That's what I was thinking. If anyone would know what it's worth, and how to sell it, it would be him.

quote:

Originally posted by Redleg06:
Wayne Carini from "Chasing Classic Cars"?

Concours level resto is worth 60k. It would probably cost several multiples of that to get to concours.

see it or spend enough to get it running and drive it around.

unless its really a 1 of 3. then maybe it has some significant value.

Don't forget the longtime Bentley association with Rolls Royce, which may lead to affiliated clubs and collectors. Your car looks similar to the RR Phantom V of the same era, which may help find info and/or restoration advice.

Does Jay Leno have one of these yet?

I follow Hemmings. Quite frequently I will see ads for classic cars for sale in which the stated restoration cost exceeds the asking price; at least for professional restorations.

How to make a small fortune restoring cars:

Start with a large fortune.

Wow, those lines... that's a cool car.

No idea what to do with it, but please don't let her be crushed.

Steel or aluminum body? Aluminum body would be a couchworks body built by some other company and more valuable than the standard steel body listed in Haggerty.

A quick Google search and it looks similar to an Empress Saloon built by Hooper. The trunks look different.
LINK

I would figure out what you have and then sell it.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Steel or aluminum body? Aluminum body would be a couchworks body built by some other company and more valuable than the standard steel body listed in Haggerty.

A quick Google search and it looks like an Empress Saloon built by Hooper. LINK

I would figure out what you have and then sell it.

It has a full Aluminum Body. It looks similar to your Empress but has the rarer rear wheel well skirts. It's most likely a rebadged Rolls Royce Silver Cloud with custom coachwork.

H&K-Guy

I'm sorry, it's early and I missed that you said it was a Hooper body in the first sentence of your original post. I read all the other posts and forgot. It's a neat car and would be beautiful restored. For me it would be a project for someone else.

You failed to give us the back story and how it came to be yours.
Would make a huge difference in what I did with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You failed to give us the back story and how it came to be yours.
Would make a huge difference in what I did with it.

My father came into it about 50 years ago. We used to ride in it to special occasions, you know, fancy dinners, to church on Sunday, stuff like that. The car was his baby.

My father passed away four years ago. I thought of keeping it or restoring it in his name, but now I am challenging that wisdom.

The car was transferred to me when he could no longer take care of/store it. I've got it stored away in a barn, until I decide what to do.

H&K-Guy

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x: If storing it costs you a fortune and you won't have the money to restore it. SELL IT, and invest the money. Usually restorations cost far more than the car is worth when you're done restoring it.

100% agreed. My train-driving buddy's SIL treated himself to a nice 1960 RR Corniche convertible that needed a 'little attention' to the rear suspension. It had to be done by Jack Barclay, the well-known - here in yUK - RR and Bentley dealership, as it had already been booked in for the work to be done.

$42K later it emerged from the workshop, looking, and riding, like new. You can see us in it driving around rural Leicestershire on Youtube - tac's cars Rolls-Royce - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kIGkF4b16Q .

Nothing is cheap on either a Rolls or a Bentley, and there is absolutely no 'make-do' either, if it is to retain any market value.

My advice to the OP is to sell it on to somebody with the funds to get it right.

tac

Tac,

I have made a guess in the past that a sympathetic restoration, the kind that gets it up and running well, with out any other details, would cost me somewhere around $19k. I realize that is money I'll never get back out of it. I have the funds to do this, but am not sure I really want to go that far.

H&K-Guy

You mean to tell us you've been a member for 15 years, you've had this car for years, and we're only just now finding out about this?

quote:

I've seen one sell restored for over 60K.

That seems low, but even if it sold for $100K, the cost of a full, quality restoration would likely exceed even that. It appears to have a straight body but needs paint, which alone might be $8-10K, the leather upholstery and wood trim are probably deteriorated, and of course it doesn't run, the list goes on and on. The bottom line is that it might be a labor of love, but you'd never recover your investment. However, it would bring a lot more if it were able to run and drive. Can the engine even turn over? Do you have the skills and time to put the carburetor(s), brakes and other running gear together?

Egregore,

It is tarped and stored in solid barn. No worries there.

Yeah, It could fetch a tidy sum if it ran. But a sympathetic restoration is more than putting gas in it and a spare battery.

The leather is serviceable. The dash needs to be sanded and refinished. A wooden trim piece in the passenger compartment has become a bit loose, and needs to be re glued. But, every part and piece to the car is there to work on and restore.

I just need help in deciding what to do.

H&K-Guy

I have friends who own a body shop. One of them is into classic restorations. I could show him your pics and see what he thinks. He is very tedious minded detailed oriented person which is why he is good at what he does.

He has done many resto's of a lot of different cars and will be the first to tell you there is no money in it.

About 8 years ago I located a 70 Chevelle numbers matching 454 in original condition. Completely documented with build sheets etc. It needed a complete frame off resto but it was as solid as you will find. I passed on it and he bought it to redo for himself. Turns out it was a LS6 454 Chevelle not the common LS5 that most are. The LS6 is as rare as dinosaur teeth. It took him 18 months to do the resto. Sold the car for $130k.

That one he made money on!

The Rolls Royce/Bentley Association is based out of Mechanicsburg, PA. They might have some suggestions or even people looking for projects. They might even know someone with an idea of value in this condition.

Also the Hershey Auto Show (Hershey, PA) would be a place to sell it. Having it there would obviously be best, but going yourself with a sign on your back and walking the show could work also. Take lots of pix along.

quote:

Originally posted by H&K-Guy:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You failed to give us the back story and how it came to be yours.
Would make a huge difference in what I did with it.

My father came into it about 50 years ago. We used to ride in it to special occasions, you know, fancy dinners, to church on Sunday, stuff like that. The car was his baby.

My father passed away four years ago. I thought of keeping it or restoring it in his name, but now I am challenging that wisdom.

The car was transferred to me when he could no longer take care of/store it. I've got it stored away in a barn, until I decide what to do.

H&K-Guy

I'd have a hard time parting with it because of that right there if it were mine personally.

quote:

Originally posted by pbramlett:

quote:

Originally posted by H&K-Guy:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You failed to give us the back story and how it came to be yours.
Would make a huge difference in what I did with it.

My father came into it about 50 years ago. We used to ride in it to special occasions, you know, fancy dinners, to church on Sunday, stuff like that. The car was his baby.

My father passed away four years ago. I thought of keeping it or restoring it in his name, but now I am challenging that wisdom.

The car was transferred to me when he could no longer take care of/store it. I've got it stored away in a barn, until I decide what to do.

H&K-Guy

I'd have a hard time parting with it because of that right there if it were mine personally.

This is exactly why I asked.
Same here if it was my father's baby no way I could part with it.

You say 19k would get it up and rolling, you have the funds to do it.
I know I would certainly be doing that.