neil morse

From the Facebook ad (not the opening post): "About This Vehicle Driven 26,300 miles Manual transmission Exterior color: Burgundy · Interior color: Grey Fuel type: Gasoline Excellent condition"

Looks like a beautiful car. The ad says the exterior color is burgundy, despite what is written in the OP. But not a Roadmaster, as noted above.

Cleaning out the garbage will take some time. But the bigger problem with this ad is that this isn't a New Yorker. Even the ad acknowledges that it has a six-cylinder engine, making it a Royal or a Windsor.

I didn't even know this body style existed for the '40. Other than the unfortunate interior, it seems like a nice car, although a bit optimistically priced. Does it look like it's riding a bit high? Looks that way to me. Also, is the glass tinted or is that just a photo artifact?

Based on the red paint mark and the way it behaves on the road, I believe my '41 Super has the optional 3.9 rear end. However, I have not confirmed this by looking inside.

This looks like a very nice car -- especially the interior. The dash and seats look like they must have been redone at some point, but I couldn't find any reference to that in the description on BAT. In any event, it looks like it was done right. Bids are very low at this point given just what the current owner has done, let alone what else may have been done to the car. Looks like a 15-20K car to me.

I agree. Another great MoPar bargain. The original interior is great. The only thing in the ad that I find fault with is the idea that this is a "very COOL gangster car." No self-respecting gangster would be driving a '49 Chrysler Royal. What is a "gangster car" anyway? If people are thinking of Al Capone, they are off by about 20 years. I've had people tell me my '41 Buick is a great "gangster car." I just smile.

This looks like a nice step-down, but price seems extremely optimistic for a 4-door. Price for the 2-door in the ad posted by Xander seems ever crazier! At least the 4-door looks like it has decent paint and original interior. I love the step-downs, but is this really what people are getting for them these days?

Haha -- I had a feeling that this sounded familiar!

As an owner of the same model Buick, I would say this is a screaming deal! Some additional photos would be nice, but based on what I see here and assuming the information in the ad is on the level, this would be a great car for someone looking to get into the hobby without spending too much money.

Matt, as long as you're going to tackle those gauges, meaning that you're going to be removing the instrument panel, you may as well have your speedo rebuilt while you're at it if the trip odometer is really bothering you. I would not recommend trying to get those numbers aligned on your own -- there are a lot of tiny springs and clips involved -- but a speedo shop will do it for you. The worst part of the job is getting that panel off and getting the gauges out. Feel free to contact me if you run into trouble -- I have some tips.

In another thread, someone suggested that people have to drill through the engine-turned panel to install a starter button. That's simply not true. In fact, that would be a very difficult way to try to do it since those panels are not at all easy to remove and there is very little room behind them. There is plenty of space install a starter button on the underside of the dash. Here's a photo of what a previous owner did on my '41. I'm assuming that the '40 dash has the same basic design.

All's Well That Ends Well Some of you may have seen my post on another thread about my frustration with my front seat recovering project. It turned out that the three yards of fabric that SMS had made up for me were not sufficient for the upholstery shop to do the job because the bolt of fabric wasn't wide enough. Not having any experience in these matters, I had just asked the shop how much fabric they would need, and they said two-and-a-half "yards." So I ordered three "yards" from SMS, figuring a little extra wouldn't hurt. Almost a year later, when the fabric had finally been delivered and the time came when I had worked my way to the top of the queue at the shop, I delivered the fabric and the seat cushions to the shop. Later in the day, the guy called me to say that there wasn't enough fabric because it was too narrow. His calculations were based on a 60" width, and the fabric SMS had provided was only 50" wide. I had never gotten any specifics as to width from either the shop or SMS -- I just naively figured that they were speaking the same language and there was some kind of industry standard as to what a "yard" of fabric was. Well, apparently not! As has been nicely explained to me by a fellow forum member, bolts of fabric vary in width and you always have to specify. So lesson learned, but a little too late to help me. SMS first said they had more of the fabric, then said they couldn't find it, and finally stopped communicating with me altogether. I was super bummed. However, I then got a call from the shop saying that they had discovered some fabric in their own stock that they thought was a "pretty good" match and the right width. And it was only $65 a yard (as opposed to the fabric from SMS that cost $149). I went over the shop and had a look. It was almost as good a match as the SMS fabric, and by that time I had really had enough, so I said, "Great, let's do it." Yesterday, I went over to the shop and picked up the "new" seat cushions. I am finally a happy camper with no more blankets on my front seat! An extra bonus was that they found the original material on the backrest under the previous reupholstery job. I have seen a lot of samples of fabric that is supposed to be appropriate for a '41, including from LeBaron Bonney when they were still in business, and none of them looks quite like the original stuff. Here's a photo of it for the benefit of anyone who's looking for stuff to do a full interior. For comparison, here's what LeBaron Bonney suggested: It's hard to tell from these photos, but the "stripes" are much wider on the original fabric than on the suggestion from LeBaron Bonney. If anyone is interested in having a swatch of the original fabric, I would be happy to send you one.

This really isn't an answer to your question, but I'm throwing it out there anyway. On my '41, a previous owner had disabled the switch on the carb and installed a starter button under the dash. The wiring is very simple -- just as you say -- the starter button is simply wired to the two leads that come off the carb switch. I would probably not have made this modification if it hadn't already been made before I bought the car. I believe in keeping things completely stock. However, I have to say that I'm in no hurry to change my car back to the carb switch. I know they can be troublesome, particularly when they don't operate as they should and cause the Bendix gear to stay engaged with the ring gear on the flywheel after the engine starts. I've seen some pictures of ring gears where the front quarter inch or so is completely worn away on every tooth! Buick used the accelerator/starter system for years, and I'm sure there are folks here on the forum who will help you get yours working. But you might want to consider just bypassing it and going with a starter button.

I really like the look of this T&C! You usually only see examples that have had a six-figure restoration and look it. I especially like the blackwall tires with the white painted "doughnut" beauty rings. If I had that kind of money, I would love to just clean this up a bit and enjoy it "as is." But I don't have that kind of money!

Looks like another handsome MoPar in decent shape. This is just down the road from me, and I would be happy to go look at it if anyone is interested. Interior looks good except for glove box door which appears to be cracked. Photos are not good, as Leif says. I had the 4-door version of this car back in the 90's, so I know a bit about them.

Hey, be careful out there! The image of you speeding down the highway with your eyes closed is a little bit scary. 😄

Very cute!

Be still my heart! I love the step-down Hudsons and the '48 is my favorite year. Putting in a new wiring harness would just be a fun project to me. But (probably) fortunately, I only have room for one collector car at a time.

The Astradome dash is, alone, worth the price of admission! This looks like a great deal me

All I know is that you could definitely get it back in 1990 when I did my Windsor Highlander. I would be surprised if you can't get it these days. After all, it's an official tartan!

Come on, people! I don't understand how this car has not sold. I'm afraid it's just an indication of the lack of interest in cars of this era. Unless there's some hidden defect that I'm not seeing, this is a great price for a car that you can enjoy for many miles!

Spectacular photo! I'd love to know the back story on that one.

All of a sudden, there seem to be a bunch of good choices for anyone who's got $25K or so stashed away! This one is at the top of list for me.

Sign me up!