From recent sales of driver quality E's for $40k:eek: i'd say an easy $50k and rising every day

craftmenship is on par or better in Hungary and Poland, to give you an idea a friend sends Steinway pianos to Poland from L.A to be finely restored and the total including the shipping both ways is still cheaper than work done in the States!
I doubt that because of this that it would affect value that it was rebuilt in Poland/Hungary,
bottom line: is the work satisfactory no matter where rebuilt ?
if done right who cares if it was performed in Somalia or on the moon!

Yup, I knew I should have bought that '70 E last year! It was a good driver that probably could have been picked up in the low $20k range. I think E's are quietly regarded as the best long hood drivers...

It's silly to make this a nationalist/ethnic thing. There are good shops and bad shops in every country I know of (as Rich implied).

But I've seen even "good" shops turn out marginal work. There was a car for sale at Rennsport this year that was priced in the mid-6 figures and I had "experts" standing within earshot praising it, but there were some real problems with the car that stood out like a sore thumb to me. I would have rejected the work, had it been my car.

My point is that one man's "professional restoration" is another man's hack job.

There's a thread over on Early S Registry about a car that was auctioned at Monterey as a "restored" '67S, but which had a whole host of details wrong/badly done. The car brought a ton of money, nevertheless. I don't know if the buyer planned to fix all the issues, or simply overlooked them. But he paid a "perfect restoration" price...

So you could potentially profit from a mid 5-figure restoration on a '69E. You just need the right buyer.

It's impossible to answer your question without inspecting your car. The body restoration of my car cost me around $6000 USD, but it's a total restoration of an almost junk basis (i purchased the car in the uS, because the owner found impossible or to costy to rebuild the car. But nothing is impossible :)). We need to replace almost every part of the car. Only the roof remain untouched. So based on the cars condition it can be much lower or maybe higher (but i can't imagine more work on a chassis than on mine).

The cost of the labor what is much cheaper in Hungary than in the US. For comparision. A worker in McDonalds earns around 3,5USD/hour for the same work as in the US. I think it's much-much lower than by you. You can calculate with this difference by bodywork too.

Here is a link to my other thred. Here i post some pictures of my car in progress. 100% handmade without any special hardware tools. (Sorry about my poor english)

Professional bodywork

Read this thread .

Ex-eastern bloc countries have some (or had...but i'm sure the craft has been passed along) of the best body metal workers in the world.

Needed to learn to repair...because replacement parts were not as available.


My personal experience is with/knowing Polish craftsmen.

Hi
 

I personally, do not even look for restored cars anymore, especially long hood Porsches.

If I can't buy rust free cars, I am gone.... I know rust free cars bring the most and stay there. These shops turning out all these restored cars is good, but when done they want $40,000 or more. I just can't pay the money for a restored car, very little margin to be happy with.

Restorer shops have to be happy there are buyers out there for these cars.

I say, body first, interior second, engine third. I think your better off in the long run to buy as original as possible, keep it that way, and move on.

Yes, there will be a time that you can't afford, these original cars, but gee, who wants a full restored car for big bucks, when you can still find some nice original cars?

The person who doesn't have the one-three years that he thinks it will take to find the "right" car, or who thinks the "right" car will still need a lot of work.

Yes, there will be a time that you can't afford, these original cars, but gee, who wants a full restored car for big bucks, when you can still find some nice original cars?[/QUOTE]

I think now it's the time you can't afford original unmolested cars. They are really rare and expensive. Yes, you can find unrestored ones, but they will need a lot of work to shine like new again. Most of them need full restoration. But of course if you "just" need a Porsche for fun, you don't need to have for example exact 4mm gaps between each body panel, don't need all the bolts replaced and galvanised, don't need fully restored gauges or reupholstered seats with german factory matchnig leather or leatherette etc.

Take a look around:eek:Unrestored E's are now selling for $40k so a restored one for that would be a bargain.

I must be missing something here. I still buy nice long hoods for under $40,000 these are E and T cars. Yes, things might be going up but Europe is in big doo doo now and a lot of buyers have dried up. I have a totally original T Targa for sale now, it's very, very rust free, one owner, original only once, original paint, and yes hard to find but out there. I want big bucks for the car. But Porsche did a car for PCA and they claim 80k was spent on a coupe T.....and now it's just a rust bucket with new parts...go figure.

Plus there are some good brokers you will find you a car. Gee on evil bay last month was a one owner, rust free 72 T that sold for 29k, I would buy that then have some restorer shop patch up a rusted tub.

There is a big difference between the price of an E and a T.

Yes
 

But my T is a survivor at $38,000.

A survivor E would be $58,000.

A restored T is how much?
A restored E is how much?

I would rather own the survivor, that's all I am saying. From what you guys are describing as a restored 1969 E, for that money, I would look for something else.

But that's what makes the world go round.....everyone is different, but I can tell you in the short and long of things original cars will always trump restored. Especially, some of these full blown resto jobs, gee they start out as a turd and its like putting lipstick on a pig.