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Hi Everyone,
Good to be here. I received information about the site via a friend at work, Dan Martin.
I am in the market for a partially restored or turn key car. My thoughts are tied to a convertible and a GM product. My family sold GM for years in the 60’s and 70’s. I have been searching all over to locate a car across the country or locally. My first choices are Oldsmobile Cutlass, 1968-1971. Chevy Impala, 1965-1970 and a Buick same year or so. My first concern is how to locate a good vehicle to even contact the owner. Second, how to I judge the car being worthy of spending hard earned money on it. Once that is determined, where do I go for help in getting the car here, working on restoration and finally maintaining it?
Anyhow, as you can see, there are a lot of things on my mind and I am in the market now and will be ready to go at a moment’s notice if possible.
Thank you,
Mick
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Replies
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mconners wrote:Hi Everyone,
Good to be here. I received information about the site via a friend at work, Dan Martin.
I am in the market for a partially restored or turn key car. My thoughts are tied to a convertible and a GM product. My family sold GM for years in the 60’s and 70’s. I have been searching all over to locate a car across the country or locally. My first choices are Oldsmobile Cutlass, 1968-1971. Chevy Impala, 1965-1970 and a Buick same year or so. My first concern is how to locate a good vehicle to even contact the owner. Second, how to I judge the car being worthy of spending hard earned money on it. Once that is determined, where do I go for help in getting the car here, working on restoration and finally maintaining it?
Anyhow, as you can see, there are a lot of things on my mind and I am in the market now and will be ready to go at a moment’s notice if possible.
Thank you,
Mick
Welcome. Its hard to just ‘find a car and ask about buying it’ from someone who is not advertising. Word of mouth is usually a good way to find a car, especially with your introduction post above. Buying the right car to suit your needs is the next step, and it seems you have got a general idea of what you would like. As far as a restorable car, how much of a driver do want? Are you looking for a car you can get minimal things done while enjoying it? Or do you want something you can buy right and perform a full restoration on?
As far as inspecting a vehicle prior to purchase, I can assist you with that. I will send you a PM with further info. If you’re looking for cars locally, you can use craigslist and ebay, but for what you have described that you have interest in you may want to be patient and wait for the word of mouth to get around first. IIRC, GTO Man’s brother has/had a 70-71 cutlass convertible??? That may be your leading point, I would wait for him to chime in or send him a PM.
Hi Mick,
Welcome to the forum. I will contact my brother, username bigblock and have him chime in. He had a ’71 Cutlass Supreme convertible, it had a 350 with a 4 speed. One of the rare aspects of the car is that it had an M22 rock crusher 4 speed from the factory. He should be able to answer many of the questions you might have about a Cutlass. There are many other forum users who will offer their knowledge about those or any other car.
GTO Man
Finding a car ….
There a plenty of websites out there with cars. One of my favorite is:
And there is always ebay, and craigslist …
Typically it is a lot cheaper to buy someone else dream that is done then to find a fixer upper.
How to judge the car …
Cars that are mostly stock looking (wheels, engine bay ….) typically are easier to sell (at least in today’s market). But it up to you if you want a numbers match car which will cost a bit more or if you just want a clean car with a solid drivetrain.
Once you find that beauty I would suggest spending a couple hundred bucks and get it inspected. I recently purchased my car and used lemonsquad.com to do the inspection. They found all the same things I found once I had the car (expect an issue with the transmission which they would of caught if they would of driven the car).
Again, it is not cheap to fix them up. You could spent 5-6k for an engine and transmission rebuild, and 7-20k for a paint job.
There are several places in Madison and the surrounding area that would love to help you out with your classic.
Getting the car here … I paid 750 a couple of months ago to have my car shipped from VA in an open carrier. Close shipment would of been 1200. There are lots of services out there. The key is to make sure you are shipping with a service that is insured.
Here are are a couple examples of nice cars:
1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass S Convertible
http://www.carsonline-ads.com/colsite/col?use=UC3_ViewPosting&cmd=showPosting&postingID=55269
1969 Chevy Impala Convertible
http://www.carsonline-ads.com/colsite/col?use=UC3_ViewPosting&cmd=showPosting&postingID=46979
1969 Buick GS Convertible
http://www.carsonline-ads.com/colsite/col?use=UC3_ViewPosting&cmd=showPosting&postingID=55054
Purchased a GTO a couple of years ago at a dealer in Florida. Contacted someone down there who had posted in Hemmings Motor News under appraisers. Turned out he is a nationally known GTO expert and he gave a very accurate report on the car. I also found an auto transporter who was listed in Hemmings to have a GTO transported back in 1999 or so.
Thanks guys for all of the replies, it is really appreciated. The hardest thing I am running into is trying to find the right car, within my budget and being able to say I love it. It feels that trying to locate a nice convertible is my first love.
My wife is supportive, but wants us to get a convertible if in fact we will be spending the money. the other problem is, a limited budget. I still feel we can get a good driver and slowly work on building the dream car. You know, drive train upgrades, paint and so on.
Anyhow, thanks again. If you know of someone who is wanting to sell a late 1960’s to early 1970’s GM convertible, I am seriously interested at the right price.
thanks!!
Mick
mconners wrote:Thanks guys for all of the replies, it is really appreciated. The hardest thing I am running into is trying to find the right car, within my budget and being able to say I love it. It feels that trying to locate a nice convertible is my first love.My wife is supportive, but wants us to get a convertible if in fact we will be spending the money. the other problem is, a limited budget. I still feel we can get a good driver and slowly work on building the dream car. You know, drive train upgrades, paint and so on.
Anyhow, thanks again. If you know of someone who is wanting to sell a late 1960’s to early 1970’s GM convertible, I am seriously interested at the right price.
thanks!!
Mick
You work too hard to be ballin on a budget!
Also try Racingjunk.com. Alot of good finds there. It’s always done me good.
That 1969 Buick Skylark GS that Amigo2K cited on carsonline.com would be a good buy, especially being a GS.
My advice would be to buy as much car as you can possibly afford (even if it is a bit of a stretch). Buying a car that has major needs (motor work, transmission work, paint, chrome and stainless) will just end up costing you more down the road, especially if you must purchase the parts and/or contract out the restoration work.
Welcome to the forum, and keep us updated on what you are seeing and checking out for potential purchase.
Marshall
Here is an opportunity, I think…
Hey Everyone,
I just got off the phone with a gentleman from Colorado who is selling his 1970 Buick Wildcat Convertible, essentially all original or restored. It has the standard 455 engine, 3 speed automatic and so on. The convertible top is NOT the newer scissor action unit which makes it nicer to work on apparently. We talked for close to 40 minutes and it appears that the only thing I need to do is order up an inspection service and arrange for the transport.
Needless to say, I am over excited. I wish it was going into Spring and not Winter.
Can any of you think of anything I need to be aware of? I asked him what was wrong or needed attention to the car. He was really honest about several cosmetic things, but not show stoppers in my book…easy things to take care of.
Mechanically, it is an extremely sound car and works really well.
When I asked him why he was selling it, he said his wife prefers to drive the smaller Mustang Convertible and during the winter, they want room in the garage for their Suburau.
Anyhow, thanks for your thoughts and opinions.
Mick
Transport for classic car…
Any of you have an opinion on a transport for a car from Colorado? The question in my mind isn’t necessarily who to use, there are a few choice, but who NOT to use?
Thanks for your opinions…
Mick
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