If you've been in the 300 Club for as long as I have, you don't need to read this. I'm writing this primarily for entry level hobbyists and restorers. Long time members know all this stuff already.....they've probably seen more than their fair share of fights, failed projects, and even divorces resulting from restoration projects turned nightmare. On the other hand, this can be the most rewarding hobby imaginable. You get to meet all sorts of interesting people who share your interest, and you will become part of a network of experts and very helpful people who will go out of their way to make sure you "do it right." You just need to need to know what road you are going to take, and if you are married, what road your spouse will be happy with. The term "garage widow" isn't really as funny as it sounds; most women do not appreciate their husband deserting them night after night to work on "some piece of junk car he bought."

Probably the biggest consideration for any restoration project or car purchase is the expense. A restored car is probably a better value for entry level guys, although the initial cost may seem high. Your budget must be the guide here, not your desired result. Everybody would love to jump into the hobby and buy that $200,000 convertible, but most of us are unable to do so from a practicality standpoint. The people selling these cars are cashing in on their investment from years ago and are reaping fabulous profits. Make sure you plan your purchases accordingly, so that ten years from now it's you who makes the fabulous profit. Buy what you can afford, or don't buy anything. All you have to do is look through the auction results at Barrett Jackson's web site, and you'll see what I mean. You'll see the same cars being sold every two or three years at ever increasingly higher prices. The Chrysler D'Elegance sold for $300,000 a few years back, and it just brought over a million at the last auction. Watch out for the bubble, though.

Ten years or so ago the same thing happened that is happening now. Overnight, the car hobby was invaded by Wall Street speculators who had money to burn, and prices skyrocketed. They churned the market just like a stock portfolio; the cars meant nothing to them, they were out for money. The "next sucker" principle ruled, and 57 Chevy convertibles jumped from the mid 20's right up to $75,000 in a matter of six months. Where are they priced now? $75,000. If you paid that much ten years ago, you lost money. They flattened out because despite their popularity, they were never worth that much money.

Profit is fine, everybody likes to see their investment increase. A classic car can be like a savings account. If you get the right one and invest in it properly, you'll see a good return. There's a market for every level, from "drag it out of the woods with a rope" to the stuff guys  like Jay Leno buy. The problem for our club and the 300 in general is that with the sudden, dramatic increase in prices, a lot of hobbyists are aced right out of the picture. They simply can't afford to get in now and buy a really nice, correct car. Record prices for cars that aren't really that great taint the market and kill the hobby. What's left? A bunch of numbers crunchers who grab up cars and sit on them for 2 or 3 years then dump them. The guy who really likes the car can't afford it any more.

In the Bob Dupin correspondence I published, you'll hear him talk about hemi Challengers being around for mere hundreds of dollars, and 300 convertibles as well. I myself saw this and thought nothing of it because that's all they were worth back then. Thing is, they were affordable to anybody who wanted to get one. Now they aren't. Rusted  junk convertibles with a zillion miles and lots of missing parts aren't even affordable.

Speaking of that, one of the 11 1971  hemi Cuda convertibles produced recently went for about 2 million. I saw one of these 11 cars brand new in a Chrysler showroom  in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was black with a red interior, and a Bridgeport fireman eventually bought it. I passed because the Cuda / Challenger had very poor fit and finish mated to a rather high price tag. A Challenger R/T I looked at and drove had a $4700 window sticker. It had the 440 Magnum, but the rest of the car was garbage. It drove and looked like it was falling apart; I couldn't believe Chrysler would produce something that bad in the day. The Charger was much better, but by 1970 they had reduced the R/T  to a garish mess with colors like Plum Crazy, Sublime, Go-Mango, Top Banana, Hemi Orange and Panther Pink, lots of fake air scoops, and all kinds of decals. It was unsightly to say the least, and dealers were stuck with lots of them right into 1971, selling them for half the window sticker just to get rid of them. Today they're worth $70-80,000 restored. Go figure.

