B Jake Moran

Confirms correct interior pattern too.

I’m still puzzled why some classic era motors cost $50,000 to restore (not including some or most V16s). I get the car and pull the motor and put it on an engine stand. I get a rebuild kit from Kanter. I disassemble it, do my own cleaning and degreasing, hone the cylinders myself. I take measurements and find it in tolerance, install the $2,000 Kanter rebuild kit, etc. Where is the other $48,000 going? Yes I am sure some of you are laughing but you don’t need to get everything, take it to a Packard or Cadillac or whatever specialist. “You might get blow by or an out balance condition, it won’t be “perfect”. Maybe. But I think most would be much improved without spending ungodly sums. The finished car would not likely ever go past 10,000 to 20,000 miles driven for the rest of its life. And every example of a project car that simply is not economically viable comes with the inevitable “there are dozens of these for $30,000 already out there, no need to waste your time restoring this one”. I seldom see that. I don’t see a bunch of pre war 8 passenger cars for $30,000. Maybe it’s just me.

Sorry to piggyback on this thread but I am looking for either a 79-81 Trans Am, Formula or a Z28 project. Can a Pontiac 400 replace the Olds 403 apples to apples or the 301 Turbo for that matter? How about the Pontiac 350? These would be automatics I’m looking at.

There is a glut of older cars on the market and the younger potential buyers are typically not going this old to fill the garage. Expect more of this to occur. Plus - Facebook marketplace has its inherent flaws for casual shoppers, we know about their algorithms that literally remove a car from searches. You have to “save” the car on your account and even then facebook may drop ads. I have seen it done. I saved a 64 Eldorado convertible from Missouri , said “nah, I am not ever going to buy it”, deleted it from my saves and now I can’t find it and facebook won’t allow me to find it. Craigslist was better. National search engines generally worked, now not so much.

And still not sold. Compare this beautiful Packard at $26,000 to that 127,000 mile 55 Imperial.

Upholstery is part of it. #2 - and this is just my opinion - but inventory is high for what $17,000 buys. 3rd- the body color of Emerald Green is an acquired taste. If you buy for $17,000 you better love it. 4th - 127,000 miles is a lot of 1955 miles. That’s equivalent to 250,000 today. For comparison look at all the nice 55-56 Packard 400s and Patricians you and others have posted in the last year that need nothing to enjoy. And many of them languished unsold for a long time.

Yes it appears nice. Never seen that upholstery in a 63 Buick but it apparently has only 39,000 miles. What is a good price? His $10,000 seems ok but there is a lot of inventory out there and all of these sorts of cars I have saved on my facebook are not selling. So I am not sure. I agree for him it seems time to sell but it was free - he may have paid estate taxes - for him. Maybe $6,500?

…and does the green paint imply that it was already restored once, perhaps in the 70’s. ?

Yes another idiot that thinks all old cars are worth the amount he needs to get his rat rod. He likely was high bidder at the auction and bought it for $2,500 or so. That’s too bad because another possible restoration will continue to degrade. Can’t be many left to restore.

Didn’t Brad start and promote the Performance sub forum here? He was pretty active.

$10,000 is still too much in my opinion. It’s basically at 100,000 miles. It may be well maintained but that’s normal expense we all incur. It’s a 33 year old car. I would ask $7,000 or just wholesale it to Marck.

It’s certainly a beautiful time capsule but agree it won’t find a buyer at $28,000. But at some point it sells and the next owner just needs to enjoy the heck out of it. I mean maybe you pay $23,000 for it and enjoy it for 10 years. That’s a lot cheaper than a restoration and you enjoy it NOW.

Lowered to $7500 still with no offers.

15 years ago I went to a project car auction by Vanderbrink up in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Canada was 5 miles away. They had 15 Nash Bathtubs. On inspection day I carefully examined each one and came away impressed. I bid on a couple but got outbid. At the time I was trying to collect 6-7 of the makes from 1949-1950. I had a 22nd series Packard Custom 8, a 1949 Chrysler New Yorker club coupe, a 1949 Kaiser Virginian, and a 1949 Hudson Commodore 8. That’s why I bid. These Nashes have not aged well in my opinion. Few can call them attractive or make a case for their styling. However they would be fun to own and enjoy as part of a broader collection in my opinion.

