Life is too short for Project Cars
By Wallace Wyss
Photos by Erik Nielsen
It takes a man to admit it, and being a man, I’ll admit it.
I failed to finish a project car.
Not one, but several.
Two that come to mind are my brief but miserable sojourn with Alfa Sprint Speciales. The first was a Giulietta that had an absolutely pristine engine, ready to go, but needed the body and upholstery done. I hauled it out of a garage in N. California and it sat around my house until I realized I had no bodywork and upholstering skills. Furthermore I was annoyed that I thought Alfa parts would be easy to find but they, and mechanics, were in short supply. So I sold it at a $10,000 loss.
Somehow I fell for the same model car again, this time a Giulia version. I think I got as far as painting this one but then it was the same thing—could I afford to pay someone to put it together? No.
Again a sale at a loss.
Somehow earlier on , with my Ferrari 365GTC/4, a car bought in running condition, it all worked out better. I kept that car in running condition as it was repainted. No removal of the engine, no removal of the interior—I just had it painted stem to stern, going down to the body shop to drive it around the neighborhood in paintless and then in primered condition to keep the battery charged.. No downtime except for the six weeks it was in the paint shop. I sold it for three times what I bought it for, but that was more a function of the rise of Ferrari V12 prices in that period than a tribute to my low cost restoration.
The point is that so many car enthusiasts I meet have “project cars” in the garage, cars weighing on their conscience because they are unwilling to admit they have bitten off more than they can chew.
They aren’t mechanics.
They aren’t bodymen.
They aren’t upholsterers.
And they don’t have the money to pay professionals in each category to do the work.
So what business do they have owning the car?
“Ah, but it’s a great investment,” they will say. And that could be true. Certain cars, if tucked away and stored halfway decently out of the rain, will escalate in value. I know a chap who bought a Bizzarrini Strada for $4,000 who could sell it today for $300,000 in its present shabby shape, but he never turned a screwdriver on it. So it wasn’t a financial drag during the 20 plus years he has owned it. And you hardly notice it among the half dozen other non-running cars he has stored around his house.
And his secret of owning a non running car that long? Never been married, so no divorce forcing the usual split-up of the community owned assets. (Should I be writing a column on Why Car Enthusiasts Shouldn’t Get Married?)
But let’s face it. Project cars take up space that a running car deserves. Why let your everyday car get shabby being parked outside while a non-runner sits inside?
And let’s be brutally honest here—how much is the car worth if it ever gets done? I remember after I had paid $20,000 for one of the Sprint Speciales going to the Monterey Historic and seeing one finished, drivable, and entered in the races for something like $9000—boy, did my heart almost stop as I realized I had paid too much.
So now that I am an older gent, I am a little wiser. I was visiting a former racer u p in the San Bernardino mountains and I noticed his two car garage and said “What’s in there?” and he said “Two project cars.” It took all my resolve I could muster but I didn’t ask the question I used to ask: “What kind of cars?”
Because if they are project cars, I don’t want to know. I think when I was a kid I saw one of those movies where a Viking or similar explorer has to be chained to the mast to resist the calls of the sirens luring him and his ship onto the rocks. I’ve put those chains around myself mentally when I hear the words “project car.”
Life is too short for project cars.
Tattoo that on the inside of your eyelids.
Life is too short NOT to have at least one project car. The key is to have the correct perspective.
When I started this journey (25 years ago) I didn’t know how to paint, weld, or assemble an engine. Now those things (and so much more) are not an issue.
The first full project car was a $300 Pontiac convertible. Put a total of $5000 into it and sold it for $2500. A loss? No way! I learned more with that car than a full semester at school and way cheaper.
If you checkbook the project, it is better to just buy one that is done. If your goal is Pebble Beach – plan on funds commensurate.
If you want to enjoy the automobile, then nothing beats a project. It expands your mind.
Boy does that ring true! OK, I’ll fess up.
Here’s what loiters around my house, garages and storage lot. The only thing about these that I can hold my head high about is that I got almost all of them for a song. Quite a few were “crusher saves” so I do not feel too bad but I agree with you that no one needs more than one project car unless you can get them cheap. I am merely the caretake of these gems waiting for dreamers to come asking.
The list of loved but unfinished cars:
4 Alfa Guilia spiders
A Lancia Augusta
One Abarth 1000 OTS
A plethora of Fiat 128s and 850 coupes.
Some other cars from unmentionable nations
A pair of Fiat spiders and one lone X 1/9
And an old Chevy truck to move them around with…
So far, I have yet to open up a car rag and find my stash featured in the “Rust in peace” section.
