The price of some of these parts seems a little crazy

[elagache]

Dear schlepcar, John and fans of mid-60s Buicks,

I didn't really mean anything bad about repops in general. I think we ALL have used this or that sometimes rather we want to or not. I guess my phobia would be overproduction of junk like we see for the chevelles because it takes away from the rarity of these cars.

Okay, now I get what you were concerned about by all means I agree with you.  I have a friend who doing a mild resto-mod of a 1971 Chevelle and he had a lot problems finding decent quality reproductions not matter how much he was willing to pay for them.

We might have better luck than the Chevy crowd though.  Many Chevy resto-mod types are strapped for cash and the companies catering to them are forced to keep the price down as much as possible.  Because Buicks were luxury cars from the moment they were built in the factory, there are higher expectations.  The reproduction parts manufacturers must be aware of that.  In addition, the people who restore Buicks must be a more choosy lot.   Anyone who is willing to endure the additional effort to restore these cars has to be willing to working harder and pay more if necessary.  So the reproduction parts manufacturers can hope to make a greater profit for a high-quality part.  I have bought some reproduction chrome trim from OPGI and at least for my needs it looked authentic.  OPGI recently introduced the 1965 Special front fender script emblem.  That certainly would have been great to have back in 2011 when I needed to replace both of those after an auto accident.

Honestly, all that can be hoped for is a slow and modest increase in reproduction parts.  There isn't that big a market for them.  However, I do get a feeling that the mid-60s Buicks are getting more interests from collectors and restorers.  Those who have gotten tired of the later Buick muscle cars are looking for something new to do, and it is a natural shift to work on the older versions of the cars they are familiar with.  So there is some hope that we can get a modest increase in the sort of parts that really make or break the appearance of the car and are very difficult to restore.

Cheers, Edouard

[schlepcar]

Some of that sheet metal for chevelles is decent and some of it was terrible. We now have complete 57 Chevy bodies,69 camaros,and I am not sure how complete a chevelle can be bought. I know there are getting to be quite a few of them that you can buy or make from nothing. I think it would still take a bottomless purse to build a car in this fashion,and we would be back to the hours and dollars talk. I also think we will see titling issues. An original car will always hold more value than an assembled, and we are even seeing "rebuilt salvage" on a lot of our older cars now. My guess is that it would definitely take away from its overall value with an assembled or brand on the title. I am kinda on the whole "investment" joke end of it anyway. I know I can make more money doing something else, but I think if we stick with quality instead of quantity, our cars are always worth more than we think. I'll get bobbybuick to comment on this one. He had a pontiac that he said that he would never get back what he had put into it......He apparently was just talking because if he wasn't I would own that car........lol