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My brother and I have the opportunity to pick up an 01 Firehawk but would like to know about what it's worth. I don't know a lot about the Firehawks, other than it should of gone to SLP and had some upgrades done to it. Has 64k miles, m6 car, starts, run's drives, but has been sitting. The body is all there, paint is faded, no sail panel bubble. Worst spot is nostrils on the hood as seen in the pic. Thanks for any help you all can be.
Looks like it's going to need quite a bit of work. Hard to tell without actually seeing it in person knowing if there's any rust, etc. That said, it is a Firehawk, so I'd guess somewhere in the 5000 - 7500 range. Personally, I probably wouldn't go much past 5K given how much it'll cost in parts and labor to restore.
To see a Firehawk like that makes me cringe. Sitting unloved, unwanted, and probably neglected as well. AVOID, unless you can get it for really cheap, and I mean cheap, like a few grand. The money it's going to take to make it right will blow your socks off. Just a quality paint job alone is thousands of dollars. Tires, repairs, it adds up in a hurry unless you can do many things yourself.
Depending on your purchase price, your intent, budget, condition of the interior and engine, as well as your investment time horizon, it could be a good resto project car. Even as sad as it is to see a 'hawk like this, it's not like they are making any more of them. Here's the basic retail and auction prices for 2001 Firehawks, both very helpful to know before purchasing.
I would hesitate to say this particular Firehawk is in "fair" condition, but if it runs and drives and the interior isn't completely thrashed it may be close. Sometimes exteriors look way worse than the actual shape the mechanicals are in if they are kept outside unprotected from the elements. Concours level restoration labor would probably destroy any kind of investment potential unless you're doing it yourself/for yourself and not for the money. As a driver level restoration, you should be able to recover your money if you were to keep the repairs under say $20K, after a few years pass, and you advance the condition of the vehicle back closer to concours or excellent level condition.
Edit: Make it go fast and have a awesome fun time with it if you can and decide to purchase it! =D
Last edited by geckolizard; Jul 7, 2018 at 09:56 AM.
If the condition apparent in that picture is any indicator of the rest of the vehicle, I don't see any reasonable "collector" premium here regardless of being a Firehawk or not. At that mileage, it wouldn't be extremely valuable even in good condition, and the cost to bring this one back to a level where it might actually bring a premium would be more than what it would be worth. IMO, I'd value it the same as a base Trans Am in similar condition plus a little extra for the parts value of the hood, wheels (if in decent shape) and standard SLP dual/dual catback (if still present). Complete restorations on these cars are not financially worth while in the present (or perhaps ever) as very nice to excellent originals are still selling for less than the cost to turn an example such as this into a #2 or better car.
As a driver level restoration, you should be able to recover your money if you were to keep the repairs under say $20K, after a few years pass, and you advance the condition of the vehicle back closer to concours or excellent level condition.
I will have what this guy is smoking...ain't no way, no how that car is ever worth anywhere near $20k lol.
I will have what this guy is smoking...ain't no way, no how that car is ever worth anywhere near $20k lol.
Lol agreed it's a Firehawk not a Ferrari. That being said it looks black too, which is the highest production color where as if it was SOM I would say might be worth the effort. Assuming the interior is not anywhere near as bad as the outside even with a good quality repaint that is a $13 to 15k car assuming it has the right parts and pieces for the firehawk collectors. Figure at a minimum $3k for a decent respray you would have to get it for under $7k for it to be a valid investment in my mind. Again assuming the paint is really the only issue with the car (knowing this prob isnt true haha) to have $10k in a firehawk with sub 100k miles I think your not doing half bad. This being said you get into other mechanical issues just run it's not worth the effort.
If the whole car needs painting and looks like that hood, that will easily be $4,000 to $7,000. I'd value that car at a max of $4,000 max with the hosed paint. If the interior is has cracked dash, door panels or worn seats $3,500 or less.
Easily could eat $1,000 in interior part's if the inside is as neglected as the outside.
I would probably budget $2,000 for changing all fluids, minor repairs and new tires, because I bet the tires are over 6 years old.
