Hi. I have a 1977 Mustang II Cobra. The body is about half rust, half still in tact. It needs a new heater core, the back window leaks, the upholstery needs redone... It has sat for probably the last twenty years. My mom had purchased it used before I was born and parked it just after I was born. It has less than 100k miles on it. We replaced the gas tank once before. My brother was driving it for a summer about three or four years ago.
We were offered $3500 for it and the guy wants to use it for parts on his car. I really adore this car and want to fix it up. My family tells me that the car isn't worth it. They want me to sell it and find something else to work on. Aside from the sentimental attachment to this car, would be be a financially wise decision to restore this car or would it be foolish to spend the money on it?
I would appreciate any advice/ help/ thoughts on this that you can offer.
Welcome to the forum! It's always hard to put a price on sentimental value. From the photo the car appears in relatively good condition and the $3500 offer seems about fair value. Being a II fan I would be horrified to see a car like that parted out.
I guess to make such a decision you have to ask...
Do I need the money from this car to finance the purchase of a daily driver..I always recommend someone owning a daily driver besides the Mustang. These cars are 30+ years old and get a litttle cranky sometimes.
Do I have either the skills, time and/or resources to eventually restore this car? A lot of the work needed can be learned and makes it part of the hobby but if you don't want to do much of the work yourself it can add up to some big bills farming it out to others.
The car has been parked for a lot of years, a few more shouldn't do much more damage if it's stored properly. Is there pressure to get it moved/and or going?
Value is always market driven but I've seen these cars go for $7K to $12K when nicely restored. I've also seen nice ones not get more than $4K or $5K. Mustang IIs aren't really investment cars at this time, but values are rising as the earlier ones continue to hit astronomical prices. I recently finished my '78 Cobra and my appraiser set it at $9K based on current price guides..I think I could get more, but I'll never sell, Mustang IIs are my passion, not my business
So I probably havent been much help, but hopefully given you some food for thought to help you make a decision.
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Restore or Sell? - 
