Top 10 classic cars to restore in 2015
Thinking of a hot New Year restoration project? Russ Smith highlights money-makers for workshop addicts.
Classic car values have risen so much in the last five years that restoring one no longer has to be a labour of love that means waving goodbye to a chunk of money. Of course it still can be, but if you pick the right model, and buy with care, you can at least break even when you come to sell, or perhaps even make a small profit.
We’ve picked out 10 that should fit that bill, though in most cases it will involve doing much of the work yourself. Then again, that is surely one of the joys of classic car ownership. There are also a couple, at the higher end of the market, that you can have professionally restored and still potentially see a profit from – assuming the market continues with its current trend.
What you should do before getting involved with a project is to really bone up on the cars you are interested in. Swallow every bit of information you can get your hands on, and seek advice on anything that remains unclear or a worry. Some of the internet forums can be very good for that – and also later on when you come up against a problem that has you baffled.
Ferrari Dino 246 GT/GTS
Project: £80k+
Concours: £300k
Though it’s not impossible to restore a Dino 246GT/GTS yourself, don’t think you can step up to one from having done an MGB or Triumph Spitfire – that would be a bit like turning out for Spurs after scoring a few goals for a Sunday league pub team. Any Ferrari is Premier League on the scale of difficulty.
But if you have the budget for a Dino, you could have one restored to your specification by a specialist for less than the cost of buying one ready to drive. I know that means waiting a year or so, but you will have the pleasure of seeing it go together, and be the first person to drive your freshly restored beauty.
And it really can be done, and for a profit, too. A chap I know recently had a Dino GTS project he tracked down rebuilt at great expense by perhaps the UK’s leading restorer of them. When it was finished he immediately got an offer he couldn’t refuse, for significantly more than the cost of buying the car and having it restored. He’s now found another Dino project car and, guess what, he’s started the entire process again.
So it can be done, and even though the number of Dinos left to be restored is a fast shrinking pool, they are still out there. Expect to pay more than £80,000, though, even for a basket case, but pretty much anything can be considered restorable. Just make sure it’s complete, as tracking down missing parts is harder than replacing missing metal.
Mini Cooper 998 (pre-’71)
Project: £4500
Concours: £17,500
The Mini is another perfect subject for the home restorer to tackle. They are small, pretty simple, and the parts supply for them is better than for a fair number of modern cars – almost anything you want can be on your doorstep tomorrow, without breaking the bank. But when rust takes hold, it really becomes a major problem.
I’ve focused my attention on early non-S Coopers, as anything with a Cooper badge is always going to be desirable. But these are much more affordable, and are less likely to have been faked than a Cooper S that’s worth around £10,000 more. It’s still possible though, so again do your homework so you know how to tell the real thing, and don’t buy anything without continuous history. You might not be bothered, but you can bet the next buyer will once it’s restored and you want top dollar. Provenance for a classic is like having the box a model car came in.
Then there’s the question of originality; a thorny one, as so many Minis have been tweaked and personalised over time by their many owners. It was almost a rite of passage at once and it hasn’t really stopped. But to attract serious buyers now, they need to be as John Cooper intended. Mind you, any tuning parts you do take off will doubtless find a willing home and add to your restoration funds.
Projects can be found for £4500, while restored Coopers currently fetch £15,000-£17,500, but we’re willing to bet they’ll be £20k cars sometime soon.
Porsche 911 SC
Project: £8000
Concours: £26,500
No need to rush with building this one, but get in quick with buying one before the prices go up any more. And go up they will; with all pre-1973 911s now seriously sought-after there’s a knock-on effect starting to run right down the years. SCs are already picking up and they have a lot of advantages, not least that they’re very rust resistant. By now you can expect to find some, but this is another world compared with most other cars of a similar age – you simply don’t have to spend all your time and resources worrying about the bodywork.
So what we have here is the perhaps more agreeable experience of concentrating on the cosmetic and mechanical aspects of car restoration, perhaps even while still using the car – at least some of the time.
Dig around and you should be able to find scruffier examples, though still with a valid MoT, for as little as £8000. Even if it needs engine work, paint and some interior refurbishment, you should still come out ahead. At the moment the best SCs are selling for upwards of £25,000 but asking prices are straying into £30k territory. Originality will be key, so avoid anything with later upgrades unless it’s cheap and you plan to return it to original spec.
