1955 Buick "CHIPS" car on ebay !!!

Not sure how to post Ebay auction site :

1955 Buick Century Model 68 2 dr sedan "CHIPS " car

Fully restored

Great car for a collector with deep pockets

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buick-Other-Century-1955-buick-century-model-68-chp-california-highway-patrol-police-/131401528862?forcerrptr=true&hash=item1e9824361e&item=131401528862&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

Looks like our Sean has already asked ?? re the numbers

I'm sure Bob Coker knows something about it too.

You were jolly on the spot finding that one Bill, still looking for that elusive 55 2 dr sedan eh? Thanks for sharing

FYI et al, to post a link from the internet, go to the address bar of the subject web page and copy the address by putting your cursor in the address bar where it is displayed and right clicking, then in the box that pops up left click "Copy", then go to the BCA forum thread and right clicking again, then clicking "Paste".

This 1963 LeSabre is on Hemming daily news..........

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/buick/lesabre/1710575.html?refer=news

I can't believe the owner converted it from a 3 speed manual to an automatic. That took a lot of value out of it for me. A lot of the CHP cars had the 3 speed. Most 55 Century's had Dynaflow.

Woody,

There were equal amount of sticks and dynaflows made for the chips cars (2 dr Century sedans ) about 135 each plus

the owner said this may be a Special cloned to a Century correctly.

Bill

From what I remember, there was only a lone survivor Model 68 that was bought by a gentleman in Napa CA from a CHP surplus auction. That car was not restored and still original. The rest were destroyed by the state. Last time I saw this car was at the Sacramento BCA national in the late 1980's.

Steve

It looks like somebody did it right by looking at the pictures. Nice car.

Here http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/03/17/sia-flashback-broderick-crawford-lives-1955-chp-buick/ is a very interesting read from 1994 about what appears to be a true CHP car and that seems to say that after debate over syncro or auto trannies, all the CHP cars did up being ordered as 3 speeds. Whether half or all, I wonder why the seller of this car chose to go to the trouble of converting from a 3 speed to a D'flow, no easy job in itself. If it was indeed a 3 speed and he converted it to D'flow, all he would have had to done is count the bolts in the top of the transmission (5 for Specials/6 for Century and Supers) and that would have told him if it was a for sure CHP car as I guarantee Buick would not have put a little 5 bolt behind 235 horses. I too wonder did this car come with four portholes or did he add one. I assume the original CHP Century's had four, right Steve? Another good question to ask the seller is was the rear end changed out?. If there is still a 3.9 in it, then it was a Special running gear as Century and Supers had 3.4's. While the seller is clear to answer Sean with " I am not going to claim that this is a 'real' Model 68 because I cant prove it." so he is not totally misrepresenting the car, I personally think he knows what it is and should just come out and say it. (it is a very nicely built clone with great attention to detail... or something to that effect)

I really do not look for this car to sell on eBay but possibly afterward to one of the higher bidders.

It is listed on Craigslist LA for $65000.

its a cool car too tho .... ( on the feebay listing that is )

its a cool car too tho .... ( on the feebay listing that is )

It sure is, but not $65,000-cool, in my opinion.

It is listed on Craigslist LA for $65000.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/cto/4838295666.html

1955 Buick Model 68, restoration completed Oct. 2014, 10+ year restoration performed by a professional Buick restoration shop in Riverside CA. Rare car with rare hard to acquire items. Car currently has 600 miles since the complete rebuild. Period correct Motorola Police radio, whip antenna, spotlights, Repro CA CHP Exempt license plates & siren (B&M 'Highway Special' S/N 55055 delivered to the CHP 6-55). Many more details & photos available upon request.

its a cool car too tho .... ( on the feebay listing that is )

Definitely cool!!

I wonder if that's Special interior, Century interior, or a commercial interior? The bolsters look upscale. Maybe the inserts are commercial grade though. I don't know how the factory done it for the commercial grade.

The side panels with horizontal imprints are Special. I imagine it would have had very plain vinyl seats.

It IS a great looking clone.

Is the dash signed by Broderick Crawford?

Bidding ended with e***e at $15,600. A far cry from the CL ad of $65K.

I'm curious, what would a ball park figure be to purchase a '55 Special 2 door post and convert it into a very good quality CHP clone such as this.

Bidding ended with e***e at $15,600. A far cry from the CL ad of $65K.

I'm curious, what would a ball park figure be to purchase a '55 Special 2 door post and convert it into a very good quality CHP clone such as this.

Although not a Buick expert, with free labor (yourself) it would probably be around $40,000 as a ballpark figure. If you needed to hire it out, much more.

From the 1991 Buick National in Sacramento:

I believe that this car had a correct trim tag.

Also:

Horn button only (no horn ring)

Standard three on the tree transmission.

No power steering or brakes.

Plain grey interior, no pleats.

These features depend on my memory of that car and are open to dispute. Photographs by me.

Dan

I have seen a few really nice model 48's go for under ten grand. Just restoring them costs a lot, let alone finding all of the neat period sirens, etc.

I agree with Larry that $40k would get it done (if done yourself).

I bet mine would have cost that much if I had to find all of the CHP stuff.