I'm lookin' to start restoring my 1990 RS, I already dropped a 350 in it with the TBI. I of course want better performance, but I was wondering if it would decrease the value of the car if everything was stock except the engine and drivetrain even if it were in immaculate condition, compared to EVERYTHING being stock. I was just wondering because perhaps one day when i'm done with it I might wanna sell it and start a new project. Does anyone think that thirdgens can have about $15,000 put into them and sell it and get that much back out of it? Thanks guys.

 

Right now only special model 3rd Gens(B4C RS,TTA,1LE)are bringing the kind of money you are thinking of.And honestly you never really recover what you invest in a car(it's not the reason the majority of us are in it anyhow).And when you are restoring a vehicle not having the "matching numbers" drivetrain really detracts from the value(unless it is a rare or very low production model).But with that said there are buyers if you have exactly what they want are at times willing to pay to get it.

 

Keep the original engine, and sell it with the car so someone can put it back into it.

As for $15,000+ cars.
low miles 350 cars, Firehawks, TTA's, some convertibles, low miles 1LE's,
- the B4c camaro... not sure on that one.

Without going into the details Personally I belive anything with less than TPI would not have serious collector value for some time.

John

 

A general run of the mill car with the same specs as another 20,000 cars will probably be better off as a rest mod. If I had an RS with the L03 engine and auto trans, I would probably mod the heck out it. Improving a base model can be better in the long run.

 

yeah... well the thing that sucks is that the old engine was stolen outta my backyard the very day i put it there... noone heard or saw anything... but what i wanna do is restore it and keep it. I was just wondering what happens with the value of the car. you guys think in 20 or so years these camaros will ever be worth as much as the 1st gen camaros are now?

 

theres this guy selling an 1982 camaro indy 500 pace car... u guys think thats worth something?

 

Possibly. If the car is in excellent condition, all original, and a great price, it might be worth something someday. The problem is that 1982 cars were not that fast and even the top of the line engine in the 82 cars were only 165hp. The pace car in original form will eventually be worth more than an average 82 Z28, but will never reach the value of the TPI equipped cars, IMO

 

I remember having the same conversation in 1983 with my friend who was thinking about buying a 73 firebird. 73-75 camaro/firebird were a dime a dozen. I actually had a chance to buy a Cuda for 800.00. I purchased a 78 vega for 900.00.

 

Off topic but....

The late 60s & early 70's mopar phonomenon has some to do with owners buying and selling cars back and forth at auction to push up the values. Eventually it will burst. I think some people are trying the same thing with the 3rd gens, a 40K 1LE, a not original GTA selling for 30K at auction... it starts small. What I found shocking was the number of cars which were acutally purchased back by the seller at auctions.

Heinsight is usualy 20/20 I know back in the early/mid 80's you could have your pick of the Muscle car era cars for next to nothing. YOu could hardly give them away. When Gas stablaized in the 90's thats when the intrest took off. I also remember that 10-15 years ago the car to have was a 57 Chevy, thats past as well.



John

 

I can relate to this as I had an Uncle that owned a car museum(opened in the late '70s and closed when he passed away in '95).it was cool to see all those cars in a way the average person couldn'tAnd there were cars there when I first started working that I go oh I wish bought(and I've sold 3 cars- 2 stupidly '70 Ranchero GT & '80 T/A and 1 out of neccessity '70 Monte carlo SS454).And you are so right about auctions Okfoz because I watched them do just that at several auctions and yes it was mostly Mopar and Tri-5 Chevys('a nice '57 convertible was going for $40K in the mid '80s) it was happening with mostly.Our cars are going to be the next craze and as you pointed out it's alreay happening to the upper models.

 

in the long wrong i cant say what will happen, but i tell you this, take two 90 rs's in mint condition, one with the factory 305 and the other with a well built 350 in it, and i would bet a good deal of money the one with the 350 will sell for more, and most likely faster as well(depending on the price of the 305) unless you have a rarer car or a rarer engine, at this point in time most people could care less if its the number matching engine, especially if its just a run of the mill 305, only 305 i would pay more money for is if i could find a factory still properly working early Z with the cross fire still in and working order. otherwise i would much rather have the 350.

as far as putting 15,000 into it, only way you'll get that much back is if you hide it in the trunk and rember to take it out before u sell it. i just watching a very insane 86 iroc, black with t-tops, mint, with a blown 454 that ran low 10's, sell for only 13000, and i know he spent well over 35,000 building the car. a old car building once told me, that if u built a car, never drove it and resold it as soon as u were done, with no wear and tear what so ever you would be hard pressed to get 1/2 of what you put into it back. he told me of a 69 Charger he had once rebuilt for a customer, the customer paid $45,000 for two year frame off resto, got a divorce less than a year after it had been finished and sold it for only 20,000 thru a classic car dealer

 

I have to disagree on that. In 10 years ALL ORIGINAL will definitly beat out hopped up performance. I cant see having a car and never driving it. You can tell your grandkids about the time you almost went out and drove it around the block. That will keep them bolted to there seats.LOL The memories of watching the tires dry rott. If your looking for investment ..real estate. 10 million people have bags full of worthless beany babies stuck in the closets.

 

probably depends on what u keep original and what you mod... i'd like to make the car look original but change the engine and drivetrain... i wanna paint it black... but i heard thats the first thing that brings down the value of any car a good amount, painting a car a different color than what it originally was. I dunno... i think in 10-20 years from now... our cars will be worth alot restored... think about it... our cars are either getting restored or getting messed up by people that dont care or smashed at junkyards...