It's not always a good idea to personalize a woody then wonder why it won't sell!

[auburnseeker]

I ran across this one on ebay.  The builder/ owner is a body shop.  The work looks pretty nice on the car and some money was spent redoing it however some cars are truly meant to be left stock.  This would be one of them.   I'm very patriotic but an Olds woody of this era is not a good choice to do a patriotic paint scheme of this type on.  

I can understand a few guys painting a car over a weekend with alot of beer and coming up with this paint scheme then standing back and saying wow looks great,  but a shop owner.  Especially with what appeasr to be a pretty good quality paint job.  At what point didn't someone say um, that doesn't really go too well.  The upholsterer should have said something as well before they upholstered it in what looks like pretty good quality work but a rather bazaar choice of colors and material.  I guess it does harmonize with the clown car effect created on the exterior.   

As I said if it's exactly what he wants great but now that you try to sell it,  it's a whole new game. 

I think i have seen this car for sale for some time.  I sometimes wonder why a car I have isn't selling but when you have one as personalized as this,  it's pretty easy to point out the reason.  

Good luck to him.  It's going to take a crazy low price to change the color or that one other person in the world with the exact same taste.   I've sold a personalized car before (someone else personalized it)  It's a mighty tough sell even being a fairly rare convertible. 

Maybe I'm just too much of a traditionalist that really like to see old cars in their original form. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Oldsmobile-woodie-/331894043944?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4d466d3528:g:zCsAAOSwFNZWwick&item=331894043944

 

[poci1957]

I have always thought the 1940-41 Olds had a distinctive and cool look with all the Art Deco type details, and this woody would be especially attractive if the money and effort would have been spent in, shall we say, a more conventional look.  To each his own, but as we used to say at the trim shop money can't buy taste, Todd C 

[46 woodie]

The car was also listed in the latest issue of the "Woodie Times" put out  by the National Woodie Club. It's not the first time it was offered for sale. Perhaps the listed price of $150,000 is also a deterrent. There is an old saying that goes, "It's just as costly and as much work to paint a car the wrong color as the correct one". You are correct, it will cost more to repair the damage then the car is worth. It is a fairly rare vehicle and would have been so nice painted in an original color with the correct interior. Oh well the 4th of July is coming so put some flags on it and it will be a hit for a day.

[joe_padavano]

8 minutes ago, 46 woodie said:

Perhaps the listed price of $150,000 is also a deterrent.

 

Ya think???  As noted, this car has been on ebay frequently for the last few months.  Even totally original and correct, the price would be off by a factor of two.

[46 woodie]

Correction Joe, It's listed at $105,000 (still high), I transposed a couple of figures. Sad that someone could not talk the owner out of the paint and interior colors. Oh well to each his own.

[auburnseeker]

Atleast they didn't do this to the Buick Woody that we commented on in the For sale section. 

[john2dameron]

I would say a one word description is gaudy or awful or distasteful.  Who wants a car that any of those?

[joe_padavano]

3 minutes ago, john2dameron said:

I would say a one word description is gaudy or awful or distasteful.  Who wants a car that any of those?

 

I would say that not everyone has the same taste as you do.  While I don't personally care for what was done to the car, someone did like it that way and paid to have it done.  Whether or not that appeals to another buyer is a different issue, but calling someone's personal preference awful or distasteful is pretty intolerant.

[CarlLaFong]

^^^Good Grief!!! Here we go again^^^^^

We sure don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, do we?!?!

Sorry, but that car is gaudy, awful and distasteful. If the owner gets all hurt over it, he can, as we said in the military, go tell it to the chaplain

[john2dameron]

Thanks a lot Carl.

 

[Guest]

It is hideous.

As the old adage goes: Just 'cause you can, doesn't mean you should. .....and politcal correctness be damned.

[Trulyvintage]

I think someone was drinking as suggested when they painted this ....

 

I also think someone was drinking when they set the asking price ....

 

 

Jim

 

 

 

[Bhigdog]

4 hours ago, joe_padavano said:

 

I would say that not everyone has the same taste as you do.  While I don't personally care for what was done to the car, someone did like it that way and paid to have it done.  Whether or not that appeals to another buyer is a different issue, but calling someone's personal preference awful or distasteful is pretty intolerant.

