Picture this: You stumble upon a piece of classic Detroit iron rotting in some field in the middle of nowhere. You drop a few hundred dollars, pull it out of the weeds and get it back to your garage. It’s a dream come true for any gear-head.
You now spend the next few years tearing it down to the frame - going over every single nut and bolt. By the time you’re finished, the old rust bucket now looks better than it did when it rolled off the factory assembly line 50 years ago.
As romantic as that sounds, the truth is not always as glamorous for restoration jobs. In reality, you and your friends will probably spend that first afternoon with the car trying to get it out of the mud in the first place. Then, once it’s back home, it’ll likely sit in the garage and get more use as a shelf than as a vehicle. At this point, it’s up to you to decide how much to set aside from each paycheck and hope the whole damn process doesn’t run into five-figure territory.
And if you bought the car from anywhere east of Houston, Texas or north of Kansas City, you’d better have some skill with a plasma cutter or have a guy you can call up at your local body shop. There’s bound to be rust. Lots of rust.
That doesn’t mean the restoration is impossible
Recently, more companies have started to offer an impressive number of official factory-licensed parts for some of the more iconic muscle cars of the last century.
From engine decals and tail light screws to entire bodies, you’ll be surprised at how many genuine, high-quality parts you can find for your latest project. Instead of spending years in pick-and-pull lots or swap meets, you can get your relic on the road as long as you’ve got a solid frame and engine (and the budget to back it up).
List of Classic Muscle Cars Know to be Easier to Restore
1965-70 Ford Mustang
1967-’69 Chevrolet Camaro
1964-’70 Pontiac GTO
1970-’72 Chevrolet Chevelle
1970-1974 Dodge Challenger
1970-1974 Plymouth Barracuda
1970-1972 Chevrolet El Camino SS
1968-1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass / 4-4-2
1968 -1974 Ford Torino
1968-1970 AMC AMX
1982-1987 Buick Grand National / GNX
1967-1970 Mercury Cougar
1983-1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
1964-1967 Pontiac 2 + 2
1965-1970 Chevrolet Impala SS
1967-’70 Pontiac Firebird
1966 – 1970 Dodge Charger
1968 – 1974 Chevrolet Nova
1977-1981 Pontiac Firebird
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