I agree with Mark, having a project car (as long as you have the motivation) is one of the more rewarding things in life.
I’m no restoration expert, nor am I wealthy… im now 28 and i started to restore a ’74 Alfa GTV around 4 years ago, at first i was overwhelmed with the amount of bodywork that was required. I’ll admit the car sat around for almost 3 years after i took it back to a shell, the task seemed daunting and there is no way i could payed someone else to do it properly.
In the meantime i bought a welder, slowly collected the appropriate tools required, got a compressor and other items. I decided to buy quality items as i knew i would most likely use them time and time again on future restoration work.
On me free time i studied the art of panel replacement, how to weld, researched suppliers, how to prep for paint and all that kind of thing, all this information is available at your fingertips on the WWW and like-minded people on various online forums are more than happy to share their knowledge.
So its been full steam ahead over the last 6 months, I’ve replaced the middle and outer sill panels (rockers) on both sides, a wheel arch lip, half the floors, wing bottoms etc.
I previously had no welding experience but with a little practice and research i think almost anyone can do this work, it just takes time, i have been doing the majority of work in the evenings and the odd weekend.
She’s almost ready for paint now and once the paint is laid its time for the best part, putting it all back together!
I took a good car to a series of gurus so that I could have an excellent car. My car was disabled for five years, cost me perhaps four time what it might be worth if my wife “had to sell it” today and the scoundrels simply prey on fools and their money
Don’t beat yourself up. I have a friend in Nashville, a guy who’s built at least one pretty good race car (Giulietta Spider), who rebuilt a Subaru head for me one night on his kitchen table while he watched Monday Night Football… but he had a structurally sound Sprint Speciale in his garage for about three years before he just gave up on it. Go figure.
Until not many years ago, ALL of my cars were Project Cars. I mean, I bought them as runners and drove them, but they needed constant reassurance, plus a lot of effort and sometimes some money, just to stay on the road. Poverty is a wonderful teacher when it comes to Italian or English car maintenance… Anyway, after I’d sworn off all project cars that (a) didn’t run when I bought them and (note please: that’s AND, not OR) (b) were not Alfas, my father-in-law gave me a Citroen DS21 he’d bought new in Paris, parked in ’85, and “preserved” by his usual method of keeping it in out of the weather, with all its fluids etcetera just sitting there. Okay, I admire the hell out of Citroens, but they are not my kind of car. We do not share an agenda. Still, I made an honest effort to revive it, bought parts from André in the Netherlands and attempted to install them, made repeated efforts to get the damned thing running, all to little avail. When a highly qualified Citroen enthusiast/mechanic offered to swap his wife’s up-for-sale Alfa 164S for this thing, I leaped upon it like a cat on an errant bluegill. It is now in Jay Leno’s collection. Am I annoyed that someone else made some money and I just got an old Alfa? Hell no. I have the Alfa. And it runs. And all it needs is paint.
Let’s be honest here – there should be a 12 Step support group for those of us unfortunates who are inexplicably attracted to Italian cars.
I’ve often thought that I should belong in a dingy church basement, ashamed, blurting out “I’m John and I’m an Alfaholic.”
I just had to put current license tabs on my 1981 Spider and my 1979 Alfetta Sprint Veloce because my pesky neighbors complained to the cops that I was keeping “junk cars” in my driveway.
Someday, someday, I promise you, they’ll get done. I promise. Of course, I’ll probably be 84 years old and half blind by then, but dammit I’ll finish ’em!
I appreciate Will’s comment that some cars are just not your kind of car “We do not share an agenda”. That is really the root of it because if you are willing to learn then you want a car that will keep you enthusiastically returning to the garage for the year(s) that it will take to complete.
Secondarily, if you are planning on hiring a mechanic, forget about project cars. That is just not a worthwhile direction to go. Sure, you can get the machine shop to mill your heads, turn your drums and so forth, but for goodness sakes do the wrench work yourself. And what ever amount of time you imagine the project is going to take, double that for a conservative estimate. That being said, you CAN stay on or below budget if you get in there and do the work yourself.
I have had my share of projects over the years and most have made it out the other side of the process as painful as it may have been. The last was a sweet VW dunebuggy restoration that survived a house fire (try to tell your wife “honey the entire house burned to the ground but everything in the garage is OK” she still brings that one up). The best part of most of the projects was the work, learning and the family time. Spending time in the garage with my Dad and Brother was time you cherish. Out of that was born a true carftsman in my brother who does now build Pebble Beach winners and great memories for me. I stopped trying to calculate money made or lost after the Porsche we rebuilt yeilded a profit of $.14 per hour. Could have worked at MikeeDee’s for more than that. It may not be for everyone but was great for me.
