The old car world has the biggest range of entry costs you’ll ever see in any hobby.
You can get into it for nothing by begging your neighbor for his rusty old ’63 Ford Country Squire wagon that’s been off the road since 1973.
Or you can pay 142 million dollars like some guy did for a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR at a 2022 auction in Germany.
Jerry Sutherland
99.999% of car guys will opt for the old Ford wagon because we’re not Bill Gates or Elon Musk. 999.999% of car guys can also pay more than nothing for an old car or truck so the key to success is being realistic.
This is the point where you look at your financial position and decide where you are in the net worth department. If you’re squeezing by every month just to pay your rent, you should definitely skip the free Country Squire.
The reason is simple. Nothing is free in the car hobby. You’re going to need some space to work on it and unless you live in Florida, you’re going to need a winter refuge for your car. Turning wrenches outside in – 40 weather loses all its charm in the first 60 seconds. Here’s one more reality–parts are never free.
If you’ve cleared the winter weather hurdle, and you do have some disposable income, then this is where you decide what you can afford—it’s typically not your dream car. Most guys aim too high, so your dream car could be a vintage Porsche 911 or COPO Camaro–but your budget says 1967 Rambler American…or 1983 Plymouth Horizon.
Your budget isn’t your only (or biggest) problem, because your wife is going to be the other big hurdle. She’s going to be the deciding vote on this purchase, so you’re going to have a massive sales job ahead of you if she’s not a fan of old cars. In her world, that old car is just an old hulk taking up space and leaking all over the garage while her SUV sits outside.
If you get past the spouse hurdle—and the realistic goal hurdle, you have to do an honest inner assessment of your skill set and learning curve. If you don’t, you’re going to be paying some guy between 100 and 200 bucks an hour to bring your old car truck back to life.
That’s why you buy the best car you can find in your price range. If a ’69 Daytona is wildly out of your price range, then find a well-maintained ’66 or ’67 Coronet 440 or 500 two-door hardtop. Don’t even look at a ‘67 RT because most of them were thrashed to death during the LBJ presidency—that means a lot of sketchy guys worked on them.
A ’67 Coronet is still a B-body Mopar, and you can find a mint example for 10-15% of the cost of a Charger Daytona. Sure, it’s not a Daytona–but it’s still a lot cooler than the Toyota Highlander you drive to work every day.
In the end, this is the lesson. The car hobby can be more expensive than a raging cocaine habit—but only if you let it.
Be realistic about your skills, your wife, your bank account, and be patient–and learn as much as you can about old-tech cars…you’ll save yourself 142 million dollars and a marriage.
Jerry Sutherland