Now... “What to buy” is a different subject, one that we will get into later.
For now...
Every builder wants to be considered ‘the next’ “Singer”. It’s a lofty and worthy goal but it’s also not where your head should be as a builder. Why? Because the Porsche culture has some built in pillars within their consumership that do not exist in many other brands...yet. That ‘mystique’ within the Porsche world allows for some “experimental” ideas to blend with classic styling of the Porsche platform. The sheer volume of Porsche models and vehicles out there has inspired an abundance of modifications, special editions and signature custom builds that make Porsche a bit of a canvas to make art or garbage.
It’s because of that lofty “the next Singer” goal that you see many builder’s brand and even name their vehicles (like the movie, ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’) without doing anything close to the custom work or modifications or restoration that take the vehicle from what it was originally to something unique and their own. If someone is putting their maker’s-mark on a build without having that vehicle torn down to its smallest parts first, they might be getting over their skis a bit. But...it can be important to brand your work if you have a larger vision that you’re working toward. Just know, brand labels don’t always mean quality and they do not mean “valuable”.
I start a lot of explanations of my role in this market with “I ‘Forest Gumped’ my way into this...” I am absolutely sure that there are studies and great classic quotes that might better describe ’finding yourself while you’re looking for something else’... Whatever way you want to look at it, as romantically or practically that you want to envision the dots that connect your path in life; my life, now, is about building Land Rovers.
The reason I always tell people I “Forest Gumped” my way into this, was because I wasn’t looking for a career in vintage-off road builds. I was a Creative Director, that came out of the men’s fashion world and quite honestly, that was where my identity was. My bio on my website overlandprojects.com goes into a little more depth there, but suffice it to say that beginning in high school, I’ve always had a foot in mechanics and older off-road vehicles - So much so, that eventually I decided to build one bolt by bolt.
I give you that background because I’ve also had a front row seat in this evolving and growing new market. It’s safe to say that there are now well formed categories with sellers and builders that can be identified for whoever is looking to buy a vintage off-road vehicle. If you are looking for your dream car, this is the lay of the land as I see it...
(Let me give you my disclaimer first: As much as I can identify categories, there is still a spectrum within these categories, there’s always the builders/sellers that fall in-between the lines. Also, there is no “bad” or “good” in these categories. The “bad” or “good” is more about, “did you pay too much for what you got?”. They all serve a purpose and buying a vehicle is about what you want vs. what you expect and hoping that the latter, surpasses the former.)
Builder Categories:
(These are my names that I give them)
1) “The Washer/Re-Seller”
“The Washer” is a flipper. They find a great deal somewhere on Marketplace or even BAT and they will clean up the vehicle for photos, sometimes doing more in paint and even upholstery, this category is not trying to invest themselves too deeply in these vehicles and more or less, they focus on what will result in the best photos. This category might sounds pretty negative, and for the most part, (to me) it’s not the best option today. 6-8 years ago it was a better option as many vehicles were in great condition but just not driven often.
You will pay, between 30-40% more for this vehicle buying in this category from individuals that do this than if you just familiarize yourself with the various search engines and find one of these vehicles yourself. Just recently there was a fully restored and built Range Rover P38 that sold on BAT for $12k, I expect to see that flipped in the next few months for twice that.
There is a “better half” in this category though. There are dealers that I’d put in this category that do VERY good work. They have the connections to find great deals that you won’t, they usually have an in-house mechanic that can sort through any minor issues and they do clean them up to a very nice level. Several businesses like this come to mind and I have bought a vehicle or two from someone like this. There is a very big difference between an individual that does this compared with an established business that does this. Just know what you are getting and from who and what they do with the vehicles.
2) “The Importer”
Importers are also split into two “classes” as I see it. I’ll call them a class “A” and “B”. A Class Importers are sellers that find these vehicles in other countries or have partnerships in other countries where the vehicles are much more available and the labor and costs to paint and upholster vehicles is much lower than U.S. prices. Because of U.S. Customs, their rules and regulations, these builders cannot (easily) do anything to the drivetrain beyond rebuild the original engine and or clean it. Most if not all vehicles imported into the U.S. must have their original drivetrain (without any modification) when they reach customs. So “importers” who just paint and polish a vehicle tend to emphasize on the “purity” or the “importance” of the “original equipment” of the manual transmission and the underpowered diesel engine. Importers tend to downplay or pay no attention to what these vehicles could drive like with U.S. Spec drivetrains. (A 1992 Range Rover Classic from Europe with the 200Tdi (or even 300Tdi), manual transmission will deliver 107-111 horse power and will drive VERY different compared to a standard American Spec 1992 Range Rover Classic with a 3.9L 4 Speed Automatic, delivering 188 horse power.)
So if your are buying off of pictures, these might ‘look’ the same but they will perform VERY different.
This is where the engine swap conversations started. If you have the old Tdi, they do have their virtues and are bullet proof... but if you are swapping the engine, why stop at just a stock engine? This is a rabbit hole question, many people fall into and where the extremely available “LS swap” trend gets fuel.
