Hmmmm, I might have a buyer for the JL8 car
 

I talked to him last night and he's very serious about buying the car. He's willing to buy it as it sits or when the restoration is finished. He even offered to front some money towards getting the restoration finished. I need to figure out how much I have invested in the car up to this point so I can put a price on it. I know I'm over $100,000 for sure, but not sure how much over that. Decisions, decisions!:confused:

you couldve had a ZO6 vette with that & still had $ left over to pay for insurance & a custom turbo setup for it lol

I wouldn't sell it. You'll regret it.

I think the only reason he's building it is to sell it & make money though alex...correct me if im wrong jeff.

No, I originally bought the car to have something different that would stick out in a crowd at a car show. But when the musclecar market went crazy, the value of the climbed so much that it has turned into a monster. So yes, now I'm looking to get back my time and money invested in the car so it doesn't matter if I sell now or when the restoration is complete. It might be easier to sell now since the guy has some of the parts that I'm still missing. 6 years and $100K is a lot of time and money tied up. I want to sell it, pay off the house and buy some form of pro-touring type Camaro that I can actually drive and enjoy.

you said they go for like 250k right?

No, they are probably worth $150-175K right now. The Yenko 427 cars are worth $250-$300K.

i woudl wait until it is done and then get word out on the web that offers are being considered.
prices are continuing to climb with no sign of stopping. i think if you let it go now you will end up short changing yourself when it is done

Im with basically everyone in this thread. Value is skyrocketing and selling it now will offer regret later. Take your good ol' time restoring it and it will be worth it.

I've got 6 years tied up in this car so I would have no regrets selling now vs later. It might go up more in value and it might go down in value. The real estate market has peaked and is dropping back and the musclecar market may do the same thing. I definitely won't do anything before the new year since that would really screw up my taxes.

Jeff...while I'm a firm believe in building cars to drive, not trophies, I respect your decision to build the car and sell it as an investment. You are right that the market could drop out on you, however after the past few Barrett Jackson auctions I think you've got atleast another year before the value of such a rare car will drop. Other more common cars may see a decline however. The real question is how long Rich will take to finish the restoration? If he needs more than another year then maybe it's time to cut bait and pay off the house. Why wait another year to get a car you can drive the wheels off of?

Rich was hoping to get the car done for the fall shows next year. But it will probably take another loan of $20-30K to get the car finished so that would be a bit of a waste to get a loan to finish the car then pay back the loan. I don't think the car will actually climb too much higher in value, but then nobody has actually sold a numbers matching crossram JL8 with documentation yet so the sky could be the limit. But the risk of making a smaller profit vs the risk of losing money altogether is what I'm really trying to decide. The other factor is that I was getting it restored the way I wanted it and that could scare away potential buyers who want it a different way. If I were to sell it now, this guy could finish the restoration exactly the way he wants it. So you can probably tell which way I'm leaning.

I think the muscle car market bubble will pop before the housing bubble (which, IMO, will only flatten, not drop. Boomers w/home equity are driving this whole thing (except fot eh biiig $$ stuff). Sounds like your not so happy building a car you might not want to drive due to the value of it. $100 could build an awsome PT car. And give you change.

when you consider teh market value gain you have to worry about rare cars, not teh common market. both are going strong and as you haev pointed out the rare car market is out of control. this works in your favor.
you let people know that the car will be done soon and your 20k loan will grow in value in teh completed project.

does the car appreciate faster then interest in a bank or a mutual fund?

of course, that depends on how quickly the market climbs. there is no definitive answer to this question, because no one has a crystal ball that tells the future. interest rates will do nothing but go up at this point, what with the change in the fed chair and all.

i know jeff wants to cut and run at this point and i fear that may be a mistake. there will be plenty of time to complete the car and a completed car will command the price. no one wants a half completed car, except maybe someone who's got some cash and is willing to gamble that the prices will cover his investment. has this guy given any clue as to what he's willing to part with in order to purchase the car?

this is such a hard decision to make. i do not envy jeff's position at all. if it were me, i would hold out until the project is completed.

If I make a $30K profit now or in 10 months it makes more sense to do it now. If the potential is for a $60K profit in 10 months, then that's where I could hurt myself by selling now. But if you add into the equation the money saved over 10 months by paying off my mortgage now then the profit margin drops. So there are a lot of variables. I personally think I can make a $30K profit now and at most in 10 months that might jump to a $40K profit. But it's all a guessing game on how much more it will cost to finish the car and how much will it really be worth when it's done. I can't see small block Camaros going much over $150K in value. I know of a 69 RS/Z28 with lots of options that sold for $120K and another 69 RS/Z28 with a crossram that sold for $130K this year. Those are crazy prices for pretty much plain Z28's.