Opinions on Restomods - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

KA24DESOneThree · 10-17-2023, 05:50 PM

Making this thread to bump a dead subforum and also to gather a little bit of intel on how Zilvians respond to certain ideas. I come across as stuffy and up-my-own-ass sometimes; my apologies. This isn't market research, this is me wanting to talk with people who I have e-known for decades.

I am involved in building restomods now and am thinking of pivoting into my own business building restomods that don't currently exist.

Most Singer builds are over a million dollars now (I don't know anyone with one of the new Turbo builds but several clients have Classic builds). The DLS are $2m+. Guntherwerks are above a million. Alfaholics GTA-R builds are deep into six figures with a 7-year waitlist. There's the Kimera Evo37, the Redux Leichtbau M3, the various ICONs, Lightspeed 911s, Paul Stephens 911s, Ringbrothers, Automobili Amos, Forge Design, Theon, Kamm, MST; the list of restomod specialists stretches into the dozens. I mentioned shops that restomod Porsche 911s, Ford Broncos, Toyota FJ40s, Ford Escorts, Alfa Romeo sports coupes and sedans, build Group B-style sporting cars, and muscle cars. All cars with ties to motorsport, pop culture, or both. Also cars that have many decades of history- the 911 is still partially recognizable and has won its class in everything from SCCA amateur racing to Le Mans, the Bronco was rebooted recently, the FJ40 came back as the FJ Cruiser, the Giulia moniker came back in the saloon world, Group B has never lost its mythos of manufacturers skirting and crossing the fine line of danger.

The restomods I'm working on would be in the $350k-450k range.

They'd be street-focused versions of '90s race cars, with larger displacement engines to meet modern emissions requirements- and customer power/tractability expectations. Very few off-the-shelf parts, custom billet uprights, raised subframe mounting points to allow good ride/handling compromise despite low ride height, chassis-in-white built on a jig table, bespoke wheels, etc. You know, easy shit.

It is impossible to make these cars at a lower price point, IMO. There's an expectation of all aspects of quality in a restomod that makes the high price necessary, plus I'm just not willing to settle for something I don't want to drive- even if I can't afford my own product.

What does the Zilvia peanut gallery think of incredibly expensive versions of relatively plebian cars?

What car is on your personal "let's make a restomod!" list?

What value do you place on quality of production?

What value do you place on ability to customize a build to your exact liking?

Is the value of a restomod primarily dependent on cultural value and/or continuation of a well-known vehicle's history?

What do you think about restomods and performance increases?

Do you believe the power has to be silly to be worthwhile?

Interested to hear what Zilvia has to say; a lot of you are either in the automotive industry or have been working with cars for decades, so there are bound to be jaded answers and criticism, both of which I'm looking forward to.

10-17-2023, 05:50 PM	#1
KA24DESOneThree Post Whore! Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: SD County SoCal Age: 38 Posts: 2,554 Trader Rating: (2) Rides Gallery: KA24DESOneThree Feedback Score: 2 reviews	Opinions on Restomods Making this thread to bump a dead subforum and also to gather a little bit of intel on how Zilvians respond to certain ideas. I come across as stuffy and up-my-own-ass sometimes; my apologies. This isn't market research, this is me wanting to talk with people who I have e-known for decades. I am involved in building restomods now and am thinking of pivoting into my own business building restomods that don't currently exist. Most Singer builds are over a million dollars now (I don't know anyone with one of the new Turbo builds but several clients have Classic builds). The DLS are $2m+. Guntherwerks are above a million. Alfaholics GTA-R builds are deep into six figures with a 7-year waitlist. There's the Kimera Evo37, the Redux Leichtbau M3, the various ICONs, Lightspeed 911s, Paul Stephens 911s, Ringbrothers, Automobili Amos, Forge Design, Theon, Kamm, MST; the list of restomod specialists stretches into the dozens. I mentioned shops that restomod Porsche 911s, Ford Broncos, Toyota FJ40s, Ford Escorts, Alfa Romeo sports coupes and sedans, build Group B-style sporting cars, and muscle cars. All cars with ties to motorsport, pop culture, or both. Also cars that have many decades of history- the 911 is still partially recognizable and has won its class in everything from SCCA amateur racing to Le Mans, the Bronco was rebooted recently, the FJ40 came back as the FJ Cruiser, the Giulia moniker came back in the saloon world, Group B has never lost its mythos of manufacturers skirting and crossing the fine line of danger. The restomods I'm working on would be in the $350k-450k range. They'd be street-focused versions of '90s race cars, with larger displacement engines to meet modern emissions requirements- and customer power/tractability expectations. Very few off-the-shelf parts, custom billet uprights, raised subframe mounting points to allow good ride/handling compromise despite low ride height, chassis-in-white built on a jig table, bespoke wheels, etc. You know, easy shit. It is impossible to make these cars at a lower price point, IMO. There's an expectation of all aspects of quality in a restomod that makes the high price necessary, plus I'm just not willing to settle for something I don't want to drive- even if I can't afford my own product. What does the Zilvia peanut gallery think of incredibly expensive versions of relatively plebian cars? What car is on your personal "let's make a restomod!" list? What value do you place on quality of production? What value do you place on ability to customize a build to your exact liking? Is the value of a restomod primarily dependent on cultural value and/or continuation of a well-known vehicle's history? What do you think about restomods and performance increases? Do you believe the power has to be silly to be worthwhile? Interested to hear what Zilvia has to say; a lot of you are either in the automotive industry or have been working with cars for decades, so there are bound to be jaded answers and criticism, both of which I'm looking forward to. Last edited by KA24DESOneThree; 10-18-2023 at 07:46 AM..