1949 Roadmaster Sedanette for sale. Not mine

[Paul from PA]

1949 Roadmaster  two door sedanette on Pittsburgh Craigslist. Some one can link it in.

[JZRIV]

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/d/1949-buick-roadmaster/6295094702.html

 

1949 Buick sedanette 70 series roadmaster. car has 24,000 original miles I bought from original owner car does not run and is rusty but has great potential straight 8 with dynaflow automatic transmission. Car has been garaged for numerous years but stored in a few damp garages in its earlier time causing the rust. There is an extra motor with car condition said it ran but is included..the price is firm due to rarity of this vehicle.please leave number if seriously interested.thank you and have a great day

 

Edited September 7, 2017 by JZRIV (see edit history)

[Pete Phillips]

Gasp! Who can go look at this, please?

[jscheib]

Pete,

 

An interesting car.  But, he mentions rust, but see little on the body.   I wonder how bad the frame is.  Jason must be close.  I wonder if he can get a look?  I would be curious.

 

John

[JZRIV]

Yep not far. PM returned

[dibarlaw]

John and Jason:

 Every 49 I remember showing up in the 1970s when working in the garages in that area (The Monongahela valley) had multiple frame repair welds. Also little left to floors, rockers and trunks. WE loved salt in the winter around Pittsburgh. Horrid stuff......Having to have the frame welded caused me to get rid of my 69 LeSabre convertible and my 73 Century.

[KongaMan]

2 hours ago, dibarlaw said:

John and Jason:

 Every 49 I remember showing up in the 1970s when working in the garages in that area (The Monongahela valley) had multiple frame repair welds. Also little left to floors, rockers and trunks. WE loved salt in the winter around Pittsburgh. Horrid stuff......Having to have the frame welded caused me to get rid of my 69 LeSabre convertible and my 73 Century.

I used to drive a 70 Olds 88 that spent quite a few years in that general area under those conditions.  The trunk was patched with galvanized sheets and roofing tar, the transmission support rusted off, and there were holes in the frame.  I had to discontinue that car went I went out one morning and the frame had rusted in two and was hanging down by the ground.

 

Great car before it died.  That 455 was the best engine I've ever had in a car.

[lancemb]

4 hours ago, KongaMan said:

I went out one morning and the frame had rusted in two and was hanging down by the ground.

Holy crap! Lol

[Buicknutty]

 I have seen a number of cars stored in areas where the damp gets in from the bottom, and though the topside looks good, the frame and floor have disintegrated from the nearly constant dampness and residual salt.

 That depressing thought off of my mind, it would be worth while for someone to have a look and take a few pictures of the interior.

 Keith

[Malo48]

Oh my.  That's my favorite.  Perhaps it's good that it's not close to me.

[Pete Phillips]

That 76R from Houston had terrible floor rust and the interior was a disaster, having sat out in a field for years with the windows down.

[JZRIV]

Car is rough folks. Frame is solid, floors and trunk solid but rockers are totally shot. Front outer body to frame mounts toast along with RR quarter at front. Rusty to left and right of radiator. Interior ugly. Would make nice lawn art

Edited September 10, 2017 by JZRIV (see edit history)

[Pete Phillips]

What a shame; was a beautiful car once, one of the most beautiful Buicks ever made in my opinion. MANY thanks to Jason Zerbini for going to check it out. I will be passing this one up. Jason, if I can ever return the favor for you, on a car in the Dallas/Fort Worth or southern Oklahoma area, please let me know.

Pete Phillips

[JZRIV]

Just out of curiosity and future reference, in real world sale, what would that car be worth in its poor condition assuming most likely would be used as a parts car......or would the seller need to pay someone to take it.

Edited September 11, 2017 by JZRIV (see edit history)

[Pete Phillips]

I think Jake is right, about $2000 at the very most. I was thinking $1500 after I saw the photos. The engine and transmission are probably okay, and if the seller has the two long rear quarter panel stainless moldings and they are in good shape, you could recover most of the cost by selling those items.

Jason didn't post all of his photos, but what caused me to throw in the towel was the fist-sized rust hole in the corner of the gas tank, the heater/defroster tubes in the engine compartment that are totally rusted out along their bottom halves, the rusted out vertical panels on either side of the radiator, and the poor condition of the seat upholstery. I expected rusty rocker panels, but not some of the other rust. This car is only good as a parts car in my opinion, and $5000 is way too much to pay for a parts car.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

Leonard, Texas

Edited September 11, 2017 by Pete Phillips (see edit history)

[lancemb]

48 minutes ago, Imperial62 said:

I reached out to the seller. I did not make an offer because he would consider me a "low baller".  I kindly mentioned this sub-forum activity and encouraged him to try an ebay auction to help determine market value.  He was pleasant in his response, but to summarize, he said the car can sit there and rust away, he won't sell it for less than $5000.   So there it will sit and further degrade, and his family will send it to the crusher 15 years from now (conjecture). 

This happens far too often.  He is pricing it for someone who falls in love with it and doesn't care for whatever reason, but that's tough that rough.  

Only way it would possibly make sense is if somebody had a very solid body that had a great deal of it's parts picked over to the point that it would be worthwhile to get most of what you need in one place rather that hunting and pecking and shipping an untold number of parts.  I wonder if there is such a car in the desert somewhere.