Ford Mustang 1964-’66
Project: £7000
Concours: £30,000
One of very few American cars that is accepted as OK in Europe, the First series Mustang has gained extra credibility since passing its 50th birthday in 2014. It doesn’t hurt that they look so good in the Goodwood Revival pre-1966 car park, and serious collectors are now snapping them up. Which has strengthened prices – at least of Fastback and Convertible models; the notchback Coupés come a distant third at around two-thirds the value of the others so probably don’t qualify for our brief.
A V8 engine is a must, even if the car was originally a six-cylinder, though of course there’s a premium for cars with original running gear. They’re uncomplicated and there’s a good spares situation for these cars. Thanks to long-term icon status back home, there’s practically nothing you can’t get for an early Mustang. Try $200 for a front wing, $38 for a sill and $332 for a complete door, all of which convert roughly to the same in sterling with shipping and tax.
Prices for convertibles and fastbacks now regularly top £30,000 and are rising, and you can buy projects for well under £10k. With a growing call for originality, it’s worth looking at returning previously customised cars to standard – they can be cheaper to buy, so check the classified in custom and American car magazines. Importing from the US can also make financial sense.
Lotus Elan
Project: £7500
Concours: £26,500
A Lotus Elan has to be the perfect candidate for home restoration as most of them were supplied in kit form to be completed at home in the first place. You might need to learn some new skills to properly deal with any damage – through impact or age – to the glassfibre body, but it’s no harder than dealing with conventional steel body repairs.
Another plus is that they don’t take up much space in your garage so easy to work round.Unless it has already been replaced, the car will be quite likely to need a new chassis as they are notorious for rusting, especially around the front suspension towers. But a brand new galvanised chassis (so the problem won’t occur) will set you back less than £2000.
While the car’s apart, some level of engine refurbishment would be wise, so budget £3000-£5000 for that. But when you can buy a project for £7500-£12,000, and a well finished car is now worth upwards of £30,000, there’s quite a bit of scope for expenditure, even after you factor in the cost of a professional paint job.
If you have a choice, go for an earlier Elan as they are rarer and likely to increase in value more than later cars over time. Dropheads are worth more than Coupés, but that’s both before restoration and after, so it can be a matter of preference. For any Elan, though, make sure what you buy is as complete as possible and fully documented, as some parts can be hard to get and most are expensive.
Jaguar XK120-150
Project: £35,000
Concours: £125,000
This one’s going to be a little trickier as if you just loaded one onto a trailer and pointed it at a professional restorer the resulting bill is likely to be in the region of £120-130k. Only the XK150 3.8Ss and XKs with special history are at that level, though the market is rising, especially for UK right-hand drive cars. If you’ve had some restoration experience and fancy doing the work yourself, those costs can be brought down to more acceptable levels.
You will need to carefully pick the right car though, so extra hours of teaching yourself to be an expert – as mentioned in the intro – will pay dividends. Worthwhile projects can be had in the £15-20k range, though you’ll have to pay more for anything special, either in model designation or condition. A lot of those will be imports though, which won’t command the prices when finished – at least at home – even if you do convert to right-hand drive. Then the car will lose its appeal in foreign markets. Focus on keeping things standard. Similar applies to non-original engines or gearboxes, though perversely other upgrades like brakes or suspension seem to upset no one at all, at least at the moment. Be aware that the European market has veered towards dropheads in preference to roadsters as they are more practical, and the small cockpit of the XK120 limits its appeal.
Morris Minor Convertible
Project: £1600
Concours: £12,000
If you are looking for pretty much the ultimate first-time home restoration project there are few better cars to start with than a Morris Minor – I know because I did just that, and have restored several since. They are supremely easy to work on, not least because so much of them unbolts, and parts supply is excellent and affordable.
From the angle we’re looking at here the Convertible is the model to go for. Saloons are only worth half as much when finished, and the charismatic Traveller – which can match the soft-top in value – has greater potential for cost and complexity thanks to all that wood in the structure, which is more expensive to replace than steel.
