Feasible to Restore?

[tmcclain]

I have my dad’s 1991 coupe. And yes I am attached to it because of the memories. But many creature comforts are failing: windows, locks, environmental controls, sunroof, paint, engine probably needs gaskets, doors struggle to open. Computer and dash screen have worked fine. I don’t have the skill or time to restore it my self. Wondering if you all would consider it restorable? Getting a return on that investment  is less of a concern as just getting to enjoy it again for a reasonable cost. Are you seeing people restore these?

 

Todd from Fort Worth, Texas

[Y-JobFan]

There is no such thing as a cheap restoration, paint alone will cost you thousands. If the car has great sentimental value and you have a wad of cash go for it, but know that you are going to be buried in it. There are still to many pristine originals out there and a collector will take one of those over one that has had restoration work any day. If you can’t do any of the work I can see you knocking on $10-12k of work easily. Another issue is finding someone that will do it and would be knowledgeable enough on the Reatta systems to tackle it.  Another question, is there rust, hopefully it is from your area so that at least won’t be an issue.  To give you an idea of costs, if your seats need redone you are looking at $1500-2000 to have done correctly 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Y-JobFan (see edit history)

[Barney Eaton]

You did not mention the mileage.......if it is high mileage,  there are things you cannot see that may need replacing.

Reattas are selling for quite reasonable prices today......... decide on a budget (ie what do you think it would cost to restore dad's car) which could easily be

around $6,000 then start looking for a replacement.   If you have the luxury of keeping dad's car in storage.... getting another similar car will tell you if you want to

own a Reatta.... if you don't,  get rid of both cars,  If you do, then decide if you want to put the $$ into dad's.........you might be able to use the replacement car for part, if dad's is really worth reconditioning.

[39BuickEight]

It depends just how sentimental it really is.  Being buried in the money spent on it isn’t so bad if you plan on keeping and enjoying it for a really long time.  

[padgett]

I'd rather be buried in a car than money my heirs would spend. May be legal in some states.

[Kevin M]

Most of what you mentioned are relatively easy things to fix besides paint. Either here or the ROJ tutorial page has most of that info already available. Also what’s the color combo? There’s a good amount of 1of 1 91s out there. May be worth saving for that reason too

[B Jake Moran]

My experience is to pass.  Reattas can be restored but what a frustrating nightmare. Expect to spend $25,000. $8000 to $11,000 on paint alone.  And many many hours.  
 

I guess it’s not much different than any old car except all of the wires, components connected to those wires. 
 

I like the comments about there being a lot of affordable Reattas in the marketplace.  This particular scenario is one of those drawbacks to being into Reattas.  There is no restoration culture with them and may never be. Maintain them, sure.  But nobody truly restores them that I know of.  
 

The old cliches about restoration apply here. “Do it for the love of the car and not for the money”. Except Reattas are even worse. Please pass on this, save your money. Not worth it. 

[tbenvie]

By all means, fix it or you will regret it. I don't know where these paint prices are coming from, but as an example:  I own a 1993 Mary kKay Allante, one of one. A tree fell on it and it needed a fender and hood, which I had. Three stage pink paint-probably the hardest to match, so I told the shop paint the whole thing to my standards (I restored show winning cars). To remove all lights, moldings, etc and replace and edge fender and hood and paint the whole car was $6000. Reatta colors would be cheaper, and the parts are easier to remove if you go that way. Any other things you can pick away at over time. There are whole parts cars that are cheap, or parts suppliers that are reasonable. Yes, you can replace the car cheaper-now. But eventually the cars will raise in price. But none of them will have the memories. My dad died when I was in high school 50 years ago-I would love to have something of his today. 

And I've owned a few hundred Reattas, since the late 80s when they were still in the showroom. Nothing at all hard about them to fix. Best of luck. Pick away and you will get it done. In the meantime, just look at it and bring back memories.  I had a number of "garage queens" that were rarely driven once done, but I sure did enjoy sitting in the garage with them!

Here is my 1993 Mary Kay Allante and a 1993 Allante used at the 1992 Indy 500 (one of 30). I tell people I own the rarest car in the world, one of one. But unfortunately, it is not the most valuable.

. 

[Y-JobFan]

On 3/12/2020 at 9:13 AM, Barney Eaton said:

2 hours ago, tbenvie said:

By all means, fix it or you will regret it. I don't know where these paint prices are coming from, but as an example:  I own a 1993 Mary kKay Allante, one of one. A tree fell on it and it needed a fender and hood, which I had. Three stage pink paint-probably the hardest to match, so I told the shop paint the whole thing to my standards (I restored show winning cars). To remove all lights, moldings, etc and replace and edge fender and hood and paint the whole car was $6000. Reatta colors would be cheaper, and the parts are easier to remove if you go that way. Any other things you can pick away at over time. There are whole parts cars that are cheap, or parts suppliers that are reasonable. Yes, you can replace the car cheaper-now. But eventually the cars will raise in price. But none of them will have the memories. My dad died when I was in high school 50 years ago-I would love to have something of his today. 

And I've owned a few hundred Reattas, since the late 80s when they were still in the showroom. Nothing at all hard about them to fix. Best of luck. Pick away and you will get it done. In the meantime, just look at it and bring back memories.  I had a number of "garage queens" that were rarely driven once done, but I sure did enjoy sitting in the garage with them!

Here is my 1993 Mary Kay Allante and a 1993 Allante used at the 1992 Indy 500 (one of 30). I tell people I own the rarest car in the world, one of one. But unfortunately, it is not the most valuable.

