Desotomatic2021

Hello Matt, I’m breathing life into this old post. Did you have any success with your sender? I pulled my leaky tank yesterday and the sender always reads 26 ohms. The sender in mine looks like every sender online so I’m also assuming it’s the wrong kind as what you’ve described sounds more impressive than what I found. Here is a picture.

Yellow is one of my top favorites but I can't say it's a well used color on classic cars. Green would be my second, that was the color of the 1955 Chrysler Imperial I really liked!

Thanks Walt! I was also looking at 1955 Chrysler Imperial coupes as I really like the lines and features on those cars, they were outside of my price range though. Mid 50's to early 60's was the range of cars I was being drawn to, although I do also like 40 Fords.

Matt A good friend of mine said that this car would look great in pink! It's ironic that yours is that color. Thanks for reaching out to me as someone who I could talk with and is also in Ohio like myself. We just moved our daughter to an apartment just outside The Flats. You have quite the collection of cars for sale on your site, a lot of real head-turners!

Well I've stepped into the world of classic car ownership. I have recently purchased a 1956 Desoto Firedome wagon from Ocala Florida. I found it on Hemmings the week of May 16th, reached out to the owner the 20th. He replied and I explained what I could offer towards payment on the 22nd (my birthday). He replied explaining he had some others interested and would let me know. I followed up on the 28th just to let him know I was still interested. He replied on June 2nd. A close friend about 2hrs away drove to look at the car on the 5th and gave me the thumbs up. I flew down on the 7th, drove and paid for the car. I set up pickup and delivery with Reliable that day at lunch. The wagon was picked up on the 9th and delivered to me the 11th! What a whirlwind couple of weeks but I couldn't be any happier! My father and I went to countless car shows over the decades, I always wanted him to buy something to enjoy and have something to do after he retired. I encouraged him again after the passing of my mom. He wasn't in the best health at that point. After his passing I wanted to get something to share with my family with the inheritance and to leave to my daughter when I'm gone. I believe I have done so and I expect to enjoy this to the fullest for decades to come.

Looks like new hubcaps, someone must have told him.

Good point on posting the data from Bring-a-Trailer, the car has some very minor issues (cosmetically) from the 2018 sale in my opinion. If none of that has been repaired I can't imagine the price increase. Maybe they saw the one in Germany selling for that kind of money? The auction winner from 2018 seemed very excited to win the car based on the comments, I know things change. I really like this wagon, low-mid 20's would put me in it if they would dare come back down to reality.

To breath life into this post I came across this for the same car. Does the current version of this car look any different than the Bring a Trailer version of this car to warrant a double in the sold price from 2018? https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1956-desoto-firedome/

If it didn't have this bubbling I would have been more interested in dipping my toe in. I'm not fixed to buying local, in 2015 I bought a 2013 Lincoln MKT in Texas, so I'm willing to look anywhere.

I was more concerned about these as there were several spots like this. I wasn't sure if this was result of a bad prep and repaint 20+ years ago or something more exciting. Adam, the trim was pretty beat on this car in some spots also, is that in your wheelhouse of "service".

What I saw was a good sized hole, probably golf ball sized. I think once someone starts to dig at it, it will be bigger. The rest of the floor looked pretty solid, but I'm no seasoned expert. This is looking rearward from passenger door, orientation could be off but it was rear passenger side.

I got my head underneath to look around, it’s super close with the size of my bean but I was able to see it.

I told him today I was good and wished him luck in selling it. He did ask why and I explained what my thoughts/concerns were and he was appreciative of the input. I explained that I was looking for a nice drivers car, not a show competitor, and I didn't want to start with a bunch of work first before I could even reliably drive it around town.

If I were looking for a wagon I would go the 4dr route. I had a 70 Mark III as a winter car in my 20's, that was an interesting decision LOL, and have always had a soft spot for coupes. Sedans are beautiful cars so don't get me wrong, just two too many doors for me right now. I'll be 49 this year.

That's a really good looking sedan, I wish I didn't want a coupe so bad as there are a couple sedans out there.

He was forthcoming on the car and answered every question I had. I believe he picked a number and is willing to go down from there. He doesn’t feel this is a retirement fund as he actually wants to build a 70’s Chevy truck. He also said I wouldn’t insult him if I gave him a number. Just would have made me feel better if he spent some time driving it. Letting an old car just sit is the worst. If I were going to offer him something I think I would be around 16k knowing what I know now. It’s still the style of car I want just wish it was a little better kept. If it didn’t have bubbles in the paint I probably would have gone for it. So if anyone knows of a 1957 Century Riviera coupe in the 25k range let me know, I really like the triple rear window though.

Well I'm back at the house with no 1957 Buick in tow. This car has been sitting for several years and he said in total he put less than 5k miles on it. Since he has owned it he has had the radiator repaired and a couple small things. Still has the bias ply tires that were on it when he bought it. There are several things that the car needs. There is a rust hole in the rear floor, passenger side, not super huge. There was some bubbling under the paint in a couple spots but it didn't feel soft. The rear quarter panel, in front of the tire (when tapped on) sounded solid both sides, but if it were bondo from 20+ years ago I think it would have fallen out by now? Trim was bent and scuffed in places, chrome was all present but needed attention. Door seals looked good and not falling apart. rear tri-window seals are questionable. Rear package tray (cardboard?) needs replaced. I believe it needs a new gas tank as it had a fair amount of foreign objects in a brand new fuel filter on the intake manifold and died (no fuel) on a short test drive. Brakes need replaced or adjusted. Interior smelled like an old car that's been sitting but mostly looked presentable, but certainly needed help. Speedo and temp gauge do not work, others are operational. I mean the car seems presentable, it is still a "good looking car", but not at 25K, I knew a 25K car would not be concourse and that's not what I'm looking for either. I'm looking for a car show cruiser I can be proud of, just not sure this is it without at least 3-5K worth of work out of the gate and then possibly a long road after that. I'm no quitter but I need to figure out where I want to start.

I want to see what the coolant and trans fluid look like. I’m going to look at floors, toe area and bottom of the doors. It’s garage kept so hopefully I can see the floor to tell if there are major leaks, granted most cars this age leak at least something don’t they? Lol. I have a illuminated scope for my phone so I’m hopeful to look in areas you can’t normally see. I’m looking for water leaks around the rear Windows and how the seals on the Windows in the doors are and how well they shut. I’ve driven two speeds but never a Dynaflow so hopefully I’ll be able to notice anything unusual. Interested to see if any gauges/lights work with the speedo broke and the additional gauge below. Taking my meter to see how the generator is charging at idle and then fully loaded. It’s 8am now and should set eyes on it at 1030. Thanks for everyone’s comments. I’ll let you all know what happens.

I’m going to look at this car tomorrow. I’m new to purchasing an old car but been around them for decades at shows and friends who own. What problem areas should I look for on this Buick? Thanks for the assistance