A restored Convertible recently fetched £12,880 at an Historics at Brooklands’ sale, and that’s a fair indication of where the market’s at for these. Expect to pay around £1500 for a decent project, and the sounder it is to start with the better.
From a restoration point of view, places it’s preferable not to find serious rot are front chassis legs, central crossmember and A-pillars. All these areas are fixable, but it’s a bonus for you in terms of time and cost if you don’t have to.
It’s really important to make sure you buy a genuine Convertible and not a chopped saloon. Kits have been around for decades, and even though the result is convincing, they aren’t worth as much as the real thing. The chassis number (check that on the car and the V5C) will confirm true identity.
Alfa Romeo GTV 1750/2000
Project: £6000
Concours: £29,500
If you are feeling a bit adventurous, there’s mileage in importing GTVs from South Africa – where they were assembled new and were popular so many have survived – and refurbishing them. In fact there must be because several people do just that and make a living from it. A quick search of the internet revealed several suitable cars in the £4000-£6000 range, all still drivers and one with plenty of new parts and quite a bit of work already done to it. Consider that against UK prices that are in the high twenties for top ones, there’s a strong following so they sell quickly.
It’s a discerning market, though, so they do need to be done well using the right parts and specialists, with plenty of attention to detailing and panel fit.
The big plus with these cars is that they are remarkably well supported by specialists for an Italian car of their era. The comprehensive parts supply from companies like Classic Alfa and Alfaholics isn’t far off the level enjoyed by MG owners, though some of the prices can be somewhat higher.
The game with these is won and lost on the body, so start with something as straight as possible, and remember that parts of South Africa can be pretty wet, so rust can still be an issue there, even if you’re shipping from a dry area. Also it essential to make sure what you buy is a genuine GTV, and not the cheaper GT Junior fitted with a two-litre engine and twin headlamps. Some swotting up on chassis numbers and advice from the Alfa Romeo Owners Club should make that easy enough.
Triumph TR2-3A
Project: £7250
Concours: £29,500
A steady stream of restorable early TRs continues to flow in from America, thanks to decent exchange rates, so you can still pick up a restorable and probably complete TR2-3A for less than £7000. As a freshly done one can fetch up to £30,000 (and prices are still rising for these) that leaves spending room for someone willing to do the work themselves.
And few cars are better suited to the home restorer. All the outer panels bolt on, there’s a separate chassis, and the technology employed to create these entertaining cars borders on agricultural – in the best possible way, of course.
Parts supply is excellent thanks to specialists like TRGB and Moss, and at affordable prices too: you can retrim the entire cockpit for less than £1000, a reconditioned engine is £3000, and there isn’t a lot of chrome to worry about. That leaves enough in hand that you could even buy in some help with all the welding to body structure and chassis that’s bound to need doing. Though that will be reduced if you can find a genuine ‘dry-state’ car.
Conversion from left- to right-hand drive is straightforward, and can even include upgrade to a rack-and-pinion set-up, which transforms feel. Do check the body carefully: a lot of imports turn out to be hiding lots of filler from past impact damage under their many coats of paint. Take a magnet.
Lancia Aurelia B20GT
Project: £36,000
Concours: £115,000
The groundbreaking Aurelia GT is a thing of beauty both bodily and mechanically – and the first European production car to be fitted with a V6 engine. They are also popular in the UK as, thanks to a peculiar Italian tradition that died out in the 1950s, most were built in right-hand drive.
But the Aurelia appears here as it is one of the few cars in the sub-£300,000 range that you can have restored by a specialist for less than the difference in value between a top example and a project car. That difference currently stands at around £75,000 – the gap between £35k and £110k. As an indication of where the money goes, a body rebuild should be no more than £10,000-£12,000, add £5000 for paint, £3500 for chrome and £10-12k if the engine and ‘box need rebuilding.
Of course this isn’t a secret, so assuming you have the budget, the hardest part is going to be tracking down a suitable project car. They are still out there, though you may have to look abroad, but do remember that Lancia only built 3861 Aurelia GTs in the first place, so they were never plentiful. Such exclusivity never hurts long-term values though.
Despite the low numbers there were six series built, and the most sought after are Third and Fourth Series. Later cars were more refined but heavier and less fun to drive, and are worth perhaps ten per cent less.