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The above car sold on BAT last week for $USD 85,000. The car was well presented from a Calgary dealer with an excellent reputation, yet it got less than half what similar cars have been selling for. It was modified with what looks to be about $50,000 in performance upgrades to the engine, suspension and brakes as well as cosmetics and a modern sound system. All the work appears to be well done, and well documented, and the car would no doubt accelerate, corner and brake better than the original. These modifications would be similar to what RUF did to these cars in period, but with modern technology. Yet when it came time to sell, not only did the $50k investment in upgrades disappear, but a substantial portion of the car's value as well.
This example begs the question of; "What modifications to a collector car increase its value, what are value neutral, and what will decrease its value?" A secondary question would be, "Should you care?"
One criteria would be whether the car had any material shortcomings when it was built that could be corrected by modifications.
I bought a 1958 Aston Martin Mk III, which was the final version of the DB 2/4, from my friend Rob. The only way I could afford a vintage Aston was to buy one in boxes. The David Brown gearbox was a mess and the input shaft was heavily chewed up. I went to see Kevin Kay in Redding, CA who is the expert in these cars and is known for his 'Pebble Beach' quality restorations. He said that if I wanted to drive the car to just put a Tremac 5 Speed in it. Jay Leno puts this gearbox in many of this classic cars, along with Wilwood disc brakes. Kevin said that a Tremac transforms the driving experience of a DB 2/4, and makes the car genuinely quick.
I also had a 1977 Aston V8 Coupe with a Chrysler Torqueflight 3 speed automatic. The car looked cool but was a dog to drive. When I took friends for a drive in it I first opened the hood to show them the 4 cam 5.3L V8 with its 4 downdraft Webers. But when they drove it they couldn't believe how slow it was! For USD $25,000 you can send the car away to have a 5 Speed fitted, and I'm told this makes all the difference. The Aston Martin V8 Coupe was one of the fastest cars in the world in period, but not with a torqueflght. If you convert your Aston with a modern gearbox, you will get your money back out, just because the car is so much better to drive.
1950's and 1960's Jaguars had a 'Moss' gearbox. This was a tough unit, but not easy to drive smoothly, and had a non-synchro first gear. For GBP 10,800 Jaguar will sell you a 5-Speed, and this will also make the cars much easier to drive, as well as being faster.
|  | Replacing the Moss gearbox in your Series 1 E-Type with this Jaguar manufactured 5 speed, will not hurt the value - especially if you keep the original box on the shelf. | I restored a V12 Jaguar E Type for a client. Jaguars of that vintage are not known for their cooling, and there is a sensible upgrade to an alloy radiator and twin electric fans. Now, even in 35deg C traffic the car will stay cool, and it is probably 50lbs lighter than the OEM radiator. We got rid of the emissions equipment and replaced the Stromberg carbs with a pretty set of SU's with pancake filters. It came with steel wheels, but we changed to a wire wheel set up. We are fitting a Jaguar Classic head unit that has the look of a vintage Becker Mexico radio, but offers wifi, bluetooth and navigation. These changes are all reversible, but that is unlikely to ever happen. |  | |
Vintage Land Rovers are stylish and very cool, but as much as I like them I do have to admit they drive like tractors. The top money paid for restored Land Rovers goes to the resto-modded vehicles with coil springs, modern diesel engines and quilted leather interiors. In my opinion they lose much of their charm in this process - but that's were the big money is going.
All these examples correct shortcomings in the original design of the car, and make them more useable and reliable. Investment in these upgrades will very likely be recovered as long as they are sympathetic to the original design and well done.
So why is it that anything you do to a Porsche or a Ferrari is likely to hurt its value? I think the simple answer is that for the most part there was nothing wrong with them in the first place. You could argue that the Porsche 930 suffered from its 4-speed gearbox, but this was corrected for the last year (1989) in the example above. The substitution of a RUF 5-Speed would increase the value of any 4-speed 930 (as long as it doesn't have to be rebuilt!)
If you take something like a Ferrari F40, there isn't much that you are going to do it to make it any better. By putting modern parts on it, you wreck it. You could, of course, make it faster with modern technology, but it is quite fast enough out of the box, and by changing one part you would destroy the balance of the car. It would also look silly with components from different eras.
