What Is Sentimental value really worth???

[paulk68]

What is sentimental value worth?
Without making this a ridiculously long post, I am hitting a cross road with my project. I bought my 1968 Camaro when I was 15 years old, I am now 33. The car started life as a 6cyl 3 speed on the floor. It stayed that way for a few years then my dad helped me swap that out for a 4 speed and a 305 we had laying around the garage. I drove it like that throughout high school and my freshman and sophomore years of college. On one of my breaks from college I came home and went to take the car out and it had low oil which caused the 305 to seize up. That is when I decided it would be a good time to park it and tear it down, at this point the rockers and rear quarter panels were bubbling and the floors were getting pretty soft. So I parked it and started to strip it down with the intentions of building it into a nice street driver. Well then it sat, and sat and sat. Like lots of us life gets in the way I finished college, found a good job, got married, bought a house, had two kids. That is where I sit today. All the while saving whatever money I could for this project. Well as of today I have about 10K to start working on the car again. And I am very torn, I have priced out having my entire shell rebuilt which will be in the 10K rage. But I will have all new sheet metal. I like the idea of having basically a brand new shell, but then I think if I sold my shell and parts for maybe like 2500 buck that would give me 12.5K to start shopping for a car that is much further along than just a bare shell.
Then I think of all of the great moments I have had with this car. And how it has been my goal to once again finish it. I can clearly still remember going with my dad when I was fifteen to look at it then haggle on the price and bring it home. The emotions are very strong.

Then I think with my wallet, I have two daughters that will eventually go to college and probably get married, I have a mortgage, and lots of other responsibilities finacialy. I could probably be a lot closer to having a running and driving car that the family could enjoy a lot sooner using the money to to look for a car a lot further done that just a shell.
SO PLEASE HELP!!!!

[SkinsandJrfan]

That's a tough one. I don't know that sentimental value has a price. I will go out on a limb here and say that if you were to get rid of it, you might regret it. But that's being said without knowing you. I had mine for 2 years, almost sold it but then decided to rebuild it. Now I have a 485 hp 383 5 speed corner hugging beast of a ride that I just love driving and I'm so glad I kept it. Good luck with your decision process.

[digitalman2112]

What is your longer term goal for the car? I think the decision is different depending on the estimated total cost, and the years it will take you to finance the rest of the project.

[clayton25]

ya, I know how you feel. My 74 camaro was the first car I ever owned or bought on my own. I have had people offer me anywhere from $6500-$8500 for it and it still needs a full suspension and Interior rebuild. Any person in their right mind probably would have taken the money but with it being my first and all the blood, sweat and maybe a tear or two I just seemed to always want a little more than what they were willing to give for it! Also at the time it needed a trans rebuild but not any longer. So pretty much your sentimental value comes down to whether or not you really want to get rid of it!

[diesel25lrs]

You WILL regret it...

[MuscleRodz]

Sentimental value is the biggest price tag of them all, BUT it is an emotional price tag. I was in the same boat several years ago with my 68 that is in my avatar. Had the car 15 years, changed directions numerous times as trends and financials changed. Then I started to change direction again and asked myself what the hell am I doing. Sold the car for a huge loss, bought another project which still took me 18 months to finish, and don't regret selling the 68 for one second.

[TheJDMan]

Here's my take. I purchased my 68 Camaro when I was 18, I'm now 58. I drove it on the street for three years then drag raced it for another 10 or so years. Once I got married I had no cash to race anymore and no money to put the car back on the street. Bottom line is that life took priority over the car. The result was the car has been stored in various garages for the past 30 odd years. As we have moved around the country for jobs the car has been moved along with us. I have had more offers to sell the car over the years than I can remember and I always turned them down flat knowing I would regret selling it as soon as it rolled out the drive. My wife used to pester me to sell it and after several years she realized I was not going to part with it and stopped bugging me. I'm now semi-retired, the house is paid for and I have spare money to play with. Now that life has slowed down a bit, I also have the time to work on the car.

Here is the result of being paitent:
The car as it was in the late 70's




The car as it is today after approximately $40K worth of pro-touring suspension upgrades.








My advice would be to keep the car and bring it back to life. It may not happen today or even next year, but with time the house will be paid off, the kids will be out of college and married and you have time and money to complete your project. Not everyone is sentimental about things like this and I understand that. But IMO you cannot put a price on sentimental value. Years from now you will not regret the decision.

On a side note, I would recommend you contact the AMD Installation shop for panel replacement.
http://amdinstallation.com/index.html

[clayton25]

Here's my take. I purchased my 68 Camaro when I was 18, I'm now 58. I drove it on the street for three years then drag raced it for another 10 or so years. Once I got married I had no cash to race anymore and no money to put the car back on the street. Bottom line is that life took priority over the car. The result was the car has been stored in various garages for the past 30 odd years. As we have moved around the country for jobs the car has been moved along with us. I have had more offers to sell the car over the years than I can remember and I always turned them down flat knowing I would regret selling it as soon as it rolled out the drive. My wife used to pester me to sell it and after several years she realized I was not going to part with it and stopped bugging me. I'm now semi-retired, the house is paid for and I have spare money to play with. Now that life has slowed down a bit, I also have the time to work on the car.

Here is the result of being paitent:
The car as it was in the late 70's




The car as it is today after approximately $40K worth of pro-touring suspension upgrades.








My advice would be to keep the car and bring it back to life. It may not happen today or even next year, but with time the house will be paid off, the kids will be out of college and married and you have time and money to complete your project. Not everyone is sentimental about things like this and I understand that. But IMO you cannot put a price on sentimental value. Years from now you will not regret the decision.

