Classic car restoration costs depend on more than the purchase price. Vehicle age, owner skill, project ambition, labor rates, and parts sourcing all shape the final bill. The statistics below put those choices in context for enthusiasts, including owners of classic British cars.
Contents
- Market size and the classic-car stock
- What owners have spent
- Labor, DIY work, and restoration budgets
- Restoration versus restomod and driver projects
- Parts channels and purchasing patterns
- The UK restoration and repair economy
Market size and the classic-car stock
SEMA estimated about 12 million pre-1990 classic vehicles were on U.S. roads in 2022. That broad population includes cars with very different conditions and uses, so it should not be treated as a count of restoration candidates. It does show the scale of the ownership base that supports specialist parts, repair, and restoration businesses. The estimate comes from SEMA Future Trends - January 2023, measured in 2022.
The age mix matters when thinking about restoration costs. SEMA’s U.S. estimates for 2019 included 3.5 million pre-1970 classics, 1.8 million classics from the 1970s, and 4.1 million classics from the 1980s. These figures come from Classic Cars, Modern Markets. They describe vehicle stock, not the number of cars undergoing a full restoration.
The parts market provides another measure of scale. U.S. retail parts sales for modified or accessorized pre-1990 classics totaled about $2.36 billion in 2021, according to SEMA’s January 2023 report. SEMA separately reported approximately $1.81 billion in retail parts sales for the classics market in 2022 in Read About Classic Car Market Trends in New SEMA Future Trends Report. The two figures use different years and market descriptions, so they are not a like-for-like annual change calculation.
For model-year-1973-and-earlier vehicles, SEMA’s 2019 classic-accessorizer market was $0.89 billion. The same report recorded $890 million in U.S. retail sales for pre-1974 vehicle parts in 2019. The matching amounts describe the same historical market from the Classic Cars, Modern Markets research, rather than a current quote for an individual restoration.
What owners have spent
Owner-reported cumulative spending gives a more practical view of budgets than market totals. In the SEMA survey reported in 2020, owners had spent an average of $14,047 on a pre-1974 vehicle and $7,150 on a 1974–1984 vehicle. Across the surveyed pre-1990 vehicles, average cumulative spending was $8,749. These are accumulated owner expenditures, not standardized estimates for completing a concours-level restoration.
Age also correlated with reported spending. Owners under 45 reported average cumulative spending of $7,177 on their pre-1990 vehicle. Owners aged 45–54 reported $8,406, while owners aged 65 and older reported $10,009. The figures are from Classic Cars, Modern Markets, with the survey period identified as 2020.
| Survey group | Average cumulative spend | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-1974 vehicle | $14,047 | 2020 survey |
| 1974–1984 vehicle | $7,150 | 2020 survey |
| All surveyed pre-1990 vehicles | $8,749 | 2020 survey |
| Owners under 45 | $7,177 | 2020 survey |
| Owners aged 45–54 | $8,406 | 2020 survey |
| Owners aged 65 and older | $10,009 | 2020 survey |
Spending did not move in one direction for every owner. Comparing 2020 with 2019, 16% of classic owners said their spending increased, 53% said it stayed the same, and 31% said it decreased. For 2021, 19% expected spending to increase, 61% expected it to stay the same, and 20% expected it to decrease. The latter figures were a forecast made in 2020, not a measured result for 2021.
Among pre-1974 owners, 41% considered restoration-focused retailers a key parts source in 2020. That preference helps explain why an older British car can generate a parts budget that is different from a newer driver project, even when both vehicles are described broadly as classics.
Labor, DIY work, and restoration budgets
Labor is one of the clearest cost levers. Hagerty reported an average auto-mechanic labor charge of more than $70 per hour for restoration work in 2022. It also characterized a full restoration as often requiring more than 100 hours of manual labor in What Does It Cost to Restore My Classic Car?. Those statements indicate why labor can quickly become a major budget component, but they do not establish a universal total price for every vehicle.
DIY work changes the relationship between cash spending and total effort. In SEMA’s 2020 research, 80% of surveyed classic owners said they could do at least some work on their vehicle. The share was 89% among owners under 45, 86% among owners aged 45–64, and 68% among owners aged 65 and older. These figures measure self-reported capability, not the quality, safety, or completion rate of the work.
The type of owner mattered as well. Forty-five percent of enthusiast owners said they were comfortable tackling complex work themselves, compared with 13% of non-enthusiasts. Seventy percent of pre-1974 owners did the majority of their vehicle work themselves, and 48% of owners who worked on their own vehicle did so at least monthly. The source for these findings is Classic Cars, Modern Markets, measured in 2020.
Project type influenced how often owners worked on the car. Sixty percent of owners working on a restomod or hot rod worked on it at least monthly, compared with 33% of owners seeking only a driver. Among owners under 45, 32% said they had been working on their vehicle more often during the COVID-19 period. That is a reported behavior during the 2020 measurement period, not a lasting estimate of annual labor hours.