When it comes to a vehicle’s design though, you have to remember, English and European roads are not like American roads. That fact changed the style of driving. European engineers have perfected street racing vehicles and those designs heavily influenced their regular vehicles. The concept of long stretches of highways driving 75-85mph are not the norm in Europe. 85 mile an hour freeways are not the norm in Europe. I often tell my customers, if going through each gear quickly and topping out at 65 miles an hour is ok with you, then don’t worry. However, it is a different driving experience for those who are not used to it.
I’ve seen many videos of Defenders (in America) flying down a long road... The clip is appealing and gives you a sense of ‘the freedom and romance of the American road... however, if you were to put that clip into context, you would watch a 1995 Defender 110 start from a dead stop. The Defender 110 acceleration of 0-60mph comes in just over 15.3 seconds...(and that’s if you are great at shifting!) The Range Rover Classics (1990’s) with the V8 do improve though, with a 0-60mph time of 10.2 seconds. To put that into context a 1995 Tacoma SR5 V6 goes 0-60mph in 9 seconds. (And of course, a Tesla Model X goes on to 0-60mph in just over 2 seconds) (And an older one, a 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback goes on to 0-60mph in just over 7.8 seconds)
Acceleration is a factor that you must contend with.
If you plan to only drive the vehicle around town and on the weekends, yes these can be a fun driving experience. If you plan to be in traffic and drive more than 10 miles a day or talk on the phone in your car, they can quickly become frustrating. Yes, there is a quaintness to the original set up of a 4-5 speed manual transmission paired with a 200-300Tdi but, there’s also a cost and something to be said about comfort and taking advantage of new technologies that can smooth out and improve your driving experience.
There is a “Importer B Class” that do offer engine swaps, which do increase the price tag, sometimes considerably but in my opinion, an extremely valuable and worthwhile investment. These importers often do the engine work here after it’s been imported. The “Importer B Class” is able to stretch your dollar by doing some work over seas which is why these businesses do this type of model.
“The Importer” (A Class) will typically paint the vehicle and address the interior and the audio equipment, but often times will rely on those aesthetic changes to sell the vehicle, and broad-brush over the mechanical aspects of the vehicle if at all. Typically, they are not selling “drivability” they are selling aesthetic.
There are importers that do an exceptionally great job doing both beautiful aesthetic jobs while also matching that with incredible mechanical restorations. But, there are also importers that just address the aesthetics of a vehicle and it’s up to you to sort out the needs you have and of the vehicle mechanically as you drive it.
3) “The Resto/Mod Builder”
In every market there is the “Apple”... that one company that either tells their story best or frankly just does the best job. However in this world (in this market) some of the best at this are the most hidden because today you are not only asked to do “skillset X” best, you are asked to be a social media expert and videographer and sales person, and...
The companies that can tell their story well stand out regardless if they are the best or not. This is also the highest dollar category.
To put this in a nutshell, “The Resto/Mod Builder” are building a ‘new vehicle’. Yes you are sometimes using existing parts and not changing out everything, but in this category, many if not all of the parts are new or reconditioned, or at least addressed/cleaned and reconnected. For all intents and purposes, this category, is as close as you’re going to get to a “new version” of the vehicle as you can get without finding some time capsule vehicle locked away in an hermetically seals chamber next to WalT Disney and Micheal Jackson.
Like every category listed so far this category has a spectrum. However, what keeps them all in this category, is that the vehicle’s are 85-100% sorted and often updated inside and out.
4)”The Innovator”
(A challenge in writing this is that I am so tempted to list companies in each category, however, that might open me up to some gripes from a lawyer.)
“The Innovator” category is a company that is taking the platform of the beloved vintage vehicle and matching it with modern day functionality. Builders in this category are sometimes doing the EV versions of classic vehicles and now more and more the Hybrid versions of classics. There is so much to be said about this category of builder but there are two big obstacles for these builds. Country and State regulations and laws don’t often know how to address these and to get them legal in your state can require jumping through many legal and or expensive hoops... also it is a very small minority of buyers that can afford such builds that would even be looking for something like this that this category is not growing as fast as it could.
10 years ago, you could put the LS swaps in this category but they are so common now that its hard to call that innovation today...
A GREAT example of this category is the “FJ142”! An 80 series, chassis, a 60 series body, V8 engine... a work of engineering art.
This category more than the rest (to me) is the NASA of the Resto/Mod world. Why? Because there are so many parts that have to be made to accomplish these builds and much of the cost is in development. When those new parts/systems are introduced into other lower tier builds, they will stand out above other builders.
Ultimately, its my opinion that as car companies drift further and further from what the market wants because of new standards and regulations (and price) that you will see this resto/mod world grow and be a worthy alternative to anyone looking for a new vehicle.
(I would love to field any questions you might have about these topics I could definitely write more and will about this subject)
