It's a nice Restomod but this 1970 Olds 442 cost the owner $450,000 for this build. That is insane. What is even more insane is that at 06:45 in the video, the shop owner admitted that the paint/body is over 16 years old and so it has paint/rust bubbles and flaking of paint in some spots. To fix the paint and repaint the car, would bring the car cost to over $500,000. That is truly insane.

There is NO WAY the owner of this car (Cliff Finlay) will ever recoup that cost if he decides to sell it. At best, I would see this selling for around $100k -$150k tops in a BJ or Mecum auction.

 

It's interesting, and I agree with your stance. My position on outrageous prices is to ask for the justification. I understand wanting 10% profit, but I want to know where the $300k over the price of the 442 and the LS went.

 

Do you ever wonder, where the hell does somebody get $450,000 of disposal income to spend a a car like this? Of course, if you were Dak Prescott who just demolished his +$4-million dollar mansion then he could afford it.

 

$450K is a little crazy, but to bring in some perspective here are costs you could expect to pay for just some of the parts on this car:

LT4 + 10 speed crate engine: $28K - 30K
Roadster shop frame w/ independent rear suspension: $25K - $40K
15" wilwood brakes: $6K - $10K
Forgeline wheels: $7K - $10K
Custom Leather interior: $25K - $50K
Custom sheetmetal work to the entire underside of the car $???
The interior had a lot of one off CNC machined aluminum parts (dash, console, door panels etc). You know that stuff was not cheap.
Figure $100 - $150/hr shop labor rate

You can see how the costs of a build like this add up pretty quick.

 

Wow, hope the owner had a big tub of lube

 

Oh damn. I laughed out loud at this!

 

Even for reasonably priced classics you're going to spend more restoring it than you would get selling it.

 

This is absolutely true. I have experience in this. (as we all have)

 

When I have sex I want a kiss, I hope the owner got one because they definitely had sex.

 

Definitely true if you're paying someone to do all the work or the majority of it.

 

Yeah, saw this, the $250,000 in parts is insane. Wow meh paint on top of that, what a rip off. Nah, he went raw, used the guys blood as lube.

 

x2

 

I REALLY wanted to hate this car…
But all I hate is the price.
it looks great. Probably rides great. Tons of power. Reliable.

But theres a lot of things I’d do differently.
-that 10 speed sounds sloppy. (I’d be happy with a TH400 with a GV
-factory door panels would look much better
-no head rests in an updated custom seat?
-im not going to mention to stripes on the wing…but I just did.

You could get this vibe and ride for a whole lot less.
But, even though it’s a non-Olds swap….it is kinda badass.

 

It made a lot of noise, but is it fast ? Would a 10 speed hold up behind a 425 ?

 

Look, all of these high-end, pro-built cars are well into six figures. These shops have a large staff that gets billed out at at least $150/hr, plus overhead on the shop and equipment, plus markup on the parts they buy. The people who are buying these cars don't have to care about the cost. I'm happy for them, but that's not me. I prefer doing the work myself.

 

Like all modern automatic transmission , it will be in the programming. My 4L80E is hardly noticeable under light throttle and very firm but not harsh with the basic Holley programming. I am sure the programming could be tweaked a lot better. Yeah, the 10 speed should do fine behind any Olds, good luck fitting it. I bet a whole custom tunnel was needed. I was surprised by how tight the 4L80E was, let alone one these monsters. Yes, it is a nice car with at least 650 HP/TQ, the LT4 stock and I would assume it would drive like new car with all the upgrades, it better.

 

My whole thing is why do this to a pedigree car. Leave this ridiculousness to a regular Cutlass. And if he thinks he is building on the 442 name he is sadly mistaken. He has in fact discredited the name.

Jerry has been making football mistakes since getting rid of Landry the way he did. Was blessed to get another Landry in Jimmy. And then repeated his first mistake. And now he is going on 30 years of nothingness. Although he is a good businessman... leave the football part to the football guys ...

And this is coming from a Bills fan. Who was indirectly hurt by Jerry's early success. Those 2 loses to the Cowboys changed the way I support teams to this day. I was numb after the Bills lost the 4th superbowl in a row.

 

I’d drive it.

 

While the major parts are definitely expensive, all the many misc parts to get an LS/ new tranny mated to a ~55 yrs old car does add up... .but that price is cray cray

 

As has been said many times, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

 

Three things don't lie: drunks, kids, and yoga pants.

 

to paraphrase Ben Franklin, "Yoga pants are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!"

 

 

At least dinner and a show first.

 

They do lie. Yoga pants form things into more flattering shapes.

 

I don't see a problem👀🤷‍♂️

Nice car too