I’m not really sure that any of them make sense, even the “ok” ones. But look at all the friends we’ve made in the process, the excuses we get to make up for our partners, the money we get to waste on magazines, books, parts and repairers. Think of what we do for the economy.
And best of all the time we get to waste on forums and blogs…..
Nope, I don’t agree, its all good!!
I love to have a car out in the garage to tinker and learn on. I lose interest when my project cars are done. They don’t need me any more. And something else interesting always comes along.
I think most carlovers have ha their fair share of projectcars. Some of them got the hacksaw in the final end, either of the the scrapyard, or sold with a major loss.
My biggest failure/loss was a Lotus Europa serie 1, lovely car with lovely lines, but hopeless with regards of restoring it due to the construction (chassis and body are bonded)
Then there was a Triumph 2500 PI and a Triumph 2000 Estate, the PI was a success and sold, but the Estate fail, and ended its day at a scrapyard !! But the Estate could have been wonderfull to use as a towcar for my racecars.
The a MG Migdet was restored, and sold with a loss.
Now I have my sons Escort Mk.1 racecar project in the garage. He has a dream !!
And my MATRA Djet is standing proud, it was a success project, come through. I entered Goodwood Revival with the car, but we ran into problems with the ignition, and too hot plugs. But a success nonetheless.
But most project is about dreams, and some dreams come through, and some don´t.
Just as in life.
Dear ‘Many cars’ please contact me for I am a dreamer.
Eric Van Nice,I hope you still have work to do ?It would a loss to see 1300 go !!
grant_gauld@yahoo.com.au
Ahhh, the realization that there are others out there with the same affliction…
However, I do not agree that project cars are not worth the effort. On the contrary, having been through several projects, they can be one of the best ways to enjoy and automobile because one become very intimate with the vehicle, knowing and understanding it inside and out.
So I have determined that for me, the love of the car has to be balanced by:
– The resources available for the project (both time and money)
– The potential value of the car when completed
– The enjoyment derived as well as the skills acquired by completing the project
When all of these come together, the project provides an immense amount of satisfaction when I first turn the car to fire it up and then blast out onto the nearest two-lane black top.
However, when it’s out of balance, then the project is not longer enjoyable; in fact, it becomes a very depressing burden!
I have completed two cars that brought me great satisfaction in the process: A Corvette and a Pontiac Fiero (!) convertible (with 210 hp Super Duty engine).
The Apollo GT I recently parted with, however, had become that burden. That fact that every replacement body panel had to be crafted by hand – as well as the need to source the right components make it absolutely original – simply put it out of reach for my time and money (nearly two grand for an Altissimo tailight!).
The Lancia I once had and a cycled-fendered sports car creation I conceived and blew money on, etc., etc, are projects that fell into this latter group…
So I’m back to one project sports car that I can handle and have fun with. And only one…
Robb Northrup
I know Wyss and for him to admit and acknowledge his past automotive indiscretions is an amazing thing. I turned him onto the 365GT/4 and he has never ever even said “Thanks, AL.”
To be a mature man, requires humility and a certain level of wisdom and I am so pleased that Wyss is finally growing up!
I had one of those “oh man did I get over my head moments” a couple years ago when I purchased a ’59 Lancia Flaminia GT Superlaggera that was WAY over my abilities. I sat on it for a year, not touching it and then found a expert restorer to bay it and give it the attention it deserves. It was hard to sell, because I had $0 in it, but I news it was for the cars legacy that it gets saved correctly. Live and learn!
Whenever embarking on a project start with two to three times as much money as you think you will need and double or triple the time it will take. In my experience those funds and time will have vanished by the time the project is finished.
I enjoyed the responses (by the way, thanks, Al) but still detect a certain amount of co-dependency d\evident between the owners of the project cars and the cars. The best line so far in responses was “They don’t need me anymore.” I think some owners buy cars in lame condition because they want a car that needs to be rehabilitated which is sort of like taking a drunk bum into your house so you can “straighten him out.” The worse part for me was the burden of knowing the car was out in the garage needing me but knowing I didn’t have the money to meet its needs. Now I am project car-free for several years now, and even went to a major Scottsdale auction last week in Arizona and remained lust-free. Jimmy Carter would be proud of me. You can un-tie me from the mast…
When restoring a project, drag it out for as long as possible; this minimizes the amount of dollars spent per year, which keeps the wife happy. Make sure you have a running car to go on tours and stuff, though.