5 Project Cars Reserved for the Brave
Undertaking any project car is not for the faint of heart. Generally speaking, being the sole funding and labor to keeping an aging vehicle in safe operating condition will take everything you are willing to give. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a hierarchy of craziness to projects.
Starting an old Ford tractor is one end of the spectrum. Far, far way, on the other end, money disappears quickly, parts often don’t exist, and any task requires a mix of jeweler’s precision and brute force. These are the project cars only undertaken by people who have motivations that might not always make sense to the average person. These are not projects that have high monetary ROI, but in a world where restoring cars is done by people who are not in it for the money anyway, these are the cars that require only the bravest DIYers.
Aston Martin Lagonda
With only 645 built over a span of 14 years, the Lagonda is a rare example of a long-running yet low-production car. The Lagonda is also a notoriously complex machine. All cars are complex at some level, but Aston really outdid itself here. The dashboard on the later production cars switched from LED lighting to cathode ray tubes, which was a sizable step backwards at a time in production when bugs are usually getting worked out of models rather than being added. Complicated beyond words and low volume? DIY only if you dare.
Maserati BiTurbo
Project cars often stem from those looking to take an affordable version of a desirable or interesting car and bring it back to life. Deferred maintenance is very common in this segment. If there was ever a car to highlight what happens when maintenance is ignored, it is the BiTurbo. It was a model made to be the affordable option for the marque and thus many went to buyers unprepared for the complications and needs that come with a twin-turbocharged Italian luxury car. Well maintained, these cars thrived, but those that have reached project-car status likely have issues stemming from the empty maintenance log. Catching up on multiple line items at once adds up quickly any way you total it.
Citroën SM
It takes a car so intriguing as the SM for anyone to tolerate a suspension that required coining new terms just to produce it. The hydropneumatic suspension that makes the ride quality unlike anything else requires “suspension spheres,” which function similar to an accumulator and a spring combined. It’s luxury, it’s French, it’s complicated. It’s a perfect storm, and some people just love to chase tornados. Kudos if you are one of them.
Audi Allroad
Before the Safari movement, there was the Audi Allroad; an all-wheel-drive wagon with adjustable air suspension to maximize ground clearance, along with a wider track for good measure. It’s not a true off-roader, but it sure was a lot more than anyone needed just for the street. From its 1999 introduction, the Allroad gained a cult following that continues today. The presence of such loyalty stems from an enthusiastic community of people willing to sort out what seems like near-constant issues in even well-maintained examples. All that work done in the confines of an engineer’s dream—and a mechanic’s nightmare.
Fisker Karma
It’s late-model, it’s a complicated hybrid, and the company has gone bankrupt twice in less than two decades. A Karma might just be the most difficult car to work on—that I’m aware of anyhow. One was once donated to a museum and put on display for six months, only for the battery to die, leaving the car stranded exactly where it was, as there was was no way to disengage the electric parking brake. The museum staff consulted the owners manual but all that amounted to was being told “consult a dealer,” which at the time hadn’t been around for years. The last effort was to try to locate and contact a technician who worked at the dealership before it closed. There is hard-to-find information, and then there is becoming a private investigator just to be able to do even the bare minimum of work on your car.
If you notice a theme on these, it’s that the cars themselves aren’t what makes them bad projects, but rather the other factors that are common to the cars we love but are lacking here: support and knowledge, and parts and their availability. That’s why it takes someone ready for a challenge to take these on. Those who are willing just get to experience more and greater lows, but also the accompanying highs. Kudos to them.
Ha, Oh ye of little faith and of no sense of innovation and thought. I have had five SM’s and now have one and
two DS…that along with a Deutsch Bonnet and a Panhard 24Bt…Of course motivated by “investment” (Read Corvette/Chevrolet, Mustang, etc…Comments would be made contra the SM.) Life can be boring and no need
to be adventurous. What a bore…A German housewife….nice house, cleans nice, fixes nice meal….got figure the comparison………French wife…! Citroen…Italian mistress…Maserati. I must wonder at the innate comments…hate to be seated next to anyone of them on a long flight to …..?? Anyway..
