What's it Worth??? 1958 Century 4 door

[FireballV8]

Hi Guys

Just an opinion feeler here, what do you guys think a 1958 Buick Century 4 door hardtop is worth nowadays? Its an original car that has been sitting for a long time. It has not run in the last six years and has not been driven in a long time. It still has the original paint and interior, but the seat are dry and split in a few areas. The dash pad is crumbled, there doesn't seem to be any rust or accident damage to it and it is complete. There was a big oil slick on the ground where it is parked, so the tranny or rear engine seal may be gone and there was gas in the engine oil, maybe a stuck float. Also it needs brakes as all the rubber hoses are rotted.

It seems to me that the desirability to buy a car in this condition has decreased in the last couple years, so I am not sure what this one may be worth or if anyone would be interested in it. I figure a full restored one may be worth $20,000 or so, so it really isn't worth restoring, but its too nice to be a parts car.

So what is your opinions on this?

Thanks

Steve

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Hard to say, Steve. Where is it, and any pics??

[JoelsBuicks]

A rust free, no accident original and complete car might actually get some attention. Most of the attention would be to verify that indeed the car is without rust because most potential buyers would be skeptical of this claim, given all the places for rust-through to occur. But sticking with a rust free condition and assuming that the curved glass is good, I think that without doing anything else to the car, one could expect no more than about $2000.

Now, if you were to clean her up a bit - air in the tires, some wheel covers and show that the engine turns over, you might get few hundred more. Someone will most likely have to invest an average of $800 just to get her home. I doubt that anyone could restore this car and get their money back and that can be said for just about anything these days. But, there are people out there that are looking for original, rust-free projects and would be interested. You really need to push the the rust free claim with lots of pictures showing that there's no rust where rust usually lurks.

I love the look of the 58 hardtops, even the four doors.

[FireballV8]

Here are some pics.

[Pete Phillips]

That's a good looking car. You don't have to do a whole restoration on it; just get it running and clean it up, and fix the worst leaks. It will be an enjoyable car to drive. I agree with Joel, $2000 is the top value for its current condition and not running.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338