Survivor vs Restored

[RST]

Well I love good survivor cars ............... especially restoring them ..... OH POOP I said it [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

We at Mascar Classics love restoring survivors because we can better document the car. We just purchased this 1973 SD 455 http://www.transamflorida.com/923.htm

Its a very low mile survivor and we will post some pictures of the car unassembled and cleaned up before the restoration starts. We were able to get all of the added undercoating off without damaging the original paint or markings on the underside of the car ........... you will see from the pictures its amazing. This is by far the cleanest car we have ever had to restore and its simply stunning how good this car is! We will make a post next week to show the bones of the car, and then we will not be posting any more due to the fact that the car will be unveiled at MCACN 2017.

Happy Sunday Funday everyone [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

[cook_dw]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RST</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well I love good survivor cars ............... especially restoring them ..... OH POOP I said it [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

We at Mascar Classics love restoring survivors because we can better document the car. We just purchased this 1973 SD 455 http://www.transamflorida.com/923.htm

Its a very low mile survivor and we will post some pictures of the car unassembled and cleaned up before the restoration starts. We were able to get all of the added undercoating off without damaging the original paint or markings on the underside of the car ........... you will see from the pictures its amazing. This is by far the cleanest car we have ever had to restore and its simply stunning how good this car is! We will make a post next week to show the bones of the car, and then we will not be posting any more due to the fact that the car will be unveiled at MCACN 2017.

Happy Sunday Funday everyone [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img] </div></div>


Im sorry but that just seems ludicrous to me..

[rts]

You would have to be crazy to restore that car!!!!!
How much better could it be????
Omg that's insane!!

[cook_dw]

Its obvious why you posted what you did in this thread.. I am disappointed in myself for even taking the bait.. Keep doing what you are doing and make the rest of the survivors out there continue to climb in value.. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[RST]

Darrell,
I don’t know what you mean …. “It’s obvious why I posted”?

I posted here because I prefer to restore cars rather than keep them as a survivor. The SD is my personal car and will not be for sale. The car is amazing, but I like to drive my cars and it scares me to drive a car like this because although low miles are on it, it’s still 43 years old and I would hate to blow the motor or have something fail and ruin or hurt the car. I appreciate survivors, however I prefer a restored car I can drive and drive hard.

If I am going to consider the market …….. Well, the market for survivor cars is very small ….. very. I know people love them, and get upset if someone like me restores them, however facts are facts, and not very many people buy them.

If I offended you are anyone else, I am sorry, that was not my intension.

Wishing you all a great week.

[Astock]

Restoring a car that doesn't need restoring. Re-doing the mechanicals for better performance is one thing, can always be put back to original.

[Steve Shauger]

RST, quite frankly there are many cars that need restoring, and should be restored. Taking a rare survivor not needing to be restored, and restoring it is blasphemy.

Regarding the survivor market being small, I disagree. Yes there's very few examples, but I know of many collectors interested in purchasing unrestored cars. As more and more of these time capsules get restored, they become rarer and rarer and we lose the connection with how these cars were built.

I love restored cars but not at the expense of sacrificing a true survivor. Yes it's your car and can do with it as you choose, but we'll just have to agree to disagree on this topic.

[njsteve]

I agree with Paceme.

A small market??? Really? I lost count of how many people tried to buy Enrico's SD Formula at MCACN. After a while I would just point to the 6' 8&quot; tall Enrico and say: &quot;You'll have to fight him for it.&quot;

Cleaning the undercoating and rust proofing off the bottom is ok with me but if you redo original paint that is in great shape to begin with, that's crazy.

There was a survivor white SD T/A at the 2013 MCACN that had a bad lifter and oil pump issues when I looked to buy it several years earlier. The new owner pulled the engine and rebuilt it but did not touch the outside patina on any of the engine parts. That was the way to do it right.

[nugeusa1]

I agree with pace me and Darrell but if you put out the money its yours to do as you please. if you placed two , lets say two copos one perfectly restored ( spending 50K to 100K or more ) and the other nice original paint, interior and with low miles ect I would take the survivor every time and I would pay more every time. the problem with restored you cant always know what you really have. may have been pulled out of a sink hole somewhere.

[RST]

Hey guys, thank you for the input ……… this car was for sale for more than a year and nobody purchased it, and it was on EBay for more than 2 months …….. So I don’t really agree with you on the people lining up to purchase survivor cars …… or at least this one.

Nugeusa1 you make the point about the problem with a restored car “is you don’t really know what you are getting” … I completely agree, that is why I purchased this car …. I know exactly what I am getting, and we will restore it with full documentation with hundreds of pictures as well as dyno results on the motor, specs etc. So then, if I ever sell this car, I can disclose all work performed etc.

Njsteve, you make the point that you looked at a SD T/A at 2013 MCACN and the motor had some issues …. This SD was at MCACN last year and available …. It did not sell, and I will not take chances driving this car with its original equipment that has been sitting for years.

As for the condition of this car, it’s very nice, however, the paint is cracked all over the car, and there are several areas where the paint is worn through etc. Once again, this car was for sale for more than a year and nobody stepped up to purchase it ……. I did, we will restore it and make it as good as we possibly can and it will be at MCACN 2017, hope you all come by and take a look at the car.

I support all feelings and respect everyone’s opinion, and I would never tell someone they are doing wrong with their property. There are people on both sides of this discussion, however as I said, I purchased the car and we excited about us restoring it.

With Respect,

Scott