Will Restomods be frowned upon someday?
 

I have seen many posts on this forum making fun of the 70's customs and such.
Wide fender flares, spoilers, crazy interiors, wild paint jobs, the list goes on.

I wonder if the Restomods will receive the same criticism in the future?

Good question. Restomods command pretty hefty prices these days. That alone may mean Restomods are risky investments if tastes change (as they always do).

Everything runs its course. The difference is, today's restorods are much more professional than yesteryear's customs. It will run its course though.

Well when you build cars out of a pile of parts sitting around in a bone yard I guess they will be worth more than that pile of junk:cheers:

Restomods that bring large $$$ today do so because of recognition of the $$$ spent on the pieces and the innovative aspects of how such are combined/painted/adorned and presented. The nature of the beast is that such ideas are continually being updated and exceeded, including new tech that was not available when the car in question was created. In short, buy the restomod if it strikes you - AND DRIVE THE HELL OUT OF IT - because it will NOT appreciate - for you.

I think that in the long run, resto-mods are going to be worth more than restored cars.

It happened with cars of the 20's and 30's. Today a nicely done street rod, will bring many times more than what the same car brings restored. 20 years ago, it was completely opposite.

We're already seeing it in the 58-62 market. A quality resto-mod 58-62, commands far more than most correctly restored ones. There are some exceptions, such as big brake and air box cars, but the "run of the mill" 230 horse car, can't pull anywhere near what a good resto-mod does.

People want the comfort and reliability, that a quality resto-mod offers. A lot of people coming into the hobby now, have never driven an old car with king pins, an AM radio, and no power assist anything. They like the look of the old Corvettes, but want power everything, AC, modern steering, predictable braking and an XM stereo radio. This isn't going to change, and will likely become more and more common.

The majority of the 53-67 market, is dominated by people in their 50's and 60's. As these people grow older and drop out of the hobby, or pass away, will the younger people coming into the hobby, have the same appreciation for restored original type cars? Probably not!:thumbs:

tastefull is the operative word here and the ability to restore the car back to origonal is also key. Hot rods are as popular as any fully restored 32 ford so much so that the market for origonal 32 ford coups essentially no longer exists, any that pop up command 30 to 60 thousand dollars and repro glass body's are even passe in favor of repro steel bodies.

restomods will seem to be more valuable and to hold thier value but that is false economics. Only a very few well done cars will seem to increase in value, very few actually will. many more will plunge in value, only ruining the market for real steel ones with half done projects or worse... rat rods. The only "resto mod" hot rods that I see actually increasing in value are those hot rods that are essentially origonal and have origonal hot rod parts like the origonals did. The rest are 350sbc, th 350 tanny's and ford rears in belly button cars.

simply by throwing expensive parts at a car wil certainly increase its "value" but again look at the real math: a car is worth what ever your willing to pay, the parts are worth what they cost, put the parts on the car and the car looses value, the parts become used parts and they loose value, then thiers the labor. so each individual contribution does increase the value but you never get out what you put in so if you take a 35K car and add a 50 K drive train and 10k labor.... yes the 35K car has increased in value but its not worth 95K. and it will take alot of money to restore it back to a 35k car. so the accounting does not add up.....it never does. its apples and oranges comparing origonal, restored and restomods to each other. Even NCRS and many judging groups separate them. who's fooling who when we ignore that significant distinction? It should be a comparison of bad good better and best resto mods to each other. You put it in that perspective and you get a better picture of what a resto mod can do to the value of a nice origonal car. Many people would run from resto mods, and should.

The same will happen to various corvettes years; only , unfortunately, its still cheaper to buy a nice origonal car and resto mod it rather than to buy a repro body and build it. that will put alot of origonal cars at risk and the only way it will stop is when there are so few origonal cars left that the price will climb like 32 fords, it will put origonal ones out of the range of buyers who want an origonal one. not just economically but because actual numbers will be limited. Its pure selfishness to destroy an origonal car when everything is available to do the same to a reproduction and its actually better for the entire market when restoration parts are demanded by both resto mod croud and restorers. again, look at 55-57 chevy, mustang, comaro, model t,a and 32 fords. do the market a favor and get a repro body to resto mod. grow the market, the cost is the same and everybody is better for it.

so essentially, resto mods do harm the market, its not an opinion its simple economics and statistics.

so to answer your question.... yes; resto mods will be frowned upon some day.... several years ago.

If you do resto mods chances are you chew your food with your mouth open. sociopath

The wild flares, spoilers and paint jobs were eye-catching but did nothing to improve the performance or comfort. A restomod which puts today's technology under and inside a classic body style will probably not pass totally out of style. Prices are anybody's guess but it will depend on what a given buyer is looking for - an "original" or something easily drivable. JMHO

I have looked at both resto mod and original Vettes. Both have their merits and draw different types of buyers. A well done resto mod seems to be made to be driven. A well restored or original Vette is a 2 edged sword. If it's done to a driver level it's driven. The picture perfect NCRS Vettes tend to be garage queen show cars.

