Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire vintage hunting truck value

I think you'd find that it would flourish rapidly.

Especially if you left yourself open to doing it to a wider range of years and types. I was listening to a podcast the other day with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and he explained his first truck was a S10. He has one fully restored to showroom condition and he said he's always amazed by the amount of comments he gets on that truck. Simply because you never see them.

Toyota's are another easy money maker. If you have an all original Toyota people going fugking nuts for them.

All depends on the price point. What's the price point that will give you sufficient profit and still provide enough volume to make it a long-term gig? I think it's a pretty fine line you are trying to thread for a specialty vehicle that the owner might only use for a week or two per year (if that). The muscle cars get used all year, or at least all of the soft-water season. Easier for a guy to justify.

I do like the idea, but I'll keep getting by with a modern non-classic truck and I'll put the money into vintage firearms instead.

First thing I thought of thinking of Dave's past history.
The last sentence of quote.
/but that's not where he is today.

The top of that jeep looks like a good place to drink beer.

Eyebrows, way up! There is been a slow trend in that direction in recent years. As much as we complained about the older rigs, they’re simplicity ruggedness is what some people are looking for today. I just recently picked up a 97 F350 regular cab 7.3 98,000 miles. Going to do a transmission swap to manual. I see more and more people in my area looking for the older trucks And doing them up. I know couple of guys that took ford OBS gas jobs and did Cummings diesel swaps in them, what a truck! I have been contemplating picking up a rust free highboy And Having someone do exactly what you are talking about Dave. Looking at what you and your son did to his truck I think you could make money doing it. Don’t give up on the hot rods :-) PM me your website or telephone number.
Tom

Hunt deer and call coyotes. Picture doesn’t show the front rack. But when its on , it turns the Jeep into a blue quail hunting machine.
Hasbeen

Since I don't know what I'm talking about I'll chime in as well. Nothing with a motor and 4 wheels will appreciate. I don't care what the price is.
It's a tough market anyway you cut it.

I have a friend who has a shop and does work on race cars (draggers and such) and also hunting vehicles, but he does just what the customer wants and no more. What you do is a tough business. Anyone who can make money is lucky.
Most garages that make money are parts replacers and get it down to a couple of brands.

How many shops are there that do 4x4 upgrades?

The beauty of those old trucks is that they are simple and durable, and just about anybody could work on them. Few bells and whistles to go wrong. The downside was rust and fuel economy. A 'hunting truck' for me is something you don't have to worry about - mud, blood, trees, dirt, water, etc. But get me from here to there reliably with a good heater and decent ability to travel trails. No way I would spend serious money on this. I and a lot of guys can do a lot of mechanical things to upgrade or keep them running, except rust repair and paint. And again, nothing pretty, just solid body integrity and paint to keep it from rusting.

I have no idea how many guys would spend $20,000, $30,000 on what you're thinking of doing.

Maybe all your business model needs is perhaps a bit more discipline on the pricing side, as you do outstanding work. Review your costs, your revenue, try to identify where you make the best return and what's the worst. Anything you take on for the first time will take longer and cost you more; stay with what you're familiar with.

And I should really see if I can find a 1983 Chevy truck in Arizona . . .

I'm a big fan of the '55-'58 or so step side Chevy trucks. An original 4wd truck from that period is hard to find but you can put the old body on a later frame/drivetrain.

Dave they would SELL, if you can Keep them in the 40K range! Id love to have something like that!

Neighbor owned a body shop for high end repairs. Had vehicles shipped in from all over as he was highly regarded as an artist at what he could do.
He passed away a couple years ago a multi millionaire.

He loved what he did and was damned good at it!

g

I think it is a viable idea if you pick your market carefully. Go where the money is, Jackson,Wy comes to mind,as to where you will find the high margin potential customer. Big money wanting to have the "look". I was in Jackson in May and October and there were millions of $ of cool guy rigs on the streets. Investigate market saturation and cost of customer acquisition in the areas where the demand for lifestyle toys is high.

Think big, there is a lot of money out there chasing quality and originality. Do your research, look at the high end country living and western lifestyle magazines and see what people are paying for geegaws and furnishings, the sky is the limit.

Guys like us know what they want but you won't get rich selling to us. Build the trucks we would want if $ wasn't the limiting factor and don't ignore tech. State of the art nav systems are awesome and should be designed into the interior set up. And headroom for a cowboy hat.

