes building cars is a losing (financially) proposition, but that is why its called a "hobby" not investment capital. If you are buying cars to flip then you are car salesman (not a bad thing) but if you love Mopars and always wanted a TA, you are going to be hard pressed to find a real one for less money. Yes it will cost you boat loads to restore/repair etc but in the end it is still a real TA. Put it this why, it cost the same to restore a 318 car or a 340/440 etc car but which would you rather have in the end; a bona fide RT or TA or a 318 or 6 cyl car? If the answer is "I don't care" then you have your answer where to start. If it does matter, then you also have your answer. I have a 70 RT which I bought for $5k 17 years ago, it was a basket case for the most part, I have worked on that car ever since and while it is fun to ponder its value, I know I wont sell it so it doesn't matter.

Sorry for the rant..