1965 Mercury Colony Park on eBay - Cookeville, TN

Looks nice and original (except for the items mentioned by the seller).



https://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-Mercu...121689?hash=item1a8e188699:g:IpkAAOSw7aBeE0fR

 

That's a sweet looking wagon!

 

Now, that's a good lookin' wagon I'd like to own.

 

I think it would look sweet jacked up ~4 feet, sitting on a 3/4 or 1 ton 4x4 truck frame with 37 in mudders on it!

 

Sold, winning bid was $6000.00

 

just curious on ball park numbers, knowing it depends on several things. on a 70's/80's wagon approx. how much to?
redo Exterior paint-
redo wood grain -
redo interior -
over haul engine -
transmission -

plus or minus a few thousand or nearest $5000.

for this car above, or any typical wagon

 

Unfortunately there are huge variables to almost all of those.

Paint: Is the body in good shape? Or is there going to be rust repair, panel replacement etc? Do you want a cheap-o depot paint job? Single stage? Basecoat/clearcoat? You can spend from $500 for a pay-n-spray to $15,000 easy and that's not even for a "show car" paintjob.

Woodgrain: Do you want stock NOS stuff or are you willing to go with new, reprinted stuff that looks nice, but isn't necessarily identical to the original color/pattern etc?

Interior: Do the seats just need to be recovered and the carpets replaced? Or has a family of raccoons been living inside of it and there isn't a salvageable piece?

Engine: You can have a good, but tired engine that can have new life breathed into it for $500- $1,000 depending on parts and labor. You can have an engine that "runs" but is basically toast that can cost $3,500 to $5,000 + to overhaul.

Transmission: These are pretty simply beasts. They're usually in good working order or they're not. An overhaul on a typical automatic trans isn't going to be cheap, but it wouldn't break the bank either.

Bottom line is, there are cars out there that can be spruced up with an investment of nearly nothing to five grand (not counting the purchase price) and there are cars out there that, don't seem too bad on the surface, but once you really start digging into things can cost ten to fifteen grand easily (not counting the purchase price)
And sometimes, the two cars can be parked next to each other and upon initial inspection they appear to be in almost identical condition!

Excluding purchase price I would say the cost of restoration for a typical 70's/80's American station wagon could range from $5,000 to $2o,ooo easy. It all depends on what you start with and what you want to do to it.