What does it cost to have a car built at high end pro touring shop?

[Kenova]

By the time this car is finished, it will be about as cutting edge as a cassette player.

Whats a cassette player?
What little I have done with my Nova I have done myself. It puts a grin on my face when I drive it so I figure it's worth a million bucks. And I'm just getting started.
When it comes to the big dollar pro built cars I am in awe of the quality and creativity, so hats off to those who are willing to pay for and share them with us mere mortals.

Ken

[cypher]

Just wondering what everyones thoughts and experiences were to have a car completely restored and modified at a high end pro touring shop like Detroit Speed, Roadster Shop, etc.

Anyone have any experience?

There are many lesser named shops across the US that can do just as high quality work for way less than the 250-300k folks are saying, but since you said "shops like" then yes they do cost a lot.

[Schwartz Performance]

There are many lesser named shops across the US that can do just as high quality work for way less than the 250-300k folks are saying, but since you said "shops like" then yes they do cost a lot.

"Just as high quality" - You mean they can take a 4000 hour build and turn it into 2000? Or do they do 4000-hour builds for 1/2 of the labor cost since they do it in their home barn & don't carry insurance for the contents or pay a lot of taxes?

The word "quality" is relative, as your definition and my definition are different.

-Dale

[dhutton]

Back when I was an engineer I heard many definitions of quality but generally they revolved around high levels of customer satisfaction rather than price paid. I am sure that many builds from both high end shops and backyard barns meet that definition of quality. Are they the same level, no probably not but quality nonetheless....

There is a difference between high quality and high end....

Don

[SDS MACHINING]

if you have to ask,, well you know the rest of the line. Get everything in writing and solid progress dates with a target delivery date, as well as a "do not succeed amount" agreement.. save yourself a lot of potential problems and headaches by doing this up front. i have seen way too many people end up running out of money, and even more people get taken advantage of. One suggestion is to buy something at an auction, or private seller.. by no means was i implying Detroit speed would do you wrong or any of the major builders out there with impeccable reputations, but expect to spend a few hundred thousand and that is being conservative , it all depends on what you want and how fast you want it.
also be VERY selective in who you go with,some shops "claim" they have their own products and do just as good as the top guys, many scam shops with zero integrity and deny accountability once its left their shop. seen it first hand a few timed
my 2cents for the topic

[SDS MACHINING]

truth spoken.. I have watched 300k builds sell for under 100k at auctions.

[Steve Chryssos]

There's a ton of negativity in this thread. It's kinda sad. First off, get out more. Don't judge pro-touring based on message board threads or magazines. You CAN build a pro-touring car with exceptional performance for virtually ANY price. Cars and trucks from the 70's-90's are still cheap and in favor. Patina and rust are likewise in favor. At the very least you can build your car now, paint it later and it'll be cool both ways. Factories are squirting high performance engines off of their assembly lines every 30 seconds. ..and the performance of bolt-on parts has improved dramatically over the last decade. Go to a Goodguys Autocross and you will see bolt-together cars running the same times as full custom builds. The margin of error is small enough that the driver makes the difference.

Shops like Roadster Shop and Ringbrothers are using rapid prototyping to make parts. That's wild. It puts them in a different "Price Bracket" conversation altogether. It's not fair to lump them in with the shops that will build you a high quality high performance pro-touring car. Rather than high end, a different question is:

How much does it cost to have a shop build a high quality, fully sorted pro-touring car?

[raustinss]

There's a ton of negativity in this thread. It's kinda sad. First off, get out more. Don't judge pro-touring based on message board threads or magazines. You CAN build a pro-touring car with exceptional performance for virtually ANY price. Cars and trucks from the 70's-90's are still cheap and in favor. Patina and rust are likewise in favor. At the very least you can build your car now, paint it later and it'll be cool both ways. Factories are squirting high performance engines off of their assembly lines every 30 seconds. ..and the performance of bolt-on parts has improved dramatically over the last decade. Go to a Goodguys Autocross and you will see bolt-together cars running the same times as full custom builds. The margin of error is small enough that the driver makes the difference.

Shops like Roadster Shop and Ringbrothers are using rapid prototyping to make parts. That's wild. It puts them in a different "Price Bracket" conversation altogether. It's not fair to lump them in with the shops that will build you a high quality high performance pro-touring car. Rather than high end, a different question is:

How much does it cost to have a shop build a high quality, fully sorted pro-touring car?

Steve , the OP asked what it costs for a build at a top tier shop , I don't see any negativity, I see honesty.

[Steve Chryssos]

Ryan,
I'm not being critical. Just suggesting that There's top tier and then there's above top tier. Places like Roadster Shop who can literally grow parts using rapid prototyping. There are many exceptional shops that can build great cars for $100-$200K that get overshadowed by the $500K to $800K builds.
Steve

[raustinss]

Ryan,
I'm not being critical. Just suggesting that There's top tier and then there's above top tier. Places like Roadster Shop who can literally grow parts using rapid prototyping. There are many exceptional shops that can build great cars for $100-$200K that get overshadowed by the $500K to $800K builds.
Steve

Steve
yeah for sure youre completely correct , I was just trying to say that the OP mentions Detroit speed and Roadster shop , both of which I'id be willing to bet you don't get in the door for less than the before mentioned price of 250-300 ish and up from there , not to mention probably 6-9 month wait to even start the job and the 12-18 month build time . There are crazy talented people at shops who most definitely build a amazing car in a much lower price bracket . As for my answers I was trying to respond reg. The shops mentioned or shops on a similar level as to those mentioned
cheers