That resto mod vert Mike Colleta is making for Dan is a thing of beauty made to be driven. Value like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It wasnt to long ago everyone was doing " PRO STREET" tubing the rear, huge rear tires, big chrome motors, now how many do you see? And when you do see one it seems very dated but that was the cats meow not long ago. Mike

:iagree:
But of course I am biased....:D

The RestoMod movement is born from a demand for ride comfort, reliability, and technology (A/C, modern stereos, cruise, tilt wheel, disk brakes, etc...). To me the best RestoMods are tastefully designed to keep the heritage design and are done to enjoy the overall driving experience. If the design is not radical and the execution is professionally done, I do believe that the value will have staying power - but they have to be well done to command any money whatsoever and this is NOT a long term investment, it is a hobby.

My hope is that RestoMods will attract a younger crowd in the future as most my contemporaries (early 40's) could care less for the older Corvettes.

I agree that RestoMods should be in a category by themselves so that they too can be revered over time the way we do with 32 Fords.


Dan

I agree.:yesnod: Keep it stock.

Lots of great input here ... One thing to consider is constant change in technology today. Not so long ago tuned port engines were the cats meow - now I wouldn't own one. And the pro street deals. The key I think is when you mod 'em is don't cut 'em [much].

I've been told by people at shows that the stock C2's they see are rather lackluster, and they enjoy seeing some modified ones. When I was in the market, I would have loved to get ANY C2! The one I ended up buying was modded in the 70's and is period correct for that era, and I like it that way. To each his own though.

The main problem with Resto mods, as I see it, is that the "market" for them maybe a little smaller than for "stock" cars.

Once modded, you need to find somebody with a big wallet WHO LIKES YOUR MODIFICATIONS. This is where subtle changes are better than dramatic ones.

Yes, some modded cars are going for big money... but BIG MONEY also went into them to get them modded.. is it a wash? I dunno.

At the end of the day, you can always MOD a stock car... but going back to stock, after you've ditched the original frame & driveline for the current flavor of the times set up is an interesting proposition. Now for cars that don't have their original components, and are technically "dead", Restomodding is a cool way to bring them back to life... so I'd rather see a restomod cruising around than knowing its a pile of junk in some farmers back yard.

Will the top of the line Resto-mod of 2012 be commanding top dollar in 2030? Who knows... or will the market want current modded cars with the ZX5 Electric engine with flux capacitor?

For me it doesn't matter if Restomods hold their value down the road or not. At my age the road will probably not be that long, and the fun in owning one is being able to drive it and not just have it sit in a garage like most stock restored ones do, as the owner keeps hoping they will appreciate more in the rest of their lifetime. If a restored car is driven it will depreciate due to wear and tear to it doing so.

Most people don't understand that my 64 is not a Custom Car, but a Stylized Car instead. It has been driven a little over 2000 miles since last November and has been driven in the rain 5 times.

I'm proud to show the chipped paint on air dam/spoiler and tell people it's been driven in the rain. Seems they love to hear that and see the evidence that it was built to be driven not to be a show car.

People need to remember that fun is in the moment, not in the future.

If you call FUN hoping your Corvette, Stock, Restomoded, customized or what ever will appreciate in the future I truly feel sorry for you.

Im about 80% done with a C2 coupe and planning the build of my C3. Value of these cars depends on perspective. Very few would qualify as an investment, other than a bad one, lol.

I look at a resto-mod as custom transportation. I can buy a new C6 ZR1 for $120k or build an equivalent resto-mod. Which one will have more value in 5yrs? A ZR1 daily driver with 50k miles, will be worth maybe $25k-$30k. My C2 body alone will be worth more than that.

My resto-mod resale value is debatable. As an investment, it is a poor one. As transportation, it should retain more value than driving a new C6/C7 for 5yrs.

Right on!! I saw the pics of the build of your car several years ago, way cool, i love the fenders. i own the car in the six taillights thread. Thanks for posting, one vote for 6 red lights :thumbs:. As for appreciating who cares, i just like driving them as do you. I paid $600 for the car in 1975 with the flairs on it already. I guess it has appreciated a little even being a restomod but once again "who cares?"

Revfan, thanks for posting in the six tallights thread. That is my car. Thanks to DOKK for posting the pics...:thumbs: That car was my daily driver for ten years until i upgraded to a 79 C3 L82 4 speed, then a C4. That old C2 was dead for many years (actually just parked). Now i am bringing back to life.

By some today, and some in the future.


I chew with my mouth closed, and don't think that I'm a sociopath.

This is it!!! So bottom line for me is, I'm going to keep doing what I do, because I enjoy doing it. I'm going to use whatever cars/parts that I want, to build the cars that I want. If someday (or now), my cars are frowned upon, then so be it. I'm not losing any sleep over it, and if somebody doesn't like what I'm doing, then they don't have to look at it.

Mike Coletta