Couple of points there Drew, watch an auction and see a $100,000 built whatever go for 40% of the build cost vs a period correct or the holy grail original paint bring more cash. Yes maybe years ago resto-mods were the rage but I was referring to the present, not back in the day. Yes a lot of people are paying big money for resto-mods but those are commissioned builds not for sale by owner.
You are correct about the general public not worrying about resto-mods vs period correct but you don't see the people of Walmart shelling out 90k for a mall crawler either.
I'm not trying to say that one is better than the other, mines a resto-mod but I'd love a period correct. Could I buy the service station Bronco for $30k?
I doubt if most of the athletes and celebs who buy a 77 Bronco from one of these builders really cares that they used a early style quarter panel with gas caps instead of doors since it is not reproduced. Or that he might have taken some artistic licence and used the smaller clear turn signal lense and grille since it is a cleander look than the after thought looking large yellow lenses on goofy rubber pads.
How many period correct, original syle (restored or survivor) Broncos do your know of that have sold for more than $50K? I can think of one off hand, GasPigs 66 U13, and the Baja that was just on ebay and maybe a few other Baja's if we want to include them in there as well. The Bronco world is still not like where documented original and rare optioned Corvettes, Hemi Cudas, Mustangs and others bring crazy money. Actually, I watched what appeared to be several high quality restomods go through BJ this year at what I thought was good money for an auction (i.e 50's F100 for $150K, early Vette and Mustang for $120-150K+).
There are dozens and dozens (actually likely hundreds) of restomod Broncos which have sold for over $50K now. In fact, I doubt if any of the major builders even start on any with less than a $60K-70K+ budget to work with. There's actually been many in excess of $100K, and a few others than Icon that I am aware of in excess of $150K, and one that is expected to possibly break $200K by the time it is done. The black one at the Roundup last year with the Coyote engine was a $150K build by a guy local to me.
True, there are some high quality vehicles that are "well bought" at auction that could not some close to being reproduced for what they sell for.
But I'm not talking Barret Jackson auction block sales. From most people I have talked to who have personally attended, most of the Broncos that cross the block at BJ, Mecum and the like and the ones I saw at at Auburn and Carlisle look good for the cameras, but are not high quality by my standards or those who I know who have seen the others. Hyghlander (Eric) just told me this past weekend that the Bronco he saw at BJ Palm Beach that went for $40-45K were no where near the build quality of one we had at All-Ford this past weekend for sale.
IMO, private sales is usually where the real money is, whether it be on a commisioned build, or resale.
I love both original and modified as well, and we have often wondered what the true market value is on all of ours. Honestly, I think to the average buyer who is not a serious Bronco person (which right there cuts down on many with serious $ to spend), a resto mod like many of these shops are turning out will bring more $ than my dad's first week production, 11,000 actual mile, AACA Grand National award winning 66 U13 or my mom's AACA Senior award (soon to be GN) 67 U14, and even the Balloon Chaser Ambulance for many buyers who do not understand it's history or significance.
I hope that when we decide to sell any of these that we can find the right combination of someone who sees them for what we believe makes them special and is willing to pay for them.
No, you could not buy the half cab for $30K, there is more in parts and materials in it than that with no labor added in at all as I am sure you realize. But even though it has less than 20 miles since we finished it and is still "new", I really do not think I could get $75K out of it which is what the builds start at for many of these restomods. And to be honest, I would put the attention to detail and build quality of my mom's U14 up against any other period correct original EB.
From the little I have followed the guy in Ohio, he seems to build many/most of his and them offer them up for sale, not all built to customer specs as true customs like Krawler's Edge and some other do.
This makes sense actually. He can then build them the way he wants to so they are generally appealing (no odd ball requests that add time to complexity to the build which often is not fully billed for). This would also standardize on many of the parts he stocks and uses and let him know what is needed to make them all work together since we all know hardly any of this stuff works as it should without some tweaking!
The bottom line is that there is apparantly WAY more people out there with WAY more money than I am used to being around, and I hope when it comes time to sell, I can meet one of them who can also appreciate the Bronco for what it is.
