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Frequently Asked Questions – Classic Car & Classic Luxury Limousine Restoration

If you are thinking of restoring a classic car or classic luxury limousine, the following frequently asked questions may be helpful to you.

What is a classic car or limousine?

There is no universally accepted definition.

Some people trying to sell a 10-year-old car in poor condition might describe it as “classic.” That will be more from trying to increase the selling price than anything else.

In very general terms, most people would take “classic” to mean:

  • a highly acclaimed and rarer limited age vehicle, even those that are only 5-10 years old;
  • any vehicle over 25-30 years old;
  • any vehicle over 25-30 years old but later than 1920. Most vehicles prior to 1920 are called “antiques.”

Be careful not to fall into the trap of paying more than something is worth because the seller has unilaterally decided that it is “classic” or “antique.”

Are any cars restorable?

In theory, you could take, say, a single bolt from a Ford Model ‘T’ and build a car around it. Ready! You have restored a Model ‘T’!

The real question should be, “can you cheaply and sensibly restore any car?” The answer is, no, you can’t.

There are three aspects to this;

  • don’t think you have any chance of restoring a car and making a profit on its resale. About 99.9% of people who try to do this end up losing a LOT of money trying;
  • If your vehicle’s chassis and subframes are gone, it can still be restored, but you can also build a reproduction from scratch in terms of cost. Restoration costs are likely to be astronomical;
  • remember that if most of the vehicle is gone, the end product of your labor of love is likely to be heavily criticized or even scorned by insiders as “inauthentic”, a “composite”, or a “sad marriage of disparate parts”. “.

Bottom line: be sensitive about what you assume.

What is the value of a restored vehicle?

Unfortunately many people make the mistake of trying to rate this based on a review of what others are asking for refurbished examples on EBAY or similar forums.

That method is often completely useless.

Many online sites are full of refurbished vehicles that simply can’t be sold. That’s because their owners paid too much for them to begin with, spent a small fortune on restoration, and then added a 50% markup. They are then surprised when the car doesn’t sell.

If you use that as a guide, you will suffer.

The only way to verify the market value of a vehicle is to try to find examples of refurbished models that have actually sold and for how much, and not get mesmerized by what other people are unrealistically asking for theirs.

Can you find classic luxury limousines for sale?

If they exist. Some luxury limousine providers, Sydney and elsewhere, sell their old vehicles if they own them.

There are other specialized sites that can also help.

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