By Tim, Paul, and Dave · January 15, 2026

Hello, {{First Name|fellow gearheads}}! 👋

Project cars don’t fail because they’re bad.
They fail because the story breaks.

This week on Full Throttle Talk, we dug into the uncomfortable truth behind project cars, restorations, and high-dollar auctions—starting with a 1973 Porsche 911RS Touring that stalled at $301,000 and didn’t sell.

Nothing was catastrophically wrong with the car.
But nothing was clean either.

And in today’s market, ambiguity is fatal.

The seller was honest. That matters.
Ten years ago, someone might have “found” the right case, cleaned up the story, and pushed it across the line.

That didn’t happen here—and that’s actually a good thing.

But honesty alone doesn’t close six-figure auctions.

At this level, buyers aren’t just buying a car. They’re buying certainty.
And once doubt creeps in—engine numbers, stamps, timelines, stories—it doesn’t matter how rare the car is. Momentum dies instantly.

One comment on the auction summed it up perfectly:

That single sentence explains why the bidding stopped.

At the top of the market, buyers aren’t forgiving—they’re defensive.

If a car might be wrong, they assume it is.
If the story isn’t airtight, they price in the worst-case scenario.

The result?

And once that label sticks, it’s almost impossible to shake.

For a car that could be worth mid-$600s when perfect, $301K was the market screaming a warning.

The seller should have sold.

We’ve all been there.

Cars that made sense on paper.
Cars we loved.
Cars that taught us expensive lessons.

From factory wide-body restorations to longhood “light refreshes” that turned into full nut-and-bolt jobs, the pattern is always the same:

Several of us made money.
Several of us didn’t.
None of us got paid for our time.

That part matters.

Restorations don’t kill value—timing does.

The worst move isn’t restoring a car.
It’s restoring a car late.

Markets move faster than builds.
What looked smart in 2017 looked average in 2019—and overpriced by 2026.

If you restore:

Most “bad” builds weren’t bad ideas.
They were just late.

We also played auction “This or That,” comparing projects based on:

The surprise?
The cheapest car wasn’t the riskiest—and the “obvious win” wasn’t always the smartest.

Sometimes the boring, honest car wins.
Sometimes the weird one does.
But the common thread was clarity.

Clear story.
Clear numbers.
Clear plan.

Here’s the part people don’t want to hear.

Some cars are done.
Not crashing—just done.

The market isn’t collapsing, but it’s selective.
Money is still there. It’s just picky, educated, and impatient.

Cars without clean stories will sit.
Cars with ambiguity will stall.
Cars priced for yesterday won’t move.

And that’s not bearish—that’s healthy.

Project cars aren’t dead.
They’re just unforgiving now.

The margin for error is gone.
The market doesn’t reward optimism.
It rewards clarity.

If you’re holding something special, ask yourself one honest question:

If this went to auction tomorrow, would the story survive first contact with experts?

If the answer isn’t a confident yes—fix that first.

– Tim, Paul & Dave

🏁 The Full Throttle Talk Team
Full Throttle Talk drops weekly. Strong opinions, real experience, zero hype.

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