Fair price for 57 FE Fully restored

[brucieW]

I saw a fully restored FE Blue two tone 57 Sedan, all original.  Owner was asking $9750, what is a fair price for such a car?

[RET]

Well, this has been kicked around a bit lately.  The official line on any old car, car-part or accessory is:

     "it's worth what someone will pay for it"

However, to answer your question I don't think on the face of it the price being asked is extravagant, although it all depends on the quality of the restoration.

Look at it this way: you couldn't do a ground-up full restoration yourself for less, even if you had a perfectly rust-free and straight vehicle to begin with. (Which doesn't exist, BTW).

A full respray costs $5000+, a full set of body rubbers about $1200.  By the time you get the body rust repaired and straight, get the interior up to scratch (ie $1000 for repro floor coverings, front, back and boot) plus whatever the seats and trim require, you could spend $10,000 without even trying.  And that's excluding the original purchase price of the unrestored car.

Of course, as I said at the beginning, the quality of the restoration is paramount.  You can bodgy up a car for less than $10K.  If you are not in a position to evaluate the quality of the work, get in contact with your local FE-FC Club.  They may even know the car in question.

Hope that helps,
RET

[Bruce Edgerton]

Tanks RET, it is very helpful.

Bruce