How Cheap Can You Run A Prestige Car For?

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

This is one of those odd little questions that keeps popping into my mind. Not that you would, but if fuel were not a big issue, could you run a high end, older luxury or exotic car cheaply as an ordinary person? I am not talking a Cadillac, Lincoln, or Corvette either. Those we know can be done cheaply. Plus, they don't have any real mystique to them either as they are not seen as cars of the well heeled. I mean something like a Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini, or Ferrari. The Rolls and Bentley use lots of GM parts ( TH400 trans, A/C system, Power Steering pump, alternator, etc) so they are plausible in that way so long as you are not afraid to mess with it yourself. I have no idea about the Italians though. Now, I am not saying I would actually do this. This is purely hypothetical. Then again, if a cheap beater Rolls could be found, I think it would be fun to paint it flat black, or drive it around with mismatched body panels to watch people's reactions. Plus, put in a giant stereo and boom some music too. Maybe do hydraulics and some 13in Daytons? Then take it to a high class restaurant and have it valet parked!

I have a little Ebay game I play sometimes to see just how cheap I could get a ratty, older high end car for. Maserati and Porsche are the easiest to find cheap as no one wants an 80's Biturbo, or a 924.

 

[78mali350]

i think it would be fun to do, but i probably would put my money elseware first

 

[R/T kota]

I'll give you one example of a rolls that came in to our shop abut 6 years ago for a safety.
It was a mid 80s model can't remember the exact year.
Anyways, the only thing the car needed for safety was a rack and pinion and one ball joint.
The ball joint for this car was around 300 bucks. Yes one ball joint.
The rack on the other hand was over 5000 bucks.
No I didn't make a typo and accidentally add another zero.
Now these were the prices we were quoted from a rolls dealership. Our regular suppliers did not carry the parts.
Weather you can find the parts cheaper, I don't know, but thats what we were quoted.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, I am not serious about doing this in any way, shape, or form. I was just posting a hypothetical for discussion. I came up with the idea while watching an old Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson drives a 2500 pound-sterling Rolls into a swimming pool.

That being said, for $5k, you can buy a new front clip from a street rod parts supplier, and get improved geometry at the same time. Which adds another dimension to the discussion as you could use just the shell and interior of the Rolls or Bentley, and put something more interesting underneath it instead. That way, you would get the character of the Rolls without the mechanical drawbacks of an engine from the mid 50's with limited parts availability. Plus, then you need not pay real money for a good running example as it becomes a moot point. I think an LS7 and 4L60E would make for a good, smooth powertrain in place of the old 6.2 liter V8 ( or whatever size it is!). You could also put a independent rear suspension under it at the same time too. Then again, a 6-71 blown 502 would fit quite nicely too. Just cut the hood to fit!

Speaking of practical classic cars and Top Gear, supposedly Oliver (Hammond's 1963 Opel Kadett from the drive across Botswana) is being restored and will be filmed for a TV show on July 15th. The 15th is a Wednesday, which is when the show is filmed, so it probably will be on Top Gear the following Sunday. I just hope they don't destroy it as they have so many other cars. There is supposed to be an episode this series in which May and Clarkson are challenged to drive their own large classics ( an old Rolls and a old Benz) to see if they are worth having. Maybe Oliver will return on that episode as Hammond's entry? If you have never seen the show, it exists in abundance on Youtube, and Finalgear, where you can see old episodes.

 

[Derision]

The Rolls and Bentley use lots of GM parts ( TH400 trans, A/C system, Power Steering pump, alternator, etc) so they are plausible in that way so long as you are not afraid to mess with it yourself. I have no idea about the Italians though. Now, I am not saying I would actually do this. This is purely hypothetical. Then again, if a cheap beater Rolls could be found, I think it would be fun to paint it flat black, or drive it around with mismatched body panels to watch people's reactions.

I think this might be the first time "cheap", "Rolls" and "beater" are used in the same sentence, and in relation to each other.

Somewhere, planets are colliding.

 

[jonnyslick]

Wait ... are you basically saying taking an old Rolls or something and turning it into a low rider?

