Dear List,
Most or all of us are convinced of the "restorer's central truth,"
which is, always start with the best car you can afford. Making use of
this bit of wisdom may be what is tough.
One can very often spend x thousands more than a basket case would cost,
only to find that he has bought little more than a basket case with very
good paint and upholstery. Few eyes are keen enough to detect a really
good job of tarting up. If you buy a basket case, and fix it up from the
ground, you at least know what is in it. If you buy something someone
else has done, you are taking a fairly large risk. The safest bet, of
course, would be an untouched original, which is one reason these often
cost as much or more than an average restoration.
But to get to my point and question. TeriAnn points out, that buying a
fixer upper and spending scads of money over years of restoration may be
the only way for those with finite salaries to end up with the car(s) they
lust after. One option would be borrowing. If you find a real gem, are
there ways to finance it? Home equity loans are obvious, but not everyone
has a home or a large equity. Are there other ways to finance a collector
car? Has anyone on the list tried going to the car loan department of his
or her bank and asked for money to finance a 30 year old car? After they
finished laughing, what was the answer?
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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