The exception might be if you adopted the modifications the manufacturer made to the car in period, over its development life. You might bring your F40 up to 'LM' spec, or your Aston V8 up to 'Vantage' spec, or your Mercedes Gullwing engine up to 'NSL' spec. This can often be done at the factory, admittedly at great cost, but most collectors would see these changes as being desirable as you are replicating what could have been done in period.
Where you get in trouble most often is when you put aftermarket parts or non-period parts on the vehicle. If you must, try to make sure that the mods are reversible and you keep the original parts with the car. You may elect to revert the car back to stock when it comes time to sell.
|  | Above and below: When you deviate from factory parts, you do need to be careful. You may like gold accents, wood trim and white leather on your Porsche - as with this heavily modified 1979 Turbo - but when it comes time to sell it may take a while to find somebody else who agrees with you. |  | |
As a general rule it is a bad idea to put a modern colour on a vintage car. While you might not want to keep the original 'Sable Brown' colour of your 70's Jag or Aston, it makes sense to stay within the period colours available for that car.
I remember one guy who had his Series 2 Jaguar E type Roadster restored at a Calgary shop. The bill, 20 years ago, was $230,000. Somehow, he decided on painting the car a non standard purple - and not a dark Aubergine either - it was kind of like the shade you might find on a children's dinosaur toy. It sold at auction for $35,000...
That all said, you are allowed to do whatever you like to your own car. The important thing is the enjoyment you get out of the hobby, and of driving the car. If modifying the car lets you use it more, then you should consider it. I would just try to be as least invasive as possible and keep all the original parts.
| This week on Bring-A-Trailer | |
1956 Airstream Flying Coud in Oregon
Auction ends Friday June 24th at 1:20pm
I've spent a lot of time looking at vintage aluminum travel trailers, and this is one of the nicest that I've ever seen. The aluminum skin is remarkably well preserved, and polished to within an inch of its life. It looks like the builder did all the right things. You can't replicate this for under $75,000 and that is with donating an awful lot of your time. Polishing alone would take 40/50 hours. This is a real beauty.
| Auction Results From Last Week.... | |
1975 Imperial Lebaron For Sale in Calgary
Sold Tues, June 14th for $22,000
I was hoping that this would slide in under the radar and I could buy it cheap enough to put a set of Wilwood brakes on it and tow my 1978 Silver Streak Supreme Rocket travel trailer. After all, this is the kind of car that would have pulled it when it was new. Alas, a couple bidders felt differently and it got a pretty good result.
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1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 For Sale in CA
Bid to $103,000 (no sale) June 14th
The peanut gallery did a good job of scaring everybody off this car. One guy said the hydraulics and suspension rebuild on his 600 cost him $90,000. Window switches are $11,500 each. Ouch. Like I said, these cars are not for the feint of heart (or wallet).
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AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES OFFERED | |
- On-Line Auction preparation and management
- Post-Sale logistics and sorting
- Restoration Project Management
- Dent Removal Wheel Repair Wraps and Tint Paint Touch Up Detail
Email Lawrence
Lromanosky@me.com
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2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster Sportshift
Bought at Desert European in Scottsdale, AZ and imported to Canada when new (this was before there was an Aston dealer in Calgary). 93,000km Aston Dealer 4-year service ($2,800) just completed. One owner. Can't be reasonably faulted for year and mileage.
Price Reduction to $55,000
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2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG (R230)
Brilliant Silver (744) on Charcoal, 59,000 miles, Retractable hardtop, 5.4L Supercharged V8 with 493hp, 516 lb/ft Torque, no warning lights, clean bodywork.
Service 'B' Service at Lone Star.
Price Reduction to $30,000
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1961 Jaguar Mk II 3.8L 4 Speed
Ultimate Mk II specification. One family owned. Bought in Switzerland and imported to Canada in 1977. Sympathetically refurbished over the years. Always driven annually and kept in excellent working order.
Scheduled on Bring-A-Trailer for Auction, Late June, 2022
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1961 Land Rover S2A 88" Soft Top
Greensand on Black, Khaki canvas 'tilt', restoration to 'concours' standards. Substantial amount of NOS parts, with every mechanical component completely rebuilt by XJ Automotive Service.
Final Assembly in Progress at www.lugnutz.ca
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