5 Things to Consider Before Restoring a Classic Car

Have you ever seen someone drive past in a beautifully restored classic car and longed to take on your own classic project? Although it can be an incredibly rewarding process, many people rush into it without understanding the time, money, and effort involved in restoring a classic car. If you’re thinking about buying a classic car to refurbish, here are five important questions to ask yourself before you invest.

Do you care about the car?

Are you looking to restore a classic car to sell for a profit? Maybe you want to take on a nostalgic project to restore a car you loved in your childhood? Whatever your motivation, you need to be passionate about the car you’re working on. It’s a long, hard process to restore a car so without love and care for the car, you’ll quickly tire of the project.

Do you have the time?

From cleaning up the interior to rebuilding engines, some classic cars can take years to restore if you decide to take on the bulk of the work yourself. It can also be incredibly time-consuming sourcing specific replacement parts if you’ve bought a rare classic.

You can speed up your timeline by hiring a specialist classic car garage to take on the project for you, but that then brings us to our next point.

What is your budget?

Classic car restoration is an expensive hobby to say the least. So it’s important to work out how much you’re willing to spend before you buy a car.

For around £5,000, you might be able to find a small classic that needs minimal work. A rare classic in need of major restoration, on the other hand, can cost upwards of £20,000.

If you’re on a smaller budget, find a simple car that has plentiful parts such as a Mini. This will keep your budget and timeline within reason.

If you’re looking for something more ambitious, a De Tomaso Pantera will take more work to find parts and need more specialist work.

What is your skillset?

That brings us to our next point. How much experience do you have fixing cars? If your experience is minimal, it’s best to involve a specialist classic car garage to take on the bulk of the mechanical and bodywork restoration.

If you’re willing to put in the time, you can learn how to carry out restorations yourself. But make sure you get it right – the last thing you want to do is waste time and money on repairs that need to be redone.

What will you do with the car?

Finally, think about what you want to do with the car. If you want to restore it to resell it, make sure you don’t overspend on a car that needs too many repairs – this will eat into your potential profit.

On the other hand, if you want to keep it, where will you store it? You’ll need a secure garage or car shed to keep it safe once it’s complete.

Need a classic car restoration specialist?

If you have a classic car you want to get restored, we’d love to help. With over fifty years of experience restoring classic cars in Newbury, clients come to us from across the UK to get quality restorations. Call us today to talk about your classic car and find out how we can help you.