A cautionary tale.
Nearly two years ago I bought my 87. It wasn’t a barn find per se but it was a car that had been left sitting for many years after having been driven 75k miles. Little real rust (a hole in the scuttle and as a result one in the passenger floor), a dent, tired paint and a large number of mechanical deferred maintenance and a few significant repairs.
First cost:1500
Cost to haul it home: 300
Parts and pieces to do all the maintenance: 1200 (this may be low) and will grow some more
Rebuilt transmission: 2100
Plus plenty of ‘free’ labor which isn’t done yet. Labor on an older car is high because most don’t want to work on an old car so you are at the mercy of those who will.
So this ‘cheap’ car is now far and away my most expensive Fiat. I am happy I was able to buy the car as it is a pretty nice car, I don’t regret buying a fixer upper. I enjoy the repair work, it is a big part of what I enjoy about cars but I am a bit of a masochist. One can buy a car to fix and then drive or buy a car to drive and occaissionally fix (like my other X)
My only point is look at who you are, what you enjoy about about owning a car and what you can really afford for a toy car. Buying the best car you can with a known history will have you enjoying it sooner with likely lower overall costs.
Welcome to the XWeb, it is a great place with lots of nice, creative, capable and helpful people. Ask us nearly any question and we will likely meander our way to the answer with about a dozen answers to things you weren’t asking about along the way
Karl