On a side note, I would recommend you contact the AMD Installation shop for panel replacement.
http://amdinstallation.com/index.html

Couldn’t have said it much better my self. Also got a nice lookin first gen there!

[77thor]

Here's my take. I purchased my 68 Camaro when I was 18, I'm now 58. I drove it on the street for three years then drag raced it for another 10 or so years. Once I got married I had no cash to race anymore and no money to put the car back on the street. Bottom line is that life took priority over the car. The result was the car has been stored in various garages for the past 30 odd years. As we have moved around the country for jobs the car has been moved along with us. I have had more offers to sell the car over the years than I can remember and I always turned them down flat knowing I would regret selling it as soon as it rolled out the drive. My wife used to pester me to sell it and after several years she realized I was not going to part with it and stopped bugging me. I'm now semi-retired, the house is paid for and I have spare money to play with. Now that life has slowed down a bit, I also have the time to work on the car....

That's a great story and it says it all.

[Kenova]

You're only 33 years old!?
If you have 10 large to tackle the body with then you are doing better than I am and I'm way past the wrong side of 50 years.
Even if you were able to raise $15,000 to buy another you would probably wind up with a car that you wouldn't be happy with even if you could drive it.

Keep it. If you don't regret it as the car rolls out of the driveway, you will as soon as you start having trouble with the "new" one.

Ken

[srh3trinity]

With that much history, I think I would have to hold on to the car. I miss my 87 Camaro Sport Coupe quite often, but it wasn't my choice to sell it. I would get it rust free and in the dry and then work on getting it mobile, then you can upgrade over time.

[shep]

I would keep it too. I look at it like this by the time you replace all the rot your will know your car is solid. If you sell it and then buy something else you don't know for sure the quality of work that was done, and other than paint you are still going to be at the same starting point. Meaning more than likely you are still going to want to redo the suspension and drive train, I would do it once and do it the way you want it done.

[Gitter Dun]

This is an easy one. I wouldn't take a million bucks for my car if someone offered. Waaay too many years and waaaay too much history.

[rockytopper]

priceless

[paulk68]

Thank you everyone I knew you would help. The reason i have a good chunk saved is becasue i am always finacially responsible wich is why i was starting to run into my issues about selling it? But it is priceless and i will push forward with my plans. Soon I will make a project post to help keep me on track.

[andrewb70]

Thank you everyone I knew you would help. The reason i have a good chunk saved is becasue i am always finacially responsible wich is why i was starting to run into my issues about selling it? But it is priceless and i will push forward with my plans. Soon I will make a project post to help keep me on track.

Paul,

I can certainly relate to your dilemma. I've had my GTO since I was 15 as well, although, I was in a good financial position to start my build at 28 and finish it at age 32. Damn, that was 10 years ago...Having the car has been an amazing experience, but I also feel that if I had sold the car after it was done, I might have enjoyed several other projects. Also, for me at least, the urge to build a "fancy pants" car that is "magazine" quality has been satisfied. At this point in my life I am perfectly content building ugly cars that run like hell.

Here is some food for thought. You said that you have about $10k, right? What if you took that money and bought yourself a less popular car, perhaps a clean "survivor," and then did a low cost LS swap? You could be on the road in a year or two, for a total investment of 10-15K, and be able to enjoy a cool car that you won't be scared to drive. There is something to be said for having a car that you can literally "get groceries" with, instead of a car with a show quality paint job.

For example, check out this build:

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversion...02-ls1-a4.html

I don't know what the cost of the car was ($3-5K?....less?), but I bet he won't have more than $15K into it, and will be able to drive her anywhere.

Food for thought.

Andrew

[Happyfunballs]

If it was truly sentimental, you wouldn't even think of selling it. I've had mine 12 years, never worked on it with anyone other than myself and I probably will never sell it. As a consequence, I'll have way more money in it than it's worth....and would do it all over again if given the chance.

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Last classic car I sold was a 68 Camaro in '02. I took probably a 20 pics of that car as it got towed away by the new owner. Depressing day and I'll never do that again. It was a completed restomod car and getting my current ride to even that state has cost me double what I got for it.

Don't ever sell. You have gasoline in your viens and love of the car in your heart. That stays long after the car is gone...

[Jay71]

Don't sell. You know what you have with your car. You could sell yours and buy something that looks farther along and end up doing the same work to it as you'll have to do to your car. I've had my 71 Camaro since 1983, it was originally a 6 with a 3 speed as well. I've got more money into it than I'll ever get out of it but I don't care. I've done all the work to it, know it like the back of my hand. They're going to have to prop me up behind the wheel and bury me in it.

[KUSI]

Paul,
I think you got the responses you were hoping for. Everyone that chimed in had at least some sentimental value in their cars and know deep down inside they never would want to sell it. If they did, they would deeply regret it in some way. Life events will always take over these projects but if you have saved wisely you can do like I have and go in stages. I had to "save" my car first from all the initial years the car battled salt damage up north. If you get the metal in good shape and just shoot the body in a decent layer of protection you would be good to go until you are truly ready for paint, etc. Yes, it will take a while to build the car this way but you will still be able to walk out into the garage and see that your car is still there and surviving. If the garage was empty it would just not feel right. I have gone through what most guys have already posted in here and since my Camaro was a one family owned car it has been around a long time. The sentimental value is obviously waaaay high in these situations so I would have to agree with everyone and say keep your car. Nearly every time I have had a conversation with someone looking at my car (no matter what stage it was in) they always had a sad story about selling theirs. Don't be that guy! If you are determined to take the family on cruises right now then maybe do like Andrew suggested and just find a low budget driver. You can drive it for a year or two, sell it, and then move back onto your project that you kept. Good luck!

KUSI