It’s when you want something different. It’s collectible like a Kaiser Frazer is. It’s different, unique. When you get in a well sorted one and head out on the roads, the odd sensation of being transported back to the early 50’s is not much different than a 1950 Chevy.

Wasn't the Pacemaker the lowest cost entry for Hudson? Not that it matters much at this point. I do not think in 1951 Hudson offered an eight cylinder. Big mistake. I owned a 49 Commodore 8 but that motor was very pre war technology and the 308 6 cylinder was actually a new design. But they never went further and when you go from offering an 8 cylinder in 1949-50 to "oh, we are only going to offer 6 cylinder motors now, and flatheads to boot", and the competition is coming out with V8's, well bye bye Hudson.

Beautiful car, in this color. Equal to the Riviera, although different in front.

Now down to $7500 and the son of the owner says "make any offer!" We always talk price in this hobby, and that is understandable in a sense. But if someone interested in the AACA and enjoying the many benefits of this hobby placed $5,000 in front of the son, he would say "deal!" And with that, membership in the AACA costs what? $35 or $40 a year? This car is old, and from a past time that I personally enjoyed. Just preserve it, pay it off then buy another and pretty soon you have a nice 3-4car collection. NOT an expensive hobby!

the designs have aged extremely well. They are far less ostentatious than the competition and the Virgil Exner-penned Chryslers that would replace them for 1955. They have a reserved and dignified air about them. As Charles puts it, "Chryslers of this era have always been described by collectors as 'frumpy' or 'staid.' The popular story is that K.T. Keller, who was the head of Chrysler in those days, insisted that he be able to wear his hat while driving and the end result was that the cars were higher and not so sleek. Chrysler lost market share because its cars were plain, but in today's world their simplicity and lack of ornamentation makes them more attractive—I think kind of handsome. They're beautifully built and beautifully engineered. They're very solid."

Only Saratoga Town & Country wagons were produced for the 1952 model year, but for 1953 the whole Saratoga line was dropped. Or, more accurately, the Saratoga name was replaced with the New Yorker name, with a New Yorker Deluxe line taking the place of the old version. The New Yorker Town & Country was sold only in its namesake line, while the Deluxe variant was distinguished largely by the additional quality of its interior. The Town & Country received a unique vinyl interior with a reptile texture, something coincidentally echoed in the modern Laramie Longhorn Ram, which features alligator-texture inserts.

The 1953 New Yorker wagon had an advantage over its predecessors of 1951-'52 in that it was slightly more compact. The '53 line shared its chassis with the six-cylinder Windsor, resulting in a wheelbase that dropped from 131.5 to 125.5 inches and, in the wagon, a 195-pound weight loss, down to 4,260 pounds. The 1951 Chrysler New Yorker Town & Country weighed 4,455 pounds and a mere 251 were sold.

So, the buyer of a 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Town & Country wagon was likely someone: 1) financially comfortable, 2) who appreciated Chrysler's reputation for innovation, and 3) wanted a car more durable than the competition. Chryslers also had an informal tie-in with cowboy and rural culture in the public's mind.

If you wanted a station wagon in 1953, the odds were against your purchasing a Chrysler New Yorker. Oh, the New Yorker was an excellent choice, with its traditional outstanding Chrysler Corporation engineering, the universally respected FirePower Hemi V-8, and its restrained yet handsome styling. It's just that the New Yorker Town & Country was very expensive— with a base price of $4,077 versus a $3,254 starting cost for a Buick Roadmaster, or just $2,591 for a Mercury Monterey. Small surprise, then, that only 1,399 examples were produced (alongside 1,242 Chrysler Windsor Town & Country wagons, which utilized the 119-horsepower, 265-cu.in. Spitfire straight-six engine).

I am a big fan of the 65 Electras, a little less of a fan by 1/2 of 1% of the 66's. The grilles don't interest me quite as much on a 66 but my friend Roy Faries owns a 66. The rear taillamp treatment on the 65-66 are phenomenal, in my opinion. GREAT mid century GM styling!