You are thinking right, find a niche, get riche. Good Luck.


mike r

I did a off the frame on a 1973 Chevy suburban ...disc brakes all the way around ...just about new/better everything including body parts... LMC , and junk yards were my best friend's...still got the recipients to the tune of 40,000.00 ... btw as u must know ..its hard to beat factory parts ...the LMC stuff ages in a hurry > https://goo.gl/images/Jq4WBE

(note: considering my business experience I've never been considered the sharpest pencil in the box so take this for what it's worth.)


Before you jump in (if you haven't already) do an honest market analysis of who would pay your price pt. and how many fit that group. The next thing to do is look at the competition in that market and any outliers that could suck business away from what you plan. Another thing, the new car/truck auto market is going through some big slow downs in sales, like 10%-20% in some cases, just this year alone, and predictions are it may keep dropping. With new truck sales slowing there could be a glut of used cars on the market that might compete with your product as well.

Contrary to popular opinion, the economy is sputtering and markets have been showing this. Americans are running even more personal debt this time around than during the 08-09' crash and if the economy starts heading down with interest rates going up, home values could drop and home equity will dry up, ending financing for more stuff.

You are obviously selling to a niche market who appreciate well built simplified(analog vs digital) products but when the debt load reaches critical mass and investments are tanking, or put on hold "toys" take a back seat to the basics for most people, shrinking your potential customer base. This might lead to different customer demographics to market to who are more wealthy and not affected as much by econ. down turns, don't have debt, pay with cash, but have higher expectations for what the product offers ie. more bling, which could be a good thing since they will pay more.

Building one and listing it on https://bringatrailer.com/auctions/ might give you some good feedback what your niche market is open too.

I think it's a fine idea.

I think you'd be wise to stick to a specific make/model. Something you can still easily buy parts for. That way you learn the trucks inside and out and know where the problem spots are. I've bought and sold over 60 vehicles and one that I regret getting rid of was a '72 Chevy short box 4x4. I'd like to get another some day.

You'd be dealing with the same kind of folks that buy your street rod builds. They've got to have some disposable income to buy a refurbished vintage truck. I doubt your customers going to the bank to ask for a loan.

I'm a big fan of Jonathan Ward and Icon. He started with Landcruisers and branched out to Broncos and something he calls derelicts. I really dig the derelicts and I'm working on my own version - '61 Willys Wagon.

Icon 4x4

Docbill beat me to it. Check them out for some ideas.

The square body chevy's would be an easy place to start.
Plenty of bits and pieces cause they where made from the 70's to the 90's .... any salvage yard will have few on hand.
Also the people who can afford to spend 10 to 20 thousand on a restored vehicle ... are retiring ( and have play time on their hands).

I'd honestly be really careful about a switch, or a "spec" change. I think you're at the point where you have a pretty good record of what these projects have cost you versus what you THOUGHT you'd need.
This happens to me constantly on woodwork jobs. I always think it will be easier than it ends up, take way too many hits, so there's something I'm doing wrong in estimating.
You might be doing the same thing. So before any changes, GO THROUGH YOUR BOOKS and see if there's a pattern of under-bidding. Then, is that pattern a consistent amount? In terms of hours? Parts? Something else? Analyze yourself.

As for the switch to cool trucks, the fact is, the demographic that started on a TRUCK and wishes for that old TRUCK now is far more limited than those who had hot cars in their younger days and now want a replacement. There might be a niche, and you might be able to specialize there versus "mainstream" restorations like you do now. But specialization, you'll need to market outwards, have a bigger reach in customer awareness. And that's gonna take promotion and money which you're not really making now.

So, I'd look at your existing fundamental issue, which is profit shortage, see if you can't get that under control first.

I love your idea Dave.

It's a loser though


The cars you do such an awesome job on, they are toys, status symbols, a link to past times.


If one had to drive most of them 365 days a year,
he would realize.......cars have honestly improved over the last 30 years.

I love those old trucks (my truck is a '93 W250 Diesel). Soon owned it 26 years. Has a lot of memories.

But, compare it to my dad's 2018 Chevy.
And I have a nice old truck.

If you could get into aftermarket enhancements as a sideline,
it could be profitable. But I don't think that is a good use for your
talents. Bolting lift kits together and mounting new tire/wheel combo's
would soon boor you.