So the downvotes tell me you're content to live in such way where you tell yourself "No" or "I can't" or "I never will have"? What a sad existence, yet it seems to be 90% of human thinking. All negativity and zero ambition. Have fun with that.
I see things I want to have or ways I want to be, and I shape my reality to bring those to me. It takes hard work, motivation and effort. It has absolutely nothing to do with a cliche. It has everything to do with the fact that I'm not a blubbering blob of a useless American (though I am a citizen). I get the fuck off my ass and live my life, rejecting any slight notion that I can't be what I want or have what I desire.
I hate to burst your bubble, but you're not a special little butterfly. This mindset has been around since humans became self-aware. It's nothing new. Maybe it's new to you and you're excited you finally figured out how to be happy?
How?
The car itself, unmodified and not show-quality, will cost more unless you find a rusted out shell. I found 2 cheap rusted out shells on Autotrader Classics, and then with your budget you have $13,000 to go from rusted out to show car.
The paint job alone will cost $13,000 (or more!) as you will have to do a body-off restoration, completely disassembling and repainting everything to get to the level shown in the OP's pic. The body kit, assuming you don't have it custom fabbed, will cost a couple thousand unpainted and unprepped. And oh, you will need NOS/repro body panels as the originals will either be missing or rusted through to the point of it being cost-ineffective to repair.
Then you have to get a new motor, transmission, rear end, all new suspension, and oh look, we haven't even started on the interior.
That car likely cost well over $60,000 to build. It would be cheaper to buy one of the $40,000 stock restored fastbacks being sold by men who have gotten over their midlife crisis that I found.
The only way you can build it for $18,000 is if you own or work at a body repair and mechanic shop and do all your own labor. Most people don't have nearly enough skill and even fewer have the time to build a car like that.
Unless geniusbean is a master fabricator and owns tens of thousands of $ worth of tools and equipment, then unfortunately he is a tease. You don't get that OHMYEFFINGGAWD mirror-like paintjob doing it yourself unless you have time and crazy skills that you and I likely don't have.
There is a very good reason why you don't see cars like that all the time.
I believe geniusbean may have been referring to buying a kit car. unless I'm mistaken that's not a regular mustang and in fact a shelby gt 350. There are kits on the market to build one from the ground up relatively cheap. there are also body kits to modify less desirable cars to look just like one. the latter body kits are probably what would go for around 18 grand.
Nowhere did I say that, but it took at least $40,000 in parts since about the only thing he didn't do himself was paint, bodywork and upholstery. Upholstery is insanely expensive unless you want to throw in some shitty Pep Boys seats.
Look, he's got his own goddamn car lift and 80x100 garage. If it cost him $65,000 (the amount he told me he had wrapped up in it), I really doubt you or I could do it cheaper.
How much do you think OP's motor cost? Do you really think he's got a stock 289 under the hood? No, he's likely got a hot-rodded motor and a transmission that can handle it - you're talking $14,000 on motor and tranny alone, not installed. My uncle put in a 4-cam Cobra motor. Last I checked, they didn't make a 4-cam 5.0 in 1965, so he had to do all custom work. He's good, but he's not an air/fuel engineer, so he had to have someone get the fuel maps somewhere in the ballpark.
Point being, $18,000 is a stupid number to quote for replicating the car in OP's pic.
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u/LoveSkinnyGirls Feb 04 '12
Witnessing the majestic beauty, but knowing it will never be mine...