What would a car like this be worth?



1971 model, originally a 318. It needs half a driver side floor pan, spare tire well but is otherwise complete.
Everything is worn out and needs attention.
I'm not selling. I'll "restore" it and sell it later. I enjoy the build even if I only break even when I sell.
I'm curious though what these cars are selling for though. Dusters in this shape were $500 cars 20 years ago. Is this a $5000 car today?

 

It just take so much time, I have other things that need to be tended to and my energy just isn't what it used to be. I don't want to come home at 5:00 and work on my car till 9:00 or 10:00 it's more like a few hours maybe on the weekend. For those reasons I could never start with a basket case. That and I can't do everything and will not shell out the money to have somebody else do it and be disappointed.

 

Wish you were closer so you could revive my dart sports tatered body.

 

Was the car left outside during a potato storm?

 

Ah no sir!

 

I paid a tic under 1/4 of that for Vixen and she was in about the same condition.

 

If you can even find a decent machine shop that isn't backlogged 6 months or more

 

I remember when Dusters were not really on anyone's radar 25-30 years ago, & you could get a real nice one for $1000. My friend bought a 72 Duster Twister, 318 3 speed manual, bucket seats, ralley wheels etc. from the original owner with under 50,000 well cared for miles on it, for just under $1400 in 1981. That same car now would cost you $15 grand easy. They made a lot of Dusters over the 7 years they were produced, but at the time, most were just nice-looking economy cars & got used-up & scraped. They are like finding GOLD now a days to some of us. Very under-rated cars by the way, in my opinion. Can you tell I love Dusters, Demons & Dart Sports?

 

The Demon you see as my avatar cost me $12000 to purchase initially. I added up all my receipts this morning and I figure I have around $20k in it now, so had I got it for $2k like you did, I'd be in it for $10k, so your numbers are totally legit. You purchased it right for sure!

 

I bought this car for $4k from a widow lady. It turned into more of a project than I expected but it's OK now. I ended up touching every part of the car other than the engine and transmission, and it's just a matter of time for those.



I've got about 10k in it, but wouldn't take double that for it, not because it's nice but because cars are just too danged expensive these days.

 

Also other cars are just too screwed up with. You end of buying someone else's issue's. "why are they selling it" I can think of a few FABO posters here that have bought restored A-bodies above $20K and they are immediately going through them all over again.

One I can think of does the work himself and methodically is going through the cars tail to tip making minor improvement, fixes, lot of piece of mind stuff.

The other guy bought mid 70's A-body from a dealer and is paying shops to pretty major fixes as he stumbles on to them. Most of the time the fixes include modifications or improvements at same time. The modification aspect seems to hide the pain of a needed repair. I can see in the background of the pictures that this car is very hacked. I'm sure he's got well over $10K in repairs and changes.

 

I agree with the idea of buying a car already at least driver quality for my own situation.

The reason for me being my skills are limited to parts changer, bodywork and welding and minor wiring issues. So I'd need to pay somebody for an engine/transmission rebuild, paint job, gear swaps, etc.

However there are some really talented guys on this board that can do all or most of the elements needed for a restoration. There are some in this thread.

 

You`d really have to love Dusters and can`t find any other buildable ones, for 5k
I gave 6,200 for my notch, the paint and body was nice, I didn`t want to do body and paint. Just a swapped teener, 904 column shifter car.

I though that was top $ imo but this was 25 years ago. Now rust is reappearing and needs redone. I probably have 22k in it, 340 S driveline etc.

Lets face it these things are money pits, but we love them, And ya gotta spend your money on something, right?

 

if you build it yourself you know what you have, and for a lot of guys the fun is building the car. Doing the work yourself saves a lot of money. There are tons of ways to save money on your build. Good useable parts are still plentiful and reasonably priced. If your project is 2 or 3 years that's lots of time to find the missing pieces.
If you buy everything new at current prices it is cost prohibitive now.

 

John restores a basket case, pours his heart and soul into it, makes it beautiful.
Decades later he decides to pass it on.
Bill wants to get in the old car hobby, He`s white collar, never laid many wrenches on cars. He buys John`s car, Title`s in his name now.
It will always be John`s car.

 

I paid $16,500 for my ‘67 GT, 3 months ago. It has very nice paint, interior, and a 340 stroker. My plan is to have a little over $20k in it after de tuning it to make it more drivable. So far, I’ve changed out the 4.11s to 3.23 and a smaller carburetor, among several other cosmetic and mechanical items. Personally, I don’t want the expense of a full restoration, so I bought the best car that I could afford.

 

When have you ever seen a classic being sold for more that the guy "put into it" unless it's Gas Monkey stuff who's labor is free. If that's for you, think of all the time you can spend cruising a finished car as opposed to spending time under it in your garage. It's tempting sometimes......if your down for a 20 year scavenger hunt (my ride) let the games begin!

 

At the end of the day you gotta do whats best for you and your situation. Makes no difference to me if its bought or built. As long as we keep them going. The only thing i worry about is losing the guys with the knowledge and stories of these cars

 

That's the key to all of it.

Now if you're Jay Leno you can go to auction and pay big bucks for a concours restoration.

We'll find a way to own one and drive it because that's what we do.

 

Looks like your car has the same steering wheel that mine does. Guess I don't know what other years they used it. Nice ride!!

 

I’m assuming it’s from a barracuda! I was going to ask, but I saw someone post a pic of their car with the same wheel.