Pete's Camaro

My good friend Pete has a '67 Camaro that he learned to drive with so, without editorializing on Pete's age, let's just say he's had this car a long time.  Since I've known Pete this car has been gathering dust in his garage, although he often talks about restoring it.  Obviously, the car has a lot of sentimental value and a '67 Camaro has quite a bit of monetary value as well.  The car itself appears to be in reasonably good shape.  It appears to be mostly original and the body looks straight.  There's is a certain amount of rust from Pete's days growing up in Wisconsin, but it's probably not anything that a competent body shop would have any problem resolving.  All in all, this car looks like a relatively straightforward restoration and I think Pete would get a lot of joy out of driving this car.

So the question is: why hasn't Pete gotten started on this project?  Like many of us, Pete's a busy guy and I don't think he has the time or inclination to do the work himself so he'll undoubtedly pay professionals to do the work.  From what I can tell, it doesn't appear that finances are a major factor either.  And he certainly seems to have the desire to have the car back to a state where he can enjoy it again.  So what's holding him back?

It all became more clear to me the other night when Pete and I, along with our wives, were having dinner.  Pete mentioned to me that a few weeks earlier, when the four of us had met for drinks at the Sand Bar, a nice Mexican beach themed restaurant and bar, I had totally derailed his plans for the car.  He told me that I said he should upgrade the car to an LS1 engine or a GM 5.3L or 6.0L truck engine and an accompanying electronic transmission.  Apparently, I must not have been communicating my ideas about what to do with this car well because I thought that I'd always been throwing this option out there.  I know Pete has always envisioned the car to be just as it was when it rolled off the assembly line in 1967 so, in my mind, I felt like I was keeping that option open but trying to gently steer Pete towards some more modern upgrades.  Apparently, after a couple of beers at the Sand Bar, my steering became less subtle!

One thing I know about Pete is that when he does something, he likes to know what all the options are and he likes to analyze and fully understand the ramifications of each one before he makes any decisions.  In this case, the conflict that I apparently brought to the surface was whether to restore the car to it's original condition or to upgrade it with modern technology.  I think that what's been holding Pete back on this project is simply uncertainty about the consequences of making decisions about how to proceed with this car.  And, the reason I'm bringing this up is that I don't think Pete's unique in this respect.  I think there are a lot of cars gathering dust in garages all over America because their owners can't decide what they want to do with them.

I think Pete appreciates the idea that, with a modern engine and transmission and maybe four-wheel disk brakes and some suspension modifications, the car would be far more enjoyable to drive.  But what about the value of the car compared to what  it might be if the car were restored to completely original condition? I think this is the real issue that Pete is wrestling with.  The modern options sound nice but will they ruin the value of the car in the event that he wants to sell it sometime in the future?

Restoring a vehicle to original condition is a huge project. Determining all the original parts it might have had requires a lot of research and then finding the correct replacement parts is a big undertaking.  To do it right, you want to use the correct part down to the right kinds of bolts.  And, although our memories are often better than reality, old cars never drove as well as what we've become accustomed to with modern vehicles.   So, are you really going to want to drive a 60's muscle car that you've invested so much in and it doesn't drive as well as your late model Toyota? (On a side note, late model Toyota's are actually very exciting to drive because you never know when you'll find yourself careening down the freeway at full throttle!)

In my opinion, unless a car is particularly rare, you want to have fun with it and, to me, that means driving it  and, if you're going to drive the car, it should be brought up to modern standards. This means a modern engine, transmission, brakes and  possibly suspension.  From what I've seen at the auctions every year in Scottsdale, these types of modifications, if done well, have little, if any, effect on the value of the vehicle but they will have a dramatic effect on the owners enjoyment of the vehicle.  Hopefully, I can help Pete come up with a plan, and ultimately a car, that he can really enjoy!