[sheck44]

Agree with all the above BUT .... the BIGGEST problem we see around here are shops that OVERpromise, UNDERdeliver and OVERcharge
People come to me constantly to ask for advice on where to take their car for paint, where to get an engine, where to get an interior and my reply now is TRUST NO ONE
(except Harold at New Image interiors but be prepared to wait) There is not one shop here in the biggest city in Canada that I can honestly say is reputable. More than once I've sent guys to shops that I thought were honest and did good work and they eventually screwed the guys over ... I am totally amazed and disappointed by whats going on here in this industry. I see cars and talk to guys that have been completely screwed over that have dumped more than a $100k into the car that is barely worth $50k because of the ***** work ... I know of one guy that has taken his car to 3 different shops only to get screwed by all of them. One of the jack asses here (big shop) eventually got charged by the police for fraud ... Its an absolute ***** show here

Ya, good TOP shops (in USA) are expensive as hell but you'll know EXACTLY what your getting,

Sorry for the rant but I had to get this one of my chest
Cheers
Steve

[raustinss]

Steve, funny enough I know that one shop lol ... I also believe I know about another .. with a certain black chevelle that was at the first shop

[raustinss]

Duplicate

[icemanrd19]

I have around 70k in my car that I bet if someone built and didn’t help would have closer to 100k to 110k . Ls, mini tubbed, Forgeline, big brakes etc. I’m sure 99% of the people out there would love to have it. Key is to not change your mind in the build process. Is it a dse/ ringbrothers quality build? Heck no then again it’s a 3rd or 4th of the cost for them to build it.

Good driver with ls you are looking 50k
Nice driver with ls and some wow that’s nice you are closer to 60k
70k and above you are looking at 95% tier people would really like
I’ve seen cars and knownof cars that have 50 to 70k more into it that are not near as nice as some 70k cars.

[cypher]

"Just as high quality" - You mean they can take a 4000 hour build and turn it into 2000? Or do they do 4000-hour builds for 1/2 of the labor cost since they do it in their home barn & don't carry insurance for the contents or pay a lot of taxes?

The word "quality" is relative, as your definition and my definition are different.

-Dale

as you said, quality can be relative, but high quality doesnt have to be higher priced. Go build a car on the west coast at some big named shop, then go build the same car in many other places across the US by many other shops and you can see wide range of dollar per hour rates, multiply that times 4000 hours and you then get wildly different prices for the same thing.

[raustinss]

I see your point but, remember DSE, Rad rides by Troy , Ring brothers and I believe a few others aren't on the left coast

[79 Camaro]

I will never have the money to buy a high end build car. I like building my own stuff. It's not to the level of the DSE or Roadster Shop builds. I just don't have the skills or the tools to do it. I used to work for a company that manufactured packaging machines and was very familiar with how they were priced. Most started at $400K and went up from there. Almost every one was custom. We used to joke that an identical machine meant it was the same color as the last one. Things that really do affect price is how custom is the build. Using standard parts reduces the costs and assembly time. It's the custom fab and assembly time and changes in mid-build that drives crazy prices. A car that has a lot of personal touches can be very hard to sell at anything close to the build cost. Those personal touches can make the car very hard to sell. Years ago we used to use the phrase "1/3, 1/3, 1/3" for machine costs. One third for labor, one third for material and one third for profit. I don't know if that holds true in the car building world. It is kind of fun to bench race what a person would build if money was no object.

[USAZR1]

I'm into my car for less than $30K, right now. For what I realistically want from it, another $10-15K will probably get me where I want to be. I can live with that.
However, if I came into an obscene amount of money, I would be calling the top shops.

[CreepinDeth]

Just wondering what everyones thoughts and experiences were to have a car completely restored and modified at a high end pro touring shop like Detroit Speed, Roadster Shop, etc.

Anyone have any experience?

If you are a wealthy person with tons of F U money, you can go for it.......

However, for me I wasn't going to pay someone extortionate $$$ to build me any car(s)
.....I built 2 of my own. The costs are just absolutely insane. Hell I won't pay contractors
to do anything in my house either. I figure it out on my own.

You just learn by asking questions, watching video's, watching others progress , asking ?'s
Body work & paint, are the only 2 areas I will pay for......I just don't have the patience.

My journey started in 2002 after I joined a forum in 2001......learned alot and still learning.
People are creative and resourceful , it's a good thing to have forums with so much experience.

[TheJDMan]

The big names listed above all have reputations to maintain and none of them can afford to screw customers if they want to stay in business. The problem then becomes finding a quality shop that charges a reasonable shop rate and can be trusted to do the work agreed on. To this end I think we as a group need to complement shops that do good work and can be trusted, as well as naming shops that have screwed customers and should be avoided. I am reminded of Prodigy Customs and how respected they were and how some people seemed to look the other way when Frank started stealing customer's money until it could not be ignored any longer. I don't even know how many people Frank screwed by the time that whole disaster was over who didn't have any warning till it was too late.

All that said, the only person who you can ever really trust to do a job the way you want it done, is yourself. Learn to weld, learn to fabricate, learn the necessary procedures to accomplish what you want done. In the end the project will be uniquely yours.