Black Sunshine

I was just thinking the other day, there are companies out there that "restore" old VW vanagons/westfalias and sell them for a small fortune ($65-$95k at gowesty for example).

I wonder if there would be a market for our cars, if they were fully restored and brought up to date with some more modern features, upgraded brakes, slightly modded engines, suspension, maybe adding NAV plus or other navigation, auto dimming mirrors and other creature comforts from today's Audis.

Or, are these just cheap(er) enthusiast cars and don't have a lot more value to them than the occasional garage queen that fetches $10k or something.

318in11

instead of so darned good looking, I'd like to find a resto-mod version of a urS car. But I would think the market would be very small. IMHO.

Black Sunshine

I am having a hard time trying to imagine people who would want a really nice restored S-car and more importantly have the money. I mean, it would have to be a hard core enthusiast but then I'm not sure that anyone would pay let's say $35k for a car like this.

I imagine that it would take a little bit of coin to really do a good job on restoring these, outfitting them with OEM RS2 parts, nice euro bumpers, and all the other stuff that would go into a full restoration.

Anyways, just thinking out loud.

UrS4boy

Not old enough yet and there are still good quality examples available. Furthermore, nobody wants to pay even $12K for a pristine car so doing a resto would just be a big waste of money.

Black Sunshine

I guess I wonder why some people would pay $50k, $60k or more for a late 80s early 90s VW vanagon? They're not that rare, or really capable cars and yet people drop the coin.

So, I guess I was thinking that a fully restored UrS car (I mean like ground up restored) and refreshed might find some buyers.

Maybe not... who knows.

jjm's quattro

so a full resto - perfect paint and interior - with EVERY bit scrubbed and polished and every hose and seal replaced - with tasteful mods (brakes, euro euspension, euro bumpers, rs2 go fast bits) updated electronics (OEM nav, and updated RF remotes with switchblade keys)... Basically showroom perfect. I might for 30K - the thought of driving a brand new urS is quite appealing. But it would have to be PERFECT.
But I agree the market would be very very very small.

OneLong8

You know this is an interesting question. I purchased my 95.5 S6 for $9,500 and promptly had the timing belt service, replaced the fuel pump, brake lines, and within the last 2 years the brake pressure accumulator, the HVAC fan, recently replaced the t-tube, coils, POS units, and I probably am forgetting some stuff. Plus I added the RS2 exhaust manifold, stage 2 MTM software with Bosch 3 bar sensor.

I must have put almost another 10 grand into the car at this point and I could not sell it if I wanted to for over 9 grand. Still it drives like a dream. It still needs upgraded brakes and I am hoping to add a FMIC someday.

Anyway, when you buy even as great a car as the UrS4/S6 you have to put some considerable money and time into the car.

Tom

Black Sunshine

Exactly. The question being... are there people out there aside from the couple dozen that own these cars now that would want an exquisite example of an early 90s high performance sedan for the price of a new A4???

I would think so, but I'm just not sure.

I think it would be a extremly fun thing to do, but I'm not sure if one could make money...

A possible cost breakdown

1. 92-97 S4/S6 donor car ~5k
2. OEM 6-spd tranny $3k
3. OEM Euro body bits $3k
4. RS2 spec engine upgrade (say mix of OEM and 034) $5k
5. Proper restoration (paint/body/interior) $5k
6. Misc maintenance upgrades (TB, PS, clutch, etc.) $2k
7. Suspension & brakes $3k
8. Upgraded interior appointments (stereo, mirrors, keyless) $1k

Total $27k + 10% contingency = $30 (on the safe side)

So, you'd have to be selling them for nearly $40k to be worthwhile...

Look at the Toyta Icon - a restored $10k FJ40 selling for north of $100k, old vanagons/westys for $75k...

There is some precedent, but are the UrS there?

MiniMan

That's all caused by some sort of twisted nostalgia, IMO. URS cars just don't develop a "nostalgic" following. Not yet anyways and likely not ever. RS2's, yes. URS cars, no.

UrS4boy

Exqueeze me? "couple dozen that own these cars now". Dude, there are a couple of dozen members of the Vancouver S-car club alone and is just one little area. Have a look at the S-Fest(the "Best") and S-Fest West postings. S-Fest (in the east) probably had 50 UrS cars there in late August.

There are lots of us who have your $30K in their cars. Market value is still under $10K since they are seen by the market as being *potential* money pit liabilities. New cars cost a lot, in part, because they have warrantees for three or four years.

Trust me your idea is laudable (good) but naive (bad). As a said before, under the current situation, people balk at paying more than $10K even for a "built" car with all the current goodies. There is no way that they will pay $27K plus for a 12 to 17 year old car.

And I didn't even start to talk about what insurance companies would think of this.