The tendency is to look for something really rare, like a formerly fuel injected D or a 4 speed F. Unfortunately, this is a pipe dream because there aren't that many around. You're looking at maybe a dozen cars, and they usually aren't for sale. If they are, you won't like the price! Instead, look for something realistic and affordable. I would recommend spending at least $30,000 on any car you buy, and more if you can swing it. Classic car financing is a good deal with  payments that can go out ten years. Do the research and make sure you can afford what you want. If not, drop down a level.

A really nice 300C,  D, or E coupe can easily go $60,000 in today's market, with the convertibles pushing into the $175,000 plus range. If this isn't your price range, consider  a 300K or 300L, which are the most affordable letter cars right now, or something like a well optioned 300 sport series. Some of the sport 300s from 1962 have the 300H engine and are very desirable. Or you can get one of the finned beauties from 57-61 like my Dodge. A D500, Fury, or Adventurer is a sure winner and you can get a lot more for your money. A good one to look for is the 1957 D500, it has a hemi and is just gorgeous. Ride the equity wave, improve the car, and work your way up the line. Do this five or six times, roll the money over into the next car, and sweat equity will put you in that 300 letter car  convertible  at some point in the future.

Personally, I think prices will flatten out for a while. The tendency is toward impulse buying by people who have more money than brains, which recently lead to a couple of record setters at auctions. Most of these cars just aren't worth what they bring from a purist standpoint, but the guy wants it and he's willing to write a check, so that's the way it is. I've also seen this blow up in the guy's face when he brings the car back to the next auction and can't even get a bid at his opening price. Not everybody is stupid. Somebody who shall remain nameless recently paid mucho dinero for a car that shall also remain nameless. A classic car dealer acquaintance of mine who shall also remain nameless saw the car on the block, and said he wouldn't have paid  more than a third of what it eventually sold for unless he had a gun to his head. Seems a couple of live ones with big checkbooks wanted to pull the 57 Chevy thing. Good luck at the auction two years from now, you know who you are.

Genuine frame up restorations are usually worth what they sell for, but the "all boats rise together when the water goes up" theory is getting on my nerves. "Okay, Buford, you have a 300F convertible in your barn. It's covered with chicken poop, mice ate the interior, the engine is seized, the carburetors and air cleaners are missing, there's a cinder block where the windshield used to be, and we're not sure what that is growing through the floor pan. Five years ago they threatened to have you committed when you asked $10,000 for it, and now you want sixty? Oh, that's right, a gorgeous one went for $175,000 so that adds fifty to your parts car. Okay, I'll be right there with my bankbook. Tell the possums they have to move, and roll it outside for me so I can tow it home. Better yet, let the possums stay. I like animals, and they can live in my wife's new Toyota." Unfortunately, this is what happens and people actually pay these crazy prices. A car like Buford's F will cost upwards of $100,000 to properly restore at a good shop, which means you had better like this car, because you're going to have to keep it for a while to get your profit.

I have no problem with investors; they usually appreciate the cars they buy, take good care of them, and turn them over at a profit so they can get something else. Most of them improve the cars along the way. I do that myself when I can. You don't have to love a car to buy it or work on it, you just have to find somebody else who does when you go to sell it. Speculators are the problem. There is a lot of funny business in the antique car market, like the churning mentioned previously. Years back, two guys went to a major auction with something like 5 million dollars and just bid the daylights out of everything. Mostly, they bid against each other as shills to drive up the prices. It worked for a while, and they  went to the next auction and unloaded all the cars they had been sitting on previously and made a killing. Hype, emotion, and greed will kill any business. Just remember, the higher the price, the fewer the customers.

If you want to buy a piece of junk and have it restored, think again. You'll probably spend more than you would if you picked your spot and bought a restored car. There are a lot of classic car dealers out there sitting on a lot of inventory, and they need to generate sales just like anybody else. Catch them on the right day, and you can find some pretty good deals. What will kill you in the restoration end is parts. I saw an NOS tail lamp lens for a 1959 Chrysler today, and the guy wanted  $295.00 for it. I've priced road draft tubes at $130.00, beat up carburetor and manifold combos at $450.00, and all sorts of lovely things like an NOS  grille for a letter car priced at a mere $2200.00. If you've given your car to a shop and said "restore it and use the best stuff you can find," you may have just committed financial suicide. The shop guy won't care, he's spending YOUR money, not his. He'll buy that $1500.00 bearing cup insert gasket in a heartbeat, and the cops will have to come get you off the roof of your house when you get the bill. 

