Ted Stephens Daytona Wreck Under the Knife

[birdsandbees]

I care less either way... but any scrap yard that I have ever dealt with, the minute the car is picked up or delivered to the yard the titles are VOID.. vehicles are bought as scrap weight / value and are to never go back on the road again once they enter the "pearly gates"! I tried to get at '69 Cuda out of our local yard around 1978 to an absolute "no way" by the yard owner back then.

[Highbanked Hauler]

I care less either way... but any scrap yard that I have ever dealt with, the minute the car is picked up or delivered to the yard the titles are VOID.. vehicles are bought as scrap weight / value and are to never go back on the road again once they enter the "pearly gates"! I tried to get at '69 Cuda out of our local yard around 1978 to an absolute "no way" by the yard owner back then.

   I was ASSuming the tags were still on it.   I am almost sure back in the 70S in Massachusetts cars didn't get the tags cut off till it was crushed. But that was then.

[birdsandbees]

Tags mean nothing without a title or ownership. I still have our '69 Fury II's ownership from when it went to the yard in the sky back in 1980 or so. The day after that.. parts car only.

[Nwcharger]

I care less either way... but any scrap yard that I have ever dealt with, the minute the car is picked up or delivered to the yard the titles are VOID.. vehicles are bought as scrap weight / value and are to never go back on the road again once they enter the "pearly gates"! I tried to get at '69 Cuda out of our local yard around 1978 to an absolute "no way" by the yard owner back then.

I think it's really up to the yard, but yes once the titles are turned in to the state the cars are scrap.  I've saved almost a dozen cars from junkyards, the last one was a 67 Dodge Monaco 500 two door that was a one owner car.  What was really cool about it was inside the glove box the owner had a maintenance book that had every maintenance he ever did starting from the first oil change to the last service which was some  Time in the mid 90s.  The car was missing absolutely nothing, even the spare tire, Jack and tools and even the owners manual was in the car

[alfaitalia]

I care less either way... but any scrap yard that I have ever dealt with, the minute the car is picked up or delivered to the yard the titles are VOID.. vehicles are bought as scrap weight / value and are to never go back on the road again once they enter the "pearly gates"! I tried to get at '69 Cuda out of our local yard around 1978 to an absolute "no way" by the yard owner back then.

Luckily its not like that hear. The "title" is not returned to the government (DVLA here) until its actually crushed. All the time there is a complete shell with all the numbers (bare in mind that most cars don't have removable tags here) then its fair game and can be bought and put back on the road subject to the usual inspections. The only ones that cant are ones that insurance companies have written off to category A or B and they are usually too badly damaged to even consider rebuilding. Group C and D cars are fine.

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

The Daytona never had the title turned into the state.  It was to rare.  They just had it as art for the longest time in front of their yard, but moved it into the yard to protect it from thieves.

[farm966]

I realize a car is worth how much someone is willing to pay for it, but how much do you think this car is worth once it is completed? Is it worth more than a normal, freshly restored Daytona considering its history?  Or is it worth less than a recently restored Daytona considering its history and all new sheet metal??

[Wingwalker]

The restoration scene is changing day by day!
Gone are the days when you could find rare Mopes on the side of the road with a burnt out transmission etc...
They are all rusted wrecks or worse!
50 years of 'USE and ABUSE' can ruin almost any piece of Mopars finest automobiles.

It was always OK to remove a piece of rusty metal and replace it with new.
Slow and tedious but 'in the true spirit' of resto!

Now its Sawall the Goddam thing into a pile of unrecognisability and get a NEW shell...

NOT resto, but RECREATION...

Yeh its a Daytona, its says it on the side? got to be betta than a pro-touring 69 Charger hemi R/T, I think???

[Mytur Binsdirti]

That creation is proof positive that you can now "restore" a high dollar car consisting of nothing but a rocker panel and a VIN tag.   

[billssuperbird]

Everybody and their mothers know all about this car so it's all going to be what someone is willing to pay for. Personally I think they did a nice job and I like the car. 

[70 sublime]

Lets say we have 3 cars that all look identical Same colours , same period correct non original motors , same interiors , same everything
One Daytona , new paint job , maybe a couple small patches over the years
This Daytona , total rebuild
My Daytona clone , built with all metal Daytona reproduction parts (nothing fiberglass) on an original 69 Charger with original 1/4s and a couple small patches ( same as first Daytona)

On any given day anyplace in the world and you had $1,000,000 in your pocket so you could buy any or all 3 cars so price did not matter

If you payed $ XX amount for the first Daytona so say this is 100% price

How much % would you say the other 2 cars were worth compared to the first car ?

[moparnation74]

That creation is proof positive that you can now "restore" a high dollar car consisting of nothing but a rocker panel and a VIN tag.   

Scary thought indeed....It is cool to see this car back to an original state but it should have to receive a state issued VIN and salvage title....

[Mytur Binsdirti]

That creation is proof positive that you can now "restore" a high dollar car consisting of nothing but a rocker panel and a VIN tag.   

Scary thought indeed....It is cool to see this car back to an original state but it should have to receive a state issued VIN and salvage title....

