Raymond Arsenault on Life and Business: The $5,000 Challenge, patina-rich edition

The problem with owning a perfectly restored classic car is this: using it as a regular driver is bound to induce a certain amount of paranoia. After spending more on a paint job than you did on your first few cars (combined, perhaps), are you really going to drive that classic to the local home improvement warehouse or shopping mall parking lot? Would you feel comfortable handing over the keys to a complete stranger at a valet stand?

It’s somewhat pointless owning a car you’re too terrified to drive, which is why this crop of cars is so appealing. Most claim to wear their original paint, and while some need mechanical attention before returning to the road, all can comfortably be parked anywhere, at least until they’re back from the paint and body shop. Some need more work than others, but all represent reasonable projects for the skilled (or patient) backyard mechanic.

1963 GMC 1500

Old pickups, particularly those that haven’t been worked to death, have an undeniable appeal. This GMC could probably be driven as-is for years to come, or it could be restored as the next owner’s time and budget allows. There doesn’t appear to be much serious rust, and the body looks to be surprisingly straight, a sign that past owners have probably taken better-than-average care of this particular pickup. At an asking price of $3,500, this seems like a safe point of entry into the collector car hobby to us.

1960 Ford Thunderbird

Ford’s second-generation Thunderbird took the model in an entirely new direction, adding two more seats and a healthy dose of luxury. The changes proved successful, as the “Square Bird” not only outsold the original model, but also enjoyed strong sales growth year after year. In 1960, the final year of this generation, Ford produced nearly 81,000 coupes, a number the replacement “Bullet Bird” would never achieve in a single year. This example needs some mechanical attention, a bit of rust remediation and a fresh coat of paint, but its interior appears to be in surprisingly good condition. The asking price? $4,900.

1976 Volkswagen Super Beetle convertible

In case you haven’t been following Volkswagen prices lately, air-cooled Beetle values appear to be on the rise. Perhaps that’s linked to the escalation of air-cooled Porsche prices, or maybe it’s nothing more than nostalgia for a simpler time and a simpler automobile, but in either case affordable project Beetles are getting harder to find. This convertible example has already had its floors replaced (one less thing for the next owner to do), and is said to be mechanically sound with a newer replacement top. The next owner may want to recover or replace the seats and address the surface rust and dull paint, but overall the VW appears to be in reasonable shape from the provided pictures. The asking price? $5,000.

1954 De Soto Firedome

The Hemi V-8 powered Firedome topped De Soto’s model range in 1954, and was available in coupe, sedan, convertible, hardtop and station wagon body styles. The four-door, six-passenger sedan seen here was by far the most popular, accounting for 45,095 examples of the 57,375 Firedome models produced that year. This one was purchased new by the seller’s grandfather, but was last driven in 1989 and has been in storage since. The interior is in rough shape, but the body appears to be mostly straight and not beyond saving, rust-wise. The seller is clear about his own limitations, which is why he wants the De Soto to go to an owner that will appreciate the big sedan. The asking price? $4,000.

1953 Chevrolet Bel Air

The seller of this 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air sedan claims the car is a survivor, complete with its original paint and the same straight-six engine bolted in on the assembly line. Stored since the 1970s, the Chevy will need a mechanical sorting (though it’s said to in running condition at present), a new interior and body work, but for the right buyer, none of these tasks are particularly onerous. The asking price? $4,000.