Restoration Costs of Classic Ferraris.

Exactly. And who is so egocentric that their version is correct to the exclusion of everyone else?

Well there are a few here I suppose.

 

I suspect it would be very difficult for someone paying for a restoration to accept a car that's of a build quality similar to that of the new car when it left the factory That opens some questions about the truthfulness of restorations... and to me that's a reason to be flexible about what a restoration could be, although I suppose I would still be shocked by a really terrible execution.

 

If I had a crystal ball I’d be buying Powerball tickets and not restoring old cars. Every car is different and there are always surprises.

 

OK, let’s ask the next question…Restoration or Preservation! Some shops buy every new reproduction part available. Pretty results but not my preference.
Spending three days bringing an original tail light lense back to life is preserving history.
A proper restoration involves literally removing every body panel, repairing all the support tubes, frame tubes, and repairing each original body panel while saving as much of the original coach work as possible. This is usually the “choke” point in any restoration. All these parts are made from scratch.
One of the 250 GTOs I did was a preservation done at great pains to be exactly as it left the factory. The owner drove it once and had the body completely removed and destroyed, to be replaced by a perfectly symmetrical perfect body built with an English wheel ( read incorrectly ). Not my idea of a historically correct restoration.
You are correct in saying race cars are infinitely easier than road cars with lavish interiors and HVAC systems. Again, there is no correct answer to your question.

 

Steve: Again, you have asked a very difficult question to answer. No doubt the 2+2 cars would require many more labor hours than a 250 GTO in SIMILAR condition. They are much more complex cars. The problem is the comp cars have probably had harder lives and bringing one back to original will add hours to the project, as major portions of the bodywork may have to be recreated from scratch. Also the comp cars may require many hours in research, while the 2+2 has a factory Parts Book and possibly a Shop Manual to serve as reference and guidance to the restorer. Today to restore a 2+2 to factory original would cost maybe $400-600,000 at a top notch shop. However, it all depends how bad the car is to start with. It could easily be much more expensive.

 

A decade ago Auto Restorations in Christchurch, New Zealand were getting a lot of high end work from people such as Peter Giddings and Carlos Monteverde because they had the knowledge base AND were charging in NZD, roughly half of USD. Today a lot of the used car market requires a top name such as RM Auto Restorations, Paul Russell or Cremonini or DK Engineering or Patrick Ottis or any one of a twenty or so well known shops to truly pull the big money when selling......I guess it gives confidence? Even at $1mm it still should wash out over a long enough time frame.

 

Steve: The one thing your reasoning maybe be missing is the cost and availability of parts. Most 2+2's were built in fairly large quantities and a number have been parted out over the years, so parts (primarily bodywork, interior and trim) for these cars are far easier to source than those for a 275 GTB or GTS. It takes both time and money to locate and acquire parts and all this adds to the cost of restorations.

 

The gentleman who posted earlier regarding the increasing costs of automotive paints made a very good point and and to further clarify how this effects todays overall restoration costs, I went back and reviewed our material costs for the bodywork restoration on the 225 Sport. We spent $13,711.06 on paints, primers, fillers, abrasives, cleaners, buffing pads, polishes, etc. 20 years ago, a number like that would be impossible.

 

Different coach builders can require considerably different levels of research time and may require considerably different levels of labor due to the intricacy of relatively minor parts. We also know some coach builders cars were much more prone to rust. The 375MM recently finished by Bob Smith took massive time for all the intricacies of coach details and its engine required a massive amount of time to resolve a very botched prior repair. I heard its total man hours from Bob and was floored.

 

Bob Smith’s efforts paid off. I believe he got a Best in Class at Pebble Beach.
Again I contend it’s about criteria. Twenty years ago I interviewed for the position as General Manager at Paul Russel’s. During the final interview Paul asked me if I had a choice between a 99 point car which ran like a rocket ship and a 100 point car that ran reasonably which would I choose? Without hesitation I said the 99 point car to which he replied “my clients pay me to win Pebble Beach, not build Rocket Ships”. ( I did not get the job )
Obviously I come from a very different place and my restorations must perform as well as they look. I believe there’s an extra mile the PB guys go and it costs $$$ to get there.

 

This ^ to a some extent confirms something I've heard, more than once, from several colleagues/friends that after they or their clients have acquired various Pebble Beach BiC or BoS winning cars actually needing significant amounts time and money (5-6 figures) to make them practically & reliably drivable/usable.

 

In the same vain, about 20 years ago I did a "complete/full" (or technically far beyond factory standards/quality) restoration on a late 1950's American Luxury (production) car and while I don't have the receipts handy, I'm pretty sure the material & supply costs for he body & paint work were that or more back then, but given the subject is/was about twice (or more ?) the size of a 225 S, it should make sense*.

That same car/project, being what it was, had enough "brightwork", i.e. chrome plated die-cast and steel, anodized aluminum & brushed or polished stainless trim to make the most "blinged" Ferrari ever look like a "plain Jane" and the costs of refinishing all that (by a shop accustomed to do PB, etc level work) was over $65K, not counting my time of countless hours pre-fitting/-forming everything (again) to better than factory standards.
I would expect same refinish work today costing at least $120K-$150K.

* But as I mentioned before, people with little to no experience usually focus and/or get hung up on comparing "$/etc" figures without understanding technicality differences between restorations & restorations or complexity & size between each, not mention (yet again) the fact that each job and how or by whom its done is always different (<- this is why I don't do or have never done work for "general public". Not worth the headaches of trying to explain all this every time).

 

"Some" of every single profession and job title on planet earth do a bad job. BFD.

And of those "Some" not only in bad work but also the top of the list in the cost category is Classiche.

What do you do for a living?

 

... and expect some sort of a "flat rate" or pre-determined cost break-down/estimate, like they do when taking their daily drivers for an annual service, brake job, oil change or tire rotation.

 

Steve: There is a BIG difference in trying to find body parts for a long nose GTB (about 200 cars) and a 330 GT 2+2 (almost 1,100 cars). The 330s are FIVE times more common.

 

So you know a lot about charging all the money

 

Steve: You don't read well. I specifically mentioned BODY PARTS, not mechanical parts. My statements were 100% correct. It doesn't matter now, as I am done talking with you on this subject.