 

Tolerance is WAY over rated. I'd rather the bald faced truth and that thing is just plain ugly as a mud fence. I know, I know. now I'll be branded as mud fence hater..............Bob

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I can't begin to imagine what motivates people to be so disrespectful of a cars natural lines and proportions. I see silly, exaggerated paint jobs on vintage cars constantly and wonder why the owner demands the attention of others so badly. A vintage car, no matter the model, is distinctive just by the fact that they aren't seen frequently. Why isn't that enough? For example, I've seen simple sedans for sale recently that I've ignored entirely because they've been done in modern or unusual colors and very non original color schemes or outlandish two toning. Honestly, I'd be embarrassed to be seen in many of them.  I'd be humiliated to be even seen riding is this poor, abused woody. The funny thing about it all, for my part, is that I spent most of my adult life in the apparel business and I can tell you it's almost impossible to sell a guy a green suit, but go to any street rod show and you will see how remarkably popular purple, pink and yellow colors, often in combination, are. Fluorescent oranges and neon green are big part of the palate, as well. "Clown Cars", is what I've been calling them for years. Lots of hot rodders lurk on these forums, bring on the criticism!

Edited June 29, 2016 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[ply33]

33 minutes ago, Bhigdog said:

 

Tolerance is WAY over rated. I'd rather the bald faced truth and that thing is just plain ugly as a mud fence. I know, I know. now I'll be branded as mud fence hater..............Bob

 

There are mud fences (or at least adobe walls) that are way more attractive to me than this car. About the only reason to finish a car that way would be for a circus attraction.

[zeke01]

The owner of this car made a fashion statement when he painted and upholstered this car in the guise you see it. By making the car look like this he is saying "I think this looks good!"

Why isn't the person who looks at this statement of taste allowed to critique it? Why am I not allowed to publicly render my standards of  aesthetics  as applied to the car in question?

 Maybe the fact that I haven't contacted the seller about purchasing says enough about what I think of his tastes. Zeke

P.S. I saw a Model A Ford in today's Hemmings that had been painted what could be best described as "no parking curb" yellow. Zeke

[1937hd45]

It wouldn't get this much attention if had been properly restored and won an AACA National award as Best restored Oldsmobile of the year, would it? Bob

Edited June 29, 2016 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[Bleach]

Need I say more?

[JFranklin]

So why do we allow film and art critics? People need to toughen up.

Edited June 29, 2016 by JFranklin (see edit history)

[Restorer32]

The owner claims in his ad that he is a "restorer".

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I'm still irritated about this. When you think of all of the nice warm colors that would enhance the wood -- factory green, maroon, beige and even one of those sporty creamy yellows that were so popular on convertibles, this guy can't even get the red, white and blue right! That mid blue doesn't capture the blue that's in our flag at all. The whole color story reminds me of a popsicle like frozen treat that used to be on the market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[CarlLaFong]

I love the ad copy. First year for Hydramatic (Wrong) and then goes on to say it has a 6 cyl Chevy engine ad a Turbo 350

[Matt Harwood]

To paraphrase Clint Eastwood from "The Rookie" [looking at a Lotus painted a garish neon green] Wanna know what's a crime? Whoever defaced that work of art by painting it that color... ought to have his ass removed.

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2016 by Matt Harwood
Get the quote right (see edit history)

[capngrog]

The paint job is the result of an unfortunate case of color blindness.  The result is unattractive, in my opinion, but I'd sure like to have that woody ... regardless.  I'd re-paint it though.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[wayne sheldon]

So MANY snide remarks I could make. But I won't.

However a couple hopefully intelligent remarks, and a question.

When a person "restores" a historic vehicle to at least appear like something close to what it would have been like when nearly new, he restores it to appeal to thousands of people that like and want cars to appear like they did when nearly new.  When they choose to recreate a vehicle into their own warped view, they recreate it to appeal to a very few that happen to like it in a similarly warped view.