Parts have gone absolutely insane lately, and there really isn't anything much out there anyway. You can go to web sites that sell this stuff and all you'll see are small mechanical parts and insignificant electrical components. Expect to find a nice NOS set of rams, 2903S carburetors, air cleaners, and all the chrome for your 300G? Good luck, it ain't out there. All the good stuff got snapped up decades ago. Make sure all the critical stuff is on the car, because you probably won't be able to get it later. If you do find something, you'll pay for it, believe me. 

Potential hobbyists who ignore this advice will shrug and say "I can get anything I need on Ebay." Okay, punch in "Chrysler 300D" or the letter car of your choice in the Ebay search engine, and on any given day you'll get the following: key chains, magazine advertisements, car covers, model cars, books featuring the car, parts that have nothing to do with the 300 exclusively, gasket sets, metal signs, computer mouse pads, tune up charts, dimension charts, and an occasional factory photo. You'll be staring at the screen saying  "Huh? Is that it?" Yes, that's it. Once in a great while a $2500 set of hubcaps may appear, or you may see a set of ram manifolds, usually near $1000.00 and missing the linkage, bell crank, heat tubes, elbows, carburetors, and of course the air cleaners. On a daily basis, there is very little available for our cars. 

Ebay is the hot place to look for parts, but unfortunately it's only hot for the seller. If you think you're the only guy who spotted that NOS set of tail lamp housings for your 300F, think again. 200 eager bidders have also seen it, which guarantees you will pay the absolute maximum price for them if you're lucky enough to win them. (Not likely, it seems that the other guys always win the auctions) There are no deals on Ebay due to the size of the marketplace. Anybody on planet Earth with a computer will see that item you want, and they use things like auction programs that automatically enter a bid for them at the last second, effectively eliminating you from the process. To win something, you have to enter a ridiculous price far above what you're willing to pay, just to ensure nobody can outbid you at the last second. And what if other people do the same thing? Somebody is going to have to pony up a grand for a muffler, is what. Be careful, "it ain't what it looks like."

Ebay is also a magnet for anybody who has  an IQ less than 90 and a rusted MoPar in the back yard. These geniuses appear weekly, offering "1963 300M classic cars" (Uh, sorry, you moron, that's a sport 300 from 1964) for the mere price of $20,000. Wow! I'll be right there with my checkbook. How do you deal with people who can't read, can't spell, and certainly can't do simple math? You don't. You can send them an email correcting their mistakes, and they will reply with a nasty, vindictive viciousness that has to be seen to be believed. I make my living on Ebay, so I know what I'm talking about. How about a guy  selling a  completely rusted "1958 Plymouth Fury Lariat Christine Belvedere?" It's true, I swear. The ad actually appeared on Ebay. The dumbest people alive will try to sell worthless junk for astronomical money, and crafty criminals who actually have a car you might want consistently lie in a fashion you won't be able to comprehend in order to deceive any potential buyer. 

Scammers from foreign countries abound, too....I'm sure you've seen the $9,000.00 300G convert (he said it was in the Yukon, I swear, he sent me an email) which was listed a month or two before by the real owner, and a couple of other dubious 300 auctions. They make the ad so real and inviting, but beware, they always ask for a certified check or bank check up front. Of course, you'll never see the money again and you have no recourse, either legally or through Ebay. All I can say is this.....it's the Ebay motto; buyer beware! Go look at the car before you firm up the deal and make sure its the one in the pictures! Yeah, they pull that one, too.

