Opinions On This 1936 Cadillac?

[Guest]

This car has been posted for a while here in central California without selling. I believe it has been listed previously as well. Looks like a decent car, is $30K simply too high an asking price?

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/d/1936-cadillac/6688750285.html

 

[Guest]

On further inspection it appears the car shown outdoors is a different car than the one shown indoors. 

The craigslist ad does not mention this discrepancy, so maybe that explains things. 

[DavidAU]

Possibly before and after restoration but a strange way to advertise it if it is.

[C Carl]

The first year for the monoblock V8 for Cadillac. A 322 cu in engine rather different from the 348 to run with constant improvement, and military production, 1937 through 1948. Nothing interchangeable with earlier Cads, VERY LITTLE  with later ones. This one seems to be quite solid, witness extremely little sag on the door handles. I would like to know if there is original upholstery under seat covers. I am not the  best when it comes to market evaluation. 20k+ probably difficult. Mid 'teens  ? Might be a lot of car for the money. But again, I don't feel comfortable pricing this, or pretty much any old car. And with so much unknown here, anyone would need answers to many questions for accurate "value". Lack of parts availability should factor heavily.   HTH,   -   CC 

[Stooge]

7 hours ago, GregLaR said:

On further inspection it appears the car shown outdoors is a different car than the one shown indoors. 

The craigslist ad does not mention this discrepancy, so maybe that explains things. 

 

First thought on this would be that the outdoor picture is the, 'this is what it could look like' picture that shows in in many craigslist ads to draw people in, plus if you click on the pictures, that first one displays in a significantly smaller size than the others, like it was downloaded picture, rather than from someone's camera like the rest of them. I would imagine the indoor pictures are what the car actually/ currently looks like.

[billorn]

Indoor car has red wheels so probly not the same car. I think I also see a leather front seat and divider window which means limo so if your more than 5-8 it will be a tight fit up front.

[1950panhead]

First thought on this would be that the outdoor picture is the, 'this is what it could look like' picture that shows in in many craigslist ads to draw people in, plus if you click on the pictures, that first one displays in a significantly smaller size than the others, like it was downloaded picture, rather than from someone's camera like the rest of them. I would imagine the indoor pictures are what the car actually/ currently looks like.

I agree, indoor car has red wheels, outdoor car has black wheels

Old cars lists -

1936 series 60 four door sedan condition 4 $10,600

1936 series 70 four door sedan condition 4 $13k

1936 series 75 four door sedan condition 4 $11,800

[misterc9]

They want 30K for this car but don't even want to wash it. I don't like the practice of showing a picture of another car in an ad like this.

[60FlatTop]

I printed out the indoor pictures for my Wife. I have been saving vacuum cleaner bags so she can turn my cars into barn finds if I die.

 

To this particular car, you could do a lot worse with 30 grand. Those are really nice cars to drive and that one looks like it has had a pretty good life. It reflects well through the dirt and the interior looks good.

 

I bet a person who scooped that car up for a little under the asking price would be riding around 10 years from now with a pretty big smile. If you didn't like it you could get most of you money back with a wash job and a reasonably good advertisement. Might even make a few bucks.

 

I am pretty cynical, but if I was in the market I wouldn't check that one off. I know how the "experts" can lead people astray.

Bernie

[39BuickEight]

Honest and smart sellers don't put up a false photo as the representation of a vehicle.  That's incredibly crooked and screams shadiness.  Put a photo of what you are selling up front.   With no other explanation given, and a terribly short description, this is what has happened here.

Edited September 25, 2018 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[capngrog]

It appears that the front seat has been reupholstered in vinyl ... or did the front seats come that way from the factory?

 

Cheers,

Grog

[60FlatTop]

Greg,

Here's my story on the car given over 50 years of astute observation.

Purchased new by a northern California funeral home, lightly used in service through WWII. In 1948 they bought a new one and the car sat in the back garage for at least 10 years.

Somewhere around 1960 a local oddball bought it for $150 to $200, drove it for a year and parked it, meaning to "fix it up real nice". It stayed parked until he died in the late '80's. The new owner got it painted circa 1990, just as closed Cadillacs were becoming accepted. He almost died of a heart attack when he priced running board covers at the time of the paint job. He got feeble and never did much after the paint job and never drove the car much, but talked about it at Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, giving the family the impression it was a gold mine, if only running board rubber didn't cost so much. (A friend of mine paid around $4000 for a set of '38 Model 75)

 

He died three years ago and the family is groping with the sale, trying not to have the wrong conversation start at Thanksgiving with one of the Uncles or a stray Nephew.