I will have what this guy is smoking...ain't no way, no how that car is ever worth anywhere near $20k lol.
Obviously you're a car collector. /s You'd be amazed at what people will pay for a restored car, especially with matching numbers, when you get around to learning about it or maybe even just watch a few of the resto or collector shows on motortrend and see how a pile of crumbled rust that you wouldn't spend $1000 on becomes worth 5-6 digits.
The fact of the matter is an excellent/concours 2001 is already bringing in that much, so pumping $15K back into it and putting in the time and effort could easily fetch you that by the time you finish it in a year or two; labor, willingness to invest in the vehicle, and a little bit of luck is what makes or breaks this one. Time is your friend for these vehicles, keep the budget under or at the auction price of a "good" condition one and you'd definitely have a winner.
Obviously you're a car collector. /s You'd be amazed at what people will pay for a restored car, especially with matching numbers, when you get around to learning about it or maybe even just watch a few of the resto or collector shows on motortrend and see how a pile of crumbled rust that you wouldn't spend $1000 on becomes worth 5-6 digits.
If we're speaking in general terms here, it would take 10s of thousands of dollars to turn a $1000 pile of crumbled rust into a mid/high-5 or 6 figure vehicle in concourse/#1 condition. You aren't going to do that for anything close to $15k, even if you do most of the work yourself. The paint job alone could cost into the 5-figure range. Then there's everything else. There usually isn't much in the way of profit margin on restorations of this level for the owner, if any at all.
Originally Posted by geckolizard
The fact of the matter is an excellent/concours 2001 is already bringing in that much, so pumping $15K back into it and putting in the time and effort could easily fetch you that by the time you finish it in a year or two; labor, willingness to invest in the vehicle, and a little bit of luck is what makes or breaks this one. Time is your friend for these vehicles, keep the budget under or at the auction price of a "good" condition one and you'd definitely have a winner.
Ultimately, if you want a #1 or strong #2 condition LS1 Firehawk, you are better off buying one with ultra low mileage that's already in such condition. It could easily cost more than $15k to put this obviously neglected 64k mile example back into that top tier territory and, due to the mileage, it still wouldn't be worth quite as much as one that's an unrestored original, very low mileage example of the same grade.
The better move with this car would be to skip the high level restoration and just attack the low hanging fruit, making the car a nice driver. If resale is at all a concern, I don't see anyone recovering the cost of a complete ground-up rebuild to concourse standards on a car like this in the foreseeable future.
Your post above stating to "keep the budget under or at the auction price of a 'good' condition one" simply doesn't apply to a concourse restoration on a neglected car. These two thoughts are mutually exclusive. If you want perfection/concourse, you can toss the "budget" out the window.
If we're speaking in general terms here, it would take 10s of thousands of dollars to turn a $1000 pile of crumbled rust into a mid/high-5 or 6 figure vehicle in concourse/#1 condition. You aren't going to do that for anything close to $15k, even if you do most of the work yourself. The paint job alone could cost into the 5-figure range. Then there's everything else. There usually isn't much in the way of profit margin on restorations of this level for the owner, if any at all.
Ultimately, if you want a #1 or strong #2 condition LS1 Firehawk, you are better off buying one with ultra low mileage that's already in such condition. It could easily cost more than $15k to put this obviously neglected 64k mile example back into that top tier territory and, due to the mileage, it still wouldn't be worth quite as much as one that's an unrestored original, very low mileage example of the same grade.
The better move with this car would be to skip the high level restoration and just attack the low hanging fruit, making the car a nice driver. If resale is at all a concern, I don't see anyone recovering the cost of a complete ground-up rebuild to concourse standards on a car like this in the foreseeable future.
Your post above stating to "keep the budget under or at the auction price of a 'good' condition one" simply doesn't apply to a concourse restoration on a neglected car. These two thoughts are mutually exclusive. If you want perfection/concourse, you can toss the "budget" out the window.