Shop labor will cost you plenty, too. The average full frame off restoration can easily involve 1,000 hours of labor at what, 75 or 80 bucks an hour? That doesn't include machine shop time, chrome plating, trim polishing, upholstery, glass, parts, or supplies such as that nice Gaugin Red paint that goes for $500.00 per gallon. Environmental concerns have made body and paint work very expensive, due to the nature of the equipment required by EPA type organizations at all levels. The days of blowing all the fumes out the window with a fan are over. Recovery systems and $75,000.00 paint booths are the order of the day, and the cost is passed along to the customer. $12,000.00 for a paint job is nothing these days. Like as not, your car will be painted with a water based paint very soon. Yes, you can drive it in the rain. I think. Gee, that wouldn't be very good if you couldn't, now  would it? "Hey, pal! What's that stuff I just saw you put in that spray gun? That better not be Hershey's Syrup."

Discouraged yet? Wait, I'm not finished. I'll have you out on the ledge of the nearest office building in just a few minutes, because we have to deal with the dreaded wife syndrome next. Maybe you want to go have a drink of something before you continue. It goes like this.

"WHAT are you still doing out here? The kids have to go to bed, and I have to relax. The dog has to go outside, and you're still out here playing around with that......that thing."

"Cripes, I knew this was going to happen," you mutter under your breath. You put down the wrench and force a smile.

"I'm almost finished, you bitc...I mean dear, I'll be right there."

"You'd better be," she huffs. "You think more of that car than you do me."

"That's because it  doesn't complain as much as you do," you think. "That isn't true," you protest. "This is an investment. I'm doing this for us."

"You're doing it because you're fifty years old, bald, and want to relive your youthful fantasies of picking up cheerleaders at the local hamburger stand," she snaps. "You're pathetic. And so is that rusty pile of junk. What crook sold you that, anyway? He must have seen you coming. Look at it. Not a straight part on it, and half of what used to be there is missing."

"Like your figure," you mutter.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," you sigh. "I'll be right there."

"You'd better be, or else. You'll come home some day and that heap of garbage will be gone. "I'll have it hauled away."

NO. She didn't say that. Please tell me she didn't say that.

"What?" you scream. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," she smirks, her arms folded across her chest. "Just try me."

"I'll try you," you growl. "Wanna see what you look like with a socket wrench shoved through your forehead?"

"That's it," she snaps. "I'm calling the police, my mother, and my lawyer."

"In order of weight, I suppose, " you sneer. "I guess we know who'll be here first, that is if all the pancake houses are closed."

After that, things really get nasty, but we'll leave that out. You can see where this goes, and it can happen, take my word for it. Most women don't understand or like cars, and figure that the sudden appearance of a new woman I mean car means that your attention will be thereafter diverted away from her and towards the car. And if it's a pile of crap, God help you. I mean, you know, if it was a good looking woman I mean car, then she'd understand. But an ugly one? How bad am I if this thing can occupy all your attention? Investment my foot. Pack your bags, Buford, you're going to live with the possums. 300 club wives are excluded from this of course, all being absolute angels.

I guess by now you get the picture. The hobbyist is almost a thing of the past, and definitely so with high priced marques like the Corvette, 55-57 Thunderbird, and 300. These are serious collector cars now, and deserve to be in the hands of people who can afford to send them out for "no expense spared" restorations, or are either capable of doing the work themselves without ending up in divorce court. Make half an effort, and you'll be met with stares and snickers (not the candy bar) when you try to cash out. Mr. Expert will approach your car nonchalantly, running a gloved hand along the bondo waves and pitted chrome.

"Nice," he'll smirk as he pokes his head inside to view the leather seats you tried to soften up with Crisco and Jade East cologne. (It has to have that 60's smell, doesn't it?) "Who does your upholstery, Freddy Krueger?"

You'll laugh it off and stand there nervously shifting your feet. You know that he knows, and he knows that you know that he knows.

"You want sixty?" he grins. "It'll take forty to make it worth fifty. Whaddaya say, sport? Who butchered this car? You?"

"Hey, I....." you'll stammer, then turn away. He'll turn away, too. That's the end of the story. As Sean Connery said in The Untouchables, "Here endeth the lesson."

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