Amos Minter Thunderbirds

[thomasj]

Does anyone have any opinions or experiences buying from Amos Minter
Thomasj

[Oldmics]

Consider it as Buying a used car from a used car dealer

Oldmics

[paul2748]

Lots of pro and cons about his cars.

[ICON 1956]

High prices, that are listed on the web site. I'm sure they do a great job in restoration.

[CSPIDY]

It depends what you want in your Tbird, If you want a concourse quality cars his would be that. His reputation is second to none.
His prices may be higher, but with his cars come a prominence.
They should hold a higher resale value.
If you want a car that you can drive his may not be so desirable.

[ICON 1956]

If you want a "turn key" car with no issues he is the one. I was very lucky to find mine done by Jules Meets. It is a turn key but I did find a slightly dented oil pan filled which I did change to a perfect one. but that is all I had to do. I have had other
Ford cars, a 1965 mustang , and a 1961 Thunderbird that I had to do work on. Besides working on Harley's I felt it was time to just have one classic and enjoy driving.

[1957Birdman]

I agree with Oldmics. We had two members of our local CTCI chapter that each bought one of his cars. Both were less than turn key and considering the price they should have been. Personally I would work with Prestige Thunderbird or Hill's. They don't do the Barret Jackson thing, but their cars are not misrepresented as something they are not. If you want more information you can send me a pm.
Regards,
Lew Bachman, 1957 Colonial White bought from Prestige Thunderbird

[paul2748]

CASCO also restores cars - never heard a bad word about them.

Hill's has a good reputation

[PaulUK1955]

I would be interested to hear what you guys would consider a fair price for a restoration in the USA. Its mainly a labour cost I would expect, and what quality you would want so for example, a good paint job vs a perfect paint job. Bit of "how long is a piece of string" I guess.

I do know that in many cases people spend so much on a restoration and find it cost way more than the end value of the car. At least with a turn key car you can see the final result rather than ask for a restoration and not be happy with the results or the cost.

Bit of a mine field I think. Here in the UK we see a lot of cars just given a quick paint job, to try and shift the cars. 6 months later the rust appears.

[goldwinghg]

There is Ray Dellumo, in Lafayette, Louisiana. He does a great job,Tbirds ,as well as other classics. He might have something,to sell. I'm sure he has connects to Tbird S,that are for sale. He is on Facebook.

[T-Bird Bob]

I bought a Prestige-restored and maintained car from an estate (so the previous owner was dead and I couldn't talk to him).
I was not happy. I can't precisely say what was bad workmanship and what was neglect by the owner (I guess he was ill a long time while the car rotted in his garage), however one thing I noticed from old receipts:
Prestige changed the rear wheel cylinders (probably because of leakage) but not the shoes. So the rear brakes shoes were drenched and would bite like rabid coyotes and the car was undrivable - a pair of $20 shoes fixed that. I can't understand why they didn't changed those with it? Then they would also have noticed that the front right brake had a weak spring and the car pulled to the right (I rebuilt all brakes anyways...).

Generally about restorations: Do it because you want! Never because of money. A well maintained car or older restoration that held up 10+ years will always be cheaper in the long run. I partially restored 2 cars and always made a loss.
Especially when you are in the UK, never buy a car in the US sight unseen! Those car flippers are usually somewhere between incompetent, not interested or outright frauds (I looked at 20 odd cars and found astonishing things and heard lies that are unbelievable) especially when they ship overseas. Those who won't let you do a test drive, know exactly what they want to hide (for me it was the rear brake issue described above).

to summarize: there is no free lunch in the classic car hobby either!

Bob

[CSPIDY]

CASCO also restores cars - never heard a bad word about them.

Hill's has a good reputation

I’ve been to CASCO’s shop and I agree if I wanted a shop to do my car they would be my first choice.
They don’t get the mention that Amos’s shop does, maybe it’s selmanship.

[Haz567]

Generally about restorations: Do it because you want! Never because of money. A well maintained car or older restoration that held up 10+ years will always be cheaper in the long run. I partially restored 2 cars and always made a loss.

DITTO, DITTO, DITTO, & DITTO. I am on T Bird # 4 resto and expect to lose on all four (or maybe break even). T-Bird Bob has it right, do it because you want to and because you enjoy it!

[ICON 1956]

Agreed with the others, I feel that there can be bad habits to "waste" your money . But I like driving my classic around town to car shows with my bride. Also I like to keep her clean and shinny. and keep up with maintenance. This also keeps me out of trouble with my bride. As far selling "no way," She will be past to another family member.

[Peddller]

I own a Mintor car , my 57 F code which he did in 2008, it is as close to perfect as you could expect. That is not to say that everything was perfect by today's standards but the goal post move over time. I have gotten to know Amos and Justin Minter pretty well and I have high respect for both of them. They are in the Baby Bird business to make money though and you have to understand that doesn't always coincide with what some people are looking for. They will sell you whatever you want and are prepared to pay for. The problem arises when someone want to pay $50,000 and expects a concours quality show car when that car is more in the $200,000 range. The reason his cars bring off the charts money at BJ and other venues is because they are often rare cars that are over the top with all the things people like to see even if they have some desirable but not technically correct items on them like wire wheels or air shocks. You have to be smart about any car you buy including Mintor's but his cars bring the money for a reason and I think they are honest about them. Over the years most of the complaints I have heard, after I have analyzed them I found it was the buyer wanting champagne on a beer budget.