How long has your longest build taken?

Not a dragged in the back and left for dead....but a legitimate ongoing build that is taking forever. I have one that's started and stalled too many times to remember. She's seen innumerable other cars come and go through my shop. It's been about 25 years. This project is older than 5 of my children. (Yes, I like children...) 1957 Healey 100-6. Bought it when I was 20. Drove it until I was 30. And it's a long story from there, which I may chronicle at some point to help motivate me out of this abyss. Am I alone?

22 on again off again sometimes sitting sometimes driving usually needing something. Literally 84 other cars have come and gone in that time. Currently needs starter so i will probably do EFI, two turbos, and regear the rear axle while i am changing the starter. I am the definition of scope creep

One build so far, 3-4 years of actual build time (mostly wasted by a flake mechanic) and 7 years of saving up. Only one more planned.

11 years (Merkur still going was started as a 2006 Challenge car)...my fastest was 4 years (Fiat), the Vette I'm trying for 3 years...this Challenge.

My motivation, I told my Wife about really wanting to get to the Challenge this year and said I'd need to work on something once a weekend to make that happen, she has been encouraging me ever since.

I've been going for 5-6 on the van but its been sitting periodically while other stuff took over.

I don't know.

SanFord isn't done yet. It's been going on for a little over a year and I'm betting it will be a 5-10 year project.

The miata is coming up on year 2. Not much by time standards, but when is a project ever done? There's always something to do, whether for looks, from boredom, or a change of plans.

Is OP under the impression that it is possible to finish a project?

I'm not even sure that is the point of starting them.

Great comfort is found here. Most excellent. I swear when the porsche comes off the lift, the Healey is going on and not coming off until she's under her own power! ( I think I may have stated that a few times though.....). Good to be in good company here.

I agree that a project is never done.... Mine hasn't run in 25 years but even when it's back on the road, I plan to never be finished with it. This is the only car about which I've made the bold statement, "I will never sell it". I will add to that, "I will never be DONE" with it!

Almost 10 years for a '81 Chevy K20 project. Started a XJ project at the same time, both were gutted. Plant closing, new work, family, working only outside contributed to the setback. I swear the Chevy didn't wanna leave.

Bought my Mini in '87. Kept it running, mostly, for several years. Then, took it off the road, to build a big motor for it. Could've kept it in service during that time, though. Brought it back to life, in '04 and drove it for a couple years. Had an incident with a curb, and it's been sitting in the shop since '06. Almost sold it last year, but when my youngest saw me dragging it from the back of the shop and asked, she made a face that said, "Daddy don't." I later asked her if she was upset about it nad she said said she wants to fix it with me. Brought me to tears.

In reply to RealMiniParker:

That's the most awesome thing ever.

My Miata is coming up on year 4, but it's mainly just little projects here and there throughout the spring/summer/fall and then more major work in the winter. I try not to tear the car apart and make it undriveable for long periods of time. I've seen too many people rip a car apart and dive into massive amounts of work and then lose interest because years pass without getting to drive it and they lose interest and the project stalls out.

There is an unfinished walnut desk in my mother's basement I started building when I was 16. 39 years.

Does that count?

Are you going from the time of acquisition with intent, or from the first moment the car became immobile, and are you ending with when the car is "done" or from when it first moves under its own power again?

I bought one of my RX-7s almost ten years ago and it's still evolving. (No, really, I'm working on it. On Thursday, I took the new rearend to a little shop an hour away so they could straighten it)

Coming up on 22 years. Its been in continuing project mode since i was 14.

I think at some point you reach the moment where a car project turns into a relationship. I know, I know, But you also know it is true. A car that you develop a relationship with is one that you have memories attached to it. Some good some bad. I have had lots of "projects" in my life. A car is purchased for a specific reason or with a specific goal in mind it happens and it moves on. Some are appliances, an inanimate object that serves a purpose. Like your washing machine or a toaster oven. Nothing more nothing less.

Then there is the car that somehow develops what I can a sole, A personality, It is somehow different. You see it at its best and you have seen it at its worst. When they get a "bobo" you make it better. When they are working perfectly you sit back and smile. Some cars can be "pretty" or "sexy". I think this the better description is they are artistically pleasing. Proportions that are pleasing to the eye, colors, and curves that are balanced against the car's personality. Sometimes the exterior appearance is hiding a beast while other's would be better served as a piece of mobile art. Then there is the driving experience. This is the most subjective part of the whole relationship. There are the luxury cars that pamper their owner. There are the ones that scream "Hay Look at my owner. The coolest person ever!!!!." Others are subtle, swift, light, and agile. Not grabbing one's attention through their appearance or the noise they make but through their actions.

Then there is the noise a car makes. Some are bad. . .. Really bad. The hammering of metal on metal a car makes when the motor has let go is a sickening sound that brings sadness. But then there is the sound a British or Italian car makes. The unmuffled sound of a big block or the high revving scream of a small American V8. These are all another defining part of the "relationship".

The last thing is that you don't have to be a "car person" to develop a relationship with a car. It is all about connecting with a car. Finding that "thing" that makes you smile. That thing that fills a small part of your life with joy. It is that connection that changes a car from a "project" or an "appliance" into something and that something makes your life better.

In reply to SVreX:

If we are going for woodworking projects, that's a whole nuthet thing.....I have a guitar project (never completed) that goes back 33 years too. Nice work SVreX!

In reply to Knurled:

I'm coming from; taking it out of commission to recommission. So, back into some useful state.

In reply to dean1484:

Well said. And I've found when you say such things to the unitiated, they are confused.

I think the longest project of mine that's been stuck in the "build" stage is the E36 sitting outside my apartment right now. And technically it mostly belongs to Mr. jh36 I think. It's been about 4 or 5 years in the making. If you watch our Facebook live feed this Wednesday, you might get a walk-around. It needs help.

This will be year 4 for the wagon but it also gets daily driven in the warm months. I keep hesitating on tearing it too far apart because i enjoy driving it and understand scope creep

In reply to Ed Higginbotham:

I hereby publicly and formally pass that project baton on to you Ed. I still have your notes on that car somewhere......Looking forward to seeing how that goes as a GRM project of sorts. I only ask for a few laps at a track of your choice when completed. Deal? Deal!

My 280zx. Going on 3 years now.