The father and son want to restore a car. This will be their first rebuild. They want something that is timeless and easy to use. They should buy a new car.
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The scenario is here.
My dad is retiring soon, and we’re considering buying a project car to work on and restore. The problem is—we have zero experience working on or restoring cars. So here’s what we need to know: what’s a great ride for us to get our hands dirty with? We won’t have the ability to do an engine rebuild, but everything else is on the table.
We love cars with beautiful styling, way more than we care about speed or performance. We also like cars that are somewhat timeless in their design. Some random examples: MG-GT (I love the lines of the shooting brake design), Aston Martin Vantage (the previous model…it’s just stunning, perfect proportions), ‘66-’70 Oldsmobile Toronado (long, wide and low).
We are open to almost any body style and have a project completion budget of about $50,000 so obviously, the car needs to be a bit cheaper than that.
Quick Facts:
The budget is well under $50,000.
There is a location in Westchester, New York.
The daily driver is not available.
It’s easy to get parts and support.
Doesn’t want something that’s too rare or complex.
Expert 1: Tom McParland – Timeless for a Reason
It sounds like a great project for you and your dad to do. Where do you begin? With an all-in budget of $50,000, there are a number of nice restored cars that you can enjoy. There is no joy in that.
If you’re diving in for the first time, I would suggest a model with a low cost of entry, easy to source parts, and a large community. The car is the Volkswagen Beetle. It has its own timeless style, even though it doesn’t have the same sporty proportions. Two former Jalops, Raphael Orlove and Jason Torchinsky, have a lot of experience in building Beetles, and they have been known to fix things on the side of the road. These classics are easy to work on. Roll it.
The Beetle’s biggest challenge is to find an example that is just enough work, but not too much. The seller claims that the car is a complete vehicle that just needs to be put together.
Expert 2: Bob Sorokanich – Wow, Nobody Saw This One Coming
Welcome to the world of project cars! Project car land is just as dangerous as your town’s biker bar. Start simple, that’s what I advise you to do. You should start with a vehicle.
The stylish, sleek cars you mentioned are about the furthest thing from aCJ. It is just about as basic as a vehicle can be, and if you are embarking on your firstwrenching project, basic is a virtue. Do you know how many gearheads have a pile of project parts in their garage? That can happen to you. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I picked this Jeep because of its location in New Mexico. rust can make even the simplest Jeep project into a doomed venture, even though aCJ is roughly on the same plane as today’s mid-priced ride-on mower. If you’re looking for a donor vehicle, look for it in desert climates. You can stick with the basics, get everything back to factory working order and fix up the interior and exterior trim pieces, or you can tear the whole thing. If you treat this like a practice run, keep the goals simple, dress up the aesthetic to your liking, and by next summer you could have a lot of fun in this thing.
You can buy a basket-case at the bottom of a lake and use it to build a project.
Expert 3: Steve DaSilva – Always The Answer
I’m envious of you. When I see a used car on the street, I start to want to bring it back to its former glory. I don’t have a budget for a build and I don’t have a garage. I am going to foist on you dreams that are similar to those of the parent of a high school quarterback.
You care more about beauty than power. You don’t want something so old that you can’t get it at the store. I bet you want your car to run for more than a mile before the electrics go up in smoke. You need a car.
It’s the most basic choice. Miatas are a great car for learning to wrench. The support is there, with decades of forum users having documented every imaginable problem and solution, but the first- generation cars only started hitting dealerships in 1989. You can still go to a dealership and buy the things you need.
The Miata is the worst in your area. It is trash in New Jersey. Through that trash, you will have the chance to learn a lot, including how to diagnose a non-start, rust repair. Everything you could possibly want to know aboutwrenching has been done. You should get the Miata.
Expert 4: José Rodríguez Jr. – Can’t Beat Classic JDM
Your father is going to retire. I can’t think of a better way to spend a lot of time with a loved one than rummaging in old tools, arguing over sockets, and finally getting a new car.