 

A lot of that is probably pretty close. For a guy who likes a sidemounted sedan it is worth a look.

 

For me, I'm just thinking about what I could do with the cars I already own if I had an extra 30 grand to spend on them.

 

I don't see any blatant fraud or maliciousness in the ad, just an executor or family member who doesn't know what they are doing and probably wish it would end.

Edited September 25, 2018 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

Bernie - when does your first mystery/spy novel come out!?  Tom Clancy look out!  That's a great way to think of the car and I agree it doesn't seem like fraud. Just trying to show what it could be or was back in the funeral parlor days. I have no idea if it is worth 30K but it looks like it would be a fun driver. The 38 Studebaker in my avitar was in a barn for 42 years and that is original paint buffed out for many hours. So if this car can be cleaned up like mine it may look close to the outside pic.  If the car runs, has decent paint, a reasonable interior, is drivable (brakes work reasonably) and you like it, and want a big old Caddy,  it may be worth looking at and make an  offer.

I would take into consideration the comments about availability of parts as sometime all of these old beast need something fixed.   Let us know what you decide.

Have fun. 

Dave S

 

P.S.  Bernie don't forget to let us know when the book coms out! 

 

[Lahti35]

7 hours ago, misterc9 said:

They want 30K for this car but don't even want to wash it. I don't like the practice of showing a picture of another car in an ad like this.

Reminds me of a '22 Model T I just looked at. Dusty as all get out, non running... 15K, the seller assures me it only needs "something little".  I'd wash a total rust bucket before I put it up for sale even if there wouldn't be much left after the cleaning!

Edited September 25, 2018 by Lahti35 (see edit history)

[1935Packard]

11 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

Greg,

Here's my story on the car given over 50 years of astute observation.

Purchased new by a northern California funeral home, lightly used in service through WWII. In 1948 they bought a new one and the car sat in the back garage for at least 10 years.

Somewhere around 1960 a local oddball bought it for $150 to $200, drove it for a year and parked it, meaning to "fix it up real nice". It stayed parked until he died in the late '80's. The new owner got it painted circa 1990, just as closed Cadillacs were becoming accepted. He almost died of a heart attack when he priced running board covers at the time of the paint job. He got feeble and never did much after the paint job and never drove the car much, but talked about it at Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, giving the family the impression it was a gold mine, if only running board rubber didn't cost so much. (A friend of mine paid around $4000 for a set of '38 Model 75)

 

He died three years ago and the family is groping with the sale, trying not to have the wrong conversation start at Thanksgiving with one of the Uncles or a stray Nephew.

 

A lot of that is probably pretty close. For a guy who likes a sidemounted sedan it is worth a look.

 

For me, I'm just thinking about what I could do with the cars I already own if I had an extra 30 grand to spend on them.

 

I don't see any blatant fraud or maliciousness in the ad, just an executor or family member who doesn't know what they are doing and probably wish it would end.

 

Well done.  Let's just hope "OBO" turns into a best offer that the family realizes is in the ballpark.

[Frantz]

Bernie's story is probably about spot on. The pictures they do show of the actual car are the sorta pictures someone who doesn't know much about cars would think someone who wants to buy a car would want to see. No chassis or motor shots, and several that serve no purpose. I don't gamble, but I'd feel pretty good with a bet on this being an estate sale with a bunch of folks who don't know car values. You can always go down, it's hard to go up. It only takes one party of the estate to have inflated values in their mind to ruin that next Thanksgiving if the rest of the family "gave away" the car for $15k. If there is no real rush for cash, no harm in wanting to feel out the market and keep the family fighting down as seems not uncommon. Maybe their attorney (who knows nothing about cars) gave em a price to ask. The only sketchy part is the other picture. I think it was just an honest attempt to be dishonest about the condition and get the dreamers minds cranking.

[tripwire]

This ad reminds me of a '57 TBird for sale I went to look at several years ago. It was a lot rougher than the owners wanted to admit to and priced significantly higher than it should have been.  As I looked at the car and talked with the seller, one of 3 children of the person who had owned it and had passed away, he told me they would consider offers.  So, I decided to make an offer for what I thought would put me in a good position to get this car on the road for about its true value.  He countered with a higher number, which I expected, but it was still very high.  As we continued to negotiate I started to see a pattern develop that revealed their underlying intentions.  It seems his counter offers to my offers all divided by 3 very nicely. Ultimately, I gave up and continued my search for a nice old car.  Some time later they did sell the car but not anywhere near what their visions of sugarplums price.

