--$200k-$300k broncos from some reputable custom shops? c'mon lol -- lets see... i could have a new F350, a Shelby 350GT and a nice down payment on a new house for that...
but even with all of the clones being built from easy bake ovens -ready made tubs, etc.. reminds me of the 67-69 Camaro craze for a while there!
This stuff kills me when ppl talk like they know something and in reality couldn't be farther from the truth. Not picking on the OP of this comment, that's not my intent but rather to explain some things that most everyone takes for granted. You can't seriously begin to compare a hand built item to a production item for starters. You can't rule out the use of having to hand fit parts that don't just bolt up like production items and you can't rule out the time to properly inspect and recondition old items to like new condition. This all takes time and money and we put in the time to make sure our products are better than they were when new. For example, a few of us have been lucky enough to be invited to see the new bronco and it was a hand built unit. Ford paid almost 4 million to have that unit built by a small shop in Dearborn. Thats not overpriced, its a fair representation of the countless hours upon hours building each part from scratch and that's what it would cost today if every car was built that way. They do this with every production vehicle because you have to start somewhere but they don't charge the end user for it in whole, it is part of the purchase price of every unit sold after. For us small shops rebuilding these vehicles from the ground up, it takes talent which is rare and not cheap. Sure we have guys that are entry level but they don't turn out finished work at the pace or scale of an experienced individual but we have to pay them. We also have to carry adequate insurance that is specific, I don't have mechanics insurance, we carry car manufacturers insurance so we have the correct coverages and liability coverage. We can't just grab a six pack and throw on a suspension in 4 hours like some can, we have to check, re-check, test, tune and compare to our knowledge base that it is right before we let our customer have it. Lives are at stake and we have to do our due diligence to make sure we did it right every time. You don't have that in your home shop or garage to compare with. Many also seem to think that most of us work on these for free like the enthusiast does but we don't. My shop payment is almost 2k a month. My electrical bill is almost 1k a month. Things add up and we have to charge for it because we get billed for it. My paint booth, tools, lifts etc. I have over 50K invested in equipment and always adding to it but most don't have a tenth of that in their home shop... Before you jump on the bandwagon of not being able to see where the expense is in our builds and you think shops like mine, Nick's Trix, Velocity, Wilburn's are all making it hand over fist, we are all making a modest living like the rest with the same household bills as the rest. We don't own G5's and aren't clinking fancy crystal glasses with champagne at private parties patting ourselves on the back. We all work countless hours to deliver outstanding products. What we build is not for everyone to afford but they are not over priced for what we have to invest into them to make them what they are. Most on here have a "real" job that they get paid a set rate and their boss or parent company charges a lot more to cover their overhead expenses etc. that most are unaware of. We are not an assembly line where items are coming in preassembled, we have to do it all right here in house. We are not turning out a new vehicle every hour, its a few a year... Every nut and bolt gets that same attention to detail which is why our builds are what they are.
When you want to think about what it costs and the Camaro comparison has been thrown out, I've spoke with shops that restore them and they are 6 figure builds yet a Camaro fully restored is only worth about 40K at best unless it is a rare unit. When comparing here, we are not really comparing apples to apples, you have to realize, like the Mustang and many other collector cars, there were hundreds of thousands of them made. For our little beloved EB there were less than 250K made in 11 years so the rarity of them is quite substantially greater. Its this reason alone that will keep the values high just like rare Porches and Ferrari's etc. Just try to be cognizant of all the facts and details that goes into these builds, wether we build it or even you the enthusiast builds it. Time has a value as not everyone possess the skills or infrastructure to complete a build entirely of their own. All of those tools, time, skillset etc. have a price and it equates to money when you don't possess them yourself.
