All i can say IT ADDS UP , how do i know

I looked at what I could get for mine if I left it completely alone. I think I may have been able to get scrap metal value at best. The good news is my car is fairly rare and would be worth restoring. I have a very experienced mechanic and we are able to handle most issues without outsourcing. Parts are fairly easy to come by. Details are actually only as far as I want to nitpick. The good news is there will never be any more of these cars and the new one really is a completely different animal. Also with the resurgence of FIAT in the USA, these cars get pulled out of the shadows and are now noticed even more. Always been a fun car. Not something I would use as a daily driver or to take me across country but a lot of fun. The money I have invested into it, if I ever decide to sell I should get most of it if not all back watching the current market.

Robert

RMaxfield wrote:The money I have invested into it, if I ever decide to sell I should get most of it if not all back watching the current market.

This would make you a rare exception, particularly if you are paying a mechanic.

I am not a mechanic by a long way, I bought a 1984 Pininfarina for $525, shipped it back to the UK. Sourced parts from the US and Germany.. the 124 never was available in the UK so there is only a handful here. The car is probably one of the best in the UK today (if I do say so myself).. with shipping, import duties and restoration it owes me $10000. I don't care what it is worth because money cannot buy me the smiles it gives me driving through the beautiful Dedham Vale countryside.. do the work yourself it is easy and that includes dropping the engine back in on my own.. what you get stuck on someone here will have the solution

I bought my BS1 in 2008. It's a European version and it had been taken apart and restored in a fairly good way, at least the bodywork. After some years of fun driving on a low cost basis (had some of the maintenance done by a garage and did some myself), it was time for some needed and wanted upgrades. So I'm spending some money here to clean and pump it up: reconditioned 1608 engine with double Webers (for fun), 'new' windshield frame (needed, expensive and pretty hard to install), CD30 wheels (because I had to), new seat covers (were tired and torn), 'new' set of doors (old ones were rusting from the inside, replacement hard to find, they still need to be painted, expensive). Then the dash could be renewed, the door panels are up for replacement and overall the rust devil seems to enjoy the Fiat in some corners, so need to attack that. On the whole it adds up, both in time and money!

On the bright side prices of the poor mans Ferrari have gone up a bit in the slip stream of the overall classic price level, so part of the money I spend could at least be seen as a solid investment.

In the balance of things I know I'm not making money here, but what could I care: I fell in love with here many years ago and we still have that special bond which just cannot and will not be valued in euros!