B Jake Moran

Interesting. One gets sold, others pop up. Would be fun to follow this and see what price it sells for and to whom, but we may never know.

Location is part of it. Finding it on Facebook is another. If this is on eBay, in a well sorted auction, I’ll bet it goes for more than $15,000. Facebook marketplace is a crapshoot for me. I’ll look and find cars like this, save it, then do another extensive search and never find it again.

Seller marked the Facebook posting SOLD. I have no idea who got it but it likely stayed local and another farmer type bought it. Let's call the sale price $13,000 to $14,000. While not a Buick, a similar "barn" 1923 Cadillac, same body style, has sold for $4,500. There are still folks buying the old cars, wish it was me.

Thank you Brian.

Larry, great story. I received a minimal reply from the seller. I mentioned my offer would be in the $3,000 range and noted I had to paint it, get it going, and it was a 4 cylinder. He quickly responded that I was an idiot because it's a 6 cylinder. I apologized, went back and tried to see a photo of the car with the hood up, and of course there is none. He is not that interested in selling it.

Hans, That is a good observation, on the one front fender poking out. The issue is scarcity. This isn't a Special or a Super. No offense to those owners. The Century and Roadmaster are the ones to sink $100,000 into if that's your deal. Add to that all of the power accessories and paint code for this one, and sub $15,000 American dollar price, and you simply can not find a nicer project car.

Also why did he not detail the engine and components when everything was out? And I think the side spares muck up the super clean lines of the car, not my preference in most cases, on this case especially. Side mounted spares, to me, were the "Continental Kit" of the 1950's, spotlights of the 1940's. An unnecessary accessory often seen added by restorers as a sign of prestige. Doesn't always work.

It is lovely to look at, and the interior is nice. Was/Is that an issue with the pedal start? I've never heard anyone - ever - bring that up on the era of pedal start feature Buicks. I would fix it, not disable it. To me, reading the owners comments at the end of the BAT description, it sounds like he has had enough of chasing gremlins and wants to move on. Thankfully, he is being honest. While I appreciate authenticity as much as the next guy, I would have stayed with the 1950 263. There are some experts on here that can go - "that's a NOM!" as soon as you raise the hood, my eyes would not detect a difference, especially if one detailed it to look as much like a 1938 as possible. My understanding is the 263 is a great version of the straight 8.

I have always preferred the super clean 1953 Caribbean over all other years. The 55-56 I love too, but looking at the decluttered 53's always pleases me. I sought a restoration project 1953 about 20 years ago and they were $8,000 to $10,000. Too much for me then. As for the 1954, I still like it and I like that each year is unique. Packard did a nice job and that last year engine would be fun.

hhhmm, not sure I could post this one. Different, but the color is about the worst a person could choose, outside of perhaps that brown metallic my dad loved.

Thanks Mike. I'm still mad I didn't catch all the details you guys did, and basically the seller is not being completely honest. So many ads have so little detail.

I completely understand. Thankfully there are still quite a few out there. As you know in 1974 they went the "Collonade" route of enclosing that rear window. I personally like that and I love me some eggcrate grille, versus the vertical grille treatment on the 73's. But we are splitting hairs, both years are nice, one sort of ends an era, the other one starts a new one.

Yes this is a nice car. I agree with 60s Buick fan that the interior can likely be freshened. I would use "Leather Honey" on the red, and remove the seats and redye the white, then treat it. Restitch the loose stitching, and live with it another 10 years at least. Recovering for the sake of being brand spanking new would cost about $8,000 and may look odd against the rest of the original interior. I worked as an import technician for Ramsey Pontiac-Mazda-Subaru from 1998 to 2005. Mr. Ramsey had several Pontiacs including a 1950 4 door with the straight 8 and hydramatic. Technicians could "check out" cars like you would books at a library. The 1950 had maybe 18,000 original miles on it and after trying a few things, we decided to rebuild it. I was never sure if the motor was engineered that way, to not be robust enough, or whether the lack of driving was the issue, but it has stuck with me ever since. I'm not sure who else has experience with the Pontiac straight 8 flathead and I am not a flathead era Pontiac expert. I have always loved the 1950-1954 Catalinas (Pontiac's name for the 2 door hardtops) Would love a 1950 1st year version shared with Chevrolet, but any year in that time frame would be a nice car. Pontiac to me was preferred over Chevy because of the drivetrain. Not sure, but I think the 54 Star Chief is longer than regular Pontiacs and Chevy's. As for the 1955 Pontiacs, I do not care for the grilles and front ends, refreshed in 1956, that would be my choice between 55-56, but at the end of the day, I would take an old school 1950-1954 Pontiac over 55-56.

