DGH, in the Doug Arnold thread, says “many [people in Blackbushe in the 70’s/80’s] seemed to be of the opinion that [Doug Arnold] was only in it for the money. Were those the days that you could buy and restore an aircraft and sell it on at a profit? Have those days ever existed?”
It made me wonder – what are the economics of owning and restoring a historic aircraft? Note that is a separate issue from the economics of operating a restoration business. Can a private person acquire, restore, use and on-sell a historic aircraft for a net gain or is any gain more than taken up by restoration and operating costs (maintenance, storage, insurance, etc.)?
I expect the answer will be along the lines of “it all depends” in which case I’d like to know “depends on what?” For example, I would imagine rarity, which would add value, would be offset by very high cost of restoration and/or maintenance, etc.
cheers, Don
By: Avro's Finest - 15th March 2005 at 09:33
The best way to get a small fortune
Start off with a large fortune, buy a restoration project, and, hey presto, at the end of it you will have a small fortune.
If you are very lucky.
By: trumper - 15th March 2005 at 09:28
I suppose alot depends on the market,something is only worth what someone will pay for it.
Certain aircraft will always attract more money and attention but sometimes it seems to work the other way.They become so popular and their numbers increase that the markets gets flooded and possibly harder to sell.
By: Mark12 - 15th March 2005 at 09:02
1970’s- The steep curve of value appreciation
Then as now most vintage aircraft restorations greatly exceeded the initial cost estimates of time, chargeable hours and materials to complete. Usually by a factor of about x2.4.
Many of those projects, and typically Spitfires, were saved financially by the fact that their values appreciated by an even greater factor, so no money or face was lost.
Only over the past 10-15 years have values hit an apparent glass ceiling that apart from some notable exceptions, few have managed to break through.
In pure commercial terms at realistic rates, a Spitfire restoration, from the available ‘starter kits’, is a £2m project, the market says otherwise.
Mark
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March 15, 2005 at 4:13 am