Well aren’t you special…
All valid examples but surely any Porsche 928 is a candidate as well? The ultimate ‘used to be cheap and unwanted and available but most were owned by people who did not maintain them’ cars. Ask me how I know ‘) Even sourcing relays for the Apollo era panel is like a quest for the holy grail.
I had a Porsche 944, great car, handled well, was quite reliable and a blast to drive.
I’m on my 3rd Allroad now. Not too bad if you know what to expect. Some folks rip out the air, but to me, you don’t have an Allroad unless you have it. Good idea but poorly implemented. Restoration-wise, sometimes finding interior parts in the right color is a battle.
The SM has been calling out to me for decades. One used to blow by my 911 just about every morning crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. My cool little German roadster suddenly didn’t seem so cool anymore. Years later, we rented one of those mid-century modern houses in Palm Springs and the hallway featured photos of the owner’s SM parked out front. It looked so…right.
Keeping my old BMW convertible running is enough of a challenge; I’m more than hesitant to move up to the graduate level with something like an SM. Still, I think I get what BANDY’s saying and he does have a point…
A simple KR-200 Messerscmit, as simple as it looks, can be a Bearcat to restore.
Lotus. Say no more !!
Third generation Corvette should be at the top of the list. Wasn’t the General’s finest hour.
The C3 was 68 to 82. Compared to the complex and difficult to work on C4, the C3 isn’t bad at all, but yes GM quality was sub-par during the C3 era. Anybody remember the VEGA! Good luck finding an early one!
Great comments. I’ll add that even so-called “SIMPLE” cars with lots of parts and knowledge support can get complicated and expensive. I’ve done a few “project” cars because I like to work on them and make them like new. If I had to pay someone to do all the work that I do, then it would be a financial disaster. So, when I hear someone say “This car is simple” I just think to myself the person has never properly restored a car.
I’m in the process of assembling a convertible top frame I repaired and refinished for a “simple” 66 Chevy Corvair. It has been interesting, but NEVER again. Now I know why top shops charge so much more for “repairs” vs. just putting on a new top.
“Hats off” to Jay Leno for saving so many interesting vehicles.
Having owned an SM for almost 50 years I think it is getting a bad rap here. A few issues for sure like a lot of cars but mostly minor and changing the spheres are much easier than changing struts or shocks. Driving this car and the ride it gives is incomparable to any other of the stable of cars I have owned or driven.
Back in 77, when I met my first wife (now deceased), she owned a 68 Opel Kadett wagon. I ended up rebuilding the engine, but it took months just to find the parts! And seeing how I love to punish myself, I owned 3 more after that
My uncle scolded my dad for letting me drive a V8 Nova. My uncle didn’t know that some of the wildest drives I had been on were with my cousins piloting the late ’60s Opel Kadett and Kadett wagons! I loved how much fun you could have in those cars! I later bought a ’69 Opel GT! “More fun to drive a Slow Car Fast than a Fast Car slow!”
Having just spent the last two years chasing parts for a customer who was restoring a 69 Boss 429, that was previously a drag car, I can attest that it takes a brave soul with deep pockets to take on a Boss 429. There were less than 1400 Boss 429’s built in 69 and 70. All of them were basically hand built by Kar Kraft and almost everything forward of the firewall was unique to the Boss 429. $500 heat riser, $5000 intake manifold, $600 battery tray, $900 front spoiler, etc, etc…….
Surprising that the Mercedes-Benz 600 wasn’t at the top of the list.
None of the older models are easy, but not sure why 50’s to ’60s Ferraris aren’t on the list
I own 4 Maserati Bi-Turbos, one just burned in a garage fire.
The three remaining are for sale on “bring a trailer.”
One automatic and 2 are five speed.
Two are titled, one is parts only.
The red one runs and drives, but currently has bad gas in it.
Was quite a quick little car when everything comes together.
This summers project was to drop the tank and coat it,
but I have been too busy. Time to pass them on.
I know I’m a car nut. The Lagonda is at the top of my wish list, the SM second, and I already have a Biturbo. I also have a Jaguar XJS V12, which has actually been quite reliable for the last 12 years that I’ve owned it. And my most needy one is a Triumph TR7.