Both. If you did it as a hobby why does there have to be an 'hourly rate'? And if you're doing it for money in the form of an hourly rate then you're not really an altruistic saver of vans. Simples.

Not sure what you mean really. The hourly rate was example of the difference between what it has cost in parts and a potential selling price divided by the number of hours sent on it.

If the selling price was nothing more than what it had cost in terms of parts alone and the initial buy price then it would be a serious bargain for someone.

Would that drive down the prices. Would I be the altruistic saver of the van. Or just a fool. Should I give it away to a good home? Have you given that nice 2CV of yours away?

No I haven't given it away, I have simply taken the advice of the folks on this forum and let it find it's own 'value'. It's value to me was what it cost in parts to make, without factoring anything in for my time. My time I gave willingly - nobody made me do it. That's why I didn't factor in an 'hourly rate', so had it just sold for what it cost to make then so be it. I could have had the satisfaction of knowing I'd saved a 2cv for the future eh?

I am all choked up now

I've deleted those comments. Sorry 602 I'm feeling a little cranky today.

That's OK, we all have grumpy days. Comes with age. I quite enjoy grumpy days. You can say things that you would normally utter without feeling to guilty.

By this I think we come to the conclusion that, in real monetary terms, if you rebuild a A series, you never truly get back the value in both parts and time. Obviously, amateurs, like me, do it for love and the "crack" of doing the job, and if, by stroke of luck, actually sell the thing for more than the sum of the parts, then we will have done OK. If I add up all the costs to get Steves Dudley on the road and keep it there, then I know for a fact I will be out of pocket on parts alone without factoring in my time and effort and his is not concours by a long chalk.
However, if a professional restorer gets his hand on one then clearly they are in business and want to get a return on their "investment" thereby inflating prices to cover their true costs.

You can't make money at it unless as someone (Pete I think) already said there is a client waiting with a blank cheque. I think that's why so many 'professional' rebuilds on the market are turning out to have been skimped on. Quality work is time consuming, and commercially time is money.

There's a long history of car restoration (not 2cv') costing twenty grand upwards only to have a market value of ten. People do it for the love of doing it or whatever, but you're unlikely to do it for money and retire early.

A competent professional restorer will set about the task of restoring a 2CV in a substantially different way from the average amateur. For an enthusiast beavering away in their own garage it is a worthwhile exercise to refurbish stuff. You sit down with a rag, some thinners and a few door seal and clean off the overspray, de rust and re paint a bumper, hunt round for a nice set of wheels.

That simply isn't worth doing when you're restoring something at an hourly rate, you may as well buy the new door seals bumpers and wheels. And once you accept that, you effectively accept that the restorer is going to produce a car with a fairly hefty price tag.

To be honest I think there is a lot of bollocks being talked about 2CV pricing. If someone who has a well paying job decides they want a very nice 2CV it is far more cost effective to pay someone £12K for a decent car than it is to turn up at work with dirty finger nails, learn how to weld, breathe in paint fumes, buy the approriate tools and neglect the family. If someone's hobby is restoration it is fair enough. If they want a car to take out on sunny days sign the cheque.