Thriller

Reminds me of a Thunderbird roof with the Landau bars.

MN also has scads of various plates...I'm sure law enforcement must just love it. Here in Manitoba, there is / was an "antique" plate for vehicles that were at least 30 years old. However, the stipulations are so restrictive few people use them. The local car hobby has been working with the provincial insurer on a scheme which would allow multiple cars to use a single set of plates so long as you keep storage policies in place for all of them...it could be a cost savings, but a pain for households with multiple drivers.

Construction season can also be considered mosquito season. -30 F wind chill...luxury...why don't you come north my friend. Actually, it isn't bad, but I was born and raised in central Saskatchewan...there is a certain element in having grown with it. We can hit around 100 in the summer, but that isn't typical...probably 70s - 80s, which can be nice. If anyone wants to experience it, I am putting together a tour for the Labo(u)r Day weekend. I am really just getting going on planning, but looking at hitting the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, as well as Lower Fort Garry and the Marine Museum of Manitoba north of Winnipeg. If anyone does come up and we can make the time, I can also show off my collection of toys and projects. I had done this in 2009 and my daughter Teresa had an article on it in the Bugle (January 2010). Early September is generally quite nice yet for temperatures, although it can be a bit cool if it is cloudy / windy. It would be an extremely unusual weather event to see snow that weekend.

Jim - perhaps then Mike should be the final arbiter on choosing a name....

I'd forgotten about the 2-bbl 401...generating 410 ft-lbs of torque. Seeing as it appears your engine may not have been painted before, it appears that it could be the original colour. The restoration paint that is currently viewed as the "de facto" correct colour appears to be a bit paler to me. The photos are of two of my cars. The '66 Wildcat was deemed to have the incorrect colour, in spite of it having been colour-matched using a part from the car. That isn't to say there wasn't heat change over the years or perhaps it wasn't perfectly cleaned before colour matching. The other photo is of my '54 Century, which has been deemed correct. In both photos is an untouched spark plug wire cover from my '56. Note that the '56 and '66 are both Canadian cars. That said, I don't want to turn your thread about your new acquisition into an argument about correct engine colour.

It makes me a jolly good fellow....

I used to buy Wildcat semi-regularly, but haven't seen it here for a while...I'd forgotten about it.

So Brent, you are making trouble here now...welcome to the mayhem. If my wife would let me, I could probably let you have my model 72 if it would help you. Of course, if you wind up buying parts cars, maybe you'll have stuff left over that I could use. Remember to ask me about Labour Day...I'm putting together a tour.

Groan. It isn't like Mike and beer don't mix well or anything.... Well, Mike, what's next? It seems you haven't posted anything on this thread for at least a day

That's why somebody else was able to buy it.... Congrats Matt...it's a great looking car and not a bad birthday present.

Bummer.

I love the play on words for this one...it's frustrating I didn't come up with this one myself.

From August Old Cars Report Price Guide, Condition / 2 seat / 3 seat #6 / $680 / 700 5 / 2040 / 2100 4 / 3400 / 3500 3 / 7650 / 7880 2 / 11900 / 12250 1 / 17000 / 17500 #6 condition is a parts car, #1 is a pristine car that generally isn't driven. The nicest cars driven to a car show would be #2. #5 condition is restorable. #4 generally functions, but obviously needs help and #3 is the proverbial 20 footer - up close there are definitely flaws. Rust is expensive to fix. If the car doesn't run, you are probably looking at a #6 condition car. Keep in mind the above is a price guide, a few months old, and a guide is a guideline, not an absolute.

Very nice car Steve. As for value, you may be best off hiring an appraiser to take a look at it. That way you have a value from an independent source. Of course, some appraisers are just as likely to ask you what you may want it written up as to value. Secondly, you will want to get a current newspaper, set it on the windshield, then back window of the car so that it shows up in photos, and make sure to take a close-up of the newspaper so that a date can be verified as to its condition. Some insurers like a copy of those, and an appraiser may do that for you. Finally, you could pick up an Old Cars Report Price Guide. As an alternative, check online for antique auto price guides - vmrintl.com and nadaguides.com are two. The problem is trying to verify what "condition" your car would be considered. For its age, it is very low mileage and many of us in the hobby value that and originality. However, just picking a number from a price guide doesn't get you those nuances. Oh yeah, if you do have the car appraised, if you don't want to do the work yourself, you may want to consider having the car detailed beforehand. Cleaning up the paint, eliminating light scratches, and making it pop a bit more with polish and wax can add value to the appraisal. Without being able to see all the details, I would expect it to be in the range of $12-15k, but I have been known to be completely out to lunch. The funny thing is that Buicks tend to be undervalued compared to some of the more popular marques out there. You don't want to inflate the value too much for insurance purposes as that will just cost you more to insure, but if you put it down as too little, then should there be a need to collect insurance, you won't get fair value for the car. Another thing you may want to ask about is how they deal with changes in value - you don't want to have to appraise it every year or two, but you don't want to have something happen down the road that uses an appraised value that is too old. Good luck.

Well then the '31 is right up your alley.... I had forgotten about that one by the time I'd posted up a response. If nothing else, you'll have an opportunity to see some interesting cars.

Dynaflow Doppelbock

Woo hoo! Looking forward to it Jim. I think Super Stout works better than Special Stout. Century Cream Ale. Buick Bock. Buick Bitter (don't like that name as much). Buick Brown. LeSabre Lambic (Belgian). Regal Red. Electra Eisbock. Invicta India Pale. GS Golden. PAIPA - Park Avenue India Pale Ale. Wildcat Weissbier. I think I'm about done...and thirsty...and have to go out soon, so can't have any for a few hours...sigh.

I could probably make use of the oil filter on that car....

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like a Model 10, which was around from 1908-1910. Note that Buick switched to left hand drive in 1914, so it would definitely be older than that.

Hotel booked...check National registration sent...check Flights booked...check I guess we're going. This will be the first time the children and I see the east coast. We'll detour to Halifax after the meet.

Mike...these cars are 30-40 years too new for you...time to go back. I'm Derek...have far too many Buicks and for those of you who were around a couple months ago, I made a local deal on an '88 coupe (white with blue interior) and took delivery in January. Since we get a genuine winter here, the car is tucked away. I took a photo of the car, put the caption "Have a Reatta Good Christmas" on it and presented the photo to She Who Must Be Obeyed at Christmas...after I get the transmission fixed up, the car cleaned up, and passed the Manitoba vehicle inspection, I have a feeling I'll be turning over the keys to SWMBO...in which case, I may need to procure another car...or behave and drive some of the other old Buicks I have at hand.

I'll find out in spring whether or not mine works....

Before Christmas, my '52 Roadmaster was apparently for sale on the Charlotte Craigslist...one fellow from the forum with some sort of long distance plan had a chat with him an eventually let him have it...he may have had a '52 Roadmaster for sale, but he'd grabbed one of my photos...of course, not a good photo that shows the car (and its flaws) well, but one that doesn't show much and happens to include my wife. I reported it about all the places I could...it seems Craigslist doesn't care much about pulling scam ads.

Gray / silver on the temple is distinguished...beard is old...I know the feeling. I got sound this time around...for a day or two I had some odd stuff going on with the computer - audio was working, but not for everything. The most reasonable stuff I find whenever I go south is from smaller local breweries or brew pubs...I find the mass market American beer too thin....

Way cool...love those wagons...practically a gold mine there