. 

 

What make your MK 1 of 1, I have 2 friends that own MK Alllante’s as well?  Btw, there are a lot of 1 of 1 Reatta combinations and certainly lots of other makes. So it sounds like you paid for an average paint job or maybe you got a great deal.  

[Kevin M]

I went through the database recently and picked out as many 1of1 91s as I could. Off hand it’s In the 40s for how many are 1of 1 for 91. Lots of other combos of fewer than five. My 91 is a 1of1 but it’s not the coolest combo imo

[39BuickEight]

4 hours ago, tbenvie said:

By all means, fix it or you will regret it. I don't know where these paint prices are coming from, 

[39BuickEight]

To many folks only expensive paint jobs exist.  A person can spend as much as they want on a paint job, but you can also spend a reasonable amount to make a decent car look nice.  My Buick was painted for $3250.

[tmcclain]

Hearing all of your perspectives is very helpful. Thank you. Mine is a ‘91 garnet with saddle interior with about 120K miles. I attached a picture of my dad and the car. This was at a car show in Flint Michigan many years ago. Back then it just showed ok compared to the others. And time not been particularly good to it. it’s been in Texas for the last ten years. 
 

A local classic car restoration shop told me they don’t work on something that new, but suggested I find someone to first fix the mechanics, then later fix paint, and then finally fix interior. I like the phased approach, but wonder what the experience here would say. What are the most critical (or maybe hard to find things) to make sure you have covered first?

 

On the other hand, I’ve thought selling the car a donating the proceeds to charity. Any thoughts on the best way to do that?

[tbenvie]

1993 Mary Kay-17 made, only one with a tan interior black top. Others were maroon with maroon top. But most Allante owners don't like the pink so it may even be worth less than the others-same as the lettering on the Indy car-most Allante owners would take it off.

 

[Y-JobFan]

Interesting, one friend has one with the dark red interior one friend has one with a  tan interior, I will have to check what color his top is.

[padgett]

Looked into Allantes at one time but either had the pushrod engine or no hardtop. All had burned displays. Preferred Reattas. But now that am on a retractable kick, looking for a driver XLR.

[B Jake Moran]

On 3/15/2020 at 9:29 PM, tmcclain said:

Hearing all of your perspectives is very helpful. Thank you. Mine is a ‘91 garnet with saddle interior with about 120K miles. I attached a picture of my dad and the car. This was at a car show in Flint Michigan many years ago. Back then it just showed ok compared to the others. And time not been particularly good to it. it’s been in Texas for the last ten years. 
 

A local classic car restoration shop told me they don’t work on something that new, but suggested I find someone to first fix the mechanics, then later fix paint, and then finally fix interior. I like the phased approach, but wonder what the experience here would say. What are the most critical (or maybe hard to find things) to make sure you have covered first?

 

On the other hand, I’ve thought selling the car a donating the proceeds to charity. Any thoughts on the best way to do that?

I thought about the donation route but the tax write off was minimal.  Won’t show up on the tax return radar.  Best is to put it on Craigslist as a used car for $500 or so.  I sold 2 Reattas and all of my parts for $500.  I threw a bunch of new parts, manuals, and craftsman logs away because no one wanted them. I offered them for free and I would pay shipping.  I did give away a few so after that my net difference was maybe $250.  Reattas are discussed here with passion but in the real world they are not collected and are seen as a burden.  

[padgett]

Guess I am a fanatic, still have my first, the 88 sunroof coupe, and expect will be in my estate sale. Would like to find an XLR, dunno how the current panic will affect.

[DAVES89]

I still have my first 3. 

 The Red in 2007 [298,000 miles] the Black in 2009 [318,000 miles], and the 'vert 2014 [130,000 miles].

[KDirk]

I can't add much new that hasn't already been said here, but this comes down to a judgement call. Do you want a nice Reatta, or do you want THIS Reatta to be nice. The former you can do for probably $7000-9000 as the market sits now, with the understanding it is still a ~30 year old car and no matter how nice will end up needing things repaired and replaced as you go unless the previous owner was obsessive in their maintenance and upkeep routine.

 

If you are breaking on the side of sentimentality and want to restore the one you have,  it will be much more costly whether you do it all at once or in phases. A decent paint job (not concourse quality, but probably almost as good as factory) can likely be done most places in the US for under $5000.

 

You will save some if you can strip things exterior badging, locks, door handles, window sweeps, mouldings and lamp housings yourself. There are a lot of labor hours in that part of the disassembly and reassembly; I know as I've done it. Of course to really do it right, the windshield and back glass need removal as well which is costly and risky (easy to crack the glass while removing even for a professional). 

 

I've poured more money into my cars than I'll ever get out, but I didn't go in expecting to sell them at a profit. I was collecting for the long haul and wanted nice cars I could be proud of and would provide reliable service. Thus, much mechanical and electrical work was done as well.

 

Granted, I've done a lot of the work myself and that makes a huge difference. If you lack the tools, facilities and/or talent to do much of this work (outside of body and paint) you will have a fortune in it, assuming you can even find someone you trust to do it right.

 

Many restoration shops won't touch it because the Reatta is too new or too obscure and will likely be concerned about a customers commitment to dropping the money needed to do it right. Any old hourly mechanic will not generally do restoration grade work, and many are slip shod outfits anyway. 

 

If you have the money and are really attached to this car, then have at it. If you think you can be happy with another Reatta purchased in much better condition, that is the more fiscally sensible solution by far.