The Cost Of Hot Rodding

[zibo]

$420 could get you a nailhead, hemi or a big chevy 409

$190 rebuilt flathead sounds like a deal even back then!

but for $320 you could have the 347 pontiac

This looks about 1963+
TP

[Joe T Creep]

WOW. What a great comparison. So interesting. You gotta pay for what you love. Be it cars, women or anything else......

[Prop Strike]

Thanks for another thought provoking entry in the JJ.
That reminds me, I need to go check last nights lotto numbers. They always say anything worthwhile requires sacrifice. Relatively speaking, some things are probably more affordable (air travel) and others are still expensive (unobtainium for example). To a certain extent, cost of hot rodding sparked the innovation that resulted in scarcity of alot of the bits and pieces we lust after.
Finding alternative (read cheaper) solutions at the junkyard or scrap pile has always been part of the fun to me. There's a garage full of brand new vintage caddy speed parts and other fun stuff for cheap somewhere. At least thats my fantasy. Better get looking.

[KIRK!]

The bottom line is that prices are all relative to their time. I just read a report about gas prices. It said that when gas was $.50/gal it was equal to us paying over $5/gal today.

I think it's funny when people get worked up about prices when they look at old ads and don't think at all about the relativity of the situation.

Guys always look at being able to buy a Model A 40 years ago for $250. Well, that's very comparable to paying $2500 for a used Honda Civic today (They were definitely the Civic of their day). Especially considering that the price of a good new car was in the $2500 range. A 1967 Malibu hardtop coupe with a V8, for example, was $2,540.

[pastlane]

I have a 1972 Gratiot "Garage Sale" catalog that offers a complete 375 inch sbc 6-71 blown, enderle 2 port with scoop, Mondello heads, crane valvetrain, Isky 2" drive, ready to run for only 1595.00 How times have changed...

[ray]

compared to collecting stamps or building models, hot rodding is expensive, but that's a no brainer.

i compare the cost of hot rodding to buying a "real" car. most people today are driving new cars in the 20g+ range, LOTS of people are driving 30grand or more SUVs and trucks. those people are usually the ones that ask "how can you afford all those cars you have!?" truth is currently i have 5 old cars and one $500 late model beater for my girlfriend in the winter. i don't have 20 large in ALL of my cars. i generally buy parts similar to the lower income to average guy of the period i build to, that means fentons instead of halibrands, 51 chevy instead of 51 merc, etc. if you build only with the rarest of the high-zoot parts, yeah it gets spendy, but the "relatively" common and cheap stuff i use usually costs LESS than current aftermarket stuff, or even stock replacement parts for a late model car. when i can have a small fleet of cars, nearly one for every day of the week, for half the cost of a new pickup, i consider that pretty damn cheap, and the best part is, every one of my cars, even my shitty "beaters" turn more heads than the most tricked out late model. that's fuckin priceless.

[36-3window]

i'm not sure if that's a fair comparison .$1200 was the price he was asking in 1954,,,but how much did he actually have in it? back then hot rods didn't have much resale value and he could have has much more into it,,maybe even $2400?


now , hot rods seam to have good resale value and if you build it right and do most of the work yourself, you can can usually get all your money back out of it when it comes time to sell

[Tman]

Great blog enrty. Sure it takes SOME money but as mentioned by Plowboy, IT TAKES DEDICATION and SACRIFICE!

Reading this brings to mind the folks that you see looking at a hot rod and talking with their buddy " I sure wish I could have something like this" No they dont! They havent a clue because they lack passion man!

[x2cracing@msn.com]

in 1967 i paid $7200 for a new 427 435 horse corvette. they sell for arround $150,000 at Barrett Jackson now. hopefully the hot rods we build will be worth more as time goes by,so the investment will pay us back as well as the fun of driveing a srteet machine.

[BAD ROD]

Interesting to think about, but it seems to me you are comparing apples and oranges. Most folks here covet traditional hot rods. We want the cars that would have been built back in the day. The folks that built the cars that we covet, the hot rods we are talking about, were not building cars with the self imposed restriction of using old, outdated, less available parts (read expensive). They started with a cheap, cool, available platforms and used any part (modern parts included and really preferred) to put together a hot rod and go fast. This is a cheaper way to build a hot rod.Think of it this way…..The 1954 classified add was selling a 28 year old ‘hot rod’ car. A car that, in its stock form, was very available and cheap – that is why it was turned into a hot rod. If we looked at a 28 year old hot rod car from today, say a late 70’s Camaro or heck even a mid 60’s Mustang, the cost to build a hot rod would be much less than $25,000. I just reread what I wrote, not sure it makes sense. But, it seems to me that you are comparing building a hot rod without restrictions (using modern, old, whatever parts are good and cheap) to building a traditional hot rod that is at a severe cost restriction of relying on expensive parts. So, it is more or less expensive to build a hot rod? Heck, I don’t know, I would guess it is more expensive to build a ‘traditional’ hot rod, but less expensive to build a modern hot rod.

[Retrorod]

"Tman" is right on. Cost is one thing, it's the dedication and the will to work on, sacrifice money and TIME to complete something. I don't know how many times I've been found just sitting out there next to a partially completed project, wiring strung all over the place or bare frame rails staring at me.......wondering how and why I ever started this in the first place and at the same time hoping that some day it might actually move under it's own power. The prize at the end seems always to be worth it all as I back it out and take off on that "maiden voyage" around the block. The money part of it doesn't seem to enter into it at that point.

