How Much does a Hot Rod Cost?

Probably "the" most asked question by those from within the hobby and those who just stand and look in awe at some of the beautiful rods. The quick answer is a good street rod costs about the same to build as a current Commodore or Falcon. Sure there are many more expensive rods and just as many built for a lot less.

There are so many variables, such as the state of the car you start with, how much work you can do your self, what level of build and finish quality do you want, what style of rod you want to build, how much performance do you want. Each one can easily add $5,000 to $10,000 to your project.

Also how much it costs to build a hot rod does generally not relate to how much you can sell it for, without even taking into consideration you own time and running around. If you did all that and added it into the price you'd never build a rod in the first place.

According to some of the bigger rod construction shops it takes about 1,200 to 1,500 hours to build a car. You can do the calculations yourself but if your local panel shop charges $25 or $30 an hour you can quickly see it adds up to a very tidy sum.