When I restore a car, I want it to look like I ripped it out of an original era photo (with appropriate adjustments to correct era colors). That is my choice because that is the way I want my cars to look. But I do not think that I should be guaranteed full compensation for every dollar and hour I invested into it! So why do people that do something like this to a car think that they are entitled to be paid back for every dollar they foolishly spent???? That is the part I just don't get.

Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Wayne, I assume the owner genuinely believes that his efforts have increased the poor cars value immensely. The monumental task for him is to find a buyer that shares his "similarly warped view",  as you put it, has untold disposable dollars and wants a prewar woody. It would take Sheldon Cooper to approximate the odds of that happening, though.

 

[cahartley]

^ Sheldon Cooper........ <snicker> ........ LOL

[R Walling]

 In regard to the original question, It is my opinion that an older restoration should be painted with the original color, or at least with a color that was available at the time of manf.

 

 However, if none of those colors are suitable to the new owner, I would hope that the color choice would reflect colors of the time frame of other cars in that period.

[Matt Harwood]

4 minutes ago, Imperial62 said:

I am going to stand up for Joe Padavano.  (And no Joe doesn't need me to stand up for him) I used to think the same as most of these commenters. I posted on the Mark II Continental website once that it was unfortunate that any Mark II's be allowed to be modified. That caught the eye of Barry Wolk, moderator, who chastised me.  His basic point was "what a person does to their car is OK, there are still plenty of other cars out there. (paraphrased)

 

He is right and so is Joe.  i would not buy that Olds woodie unless I was a fairly rich guy and could afford to have it re-restored properly but why ?  There are hundreds of woodies left in original condition, literally millions of old cars still out there. Rare and desirable are too often used. I have "saved" many an old car that was limited production but there was no interest.

 

Forums are so limited for actually hashing out these possible conversations. We all get a dose of bravery on a forum. If you were standing next to this car at a car show, and the owner said "what do you think?" I believe most of you would politely say, "it's not my cup of tea but it's your car." 

 

You're not wrong, and that's often my opinion as well. There's no shortage of cars, let people do what they want to them. This isn't an irreplaceable artifact.

However, what I think offends a lot of people here isn't merely the color scheme--it's the guy who built it saying that because it cost him so much to make it look so bad, that everyone should just appreciate the expense and pay him for it, regardless of the result. It's like the Sultan of Brunei who painted his new Lamborghini pink and green. Great, I'm glad you like it. Just don't expect me to jump in that boat with you and tell you that you made a great choice. Choosing stupid colors has consequences. In 1996, I ordered a bright yellow Audi A4 station wagon. The vice president of Audi USA called and asked if I was sure I really wanted it, because it was probably sales-proof and they didn't want me to back out and be stuck with it in inventory. They were OK with me making a bad choice, but they weren't interested in being stuck with the results of my bad decision later, because they knew nobody else would want that little yellow wagon.

 

You want to maximize resale and get as much money back as possible when you sell a car you've restored, restore it the way the factory did it. Those guys knew what they were doing. Nobody will argue with the factory. Oldsmobile designers in 1941 could have painted it like that. They didn't. When you go out on your own like that, you're going to need someone else with a similar mindset to fall in love, and that's a pretty long shot that gets longer and longer the wackier you get (and this is pretty damned wacky). We can all appreciate Royal Maroon or whatever Oldsmobile was calling their maroon in 1941. Nobody would argue that color choice. Nobody would think he was a fool. And far fewer guys would be sniggering at his asking price. But he didn't choose a factory color. He chose something HE liked, made a just plain awful decision, and as Donald Trump proves, bad taste isn't exclusively a poor man's domain. Whatever this guy's talents as a restorer, he's just an awful designer. Hell, even just ONE of those wrong colors would be better than all three jammed together.

 

Live by the sword, die by the sword, brother.

[JACK M]

So, there are three bids on it but reserve not met.

There are a minimum of three other people out there that would own it but not for the price.

I do agree that the owner is mistaken about what he has, He just doesn't want to call it a modified car.

He touts two different transmissions?

 

[Matt Harwood]

You can always discount something enough to make someone else take it. Someone stopped and took a used toilet from my front lawn garbage pile while I was renovating a bathroom. The discount was 100%, and someone wanted it.

