Help identifying this car

[Guest Ra4]

Hi, my father has a friend who has some old cars in his yard. They've been there for, at least, 20 years, so they are ruined. Either waym we think we could buy one of those and either sell it for a profit or just repair it ourselves. The car in question is a Dodge, whose model or year is unknown to us, I think it should be from the late '60s or early '70s. Take a look at the pictures.

Thank you for your help.

[TerryB]

Looks like a 1973 Dodge Charger.

Terry

[Dave Mellor NJ]

73 Charger

[Dave Mellor NJ]

[Pontiac59]

Hardly looks ruined to me. Maybe learn a little more about cars before you go trying to turn them for profit.

[Guest Oldcartech]

Pontiac

There is no need to be condescending, this is supposed to be a site to help each other

[CarlLaFong]

^^^^^What he said^^^^^^

BTW, I cut and pasted your sig line, Pontiac

"Those who can, build. Those who can't, criticize on the internet. If you can't, don't click here:

Cars and other stuff for sale "

[John348]

"Hardly looks ruined to me. Maybe learn a little more about cars before you go trying to turn them for profit."

I don't see anything wrong with 59 Pontiacs post! By being 100% honest and straight forward he is doing is doing this person a HUGE favor.

A person asks an honest question has no idea what the car is at all, but yet they know enough that they think they can turn it over and make a profit. Too many of these "unrealty" TV shows have many people thinking that they can, and we all know it is not that simple.

My advice to the person buying the car is you need a budget to get the car on the road and SAFE for the driver and the other people minding ther own business. first check the paperwork make sure it's clean and transferable

I will give you a little budget so you know what your getting into based on the pictures combined with 20 years of sitting outside, I'm sure I have left a few items out

ONLY PARTS NO LABOR

Cost of your father friendship with the current owner when he finds out you were looking to take advantage of him

Battery $100

Fuel Tank and sender $350

Hoses, radiator,

heater core,

water pump, $300-$750

Brake system

(it will need everything to be safe)$650-$900

Tires $600

Fuel pump and Carburator rebuild $300

Exhaust system and hangers $400

Belts and tune-up $200

Fluids, chemicals, supplies, $375

Totals $4175

add another misc $500

shipping misc $200

Brings it to around $4875

So roughly it will cost about 5 grand to make start, stop, and roll with causing any harm to you or anyone else

Plus it can cost your Father's friendship with the current owner if he thinks you were looking to take advantage of him

Edited July 5, 2014 by Biscayne John
left a word out, clear up a sentence (see edit history)

[CarlLaFong]

How do you get the idea that he's trying to take advantage of anyone??? Nowhere does he say or even intimate that he's trying to pull a fast one on anybody. If he and the seller agree on a equitable price, then the car is his. If he wants to try and flip it, so what? If he chooses to have it crushed into a cube, so what? The seller got what he asked and everyone is happy. In your world is no one allowed to buy and sell without being seen as a con artist?

Geeze, you must be fun at parties

[John348]

John, I offered advice with a budget, I question if does not know what the car is as far as the make and year, how can he be so sure he's going to buy it and sell it? For a profit non the less. I agree with 59 Pontiac he needs to learn a little more that's all. I'm offereing advice with a realistic budget.

What time is the party? I can get Flight and be there for late afternoon

Edited July 5, 2014 by Biscayne John (see edit history)

[Kimo]

Everyone chill.

To answer the original poster, it is really hard to say much from the photos, but from I can see this car does not look ruined - it appears to be a decent candidate for restoration. I think what some of the other responses are trying to say is that the cost of restoration is quite high unless you have your own fully equipped auto restoration setup in your garage and if you need to have it done by professionals. What I cannot tell you is the total cost since that would take someone knowledgeable in restoration to go through the car thoroughly, and even then some kinds of significant damage can be hidden until you get the car taken apart.

If you are going to buy it for the fun of restoring it, bonding with your dad as you do it, and not valuing your time to do the work, and if you are going to do it not to judging standards and instead just to have an old car to drive for fun, then the cost to restore will be much lower. If you are going to buy it to restore to sell to someone then the cost will be much higher, and in 99% of the time you will be putting more money into the car than you can get reselling it. For example a 1973 Charger that has been restored to nice but not judging standards can be bought any day of the week for around $12,000 to $15,000 depending on the size of the engine in it (these came with smaller and larger engines). One restored to very high standards might go for around $20,000 to $25,000 depending on the engine.

