Talking about an M3 that was "rescued" and someone said it was a shame it was being fixed up just to be sold on... and I got to thinking. Is it really? is that always the case?
Let me explain my thoughts, and invite you to share yours.
I think it depends on the person more than the end goal.
A good trader will buy a car, restore it and leave it as best as possible, maybe even immaculate, in order to keep up a reputation, to achieve the best profit, to ensure no warranty claims - especially a specialist who will know all the cars weak areas and resolve those. They'll have sources for the right parts, and have the finances to shell out on the large ticket parts or paintjobs.
A bad trader will buy a car, good or not, and do whats necessary to make the car look right, do it on the cheap, use pattern/cheap as possible parts, ignore anything borderline, perhaps even bodge some bits (who's never found expanding foam in their sills?!) and can effectively make a car worse than the unrestored condition it started in. They may even leave it dangerous, or sell it with a hokey MOT.
A good enthusiast will buy a car to restore and keep long term, investing in it and saving up for parts if they're not financially capable of buying everything immediately. They'll maybe learn new skills so they can fix things themselves, perhaps learning to weld or paint. They'll spend exorbitant amounts of time tracking down parts and running the country to pick up rare pieces of trim, and they'll fix previous bodges as they go. The car will almost always owe them more than the sale price if they do ever come to sell it, and will have been mollycoddled and polished and waxed regularly since completion.
A bad enthusiast will buy a car, dress it up, cutting corners where possible and fitting parts that aren't quite right. They'll run it on a shoestring budget, so things will get covered up until beyond repair - like rusty patches, or running brakes right down until metal filings decorate the rare alloys. They'll attempt to repair rare parts themselves, and break them further or lose parts or replace with substandard.
Threads are always better with pictures.
Here's an E21 I "rescued" a couple of years ago, with the intention of fixing and selling:
Here's an Arosa I "rescued" about a year and a half ago, to fix and keep:
Feel free to add lots more pictures.
Let me explain my thoughts, and invite you to share yours.
I think it depends on the person more than the end goal.
A good trader will buy a car, restore it and leave it as best as possible, maybe even immaculate, in order to keep up a reputation, to achieve the best profit, to ensure no warranty claims - especially a specialist who will know all the cars weak areas and resolve those. They'll have sources for the right parts, and have the finances to shell out on the large ticket parts or paintjobs.
A bad trader will buy a car, good or not, and do whats necessary to make the car look right, do it on the cheap, use pattern/cheap as possible parts, ignore anything borderline, perhaps even bodge some bits (who's never found expanding foam in their sills?!) and can effectively make a car worse than the unrestored condition it started in. They may even leave it dangerous, or sell it with a hokey MOT.
A good enthusiast will buy a car to restore and keep long term, investing in it and saving up for parts if they're not financially capable of buying everything immediately. They'll maybe learn new skills so they can fix things themselves, perhaps learning to weld or paint. They'll spend exorbitant amounts of time tracking down parts and running the country to pick up rare pieces of trim, and they'll fix previous bodges as they go. The car will almost always owe them more than the sale price if they do ever come to sell it, and will have been mollycoddled and polished and waxed regularly since completion.
A bad enthusiast will buy a car, dress it up, cutting corners where possible and fitting parts that aren't quite right. They'll run it on a shoestring budget, so things will get covered up until beyond repair - like rusty patches, or running brakes right down until metal filings decorate the rare alloys. They'll attempt to repair rare parts themselves, and break them further or lose parts or replace with substandard.
Threads are always better with pictures.
Here's an E21 I "rescued" a couple of years ago, with the intention of fixing and selling:
Here's an Arosa I "rescued" about a year and a half ago, to fix and keep:
Feel free to add lots more pictures.
