Number one since "doing things outside the box" usually ends up being a love-it/hate-it deal and will appeal to less buyers.

Also, if you spend a fortune on custom bodywork you're most likely not to get a return on that money when you sell.

The more expensive a car is the less chance you have to sell it and come close to breaking even.

Speaking of selling cars Steve...
 

What are you building next?

I think I tend to disagree with some of the other comments. A stock appearing say 69 camaro would be much easier to sell but I think anything over 100k would be hard to get in most instances even with all DSE stuff and your above average crate engine. Heck look at Camaro X that the man, the myth, the Legend,................. Mark Stielow built and they tried to sell for months. Charlie finally repainted it to sell it. Or look at Todds camaro.

I also agree Barrett Jackson is a roll of the dice, but there have been quite a handful of cars sell for 250k in the past couple of years. Heck that Kindig it Mustang just sold for 250 or 275 with fees. It brought more money then the car that won street machine of the year the same year it competed. But the car has to stand out in a crowd.

I have been kicking around this same thought for a while. If you took 2 69 Camaros and one was stock appearing with everything DSE sells. So stock appearing with all the typical goodies. Now if you took the same shell of a car to (insert shop name here ) and they did TASTEFUL and MASS APPEALING body mods and their color choice that was popular with currently styling. Then took both to whatever Barrett Jackson event, I would bet money the custom unit would do better. But then you say sure it would do better it has a bigger investment. Yes it does but I think you would get more money out of the custom one to make up the difference in build cost plus. That is saying the suspension, brakes, engine trans, and paint quality are all equal. The custom one would have custom Body mods and a more stylish interior. But for the most part be equal after those specs.

Now if we talk about selling the car to a guy who walks up at your first show with more money then sense and just has to have the car then you will hit it big. I had a customer display a very high end car at SEMA and had an interested party with a foreign English accent ask about purchasing said vehicle for a considerable amount more then build cost. Almost 50% more. The customer was firm in the fact he did not want to sell it, cuz it was the first show and it had some special family value you can't buy. If he ever decides to the sell the car he will kick himself.

Now when you get into all the crazy bells and whistles and stuff, that is when you can loose your ass. Most people could care less if its some bad ass tube chassis triple throw down 5 way adjustable shock, full floater, stainless header and exhaust, well done bondo bucket as long as it looks and runs good and the paint does not fall off and everything works properly. Those items just interest the original owner and a select few you purchase cars for that reason. But the mass majority of people could care less.

Ok let the dog pile begin.

Camaro X still had a GM subframe and was painted white. Not alot of people looking for white cars.

I think a fresh one off custom car will bring good money if it is marketed and sold when it is brand new. Not after it has been exposed, in mags etc. I think the 69 Camaro is a timeless design that stands on it's own regardless of what the latest trend is. I like to stay closer to stock looking. If you build the latest trend you will probably be out of style about the time you want to sell it.

Yeah, it brought good money this year. But I didn't think the Kindig Mustang met the reserve at BJ LV '11. But then is sold at Mecum KC, 12/2011 for $121k . I remember watching Mecum when it sold, I was very surprised when they lifted the reserve at that price. Something seems fishy to me...

http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_de...=KC1211-119362

I'm with this guy. Smart folks can spot a full-on, comprehensive build with a custom front clip, link rear suspension, great brakes, etc. A solid number of buyers are willing to pay good money in order to sidestep the build hassles.

And the folks at Barrett-Jackson, for example, know darn well how to tell a stock clip from an aftermarket clip during the consignment phase. I don't know about the other auction houses. I've had this conversation with the VP of Consignment at B-J recently and he'd love to see more full-on builds cross the block.

Perhaps a better question is: What is the ceiling for a budget with the proper list of hard parts, if resale matters?

$75K cost??

After marketing my car for 45 days or so I can tell you that most of the buyers are looking for a deal of some sort. I had multiple offers around 80-82,500. Their first concern was cost, not the car.

I knew I had found my buyer when the first 30 minutes was about the car, not money.

Now, I had one of the most marketable cars on the planet. A black 69, ZL1, great stance, nice wheels, in good condition. I do think it would have brought a higher number in fresh restoration condition. (Not enough for the bath with no use) I had many buyers with concern that the car had been used and some thought a little abused. The ultimate buyer is an engineer with classic car experience. He was thrilled that it was sorted out and he could DRIVE it. That's a 1 in a 100 buyer and I found him.

You are going to take a bath almost no matter what you do. Unless you are one of the few that hit a home run at Barrett Jackson. I wasn't going down that road. After costs and time, it has to bring a high number. With all this being said, resale was on my mind from the day I started building my car. I don't get attached to material things and I knew the day would come. I'm guessing I took a $45,000-$50,000 bath on the car. Never again......

Next year I'll find one with good paint and little rust and tweak it to my liking. I'll enjoy it more since it won't be so damn nice.

Yea, I will have a better opinion on this topic after I try to sell my car.. lol

"Yea, I rev it up from time to time, but I'm not THAT hard on it"... ;)

I would think materials would be different from designs (think tribal stripes)

After all, polished aluminum never went out of style, nore did chrome.. but yea, the whole CF everything just for looks might be replaced by something else.