John gave you some good information on getting something like this back to being safe enough to drive down to the corner store and back safely (assuming the engine is not damaged or other serious problems). So you need to be budgeting something like $5,000 from day one. Then if you want to get it looking nice with a decent paint job, replacing missing or broken body parts, overhauling the engine (assuming it is in good enough condition to overhaul), recovering the seats, etc. you would need to budget perhaps another $10,000 to $15,000 depending on what is found along the way. Just for example, you can get a super budget paint job with low quality paint and lots of overspray on parts you do not want paint on for $400 to $500. A decent paint job done right with paint that will last more than a year and no overspray will run you about $2,000 to $3,000, or if you want something that will make the car really stand out and be good enough for competition judging you will need to budget closer to $5,000 to $10,000 depending on how incredible you want it to look. And the costs keep adding up. There are many other things that will cost you a fair amount to have done and you will need to be buying quite a few parts. For example, does it need a new gas tank, does it need a new muffler system, do the gauges need to be overhauled, etc. etc. It is very common that the cost to fully restore a car can wind up being double the resale value.

So, with all of that said, this car looks like it could be successfully restored with time and money, but before you get started it would be worth taking some time to see how much that would cost. You can save some money if you and your dad are able to do part of the work, but it would still be pretty costly as few people have the shop and equipment to do all of their own work. You might want to take a closer look at this car and see what you would be needing to do to it and coming up with a realistic budget before making your decision. If possible have someone who either restores cars for a living or has restored many cars as a passion to go over it to give you an idea of what you would need to budget.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Kimo (see edit history)

[Dandy Dave]

Say, Will Captain Morgan be at the party? I only Drink Cola with him. Dandy Dave!

[CarlLaFong]

I only took exception to the comment, that you posted twice, that he is trying to take advantage of the seller and, therefore, destroy the friendship he has with the buyer's father. The budgetary info is pretty spot on. The advice regarding interpersonal relationships should be left to "Dear Abby".

[John348]

John,

That is your opinion, in my opinion I feel it is part of the whole picture and should be factored in. I the past 40 years I have had several experiences both as a seller, giver, and a buyer on a turnaround transaction in this hobby and every one of them led to a strained relationship and at times even awkward. Might not happen........... but it is a risk worth mentioning to me. Works both ways what if he bought it from a "friend" and found out it had a cracked block that the seller knew of? and gives an answer after several hundred dollars spent to get it to run later " well,,,,you never asked me" The person asking the question brought up the friendship factor and selling it for a profit, if not brought up we would not be discussing this now. It's fine for to tell me to leave the "interpersonal relationship" out and to contact "Dear Abby" and "In your world is no one allowed to buy and sell without being seen as a con artist?

Geeze, you must be fun at parties" What time is the party?

Back to the orignal question;

When getting involved with a car like this, allways keep in mind: Why would anyone park a car and leave it sit? A large reason is that at the time the car was removed from use there was a needed repair that far exceded the value of the car at that time, and it did not go away sitting there, or it was a combination of many needed repairs, either way expect it

[CarlLaFong]

Then, in your opinion, he should not obtain this car in any way, either as a purchase or as a gift since there is, based upon your experience, a nearly 100% chance that the deal will go sideways and people will get butt hurt. So, really, the money advise given is moot and it would be best for him to walk away from the deal.

The kid asked a very simple and fundamental question. Why is it that giving him an equally simple and succinct answer is such a struggle? It's no wonder that he seems AWOL

[John348]

John,

I would like to point out you have yet offer "the kid" any advice or even a "simple answer", so you can keep that invite for your party I really don't want to go now. I don't like to go to parties where people look for a fight.

Enjoy your weekend

[CarlLaFong]

I'd sooner go to the Elephant Man's hot tub party than to invite you. As I noted, but you failed to notice, your answer regarding the monetary costs was pretty good. No where did he ask for life advice.

Your smarmy wishes for an enjoyable weekend are duly noted and completely disregarded.

I'm done here.

As Shel Silverstein noted,

"Now, you remind me a lot of my younger days with your knuckles clenchin' white.

But, boy, I'm gonna sit right here and sip this beer all night.

And if there's somethin' you gotta prove by winnin' some silly fight,

Well, OK, I quit, I lose, son, you're the winner."

[PONTIAC1953]

this car is very restorable, the grill needs new parts, a good washing and cleaning up will make the car look a whole lot better, car has mexican license plates. car is so far from being considered "ruined". Ra4, are you in mexico also, or are you hoping to bring the car across the border ?