In the UK, the Economic Impact of the Historic Motor Industry in the UK reported that classic-vehicle labor represented 35% of costs for classic restoration and repair firms in 2019, versus about 17% for the wider vehicle-maintenance sector. The same report estimated a 70% wage premium for classic-sector workers over workers in the wider vehicle sector. These UK business-cost figures should not be applied directly to a U.S. garage invoice.
Restoration versus restomod and driver projects
The desired end state is a major budget decision. In SEMA’s 2020 survey, 29% of classic owners described their ultimate vehicle goal as restoration, 26% as a restomod, 7% as a custom or hot rod, and 37% as keeping the car as a driver. The categories describe owner goals, not standardized technical specifications or price tiers.
Vehicle age shifted those preferences. Forty percent of pre-1974 vehicle owners said they were pursuing pure restoration. By contrast, 55% of owners working on 1985–1989 vehicles wanted only a driver, compared with 23% of owners working on pre-1974 vehicles. A restomod was the goal for 38% of owners under 45, compared with 22% of older owners.
| Project goal or preference | Share | Period or population |
|---|---|---|
| Restoration as ultimate goal | 29% | Classic owners, 2020 |
| Restomod as ultimate goal | 26% | Classic owners, 2020 |
| Custom or hot rod as ultimate goal | 7% | Classic owners, 2020 |
| Keeping the car as a driver | 37% | Classic owners, 2020 |
| Pure restoration | 40% | Pre-1974 owners, 2020 |
| Driver goal, 1985–1989 vehicles | 55% | Owners in that vehicle group, 2020 |
| Restomod goal, owners under 45 | 38% | Owners under 45, 2020 |
SEMA’s 2023 report added a business-side view: 62% of classic-vehicle businesses reported that restomodding was increasing. Businesses reporting restomod work said it represented an average of 50% of the classic work they performed. Those findings come from Read About Classic Car Market Trends in New SEMA Future Trends Report, identified as a 2023 report.
An earlier SEMA source found that 32% of classic-car consumers sought restoration to original condition in 2014, while 19% sought more speed or horsepower and 15% sought personalization. The figures are from Today’s Hot-Rod Market. Because the measurement period was 2014, these results should be read as historical context rather than a current preference estimate.
Parts channels and purchasing patterns
Where owners buy parts can affect both price discovery and project time. In SEMA’s 2020 survey, 45% of classic owners named auto-parts chains among their top three parts-purchase locations. Tire shops and specialty automotive retailers each received 29%, while online marketplaces, auction sites, or listings received 25%.
Restoration-specialist retailers were named by 25% of owners among their top three locations, and salvage yards by 23%. For pre-1974 owners, restoration-focused retailers were a key source for 41%. These are overlapping “top three” selections, so the percentages should not be added to produce a market share total.
Most-parts purchasing was not exclusively online for most owners. Twenty-one percent said they got most parts through a mostly online purchasing approach, while 48% used a mix of in-person and online purchasing. The findings come from Classic Cars, Modern Markets, measured in 2020.
For a classic British car, these channel statistics point to a practical budget question: is the project optimized for the lowest listed part price, or for fit, specialist knowledge, and reduced rework? The supplied survey quantifies where owners shop, but it does not provide comparable prices for individual components, shipping, fabrication, paint, or trim. Those costs therefore cannot be assigned a numerical average here.
The UK restoration and repair economy
The UK figures show that restoration and repair spending is an established economic sector, not only a hobby expense. In 2019, UK classic-vehicle maintenance and repair spending totaled £2.713 billion, while sales of classic-vehicle parts and accessories totaled £437 million. Combined spending across those categories was £3.150 billion, according to The Economic Impact of the Historic Motor Industry in the UK.
Maintenance and repair generated £1.203 billion in gross value added in 2019, and parts and accessories generated £126 million. Together, the categories generated £1.329 billion in gross value added. The sector supported 23,783 full-time-equivalent jobs in maintenance and repair and 1,830 in parts and accessories, or 25,613 combined full-time-equivalent jobs.
Average employee compensation across the combined UK classic-vehicle maintenance, repair, parts, and accessories sector was £33,962 per full-time-equivalent worker in 2019. The report also estimated that classic-vehicle maintenance, repair, and parts spending added £440 to GDP per classic vehicle. Its repair and maintenance channel supported one full-time-equivalent job for every 127 vehicles in 2019.
These figures describe the UK economy and should not be converted into a restoration quote for a particular car. They do, however, clarify why labor, specialist parts, and repair capacity are central to classic-car restoration costs. For owners comparing an original restoration, a restomod, or a reliable driver project, the most useful starting point is the intended outcome and the amount of skilled labor the owner can supply.