Car restoration is one of those things that sounds romantic until you actually run the numbers...

Car restoration is one of those things that sounds romantic until you actually run the numbers. People see the finished car at a show or online and see parts and paint, but that’s not where the money goes (ok, maybe paint, depending, wink wink). The real cost is time. Hundreds and often thousands of hours of skilled labor, spread out over months or years, all of it requiring experience, patience, and problem-solving that you just cannot rush.

A quality restoration shop isn’t overcharging. They’re surviving. Skilled mechanics, paint booths, fabrication tools, rent, insurance, and the unpredictability of old cars all add up fast. A shop billing a reasonable hourly rate can easily put forty to sixty thousand dollars of labor into a car before paint even enters the conversation. Add bodywork, materials, interior work, drivetrain rebuilding, and the oh so fun, surprises, and it’s not hard to see how a restoration can quietly climb past six figures.

That’s why restoring a car should really only be done by someone who isn’t concerned about the money and genuinely wants the project in their life. Restoration is not a to value concept, and it is almost never a good financial investment. It’s a commitment. You are buying years of problem-solving, delays, decisions, and compromises in exchange for the satisfaction of bringing something back from the edge of death and the rust death yard...aka, Junk Yard.

If you care about cost, the smartest move is simple, buy a car that has already been restored correctly and that you love. You will almost always spend less than doing it yourself, and you get to enjoy the car immediately instead of managing bills, timelines, and frustration. Let someone else absorb the restoration journey if that journey is not what you love more than. your bank account.

There’s nothing wrong with either idea, in truth, and we restore and love cars. Restoration can be super rewarding if the process itself is the point. But if you’re entering it hoping to save money or justify the expense later, you’re setting yourself up for bad days ahead, explaining it to your spouse.

Old cars don’t care about budgets. They care about time, skill, and patience.