egor

They sold me the front door panels alone for my 38-41 in 2007. Not cheap, but definitely less than $3500. If other solutions don't work out, maybe worth giving them another call? Good luck!

Click on thios link: https://www.lebaronbonney.com/cart/comp_kits.php They used to sell the parts of a panel kit individually. Contact them to see if they will sell you the cardboard panel.

This is a great car at a fair price. I passed on it some time ago as I was looking for a two-door. Ask for pics!

I contacted the owner for more info and pics, he said it was a 2 door, no mention of photos. You're right, no one would (well, should) buy a car they've never seen, but not everyone is within easy driving distance of Orange County (e.g., Disneyland), either.

It's a great-looking car. I was trying to offer advice, not a criticism of his asking price. He's asking NADA low book (which it looks like it is), but that assumes the car runs. Maybe he'll find a buyer who'll take him at his word that that car was a good runner and may just need a tuneup, but he'd have a much better chance to get his price if he can show a seller how it runs.

Easy as it is to add photos to a craigslist ad, the seller is either too lazy to take a snap shot and post it, or the car is a heap. One can assume it doesn't run, or he would've waxed poetic about how fast it is and how well the brakes work. The dream that can come true is the seller getting $25K for it.

Get the car running. No one but those deep-pocketed hot rodders is going to come close to meeting your price otherwise.

First year for Buick skirts was 1940. If I see skirts on a 37/38, I expect to see some red velour upholstery. Not that there's anything wrong with red velour upholstery....

Pete's ballpark figure is for a restored car. The body wood may be OK, but the brightwork is toast and it doesn't run so you have no idea of the condition of the drivetrain, brakes, etc. It depends on what you consider to be non-concours shape as to what it'll be worth, and there's no telling what that might cost to achieve. Get it running good, without doing any cosmetics, and it's worth maybe half of Pete's estimate.

Sounds like you need to spring for a shop manual. Reprints are available on eBay and from several parts suppliers.

Beautiful car, and asking price is a good point of departure. Is it IN California, or just a California car? Buyers want to know location so they can factor in shipping costs when they consider making an offer, and this is definitely a "closed trailer" car..

The body looks pretty good, aside from the one crunched fender. If there's no rust, maybe(?).

350 miles. A great drive once you get out of suburbia.

This certainly isn't the place to make unsubstantiated claims. Too many forum members are too knowledgeable. Anybody who can place a free ad here can take a few minutes and Google sales results for the car they plan to sell. Not even a NADA guide would support the seller's asking price, and judging from his silence, he doesn't seem too perturbed by the responses.

Yeah, seller is a bit optimistic. Buy it for $12K, spend $50K restoring it, then it's worth $20-25K. Maybe the $120K was a typo?

OK, HAMB, OR the Buick Performance/Modified Forum. I didn't mean anyone isn't welcome, just that another forum might yield more constructive responses.

You might do better posting on H.A.M.B., or similar modified car sites. This forum is pretty much about preserving cars as they came from the factory.

Congrats on your new baby! I always figured, since the diameter of a 6.50-16 tire is the same as a 7.00-15, the smaller wheel with a bigger tire was used on the Century to support the greater weight of the 320 engine. Same diameter tire kept the scale the same, as Special and Century used the same bodies from the cowl backwards. I think bolt pattern is the same for both wheels, so maybe OK for an emergency? I ran radials on my 38-41 for years, loved them. Wouldn't go back to bias ply, especially if they needed inner tubes. Century has a 5.5 inch rim. Is that within the recommended rim width for your 8.20-15's?

Another good book to add to your library is the Fisher Body Manual, reprints available through parts suppliers and eBay. Great body style! Congrats.

I don't think there are repros being made, and good ones are like hen's teeth. Do you not have one at all, do you have one that's broken? You can start by calling Buick dismantler Dave Tacheny, 763-427-3460. I have read articles about repairing and replating horn rings. Do a web search for the archive of articles from the old "Torque Tube" magazine of the '37-'38 Buick club.

What a beauty! That Pierce Arrow must really be something for you to part with the Hupp. Unless you're OK with leaving it in the driveway this winter, you probably need to stick a realistic price on it, go for a straight sale, then shop for the Indian. It's the end of summer, those looking for cars have already bought them, and folks with Indian Chiefs looking to trade them for Hupmobiles are, I'm guessing, a pretty small subset. Good luck.

I wasn't at all knocking the looks of the car. I like it. As the former owner of two '38 Buick sedans, I thought they were the best-looking Buicks of that model year, and the Dodge is a good-looking car, too. Desirability and good looks aren't necessarily the same thing. There are some butt-ugly convertibles out there that will pull better money than better-looking closed cars.

No matter where you choose to advertise the car, you'll do MUCH better if you can get it running. Buyers will imagine a blown motor when it might only be bad gas keeping it from starting. This isn't a particularly desirable body style, so you need to do all you can to make it attractive to buyers.

Nice car at a fair price. Wish it were on the west coast!

I had the same problem with my '38. I replaced the door panels, they were thicker than the original, handles wouldn't stay on. The extra bit of spring tension caused the handles to pop off. I had to remove the springs behind the handles.