Monday, June 22, 2015

Make A Model Or Buy A Model?

Lulu's Marble - I Feel Alright

So, as i trudge along in my tiny pea brain mulling over what will turn me from WANNABE Hotrodder to an ACTUAL Hotrodder a couple prime candidates continually pop into the first few spots. Obviously to right the wrongs of my past a 1969 Pontiac Firebird comes up in the top 5 picks. The 2 that continually flip flop between the top and the second spot are a 1965 Cobra Replica and a 1932 Hi-boy Ford Roadster.

One of the problems with both of these choices is they would have to be KIT CARS. If you don't know what that is please casually look slightly above this sentence to the pile of parts in the image above, not imagine those are sitting on the floor in front of you. BAM, that's a kit car. It is basically a model car in life size form that you can like drive when you are done. There are numerous pros and cons to a kit car... lets look at them shall we? Sure, why not.

I would love to own a steel bodied 1932 ford or a true 1965 Shelby cobra but as reviewed in one of my earlier posts I didn't see any uncashed million dollar checks in my name laying around so that is out. I had originally figured on buying someone else's running driving car then just fixing and customizing as I go. That is a very nice economically sound way to do it, gets me into a car for less money. Biggest problem with that plan is I am a bit of a fussy control freak that needs everything to be perfect or it is completely wrong. That is still not out of the question but I need to be sure the project is right for me.

My other choice is to go with a brand new kit car from a really good maker and build it myself. This seems like it would be the best option BUT it would add quite a bit to the hotrod build and most definitely cause me to lose money. It would ensure that the car would be perfect for me because I would be making every choice every step of the way. One of the biggest issues is at the end of the day, after you drop $30k - $40k+ you have a kit car. No matter how nice, no matter what components are used you have a kit car that commands $18k at best in the used market.

That's the rub, do I want to buy in at the used market price and just fix and drive someone else's kit car? Do I over invest and build my own kit car or do I buy an actual car from an actual car company and make a hotrod? I don't have the answer... this is the part where you have to like turn off your brain and forget what makes sense and follow your heart. Hmmmm... where does my heart lay?

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