To causual observers who think "yeah...I'd like one of those cars".....they really don't understand what it takes and I could never really explain it to them. I guess you have to LIVE IT to understand it. That of course leaves Mr. Huge Checkbook as the exception....he can just buy what he wants......but in his case the car means almost nothing.

[JeffreyJames]

I wish I could blow 50% of my income on parts. Perhaps some day I will, but for now I have to put most of my money into house hold stuff such as mortgage, utilities, oh and my dog's $5000.00 torn ACL bill which requires special attention. Right now I would sell my soul for a 30-31 Model A so that I could take my time with the '54 CHevy and actually do it right. One thing that I am getting from this blog post is that Hold on to the things you have because it is only going to get more expensive when you want it again later in life. If I would have only bought that Model A 5-10 years ago I would have been sittin' pretty.

[JamesG]

Being a hotrodder takes a VERY understanding spouse.

[hotrodladycrusr]

For most people it was a sacrifice back then, as well as a sacrifice in todays world. A person only has so much disposable income. Some are willing to sacrifice just alittle to be in the hobby and drive an old car. Others are willing to sacrifice greatly to build and drive their "dream car". They have the passion and desire to obtain what they want no matter the sacrifice, within reason of course.

I have seen the passion bring out the best and worst in people. There are those that will work a second job to be able to afford something for their car and I have seen people go so far into debt that they lose everything. Having the ability to know and execute a balance in ones life is extremely important. Some get it, some don't.

[GZ]

A couple of other interesting comparsons:
The cheapest new Ford ever made was in 1923, when a new Model T roadster was 290.00. This was the stripped down version which did not have an electric starter or demountable wheels. If you take the 290.00 of 1923 and extrapolate that into 2008 dollars it would be about 14,500.00. For this amount, you can still go to a Ford dealership and buy an entry level new 2008 Focus.

A local friend has a 1929 Duesenberg Model J Murphy body sport phaeton. He purchased this car in 1959 for 5,500.00. When this car was new in 1929, it sold for about 20,000.00. By the 1950s, these big monster classics were just becoming collectible and my friend located this car in the classified section of the New York Times. He took a train to from Detroit to New York city, bought the Duesy and drove it home. He has used the car regularly and during the last fifty years has restored it at least twice.Today, this car is worth about 1.4 to 1.6 million. We were at dinner the other night and someone commented what a good investment he made by purchasing and keeping the Duesenberg all of these years. He laughed and replied "If I invested that 5,500.00 in local real estate instead of that car, the real estate would be worth over 10 million today!!!

[1950ChevySuburban]

Everything kind of floats to its own level in a free economy. Prices go up, so do wages. (It really does).
A lot of other things go unchanged as well (being real generic here), such as society's outlook on hot rodders, street punks, whatever. Also how it's "different" when girls get involved, that hasn't changed for some. (Some people are still surprised when a girl gets involved).

Someone mentioned the Internet as helping.... yes and no. We are blessed with the HAMB of course, and theres the impact of ebay, etc.... makes parts easier to find, or does it really? (Thats a whole different topic)

I guess I'm just trying to say, the more things change, the more they stay the same (generically). Our '50 Burb appraised at 60K. Compare the monies against income, fuel prices, etc..... is the ratio still similar?

[1950ChevySuburban]

Originally Posted by hotrodladycrusr

For most people it was a sacrifice back then, as well as a sacrifice in todays world. A person only has so much disposable income. Some are willing to sacrifice just alittle to be in the hobby and drive an old car. Others are willing to sacrifice greatly to build and drive their "dream car". They have the passion and desire to obtain what they want no matter the sacrifice, within reason of course.

I have seen the passion bring out the best and worst in people. There are those that will work a second job to be able to afford something for their car and I have seen people go so far into debt that they lose everything. Having the ability to know and execute a balance in ones life is extremely important. Some get it, some don't.

You're darn right it is a sacrifice! Our home looks like a Home Depot blew up, but the cars look nice!
I have an understanding wife, thats for sure!

[Plowboy]

Originally Posted by Tman

Great blog enrty. Sure it takes SOME money but as mentioned by Plowboy, IT TAKES DEDICATION and SACRIFICE!

One of my wife's friends was over the other day. She made the comment that I am ALWAYS doing SOMETHING when she comes over. She asked me, "Don't you ever feel like sitting around and doing nothing?" That is what I have a day job for, ha ha ha.

I always have co-workers tell me "it must be nice to make enough money to afford all those toys" I usually reply with, "I couldn't afford to buy them either". ha ha ha

Those same people will go and spend 200 bucks at the bar over the weekend and drive new trucks (finaced for 6 years) and live in new houses with a high monthly payment and a 30 year mortgage. My house will be paid for in 10 years and every vehicle I own is paid for. Choices you make I suppose, you can't have it both ways.

[JeffreyJames]

AMEN hotrodladycrusr.

[HotRonScorcher]

Originally Posted by Paul

$48,000 median income?
that's tough,
averages aren't always that clear to me,
does that mean that most hot rodders are trying to make do with less than that,
and only a few are way above that?

I’m guessing that most hot rodders are at or above that number

as for the estimated apox. one third yearly income for a nice car it does make a good case to take to the secretary of war and finances

hell i only make around 30,000 a year. and i pay 1000 a month in rent. doesn't leave much for toys....