Lots of buyers love the classic muscle car era from around 1964 to 1973. During this time, lots of highly-powered muscle cars were created. These cars were designed to look good, feel good, and drive super fast. It was all about the power, image, and feeling of driving one of these vehicles. However, you shouldn`t ALWAYS buy one. Buying a used muscle car comes with multiple challenges you wouldn`t even think about with a modern car, and we`re not just talking about the good amount of miles on a used car. Buying an old muscle car is a passion project that you need to be fully invested in or it`s not going to be worth it. With that in mind, here are 4 things to keep in mind before buying an old muscle car!
1. Sometimes you need to buy one in good condition
You might want to save money on that $8,000 bargain vehicle, but is it going to be running in a year or two?
While we`ve all heard the romantic stories of a single guy bringing a downtrodden muscle car back to life, that is seldom the case in real life.
In reality, spending less than $20,000 on a used muscle car means that you`re probably getting a subpar car that`s going to die on you shortly.
Unless you`ve got absolutely insane mechanic skills, we would recommend that you spend at least $20,000 on your used muscle car to ensure that it doesn`t turn into a money pit that costs thousands to repair.
2. You need to maintain your old muscle car… a lot
Okay so this is somewhat common sense, but a lot of used muscle car buyers never think about this as much as they should.
Owning a classic muscle car seems funl, but remember that you need to put A LOT of work into keeping a 50-year-old vehicle alive and running. That includes keeping the engine going as well as preventing problems with rust, decay, and other forms of aging.
If you`re not prepared to put a ton of maintenance work into your car, then it might be something to reconsider.
3. Parts can be very hard to find
If a modern car breaks, you can jump on Google and find a whole bunch of car parts suppliers in seconds. However, if your old muscle car needs a repair, it`s a much more difficult process to track down the part you need.
Oftentimes, old muscle car owners are forced to look through scrapyards or spend hours calling up salvage yards that sell old car parts at steep prices due to their rarity.
If you do find the part you need, you`ll often be paying a very high amount for it. Be careful and check the market for old car parts in your area -- you might need to stock up them before they`re gone forever.
4. Old muscle cars can be difficult to drive
If you`re used to driving modern cars, there are a lot of differences when it comes to cars made over 50 years ago. Power steering doesn`t exist, safety features are very limited, the brakes are often bad, and acceleration can be a little… too much.
While you might enjoy driving an old muscle car around for the image and feeling, it can be tricky to navigate these cars on modern roads filled with 21st-century vehicles that are designed to tackle modern terrain and traffic flow.
Hopefully you enjoyed these 4 things to keep in mind before buying an old muscle car! These classic vehicles can be a real treat, but don`t forget the work that comes with owning them!