I completely agree with everything you said, and if it was my project I'd probably tackle it in much the same way as you - make it a nice resto-mod driver. But to think you couldn't make back $20K for a much better version of what's pictured given market forces for one of the last Firehawks ever made at some point in time is not unreasonable either. That's all provided it actually is a Firehawk and has the VIN to prove it of course.
A complete nuts and bolts, frame off restoration for pretty much anything is generally cost prohibitive. It has to be a damn special car or event/purpose to justify that effort in my opinion, and the only car I can think of that I'd be willing to even try it on would be a Bandit. At that level of restoration you have at least high 5 or 6 digits invested in it and probably wouldn't be able to recover it unless it's some kind of ultra rare car or historically important/documented "lost" vehicle for at least 5-20 years. In the mean time though, you'd have a really nice Firebird to look at I guess.
Anyway, I still believe a nice budget level resto job on that Firehawk would be able to turn a profit and be a fun car, but then it is a Firebird. =D
Alternately, since it's already kind of beat to hell and back anyway, lift it up a bit, throw some bigger offroading wheels on it, maybe put in a roll bar or cage and take it out for some real fun. I bet that could easily be done for $15K if it's engine runs and is in decent shape. Bet it would be a killer rally vehicle. =D
Obviously you're a car collector. /s You'd be amazed at what people will pay for a restored car, especially with matching numbers, when you get around to learning about it or maybe even just watch a few of the resto or collector shows on motortrend and see how a pile of crumbled rust that you wouldn't spend $1000 on becomes worth 5-6 digits.
I build cars from the ground up but you are right, when I "get around to learning about it or even just watch a few of the resto or collector shows" on the ole TV, I might become enlightened enough to see the difference between restoring something like a Mopar versus restoring a 2001 Firehawk with 64k that should not need restoring in the first place. I would never spend money on any late model vehicle that had been restored when the market is awash with unrestored, low mileage examples.
You might not, but fortunately the market is made up of a lot of people who are not you. Here I was just making conversation anyways, hope you cheer up soon and have a good day sir.
You might not, but fortunately the market is made up of a lot of people who are not you.
But GimmeLSx makes an excellent point above; that the market has plenty of comparable mileage or lower mileage examples which DON'T need a complete restoration and are usually sold at prices less than what it would likely cost to purchase and make this example a concourse level show vehicle. Complete, high-level restoration on a 4th gen F-body is not a financially sound decision at this point, nor is there any indication that this will drastically change in the foreseeable future.
Originally Posted by geckolizard
That's all provided it actually is a Firehawk and has the VIN to prove it of course.
Just an FYI regarding the VIN. Nothing about the VIN itself will directly tell you if one of these cars is an original Firehawk, you'd have to give this VIN to SLP to verify conversion status and/or take the VIN to a dealer and have them run a GM VIS print-out of build data to confirm the proper RPO. Otherwise, on-the-spot confirmation can only be found on original documentation and the SPID sticker under RPO "WU6".
But GimmeLSx makes an excellent point above; that the market has plenty of comparable mileage or lower mileage examples which DON'T need a complete restoration and are usually sold at prices less than what it would likely cost to purchase and make this example a concourse level show vehicle.
Right. I don't believe any people are scouring barns looking for long lost late model F-Bodies, yet. (By the time they do, it will probably be illegal for a human being to drive anything with an engine in it.)
I don't really see anything special about Firehawks in general other than maybe the early 4th gen versions that was like a $30k upgrade. My 2000 Trans Am Firehawk M6 is a fun car to drive but all they did was put some decals on it and added the Firehawk specific hood and wheels. Firehawks are essentially appearance package conversions and I don't put any extra value on them; basically I would not pay more for a Firehawk over a comparable WS6 simply because it says "Firehawk".
Sorry guys, I've been around just haven't had chance to swing by and check the car out in person. My brother is in contact with the owner so seeing what all he can find out from him as far as known issues and then hopefully go see it and get a better check on overall condition. I appreciate all the insight and opinions on what it may or may not be worth, very good info. Hopefully I'll have an update on this thing this week and some more pictures to share.
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01 Firehawk M6 
