Jay just posted a new video on his you tube channel. It's about a company in Florida that restomod's first gen. Bronco's. They have started doing Bumpsides now. The first one they built is a 1970 F-250 4x4. If you watch it you better be sitting down when the guy says how much it will cost you. He says that they can guarantee a running driving truck in 14 weeks.

 

They have a workforce of about 150 if I remember correctly from the video, so 14 weeks is not hard to do. Jay also said the price wasn't bad, well we don't have Jay's money now do we? 300k plus for a truck is absurd.

 

Resto mod = big $$$$$$$. I can’t image the parts to build one cost more than $60k, that’s pretty good profit. I’m in the wrong business yet again

 

3 guys for 14 weeks is 1700 hrs
1700 hrs at 150 /hr = $250k + 60k parts gets to 300k

I probably have 1500 hrs into mine over last 3 years @ 10 hrs/wk.

I saw quite a few 300k broncos at Barret Jackson this year. None were intended to ever go off road, they are just to look at like the majority of vehicles sold at that type of auction. I did not see any bump sides at all. couple dents, lots of GM.

 

Going to indulge myself here and sink to the bottom of the barrel. I would guess whoever owns that also owns a lexus and/or whatever else and maybe knows how to check maybe change their own oil with their lily white hands. If you have the garage space to store and pamper a trailer queen, more power to ya. I think there are probably folks out there who have the money to buy their way into anything when turning a wrench or opening a can of elbow grease is a daunting thing. This restoration company does fine work and bills for it. This company and many others is for that class of folks. Heck, you don’t even have to bring them a core vehicle, they supply!
I notice nowadays there are many of these type of companies that have this specialty restoration emphasis. They tailor to the customer who wants the vintage appeal but maybe has no idea or time to even start. Nowadays there is either crap shoddy basic work or very expensive high end work done, no where in between. That is where the do it yourselfer can do ok for him/herself.
I would say it’s good to see these type of builds because they have the budget to try some good modern technology that get others thinking. This is probably a flaw in my character and sorry to offend anyone but when I did mine, put the diesel in it and, have a reliable long distance machine that I’m not worried about using as truck, I’m always a bit miffed seeing these high dollar trailer queens made a big deal of that will probably be sold for more $$ in a few years.

 

No offense taken on any of the opinions here. For the record, I watch Jay Leno's Garage all the time on YouTube when I'm traveling for work. Jay does a great job explaining the history and significance to the vehicle of the episode and brings on good reference personnel. That being said, a 'professionally built bump' that someone with super deep pockets can afford is both a blessing and a curse to the Bumpside world. While the truck's popularity will continue to grow, this will probably push that further/faster than we expected. The upside to this will be the aftermarket supply of spare parts will also increase. Personally, I'd like to see a company make a front disc brake conversion kit for the F250s with reliable power boosters, et. The days of pulling spare parts out of junkyards are dwindling and almost gone for certain parts of the country. In closing, over the summer, I took my 71' F250 and 67' Mercury Cougar to a local cruise in. This cruise in a local classic where they close the street for the day, setup music/speakers playing 'car show music', and all of the local restaurants/taverns/bars cater to the car show crowd. This cruise in is my favorite as I live really close and walk to the house to cool off from the summer heat...get cold beer too.

I'm proud of my 67' Cougar...took 4.5 years to build, spent way too much $$, and it's my first car from high school. It got a lot of attention, but my daily driver 71' F250 got more... Something that echoed during the cruise in was when an old timer who had been building/entering cars for years walked up and talked to me for while. He had just finished a 72' Maverick with a well built 429. He looked at my truck and said "these are the next big thing...the next mustang/camero/chevelle of the car collectors. They're more plentiful, well built, and a new face to the cruise in scene. You'll see these take off in the next few years...don't sell it."

 

Eric Hamilton That's a cool looking Cougar. A good friend of mine also has a 1967 Cougar. It's painted black and silver. The body line is where he did the two tone with the black being on top. The blessing and curse can also be applied to the tv car auctions. Barrett-Jackson and Mecum. People watch them and think Hey my rusty old whatever has got to be worth insert stupid amount here. The last B-J auction I watched somebody paid $400K for a 1970's chevy blazer. SMH.