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Restored Jeep Prices - Ballpark?

2K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  aniemyer 
#1 ·
In recent conversation with "Senior Management," she mentioned (in front of a witness, I might add!) that someday owning a restored MB/GPW might be "kind of fun, for a summer drive around". Where I come from, this constitutes "permission!"

I know enough to know that doing a restoration myself would be a lot like building my own airplane: I could do it, but the "getting there" wouldn't be pretty, in the least, and take a lot more years than I would like to spend.

So, that leaves me with looking for an already-completed restoration. I've done enough research already to understand the different levels of restoration and am even in mind that an M38 or M151 might be a reasonable alternative.

Any thoughts what are good "ballpark" prices for already restored and road-legal iterations of these beautiful babies are these days? I've looked a couple of places and they seem kind of all over the map.

Thanks for your advice, I need to start a "GI Jeep Fund" and it would be nice to have an idea.
 
#2 ·
Well, I am by no means an expert but will be happy to offer my opinions.

You said you've already done research on different levels of restoration. I'm not going to insult your intelligence but will list a few things, both to maybe fill in some gaps and also to provide info for anyone else that happens to read your thread.

A fully restored Willys MB or Ford GPW will probably be the most expensive mainly because of their age and rarity. That being said, once I get my MB fully restored, it won't fetch nearly as high a price as one 100% authentic. The reason is that mine has a post-war engine and transmission. That's okay with me because with the 6-cly engine and T-90 transmission, it will be much more road worthy than with the original Go-Devil engine and T-89 trans with a max speed of 45MPH.

An M-38 or M-38A1 would probably be your best bet mainly because of their availability and they are a little newer.

It is very difficult to get an M-151 because most of them were scrapped rather than being sold off. The reason for that is that with it's independent axle, they were not very stable and were deemed too dangerous to sell to the public.

Bottom line:

MB/GPW, M38 or M38A1
  • Fully or "Factory" restoration (all parts original or NOS*) = $15k - $20k
  • Motor Pool Restoration (Replacement parts that "could" have been use in the '40s) = $10k - $15k
  • Restoration that looks good (but would get laughed out of any car show) = $5k - $10k


*New Old Stock
 
#3 ·
Beast,
Many thanks! This is exactly what I was considering. I know for a while there was a fabricator down in Florida who was making M151 replicas that solved that noted roll-over issue, but I don't think they're doing business anymore. I did see a 38 at a local show a few years that looked good and was in my service colors! I agree, I'm looking not for an NOS/total restoration with the Go Devil engine, unless it fell into my lap, but one that at least on the outside is a presentable and authentic restoration of the era in which it was created.

Anyone else have thoughts?
 
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