First let's start by saying it doesn't matter what car you start with to restore. There is no doubt that it makes a difference if you like the car or not, it will spare you some agony if you like the car. In your first car restoration you should not be looking for a car for investment reasons.
You should be looking to learn all you can about auto restoration. The nest step is to set a budget for your project. Keep in mind that a budget is not set in rock for one of these projects because you cannot estimate what it will take to complete a restoration project.
You can decide what you want to the car to be when it's done and plan the first part of the parts buying. Since you do not not know what you will find when the car comes apart for the inspection process you can't plan your entire budget to restore your car.
You should look for a car than is in good condition to start with. You should plan on spending about $10,000 to start with. With that said you need to evaluate your car restoration skills and be honest because it will only hurt you if your not.
Here are the skill to evaluate:
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Evaluate your body & paint repair skills
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Evaluate your mechanical kills
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Evaluate your electrical repair skills
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Evaluate you interior build & repair skills
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Evaluate your sheet metal fabrication skills
You have got to know that nobody knows it all that is why shops have people for each area of the restoration of a car. What you should look for is a car that weighs heavily to your skill set if your do this then you can do a lot of the work yourself.
Upfront I will warn you that your budget needs to contain money to farm out the things that you don't know how to do. If your a lucky type of person you might have friends that know the things that you don't, but make sure that you have seen their work and it meats your standards.
You most likely will farm some of the work out to a shop that is just how it is. You should have a clear vision of what you want the car to look like and be when it's done. You need to know that if your one of those people who thinks that speed is the most important thing a restoration my not be for you.
Remember a restoration takes a long time to complete and that needs to be a part of your plan also. Parts can be hard to find and that will slow you down. Not to mention the learning curve is not simple and you need to know that ahead of time.
I always tell people you should restore your car but you need to know what is involved and the two biggest things are time and money so be ready on both fronts. If your ready for things to happen the process will go smoother and you will have fun building your car.