 

I agree about the modified thing--nobody curious about the Chevy engine transplant?

[Hudsy Wudsy]

The seller states, "I don't plan on driving this car". I believe that he clearly built it to profit by it. So, yes, "live by the sword, die by the sword" sums it up nicely. I think that he should have to drive this car every time he leaves his house.  "Rare" is indeed an overly used word and, also a moving target. But most woodies are rare enough that I can't afford them, so this to me is a rare car. This reminds me a great deal of a conversation on these forums from a few months back. Someone insisted that a particular  car was "art". I reminded him that no matter how much he asserted that, it was only art to someone who saw it as art. To anyone who didn't see it that way it was only "craft". One thing that most of us agree on, this aint art.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[Digger914]

3 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

You can always discount something enough to make someone else take it. Someone stopped and took a used toilet from my front lawn garbage pile while I was renovating a bathroom. The discount was 100%, and someone wanted it.

 

I agree about the modified thing--nobody curious about the Chevy engine transplant?

 Knowing that I could fix the paint and thinking it was garish enough that this woody might actually fall into  the range of my check book, I gave the ebay pics a good looking over..

I did look at the posting and got far enough past the color scheme to notice the engine and tranny transplant. It wasn't the paint, upholstery, and running gear transplant that put me off from making the opening bid, it was the lack of wiper arms with all the other changes that left me wondering what other small, but important parts might be missing.

[poci1957]

5 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

I agree about the modified thing--nobody curious about the Chevy engine transplant?

 

I noticed it but given the rest of the car I did not bother to mention it, I would have been surprised only if it were not mechanically "improved".

[mercer09]

you guys are tough.........................!

 

Bob, the bids are most likely shills.................

[junkyardjeff]

I would just repaint the rest in the red and the outside would be done,I could probably live with the interior for a short time but would get redone in a tan leather.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Regarding the Restorer or Designer or whatever he/she calls themselves, I would say all their taste is in their mouth

[Digger914]

23 hours ago, junkyardjeff said:

I would just repaint the rest in the red and the outside would be done,I could probably live with the interior for a short time but would get redone in a tan leather.

Red paint would be a good start, but it won't be enough. All the wood that wasn't replaced and should have been, still needs to be done. Oak may be a hard wood, but that doesn't make it the right wood and the wood that was replaced needs to be redone. I've never seen a full frame off restore with overspray on the tires when it was done so my thought was that this frame wasn't off and it would need to be done.

 

I honestly did consider this car and looked the E-bay posting over several times before passing without making the opening bid. It's a 6 grand project car all day long, if the original motor and tranny haven't been lost. With the five grand opening bid and a grand to get it from where it is to where I am I didn't make the opening bid and risk making a 6 grand investment because I saw some important things that said look twice and without knowing what the reserve is, you never know when opening bid could be the high bid and you better be ready with the cash.

 

I have no problem with the designers taste, whoever it was made a great surfer buggy and probably spent a lot of money doing what they did. Restored is the wrong word to describe this wagon, customized is a much better description.

 

Edited July 2, 2016 by Digger914
missed some words (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Here is another creation that the owner now thinks his touch has turned a sows ear into a silk purse 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Nomad-NOMAD-WOODY-CUSTOM-/172268062267?forcerrptr=true&hash=item281bfa063b:g:OFoAAOSwEjFXgEny&item=172268062267

 

 

For 80 G I would have atleast expected them to cut and buff the heavy orange peel off the dash. Hopefully a real Nomad didn't lose it's roof for this. 

 

[CarlLaFong]

I cannot fault the custom wagon. It makes no pretense of being anything other than what it is. I feel that it is well done and pretty darned attractive. It is not stock nor was it intended to be, so the purists here will be offended. It was a plain old Chevy when the project began. There are about a jillion of them left to properly restore, if that's your thing. If a real Nomad sacrificed it's roof, I'm sure it was a unsaveable rust bucket. Nobody would cut up a good one for parts (I hope). Also, I'm sure the finish on the dash is exactly as the owner/builder intended. Any car, finished to that level of detail, would not have a major defect like an unfinished dash.

The Olds woody? It is everything that the Chevy isn't