[buick man]

… Look If you can weld and have sheet metal and a metal bender at your disposal and a cheap english wheel, this car presents absolutely no problems …. the engine area rust outs can be easily sourced and the seats have the original pattern and the dash looks good as well … for example:  guys are putting 1997 Porsche 993 last of the air cooled engines into their 1976 Targa and sinking 30 k in the process to do just that … the guys that do these big $$$ swaps/upgrades, justify the adventure by stating " It's a hobby of passions and not investments "  … of course many who say this come 8 years later or so when it comes time to sell either … eat the losses or part the cars out to hedge their so called hobby acquisition of passion …. so too as in this example I believe the guy would listen to the sound $ 4,500 makes as you comb your fingers along the paying edges of the bills set in front of him … you in return would easily have a real gem even if only some of the work gets done for your passionate endeavors, toil and time consuming arts n crafts … It is a beautiful rare bird and where else are you gonna find another one like this at this price and as complete and low milage to boot … ?

[KongaMan]

5 hours ago, buick man said:

 guys are putting 1997 Porsche 993 last of the air cooled engines into their 1976 Targa...

 

My uncle used to drop Maserati engines into Corvairs.

 

As for this car...  If you made half the body, is it still a Buick?

[lancemb]

14 hours ago, Imperial62 said:

I reached out to the seller. I did not make an offer because he would consider me a "low baller".  I kindly mentioned this sub-forum activity and encouraged him to try an ebay auction to help determine market value.  He was pleasant in his response, but to summarize, he said the car can sit there and rust away, he won't sell it for less than $5000.   So there it will sit and further degrade, and his family will send it to the crusher 15 years from now (conjecture). 

I really was interested in a couple other 57 coupes before I bought my current one.  Both had much better bodies than this but were priced higher too.  Both were states away, and the sellers wouldn't provide any additional requested photos or budge on the too-high price.  I had been aware of both for sale for at least 2 years and both are still unsold today as far as I know.  Maybe inflation will eventually catch up with their prices, if it outpaces deterioration, but probably not in the sellers' lifetime.

[JZRIV]

Curious - has anyone seen a 49 of this model show up at BCA meets over the years?

 

What would this car sell for if say in #2 or 3 condition?

 

Finding a buyer who is willing to dump insane amounts of money in this car with no concern of return on investment is very unlikely. As the seller,  best hope is an uneducated person comes to see it wearing rose colored glasses and in moment of weakness, makes a spur of moment buy, and that could happen because the car just looks so cool.

Typically for a buyer of a project, usually a car will have at least one major facet of condition that is nice. Like it runs and drives, nice interior, straight body, or decent un-pitted chrome. Unfortunately this car has none of that going for it.

 

[avgwarhawk]

16 hours ago, Imperial62 said:

I reached out to the seller. I did not make an offer because he would consider me a "low baller".  I kindly mentioned this sub-forum activity and encouraged him to try an ebay auction to help determine market value.  He was pleasant in his response, but to summarize, he said the car can sit there and rust away, he won't sell it for less than $5000.   So there it will sit and further degrade, and his family will send it to the crusher 15 years from now (conjecture). 

 

 

Waiting on a guy named Arnie Cunningham.  

[lancemb]

Here is one, this of course is asking price not selling.  Looks like a #2.

 

Here is one that sold... this guy supposedly doesn't budge on prices.  $7500 and mostly solid, mostly complete.

http://www.desertclassics.com/Sold1/buick49coupe.html

 

This one sold for $22k at auction 2 years ago.  Look like a strong #3.

https://www.mecum.com/lots/RC0215-207332/

 

This one also sold 2 years ago for $47,500 looks like a #1

https://www.mecum.com/lots/CH1015-224560/1949-buick-roadmaster-sedanette/

 

So, with an extra engine, the price is not totally ridiculous but an extra engine may be more of a liability if not needed.  Still, one would have to be a metal master with lots of free time to not spend more than $42,500 on restoration getting it into 1 condition.  Being complete it is possible but would take just the right person, but not someone too worried about a return.

 

[Buicknutty]

 I've used this expression before, about great (potentially at least) cars like this. You have to do it for love, not money. It is a memorable body style, and I'd like to see it bought and saved by a Buick lover, so I'm also like the guy who tells the other guy what he should do, with no intention of doing it himself!

 Keith

Edited September 16, 2017 by Buicknutty (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Actually, the 320 engines are in demand, I believe.

 

  Ben

[buick man]

… let's be honest guys, for $ 4500 if it was down the street from me I  would most likely not hesitate to buy the car and bring it home … Stage in a safe and amicable location on 4 ramps, go to the parts store, purchase 4 gallons of MMOil, load it into my sprayer and give it a douching from bow to stern, keel to bridge mast.  Then pull a lawn chair along side, give her a name … have a beer and just look at it over  … as I would do often  if nothing else ...

… one of my first cars when I was 16 was the acquisition of my next door neighbors 49 Super Sedanette  … he had acquired it though someone at work who was the original owner and drove it back and forth to work through the spring and summer of that  year .. then it sat next to his house through most of the winter … one day I was shoveling snow for him and asked if he would be interested in selling the car to me … he thought about it for a few moments and replied … " if you can get it running it's yours …"  took me about a day or so, cleaning plugs, filing points, and put a gasket kit in the carb … it started right up .. one of the most smoothest running and driving float barges I have ever owned … great clean interior and very decent gun metal blue paint job … it was all there and accounted for even the clock and radio worked as it should …. yeah the right place at the right time I suppose ….

Edited September 13, 2017 by buick man (see edit history)

[lancemb]

This is one of the Buicks I'd love to have.  It's long been one of my favorites.  It's a bit too much work for me though.  I think it will be awhile before I take on another big project after the 57 is done.  I'm very tempted to get a cleaner one though.