So, I’ve been digging into my new old FIAT, and it seems that to have this car fully restored is going to cost me a small fortune! Now my question is; what is the value of a fully restored 1980 Fiat 2000 Spider?

Right now I’m looking at:
Mechanical
$480 in suspension
$1080 a ridiculous sum for tail lights and circuit boards.
$82 drive train
$2810 Mechanical including distributor, oil pan, full exhaust, all bushings, brake booster and more.
Interior
$2808 for pretty much everything except seat leather, also includes new top

And a staggering $10,000 (very roughly, they won’t give me an exact quote) for Stripping, refitting, repainting and chrome work.

So I’m looking at $17,260 NOT including any labor help I may need on the interior and mechanicals.
I’m kind of surprised that a car with a good trans, engine, and frame would run this high. A reality check for me. I’m interested in hearing your 2 cents on the subject.

It is not an investment, it's fun (and pain) and for every dollar you spend you will maybe get 30% back when you sell it.

Tobi wrote:It is not an investment, it's fun (and pain) and for every dollar you spend you will maybe get 30% back when you sell it.

Well I suppose that's my question; at what point am I better off just buying one restored?

you will always come out ahead buying a car already restored. I have 1000s of man hours in my 80 with a good drive train and will still have $10k in it when i'm done. I look at all the work i have done to mine, and if i hired it all out, $17k wouldnt be out of the question. I take solice in that i have saved a spider on its way to the grave yard.

Any car has to be worth upward of $30000 for a restoration to make sense, and even then you'd have to do most of the work yourself. For these kind of cars, it's always cheaper to buy a good one. It may not be that easy to find one, tho, as many that sell for a high price have glaring faults.

I went into my purchase with the mind set of "this will cost me what i put into it" As far as value I have always felt it is in the eye of the beholder (and appraiser) . I love my car and doing all the work and waiting for parts etc. This forum has certainly saved me $$$$ and the advice, guidance and friendship's are priceless

The only real option for restoring a spider is doing the work yourself. Paying someone is just not cost effective as the labor alone will likely be worth more than the value of the car. If you are not up to the challenge then yes buying a good example may be the way to go. You should be able to get a very nice example for under $10g.

Those prices seem way out of line for a nice running car.

cars are like women Its not about the investment, its about the fun you have with them.

CLudwig wrote:So, I’ve been digging into my new old FIAT, and it seems that to have this car fully restored is going to cost me a small fortune! Now my question is; what is the value of a fully restored 1980 Fiat 2000 Spider?

[...]

And a staggering $10,000 (very roughly, they won’t give me an exact quote) for Stripping, refitting, repainting and chrome work.

So I’m looking at $17,260 NOT including any labor help I may need on the interior and mechanicals.
I’m kind of surprised that a car with a good trans, engine, and frame would run this high. A reality check for me. I’m interested in hearing your 2 cents on the subject.

Hi,

From my meager research, about $7.5k.

While the breakdown is different your total's right around where I expect to be by the end of the summer on my '78.

I anticipated most of it: 34yr-old furrin' car that was never worth much more than $5k and doesn't have the flash of unusable horsepower, and all.

I didn't expect the larceny it came with and attracts.

Rather than think I've blown 3 Great vacations on a car that still needs work I consider it a prepaid 5year three-season amusement ride. Even unfinished, the trans and interior are pending, a half hour driving it is worth $thousands in traditional therapy.

When the time comes I'll sell-off the nice bits and take the rest of it racing.

Ciao,
Mark

grittracing wrote:cars are like women Its not about the investment, its about the fun you have with them.

And sometimes like the irritation they can cause.

exactly !

grittracing wrote:cars are like women Its not about the investment, its about the fun you have with them.

Haha! Quote of the day!

Thanks for the input so far. I want a custom FIAT, not just a nice "by the book" restore, so I know I'm going to need to put more into this than I'll get out. Just not sure if should start with my FIAT or start from a restored one.

I paid $10k for my '80 fi. It had about 40k miles and as near as we can tell, was very rarely driven in the rain - so no, and I mean no rust. I've had the car for 2 years and have only spent money on general maintenance stuff. I changed the timing belt and thermostat and am about to do the donut. I replaced the old cassette deck with a CD player and bought a new top but haven't installed it yet. The current top is fine, but the window is a bit cloudy. Since I rarely drive the car with the top up, it really isn't an issue.
Bottom line for me, pay more at the front end for a really good car and probably save money in the long run. Having said that, as others have said, it really doesn't matter how much you put into the thing as long as you don't mind doing the work and enjoy the result. It's only if you're going to try and sell the thing that you're going to cry over the money you've sunk.
I've been watching Barrett Jackson this week and can't count the number of times Mike Joy has said that a car has sold for probably less than the owner put into the restoration.

When I saw the price of new replacement parts, I ended up purchasing a couple of parts cars over the years. They had good rear lights lights, brakes, seats etc. I also purchased a number of used parts from Auto Italia and Craigslist. There are a number of new parts of course and a couple of engine re builds to finally get what I want. Paint and rust repair was around $5000.00 I had started with a non running car and spent way too much to get it to where it is today. As others have mentioned I'd buy a rust free car and from there get it sorted with new and used parts. (I have bought another rust free shell )
Total $$$ spent over the years.... yes way north of $10,000.00
Chris

Perhaps you should re-evaluate the process. For example, I'm pretty sure you could buy a car in very good shape and salvage the chrome pieces off, pull the trim yourself, and get it to a reasonable painter, rather than paying over $10K for the cosmetic work. Or, go bumperless, and buy specific new trim pieces, buy a soda-blasting setup to strip the paint yourself, and still come out far less than your figure. Look at some of the DIY restoration work done by others easily on this site.

Where are you coming up with over $1000 for "tail lights and circuit boards?" There has to be a better, cheaper way that will work just fine.

I guess there is a decision to be made in there somewhere: what is your reason for having the car? Is it to get the work done by others and get it looking good and on the road, and cost be damned? Are you looking to get into restoration, and this car is a first step to learn on?

There really is no way to justify the time and cost of restoring a Spider from a "good business sense/sound value" point of view. That's the bottom line you have to find your peace with, and make decisions accordingly.

The cars are fun and relatively easy to work on. The scale is small: four cylinders; not much body surface; a very standard and simple fuel injection system, well-documented; available replacement parts for almost everything. I can't really see the interest in having all the work done by others, and the cost for that would certainly scare me, too. But as I said, you have to find your comfort level on the sliding scale that is old Fiat restoration.

I haven't looked, but have you posted photos of the car here? I'll bet if you post them in the context of asking for guidance from members here, you will get some very good advice, even if it may not be exactly what you want to hear.