Agreed.

[charger chris]

If the title was never reported to the state as being in a junk yard then no one nos about it. Back in the day they didn't hand titles over to the state. Hell most of the time they didn't have the title for them. Cars now days are looked at differently.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Lets say we have 3 cars that all look identical Same colours , same period correct non original motors , same interiors , same everything
One Daytona , new paint job , maybe a couple small patches over the years
This Daytona , total rebuild
My Daytona clone , built with all metal Daytona reproduction parts (nothing fiberglass) on an original 69 Charger with original 1/4s and a couple small patches ( same as first Daytona)

On any given day anyplace in the world and you had $1,000,000 in your pocket so you could buy any or all 3 cars so price did not matter

If you payed $ XX amount for the first Daytona so say this is 100% price

How much % would you say the other 2 cars were worth compared to the first car ?

Rebuilt car 70% of real car cost(just cause it has the XX VIN)
clone 50%

Just my take on it.

[charger_fan_4ever]

I realize a car is worth how much someone is willing to pay for it, but how much do you think this car is worth once it is completed? Is it worth more than a normal, freshly restored Daytona considering its history?  Or is it worth less than a recently restored Daytona considering its history and all new sheet metal??

Hard to say some like to be special and maybe pay a premium because of its past. Any real car guy in the market for a daytona would pass on this one if its in the same ballpark $$$ wise to a real car. Then again unless you have photo evidence of the other car who knows what it once was.

[Wingwalker]

They said back in the day, that a car built from 'dealer parts' would cost THREE times that of a dealer room model!
That is obviously a guesswork total as it doesn't take into account for painting, welding etc...

So in theory, (bitd) it is possible to build a car from supplied parts in any configuration you desire.
Most would build a top of the range hemi Daytona etc., but registration may have caused a problem?

So to me, if a factory built hemi Daytona is nearly a Million, then this car, (CREATION, with a hemi) is THREE MILLION...

Why buy a rusty 50 year old Mopar, when you can have a NEW Mopar...from AMD!

[dave14]

Im all for saving a real car and Im glad parts are available to do it as far as value whatever somebodys willing to pay I guess but for market value Ide say no more than half the value of  a mostly unmolested daytona ..... its real but what percentage ?  regardless of labour and parts used to recreate this original car .If it does end up for sale no doubt people will know exactly what there buying and itll be nice to see another wing cat at shows / street or wherever it ends up

[Montreal Wing Car]

I'll bet that quite a few of the cars sold at auctions have almost if not as much new sheetmetal as the Stephens car.... but it would all have been done away from the public eye...

Ben

[ksquared]

That creation is proof positive that you can now "restore" a high dollar car consisting of nothing but a rocker panel and a VIN tag.    

Scary thought indeed....It is cool to see this car back to an original state but it should have to receive a state issued VIN and salvage title....

I don't know that it would have to have a "state issued VIN."

I haven't checked in all 50 states, but in Georgia, the first one I researched, you can get a "rebuilt" title if you follow their rules.  It states that it must be restored/rebuilt by a licensed rebuilder, and pass inspection by a Georgia approved inspector or station, before the vehicle is painted.  You will also need to provide a photo of the vehicle before repairs, receipts for new parts purchased, and for used parts the VIN of the vehicle the part was removed from.

As another reference, Hemmings had a story about a twice rebodied Duesenberg Model J:  
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/index.php/2015/04/14/twice-rebodied-1932-duesenberg-model-j-sells-for-500000-in-houston/
and it essentially said the Duesenberg sold for less than a pristine one, but nobody had been calling for it to be crushed.  For many decades it sat as just a frame and engine.

I think charger_fan_4ever was close with the estimate of 70% of a pristine Daytona.

I'm wondering if there was any final list of the original parts that were used/restored and now on the car.  What is the estimate of the final cost of restoring it?

[70 sublime]

I'm wondering if there was any final list of the original parts that were used/restored and now on the car.  What is the estimate of the final cost of restoring it?


That would be an interesting number to find out parts plus labour

[TiMopar]

Does anyone know for a fact that this car will be painted/ running/ finished, or are we just assuming that it will be? Or will it remain as an unpainted rolling advert for their products?

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

Does anyone know for a fact that this car will be painted/ running/ finished, or are we just assuming that it will be? Or will it remain as an unpainted rolling advert for their products?

Once it is done doing this Tour it is on, it will be finished.

[markmopar]

That creation is proof positive that you can now "restore" a high dollar car consisting of nothing but a rocker panel and a VIN tag.   

The Warbird crowd has been doing that forever. I once saw a P-51 build from an ID tag and a pile of twisted metal.

[DAY CLONA]

That creation is proof positive that you can now "restore" a high dollar car consisting of nothing but a rocker panel and a VIN tag.   

The Warbird crowd has been doing that forever. I once saw a P-51 build from an ID tag and a pile of twisted metal.

And everyone will  a warbird resto done this way, yet it's different for an "automobile"?....I'll never understand it, they're both "machines", meant to be rebuilt, refurbished regardless of the means