No hit vs minor repair C!

[Randy G.]

I've been grabbing C1 bodies inside the wheel wells as I look at C1's and wanted an opinion. Some of the nicest looking cars I've seen for sale have been repaired. Either the front corner or a rear corner has hand laid fiberglass which means the car was in a fender bender. One I saw has repairs from the door latch area all the way to the trunk, so that's a no brainer. But quite a few nice cars have a moderate repair.

For example, a 1957 I saw has repairs evident from the center of the drivers side front wheel well to the headlight, but the area over the grill is original. The repair is evident by the hand laid glass under the fender and headlight bucket. The car looks great, drives great and is in wonderfull original condition otherwise. The repair looking from the outside is nearly invisible.

I was told to expect that the majority of these 50 year old cars without the aid of 5 miles per hour bumpers like new cars have will more than likely have slight to moderate repair somewhere. Should I consider repairs a deal killer and look elsewhere, or should I expect a bargain? If I did find a nice car with an old good repair, should I consider having the body redone by a professional that could restore the body with new pieces to make it like new inside and out?

Thanks

[mike cobine]

Re: No hit vs minor repair C!

It depends on what you want. Do you want a no-hit car? Then minor repair won't cut it.

Do you simply want a very nice car? Then if the repairs are done well, you have it.

Be advised that on some restorations, entire body panels are replaced to get the quality look the restorer desires. As such, it will not have any minor damage and appear as a no-hit car, even though Amtrak took the front end for a half mile ride.

Looking at body panels is just the start. You need to look at the frame, brackets, bonding areas throughout the body, and so on.

I figure the minor repairs may actually be more honest. For many years, these cars were run hard and put up wet. That is what they were built for and many did just that. I've had several with minor fiberglass damage and it didn't decrease my smiles per mile at all.