Buying Your First Collector Car

The long and the short of your first acquisition

Remember your first date? Buying your first collector car can be just as intimidating—and turn out just as poorly—as that initial encounter with the opposite sex. But with a collector car, you have plenty of opportunity to do your homework and make your initial purchase both memorable and successful. There are three basic choices you need to consider to get you started in the right direction: Do you want a project car, a driver, or a museum piece? Figure this out and you’ll be ahead of the game as you look for that perfect machine.

Project Cars

Project cars appeal to those of us with lots of time on our hands, plenty of skill at doing odd (or even common) jobs, and the desire to work on a car for long periods of time rather than just get in and head to the malt shop. There are many significant upsides to buying a project car, including the often dramatically lower price you will pay, the intimate knowledge you will have inside and out when you are done restoring it, and that all work will be done exactly to your standards (be they low or high).

The downsides are that you will have to commit to working rather than driving for some unknown—and in most cases, unforseeable—amount of time. Even with a running project car, much will be needed that will require you to take the car off the road for untold months. The big question before settling on a project car is to ask yourself if you have the skills needed to do the work and the discipline to really stay with the project. This last one is vital, as nothing sells more cheaply than a failed project. If you start it, you must either finish it or face long odds to come out even on the financial side.

Drivers

Take a step up in the collector world from a project car and you have a driver, a car that runs well enough to use and not leave you stranded too often. This category comprises the vast majority of cars you will see for sale, well above project car status, yet still quite far below the concours or museum-quality level.

The great fun here is that you have a car to enjoy and drive, and within reason, you can improve bits and pieces as smaller projects along the way. If the carpets are tatty, or you always wanted those upgraded fancy alloy wheels, a wood steering wheel, or a better radio—all those things are well within reach. Maybe it’s going back to the stock carburetor or upgrading to a better distributor? That’s fine, as you can do that in a week-end or two and be back on the road where you want to be.

The downside of the driver is that you will not have a real “show car.” If you want to do local “show-n-shine” events you may get lucky, but for regional shows, be prepared to be outgunned by those with deeper trophy lust. Even regional car shows in the middle of nowhere can attract some amazingly well-preserved and -restored old cars. If you want to win trophies, then you’ll need to step to the next level.

Show Cars

Buying a show car is what many people first dream about when they think of buying their first collector car. It’s kind of like dreaming about having your first date with Angelina Jolie. But buying a show car as your first collector car may really be a good idea. Do you really think you’ll get anywhere with Angelina if it’s your first time at bat?

For starters, if you have a true concours-winning car, don’t plan on driving it much. Look around the parking lot of any serious car show—and some not-so-serious ones as well—and you’ll see lots of trucks with covered trailers.

Show cars are too special, precious, and clean to drive to the show on their own power. The wildly competitive world of collector cars requires that your car be untouched by common road dirt, have no greasy fingerprints on the steering wheel, or, heaven forbid, show soot in the tailpipe!

You can drive the car, but realize that upon doing so, it will require many hours of cleaning. Most concours folks, even those with the best intentions to drive their cars, give up either on the driving part or the show part, as the punishment of cleaning is just too high a price to pay for using the car.

And I’m not talking about a wash job. True concours cars are as clean underneath as they are on top. The chassis and suspension parts have to be as immaculate as the interior. It’s a tall order and not many cars exist at this level of cleanliness.

Why It Matters

You will find that the three different types of cars have three distinctly different owners, and you’ll need a special aproach for each type. Those selling a project car will be the easiest to deal with. They will be out of space, out of money, out of time—or all three—and generally will have a realistic price on their machine. In most cases, they will be serious sellers and you will be able to negotiate from a powerful position.

Those with drivers for sale may be a bit tougher. If their car doesn’t sell right away, they can continue to use and enjoy it—unlike the project car owner whose car beckons for more time and money each time the owner walks by it. Of course, the owner of a driver may want to move on to other cars and can certainly be a motivated seller. But because his car runs, he simply has more options.

The concours guys are usually the toughest sellers, partly because they are often the wealthiest, partly because they feel their car is very special, and partly because they can afford to wait for that special buyer who will pay their price. They don’t really use their car much anyway, and it needs no work, so it’s no big deal to let it sit around awhile longer.

Think carefully about what kind of car is really best for you and you’ll be better prepared to find a good one. Then point yourself in that direction and have at it.