Prefer the 74's, but this one is a nice example subject to inspection. Needs re-detailed, looks like some tired paint and a quick-y wax job to me. Also needs a thin whitewall added to break up all the black.

I doubt it. Maybe if you are a Mopar guy as mentioned and "gotta have it" but I think the potential buyer can paint with a broad brush here. We don't see it every day but the pool of buyers is shrinking and getting very specific. I see a LOT of salt and pepper haired guys in modern convertibles. 25 years ago maybe they bought this kind of nostalgic ride, now they want A/C Blowing on them when it's 82 out and the top is down, or good heat, power accessories, speed. No maintenance. You get the picture. That means these go unsold a bit longer, and when sold, we seldom know the actual price. This makes price guides worthless.

Note manual windows, appears no A/C, yet the buyer wanted a power leather bench seat.

(1) Marketplace - 1961 Buick Invicta | Facebook I did not know Leather was an option in the 1961 Buicks except Electra convertibles. Was this still the age of SO? Was it an Invicta Custom option? (Assume Custom was the high end Invicta) Seller's Description 1961 Buick Invicta · Sedan · Driven 89,000 miles Runs and drives good. Power seat works. Radio works. Spot light works. Good tires. Fun cruiser.

That's a good point and I always like your comments as they seem spot on. I just don't know what the market is and any particular person has no idea how many of these are left, some in the hands of Mopar collectors we may never see.

It sold for $34,000, then $38,500 plus buyers premium. So I would say these ultra low mileage Reattas might see a modest increase in collector value over the next 10 years? We will have to revisit and see when a Reatta goes over $40,000.

Did you get the VIN or is that private due to your relationship with the previous seller?

Fantastic! The going away of a special car is somewhat tough but interesting aspect of our hobby.

I spoke with the seller yesterday. His name is Ronny. The ad did not have his phone number. That is what I messaged him for. 651-983-4618. It is located (I know it says it in the ad) in St Croix Falls Wisconsin, on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. I know where that is because we had a family vacation there, in that area - is really pretty part of the Northland. The miles are truly believed to be actual but the motor is stuck. The back story is that it came out of a hoarder collection in Green Bay Wisconsin with somewhat poor storage. We have heard that before. Apparently the back 1/3 of several cars was not properly stored and degradation took place on several of the cars including this one. The motor is stuck. Interior and convertible top are original. (I have no reason to doubt Ronny) Floorboards are solid, rear frame is not. Lots of the power options. 10 years ago this would have been a no brainer. I would have tapped my 401k for a "loan" and at least got it in my 3 car garage man cave. I no longer have that garage and no place to put it. Interestingly, my retirement savings have lost well in excess of this asking price in the last 8 months. Ronny says - and sometimes owners use hyperbole - that if no one wants it by snowfall it is no longer for sale and he is pulling it in to restore. Won't leave it out in the snow. I can't imagine a better restoration project - an iconic transport-you-back-in time machine with solid floors, complete, and in a nice color combination for less than $15,000! Restored this is likely a $65,000 car, although restoration costs will exceed that.

John: I bought some rare hubcaps for a forum member on here "Thriller" - Derek Thille from Canada - from this seller. Note the GN or T Type next to the Skyhawk. I don't think the fellow has to sell but probably wants to move on to something else. I think it is a right sized car to enjoy the hobby in my opinion. I was NOT impressed with these new or off new. I was 12 years old in 1976 and remember these and Monzas and I think Firenzas into the 80's. Now when I look at this car I like the styling. I wouldn't mind having a spoiler, it sort of shores up the back end like a spoiler does on a 76 Camaro.

I would say since it is on ebay at their asking price of $30,000, that perhaps $28,000 buys it. It is beautiful in my opinion. Colors are excellent, condition, and somewhat practical for a specialty car given it likely gets 22 mpg or so, and is cheap to maintain.