 

Wes in VT

[SC38dls]

The inside pictures at least show what the car looks like now.  You can decide if it is worth going to see.  I say that after two expoerences I had looking for a Jag MK IX. I spent a month of phone calls and emails with numerous photos with two different sellers. One in VanCouver the other in New Jersey.  Both sent pics showing a car in decent condition body & paint wise, said the engine was running and the pics showed the interior was old but useable.  I'm in Lexington KY so took the trip out to VanCouver and the car was a rusted out hulk, nothing like the pics. Same thing with the trip to NJ.  I had even checked with the local Jag club in Vancouver and they said the seller had decent cars.  You never know what to believe until you see it for yourself.  If you want a Cadilac like this go see it. if you don't uyou only have yourself to blame if you bought a pig in a poke.  

Dave S 

[60FlatTop]

2 hours ago, Frantz said:

Maybe their attorney (who knows nothing about cars) gave em a price to ask.

 

A High School friend of mine ran a body shop in my area until recently. He got a divorce. In an attached garage was a 1950's Ford that was his HS car, a little rough but complete. The lawyer "estimated" the value of the Ford among his assets. I guess there is a car appraisal class in lawyer school. He couldn't come up with the total cash payment. So, while he was away, the ex and the lawyer removed the car from his property to sell. They advertised it and were offended by the low offers. No one was as smart as the lawyer at determining the value.

In a few months the car was scrapped and the lawyer got the ex to sue for the balance of the estimated value. I was highly entertained.

 

Those type of stories are, certainly, not uncommon and will happen more as the hobbyists age and die.

 

A friend of mine and I had coffee last night and talked about this and similar car sales. We both agreed that the people we find most despicable are the chiselers who go out and use every trick they know to get the low price and then parade around with the car gloating over how little they paid. They have always been around, right from the beginning of the hobby.

 

To the car of the topic, it is an inherently good car. The most it will cost is $30,000. You can probably get it for less. How much less carries the risk of not getting it at all. And then one would be ignorant of what they missed. I often tell my Wife that some people live more blissful lives than I.

Edited September 26, 2018 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[billorn]

My 56' olds was apart for paint when I went thru my divorce in the 80s. Wifes lawyer looked up price guide value for 1 quality car and said I had to pay her half of that number for her half of the car that we bought together. I told him she could have the whole car and sell it and keep everything. I believe he even went to the bodyshop to see it before saying no thanks, nevermind.

[JACK M]

So a few years ago I was in SoCal with an empty trailer.

I followed up on  a local CL ad for a car that had been sitting in the desert for several years.

The seller declined my cash offer.

But my phone rang when I was about twenty miles up the road.

I just wish he would have accepted while I was still in his area.

 

Being as I am used to fixing up stuff from the northwest that desert car was a whole new ball game.

Fun Stuff !!

[Frantz]

18 hours ago, JACK M said:

So a few years ago I was in SoCal with an empty trailer.

I followed up on  a local CL ad for a car that had been sitting in the desert for several years.

The seller declined my cash offer.

But my phone rang when I was about twenty miles up the road.

I just wish he would have accepted while I was still in his area.

 

Being as I am used to fixing up stuff from the northwest that desert car was a whole new ball game.

Fun Stuff !!

Haha, the seller went and told his wife about the screw ball offer he got, thinking he would get sympathy... she lit a fuse when she heard he declined it.

[JACK M]

3 hours ago, Frantz said:

Haha, the seller went and told his wife about the screw ball offer he got, thinking he would get sympathy... she lit a fuse when she heard he declined it.

 

That could be alright. Many wives do tend to want stuff gone.

The story that the seller gave me was that his late father always had a dream of moving to Oregon and when his brother reminded him of that the decision was made to head me off.

In some small way part of his fathers dream came about.

Either way, FUN STUFF for me  !!

Edited September 27, 2018 by JACK M (see edit history)

[Bob Roller]

If there is a difference in the photos then something isn't on the up and up.

Caveat Emptor prevails along with Barnum was RIGHT.

[Guest]

About the first picture being different.  Several years ago I saw my Pontiac in an ad for a "barn find" "basket case" car.  On closer looking  the seller clearly said this picture (my car) was what the car would/could look like when reassembled.  He/she even said the picture was from the internet.

In this case he/she made his/her intent totally clear.

[Paul Dobbin]

19 hours ago, Tinindian said:

About the first picture being different.  Several years ago I saw my Pontiac in an ad for a "barn find" "basket case" car.  On closer looking  the seller clearly said this picture (my car) was what the car would/could look like when reassembled.  He/she even said the picture was from the internet.

In this case he/she made his/her intent totally clear.

    Good to know there are still many honest sellers out there.