I could use a little help here

Ok so I have a 61 superior Cadillac flower car that needs a total resto.Has rust & rot etc. good glass & near perfect stainless & a good dash all that stuff. Its very complete ,probabbly missing a piece of lower side trim or 2. I like this thing alot ,but its gonna take $$$ & time to redo it correctly. I know what it takes to do this thats not the problem. Its when! this could be years away. I`m already 3 deep in projects going on rite now,plus I restore cars for a living all day for customers! Im wondering is it worth keeping around to do.I had just found out they made 37 of these(thanks Mike) thats pretty rare for sure! Whats the car worth done & what would it be worth the way she is now? I could use a little help here!

Next up I have a 60 M&M hearse como. She needs resto as well & I do intend on letting this one go. Its a way cool car, but i cant do them all.

Lastly for now ,I have a complete 66 cadillac limo parts car with the divinding window behind the drivers seat. Its dark blue w/ blue int. the car is complete ,but rotted & rusty. good rr doors though & decent interior stuff. Lots of good parts. Its 4 sale! cheap!

Please pm me if you want to see pics of these cars. Thanks guys!

can't help much I'm stuck in that same boat myself. want to trade progects? that way your could be looking at different stuff not getting fixed.

Is it worth doing? That depends on "worth".

"Rare" and "value" are tough words to define and they don't go together. Most of our professional cars are "rare", in that most are 1-of-1 in terms of specific model and options and most have less than 1000 built of a general model, style, year-range, etc. But the financial value doesn't equate. A '57 Chevy, of which 100,000 (???) were made, has more "value" than a '57 M-M Cadillac hearse, of which only a handful were made - because more people want a '57 Chevy than a '57 hearse.

Is it worth doing in terms of money? As in, will you put $X in and get $1.5X out of it? No, that probably won't happen. If you are into professional cars looking for financial gain, I wouldn't count on it.

Is it worth doing? Do you really, really enjoy your professional cars? If you look at the cars and say, "geez, these things are really cool/pretty/unusual/well crafted", or something similar, and you want to save them from destruction, then they are absolutely worth restoring.

I would like to see the 60 MM please.

Darren

The chances are good that even if you don't consider your time, you may not come out with a profit, at least not today. But, I also believe that there have been many cars restored over the years and their owners thought they would never get their money back. But, we can't see the future, therefore we can't predict with certainty, a future value. Although, in my opinion, professional car values seem to be on a slow, but steady upswing, so I think the future should show higher values.

Having said all of this, you should restore the cars you love and let someone else do the others.

As for values, here is what I believe "restored" cars are worth.
1961 Superior Coupe deFleur $40-50K
1960 Miller Meteor Duplex $20-35K
I wouldn't even guess what they are worth now, but you can spend alot more to restore them correctly.

Good luck!

John, thats a great idea! I havent though tof that before.And Steve, thank you for the input. that was very well said.Also to Bill, well put, & thank you for your opinion on values. I believe you have to love the car that you restore for yourself,Its not about what it will cost. At the end of the day you have a vision of driving you car in perfect cond that you put it in & now can endlessly enjoy. That is how I feel about some of the cars i am currently restoring( at a way slower pace than I`d like to be) & that are waiting to be done. I`ve had most of these for a long time. My 66 fairlane GT I bought in dec of 87. It was one of my highschool cars, I loved that power & the lines & I still own it. I will never sell that car. Another one is a car I have been looking for since I was a little kid & then grew up & seriosly looked for 25 plus yrs, now I have it! Shes waiting to be done! I could go on ,Im addicted to american Steel, love the style & character that are auto makers used to put out of detroit! - when they had balls! Back to my pro cars , I like them,they are so cool ,I`m just not in love with them at this time. Im boarder line on the flower car though.
Oh Darren, Im not allowed to post pics on here with my status. Just email me & I`ll send you some pics of the 60 M&M

Thanks again guys
Jeff

Jeff,

I would have to agree with Steve and Bill both.

A professional car in general is rare. They are definately collectible. Wether they are worth your time and money is another question. If you are looking to make money, I agree with Bill, values do rise, but you might be waiting a long time to actually make a profit. If you want to restore the car for you and it is a vehicle that you want to own and drive, go for it.

Bill valued a 1961 Superior Coupe deFleur at 40 or 50 thou. With the car that you described, you would probably have that much in a restoration if not more. Being a restoration professional, I am sure you know what it costs to restore a car though.

My father has been working on a 1959 Superior Pontiac Landau Endloader for 10 years now. It is now 90% finished. All the metal work is done, the new plywood floor is in the back. The motor and tranny have been rebuilt and are backin place. All the interior has been re-upolstered and is ready to go back in. I don't want to see it back on the road because of it's value. I don't want to see it back on the road because it is rare. I want to see it back on the road because I helped him pull it out of the junkyard 10 years ago and I know how bad off it was. I just can't wait to see a coach that started out as a beautilful work of craftsmanship that turned into a junkyard paperweight brought back to it's original beauty. Is it going to be worth the time and money that he has in it over the past 10 years? I am sure it will not be worth the restoration price... but it will sure be worth it to see it on the road again.

Charles , I do agree. My car will probably take more than its worth to restore it OE correect. You have to go over everything. the more cars I do the more detail oriented iam getting. I think you fathers car would be awsome to see & drive.He loves that car,& will finished at any cost. Like I said if your in love with your ride its not about the money. I `m all about getting them back on the raod.

Lots of good points are being made here. I can only tell you one thing. Of all my cars, NONE gets the looks that my '53 flower car does. Period. End of story.

After much going back & forth on this, I`ve decided I`m gonna sell the 61 superior flower car. This car needs a complete resto. I`d rather see it GET DONE than it sitting here waiting to get done. I`d like to see some1 here on the PCS get the car. Also, I`m selling the 60 M&M combo. This car needs a total restoration or it could be a parts car. I believe its 98% complete.
If anyone is interested in these cars please email me for more info. I have pics of both the cars & could answer any questions you may have.
thanks agian,
Jeff