You totally missed the point. I didn't tell Bill one way or another whether the car he is looking at is a good deal or not, which is what he was asking. I provided info so he could maybe reach a decision. So, if you do something as a hobby there is no budget? How do you know what Bill has to spend on his hobby? You got everything you wanted for around $48k. Good for you. Maybe, just maybe, Bill won't be able to get what he wants for what he has to spend. People need to know what their hobby costs before they get in so they don't get sideways financially.
So, no, our hobby is not another story. Everything is a monetary decision. Just because you want to do something doesn't mean you can afford it. Unlike other hobbies ours has potential for real loss because we drive them. It's one thing to have your car insured for what you have in it, personal labor excluded of course. Its another to have more in it than it can be insured for. Whether the hobbiest can afford that loss should it happen is a personal business decision. It wouldn't surprise me, though, that there are people out there driving their dream car that they have tens of thousands of dollars invested and have only liability insurance.
I don't think I missed the point. As a matter of fact, I think we might be agreeing more than we are disagreeing.
You provided some great reference information that is very useful. I might add that a very rough rule of thumb is that is costs about twice the increase in value to bring a car up one level. So for example, per the reference values you provided, the difference in value between a #3 Good and a #4 fair is $9800 (35,800 - 26,000). The rough rule of thumb states that it would likely cost about $19,600 to buy a #4 car and bring it to #3 condition (of course, depending on how much work you do yourself).
Obviously any purchase must have a budget. Where I may disagree slightly with you is budget and subsequent value are two different things. People who like to ski don't buy a set of skis, boots, bindings, etc. and expect to sell them later for what they spent. However, they still need to buy skis that are in their budget. Likewise, anyone buying a regular new car will almost certainly not be able to sell it later for more than they have in it. Again, they need to buy a new car in their budget.
So we do not know what Bills budget is. Your example stated "Let's take #1 Concourse. $57,600 - $15,000 = $42,600. Can you restore the car to a #1 condition for $42,600?" I was merely pointing out that there is nothing wrong with Bill spending more than that to achieve a concourse car. As you pointed out, a Worman resto is 60-80K. If he wanted to do that, he would certainly spend more than it is worth, but that could be in his budget and could be his dream. That's fine.
So my point was only that I think people get too concerned about the final worth of the car. Yes, spend within your means and make intelligent choices. Yes, know what things will cost and the subsequent value. And then enjoy the car and the hobby.
Hawk
