By Tim Harris · February 16, 2026

Let’s start with a confession:

I love restomods.

They’re loud. They’re gorgeous. They smell like expensive leather and rich-guy optimism. They make grown men whisper words like “bespoke” and “bespoke-er” while staring at billet hinges like they’ve discovered religion.

But here’s the take nobody wants to say out loud at Cars & Coffee:

They’re a trend. A generational moment. A booming business right now — but not a timeless one.

And yes… that includes some of the sacred cows.

Singer included.

Before you throw a magnesium wheel at me, hear me out.

Every car generation gets its fantasy.

Restomods — especially the $500k to $2M “perfected classics” — are largely built for the people who grew up romanticizing:

That buyer is overwhelmingly Boomer / Gen X.

And right now they’re in their peak spending phase. That’s the rocket fuel behind the restomod economy.

But that phase does not last forever.

No generation stays the dominant collector forever.

And when the demo rotates out…

📉 The market rotates with them.

The restomod world is built on a myth that gets repeated like scripture:

Cool word. Great marketing. And also… wildly subjective.

Because “analog” doesn’t mean anything consistent.

To one person:

To another:

To another:

To another:

There is no hard rule that says a 1973 911 RS is a “better driving experience” than a 718 Spyder RS.

That’s heresy in certain parking lots — but it’s true.

What it really is:

And preference is generational.

This is the big one.

People don’t become enthusiasts in their 50s.
They become obsessed in their teens and 20s.

That’s when tastes form.

That’s when posters get taped to walls.
That’s when you “fall in love” with shapes, sounds, brands, eras.

And most people stay loyal to that imprint for life.

So let’s ask a brutally honest question:

Some will.

But as a mass movement?

No chance.

They’re going to want what THEY wanted at 18–25:

Restomods are mostly built for the fantasies of older buyers.

That’s not an insult — it’s just reality.

History is ruthless.

Muscle cars had their insane peak.
Air-cooled Porsches went parabolic.
356s and longhoods became gold bars.
Then collectors moved on.

Not because the cars stopped being great…

…but because the buyers aged out and the market got oversupplied.

And right now?

There are more:

…than there are truly deep-pocketed buyers who want them.

Oversupply is coming.

Or more accurately:

Oversupply is already here.

Not visually. Mechanically and practically.

Restomods are spectacular because they’re extreme expressions of craftsmanship.

But they’re also a maintenance nightmare waiting to happen.

Let’s say you buy a Singer.

It’s stunning. Museum-grade.
The interior quality is beyond anything Porsche ever did OEM.

But then reality shows up 8 years later:

A Singer interior is exquisite.

But is it designed to survive 200,000 miles like a Toyota Camry?

No.

And that’s not a shot — it’s not built for that mission.

Restomods are art pieces pretending to be daily drivers.

And art is expensive when it breaks.

Another unspoken truth:

Meaning:
you’re not buying “the perfect car.”

You’re buying someone’s exact vision of the perfect car.

And that can get weird.

Do I want:

No.

You might love it. Respect.

But taste doesn’t scale across time.

What feels “fresh” now will feel dated later.

We all know this. We just pretend we don’t because we love the objects.

Here’s the emotional grenade:

Collectors don’t just buy cars.

They buy identity.

They buy narrative.

They buy “I know what’s cool.”

So when someone says,

…it feels personal.

Because it threatens the ego behind the purchase.

But the market doesn’t care about your ego.
And it definitely doesn’t care about mine.

That’s the hardest truth in the entire hobby.

And it’s why the restomod boom will eventually cool off.

Restomods aren’t going away.

There will always be builders.
There will always be a high-end custom segment.
There will always be people who want the “greatest hits” version of a classic car.

But this current moment — where restomods are treated like blue-chip investments?

That’s the part that feels like the bubble.

The boom is not eternal.

It’s generational.
It’s demographic.
It’s trend + money + hype colliding at once.

And eventually, it fades.

Just like muscle cars.
Just like longhoods.
Just like everything.

Because the hobby doesn’t move in straight lines.

It moves in generations.

— Tim Harris

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