First and foremost a personal connection is a solid reason to do a restoration. One customer of mine has his grandmother’s VW beetle, another has us working on his uncle’s CJ2A. Even more have memories of their grandparents talking about Jeeps, or having an old WW2 Jeep on the farm. Some even remember driving a Jeep during the war.
Passion is the next best reason. If you have a deep passion for something then you will see through a project to bring it to life. Whether it be a tractor, a Jeep or any other vehicle.
People are also just plain passionate about Jeeps. Something about Jeeps and VW Beetles inspires a wonderful following of people who care for, drive and pass on their love of these vehicles to their families. If you have a deep passion for a vehicle it will guide you through a restoration.
The cost of restoring a vehicle is usually far above the cost of just going out and buying a restored version of the same vehicle. The parts involved in a WW2 Jeep can make restoring one on your own cost more than just buying a restored one outright. I have seen people even try to save money by buying rusty battered versions of the parts they need in hopes that this will save them money.
Here is the key: Just because you put money into a vehicle does not make it worth what you put in! There are alot of people smoking crack out there trying to sell late WW2 Jeeps that might bring $16,000 for over $30,000. All I can think is that in their drug addled haze they maybe hallucinated the value they came up with. (I assume they took to drugs after their wife threw them out of the house when she saw the restoration bills.)
So to review: Personal connection = Good
Passion for the vehicle = Good
Profit/ saving money = Baaaaad (don’t do it!!)
If you are in it for the right reasons, then enjoy the trip, the experience of restoration and the end results are very rewarding.