An inside look at the costs of restoration

A friend of ours, Jeff Murphy, dragged his unrestored ’69 Mustang Mach 1 onto a trailer and sent it off to a restoration shop after it languished in his walk-out basement for the better part of 30 years. He was surprised when the estimate for the bodywork and paint elements of the project came this close to $40,000.

At a glance, the dusty, but complete and seemingly solid pony car didn’t need much. Sure, there were some rust bubbles behind the rear wheel openings and the dings and minor dents that come on a 50-year-old car—even if it had spent more than half of its life off the road—but for someone who hadn’t had a muscle car restored before, the bodywork and paint estimate was a shock.

And that is one reason why many amateurs end up DIYing it, for better or worse.