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1948 Buick Super Convertible


Hans1965

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Not mine!!!

This car is for sale on Hemmings for quite a while and now on ebay 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1948-Buick-Super-Convertible/283927366907?hash=item421b63ccfb:g:vn8AAOSwvJ9e9UsX

Just wonder why this gorgeous car is still for sale. Although it still needs a little I think it is an absolute bargain. Paint and chrome done, drive train without problems, new top, many things updated etc. 

What do I miss? If I would not have purchased two 49s recently, I would have already pressed the ebay button. I'd be interested in your opinion. Did anybody here see the car? Thanks a lot. 

Cannot add any pictures here, sorry. 

Edited by Hans1965 (see edit history)
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Add a leather interior to the asking price, and then there are the shocks and unspecified "details" that need to be addressed. 

It is a great-looking car, and the seller lists what has supposedly been done. Maybe time to hire an appraiser?

Good luck.

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I would skip the appraiser and find a real old car friend to look at it.  We have gone down the appraiser route here before and they seem like a bad idea.  

My wife could look the car over and give a better analysis than an inspector and she will be the first to admit she's not a car person.  

At what has been done if it's half way decent and runs it's alot of value for what you are getting.  I agree an interior is going to be expensive but figure what you would spend to buy a rougher car,  Probably 10-15 and you would still be 30 G before you got it to this point plus the purchase price of what you bought if it was a good car to begin with.  

I think the price you are seeing reflects what it's going to take to make it as nice as the 35-40K cars for sale.  A 10K interior and 5 K in Misc.  So spend the 35K now and buy one wit ha nice interior, or 10 K less and buy this knowing you will need to invest as much to have the same end product. 

It's probably just realistically priced knowing what it will take to finish it, which most guys usually don't do. 

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Few people have the vision to see an incomplete project as a finished car. They don't know who to turn to for an interior and have no idea what it will cost, only that it will be "a lot." Then there are all the other things that are surely not finished and need sorting, which most people may not consider specifically but which is surely in their heads anyway. Add in that this is a small series car and that there are always a dozen or so like this on the market ready to go, and, well, it is just another data point that even promising projects are being ignored today. As Auburnseeker says, at best this car is a break-even proposition.

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Okay, interior is a valid point, but sorting out the small issues here and there is the real fun, at least for me. It is getting your car by working on it, am I right? How many 48 convertibles in such a shape are for sale, no matter what series? There are terrible projects and restored cars, mostly older restorations, for sale, but nothing in the middle and as good as this. And the paint is incredible - at least from my sofa. 😁

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I couldn't sell this car for $40,000. Fresh restoration, everything new, everything worked. Not 100% correct, but a fully operational, restored car with show-quality paint and bodywork, detailed engine bay, and ultra-clean chassis. I didn't care for the interior or wheels, but lots of people loved the chrome wires. But after a year of trying, I still couldn't sell it with an asking price of $39,900 even though there was probably $90,000 wrapped up in the restoration.

 

I'll admit I didn't much enjoy driving it simply because the little engine was working REALLY hard to move that much car, even with the 3-speed manual. It was all done by 50 MPH. It always felt like it had its tongue hanging out after a drive.

 

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There are not a lot of buyers for these cars, I'm afraid. Big series cars sell slightly better, but the market is getting pretty thin. The seller of that car would do well to finish the interior any way he can and try to recoup his costs.

 

 

Edited by Matt Harwood (see edit history)
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Wow, incredible car! I think such a car would get a price tag of around 60.000 Eur or 66.000 USD in Europe. I went last weekend to "RD Classics" in Emmerich, they have at any time around 200 US cars for sale. There is one 49 Caddy convertible with show paint for sale for 109.000 Eur or 120.000 USD. They sold a 41 Buick Convertible recently in the same price range. Right now they have 53 Super woody for around 100.000 Eur or 110.000 USD for sale, beautiful car. Markets here and there seem to be very different.

I am still very happy with my 2 49s for 15.000 USD each, but both projects with lots of work. The '48 for 24.000 is so much better value. And compared your 40.000 car is just fantastic, too. 

I guess you are very much right that the market for such is very small. To me these are just incredibly beautiful cars. I could stare at them the whole day.... Silly but happy 😁😁😁

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Hey, Hans --

        I think you're leaving something out in characterizing that '48 as a better buy than your '49s:  that is, the '49 Supers and Roadmasters are considerably more desirable than their immediate predecessors.  Not only are they better looking, but they represent something of a milestone in the transition from leftover-pre-war to true postwar design.  Besides, ever since that stupid movie was released in 1988, the '49 Roadmaster "Rain Man" convertible has maintained an iconic status that few other designs of any vintage have matched.  And decent-or-better ones are invariably priced accordingly.

        If I owned a '49 R/M ragtop, I don't think I'd be too distracted by any notions of greener pastures.  Hang in there with those projects!

          ~ Charlie

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