Thread: Can $10 k get me in a 30's Ford coupe ????

Tweet

Hey Guys ,
Your newest member here . ( but 62 yrs. young ) . I've always wanted a 32 Ford coupe hot rod .
I've had Fords , Shelbys, mustangs all my life . But now the garage is finally empty.
And I promised my self , I'd try to finally get the Hot Rod of my dreams . Be it a bare bones one considering my humble budget of $10 - $12 K .
It would need to be street worthy from the get go, and be a good candidate for investing the time / $$ to take to shows in a few yrs. of weekend rebuilding.
I've looked at "project car" listings , but they are farrrrrrrrr from drivable .
Question : I'm I wasting my time looking for even a "bare bones 30's Hot Rod " ?
Or should I just go back to Mustangs , and forget my dream Hot Rod ?
And looking at Rust-o-Mods , just adds to my despair ( I can't weld ).
HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP !!!!!

Have you tried looking at "project" cars on ebay?
1932 Ford coupe project in eBay Motors | eBay

Have you tried looking at "project" cars on ebay?
1932 Ford coupe project in eBay Motors | eBay

.

Welcome to CHR!

For just under $10K you can get an awesome '32 Ford golf cart! See 1932 Ford Roadster for Sale | ClassicCars.com | CC-607460

If you want to have a real one, you probably need to, at a minimum, double the ante for entry level. I know that there are "projects" out there that you may be able to snag for what appears to be a reasonable sum but in the end, they are money pits that suck you dry and return very little in the way of driving satisfaction.

Don't let go of your dream - save up or perhaps explore alternate means of raising some money. I've alway been a "pay-as-I-go" guy with my cars and Harleys, but know plenty of folks who have no qualms about a line of credit against their residence for a car that they feel like they "have to have."

Research is key as well as a lot of in-person looks at what's out there. I know there are a lot of shows in Jersey and the surrounding area and I'd encourage you to attend and talk with the guys and gals you meet about what they're driving and what kind of an investment is reasonable in your market. Know for sure that it's a rare day when someone makes a ton of money on the sale of a hot rod and there are some deals to be had at shows - especially if you find someone who's either grown tired of the '32 or perhaps has mitigating circumstances mandating they dispose of the car.

Keep after it - I'm sure others far mor knowlegable that I will chime in with advice and ideas!

Best Regards,
Glenn

Start a private message with DA34GUY on this site.....he deals in a LOT of 32 stuff and can give you an honest answer regarding what you can get.
Mike in Tucson

Originally Posted by robot

Start a private message with DA34GUY on this site.....he deals in a LOT of 32 stuff and can give you an honest answer regarding what you can get.
Mike in Tucson

My honest answer. Nope, not a 32 for 10/12k. not even a decent 28/31 A bone.
Look in the late 40's 46.7,8 9 early 50's and ya might do ok.
Just sold this 1, a 46 with 350/350 nova rear and a/c for 15 K.
Just finishing up the red 32 3 window and it'll hit the market about 8 Gs back of market for 36K

Boss Rods,
Welcome, and glad to see you here. Your statement is,

It would need to be street worthy from the get go, and be a good candidate for investing the time / $$ to take to shows in a few yrs. of weekend rebuilding.

A basic roller package from N&N is $13,200 (new chassis, glass body, Pete & Jakes chassis components) and unless you're buying wholesale you'll more than double that to build from scratch, not counting paint and interior. So you're looking for a seller who's put $30K or more into his ride, wanting to sell it for 1/3 or much less. Now that's not to say that you might not run across that one guy who's gotten into money problems, has to have cash quick to keep the wolves at bay, and is selling his toy at deep losses, but even then I'd be surprised to see anything below $25K for a running, driving car of any quality.

Like Glenn says, don't give up the dream, but spend some time looking around and get a handle on the reality of the pricing, then start figuring how to structure your "deal". Good luck!!

I will add that if you do find a car listed for anywhere near your budget, be very careful. I have been fooling around with street rods actively for over 20 years and I have seen some really crappy and unsafe stuff in that time. There are no standards for street rod builds, so many were built as the owner saw fit. Take someone with you that can help you spot bad engineering. Oh, and look out for bondo buggies, too.

I would be very surprised of you could find a Mustang in decent shape for your budget, but that's not my area.

Good luck! I mean that sincerely, too.

I have to agree with the others, not for that kind of money, sorry to say. I had a buddy that had a rod shop, always said you could buy a complete car (32 Ford) from him for the "do it yourself" cost. I asked how and he said that all vendors have a minimum resale price on their parts, if he didn't sell them for that cost they yanked him as a distributor and the mark-up on wholesale parts was a minumum of 30 percent, so his labor was in the 30 percent of total of the car, after checking costs he ended up being right at the time (1990's) now with the web and ebay (Chinese parts) and such that might not hold true but back then it was, as I had him resell me my rootlieb hoods (no invoice, cash sale) for my '32 and he was about 30 percent less than aywhere else I had checked extensively.
Don't give up on your dreams, sometimes they just take longer to achieve, so save a few years more, take your time and enjoy your project. I do and I can add much more labor and details and make my own parts (I love fabrication) than a hurried project, it will give you more time to get on here! Best of luck

Many thanks , one and all for your honesty. I can see that at 62 , "Saving up to get my dream car " is just not in the cards . I was just hoping there was a replica type manufacturer out there that was offering a alterative to the 30,40,$50K project cars I see for sale . Well it was great while it lasted guys.
I'm just not wealthy enough to ride with you all . All my best . Boss rods

Oh wow - don't give up! There are a lot options. Maybe another car? Does it have to be an open car? Maybe a cool 64 Ford Falcon or some such that you can pick up for less than the $10G and personalize it as you drive it..

I've got a '63 Nova SS that's been an ongoing project for years and quite honestly, I may never really finish it as there's always something I want to modify or trt. Also have a '71 Chevy C10 that a whole lot of fun as well.

I'm a bit older than you are and I'm never gonna stop playing with cars.

Best,
Glenn

Don't give up on the dream, think outside the box! With you're budget, why not look at T Buckets? You can have a whole lot of fun in one...

Yep, some cars are simply out of reach.

My dream car would be a 67 Corvette stingray. $30K for a basket case. I won't be getting one.