 

[custom442]

Check the picture of the jaguar in my album, it was bought for 500$, chevy 307 and TH 350 (600$) came out of an 80's El camino which had first been in a Monte Carlo. Aluminum radiator from a Z28, custom hoses which were metric on one end and english on the other, custom drive shaft with a jag rear end and a chevy front welded together. The master cylinder was replaced with a jag one, some parts aren't to be exchanged on those things. A reasonable 1500$ car that looks nice and runs better. If you find the right body anything can be done, it just depends on how much you want to spend.

Notice the hood scoop from a 1980 Z28, not quite stock 😀

There are some good priced Maserati biturbos and porshe 914's for very cheap. I've seen both these cars in running condition for under 1000$.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

This was my inspiration for the whole idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjr_T-pLiPI. That car is obviously a POS Rolls Royce, but it still would have been cool to mess with. You could do a lowrider, or something else from one. If you think about the exchange rates from when this show was done, the car cost about $4k US. The interior was pretty good, but the body and mechanicals needed attention. You could leave it looking like a Rolls on the outside, but modernize it underneath for cheaper than the cost of buying Rolls Royce parts to make it work as it was originally designed to. Sort of what some people do to street rod musclecars, but with an odd twist. Then again, you could have made the car work OK as was with a new radiator ( not necessarily original equipment) of the right size, and the brakes can be bought cheaper than they quoted in the show ( I checked, and the part numbers exist to get the brakes, etc. at Discount Auto Parts). If it had a Lucas Alternator, I would swap it out to a 10si Delco and rid it of the crappy British electricals. I would love to have one to use for pizza delivery once in a while, but it would be silly for me to own one as it would take too much of my limited finances to keep it going.

I also saw a Ferrari 308 GTS on my local Craigslist for $4500. It had no engine, or trans, plus it had front end damage and no title, but it is cheap... If it had a title, you could fix the body if it's not bad, and run a Northstar from a 90's caddy in it with the automatic transaxle, or a Fiero 5 speed. It would have 75 more hp than stock, and you could take it to a Ferrari meet and make them all cringe in horror at what you had done. Better still, it would be more reliable than a standard 308/328, cheaper to service, and faster.

As for the Maserati BiTurbo, it is not a prestigious car as it is unloved by all but a few oddballs. It lacks pedigree, just like the Chrysler TC-By Maserati lacks pedigree. Jags are too common, and SBC powered Jags have been built to death as the stock BL drivetrain was built by Communists who had no fear of losing their jobs for poor performance. Don't get me wrong, they are cool- especially the coupes with their wonderful styling--just not upper crust enough. Same would go for a Mercedes S class. Too common to be considered here.

 

[eddieb1969]

Pure shock and awe.......... i like the way you think . Should have seen my old Opel GT with a tube chassis and a 468 bbc . The hood would not go on because the valve covers were sticking up too far for a mere hood scoop to even remotely try and cover. It was hella scary but def turned heads. we hid things as well as possible , cage and all to make it appear , at least from a distance that something wasnt just quite right . That is until you got near enough to go ???????????? Did you ever see the build -up in Hotrod Mag A few years back where the put a 500 in caddy engine in a chevette . Straddling a trans would not be fun for long ,but it was cool...... I like your idea of the 308 , make the purists puke i say ...

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I LOVED the Chevette! It was like a modern day cheap interpretation of a fuel altered!

Another interesting permutation of the Rolls idea would be a 6-71 on the original aluminum 6.75 liter V8. I also have to wonder about how cheaply you could get a Lotus for? Not something super-ugly like the Eclat or Europa, but maybe a Esprit, or even a Lotus Cortinia with a modern DOHC turbo 4! I'd also like to build a musclecar with a Japanese drivetrain. Maybe a 1969 Camaro with a Supra's 2JZ-GTTE? I feel that most conventions are there to be broken, and the best way to garner attention is to tweak people's sense of normal. That being said, it should make some sort of technical or aesthetic sense in most cases. Hot Rods should straddle a line between art and science, and pay some sort of homage to both. The swapped exotics are art because they cause people to challenge convention, and think. They are science because they make some sort of technical sense.