Ever wonder what happened to a car you sold?

[Den41Buick]

I came across my old 1953 Oldsmobile Super 88 which I sold in 2002. The car was a great uncles car from Pennsylvania. When I sold the car it had 27K original miles. It had original engine, interior and original US Royal tires. I had a new exterior paint job on the car. It was a well sorted car that went off to California. Not sure what happened from there...The pictures make me sick. 

The car is now in Australia. The engine was swapped for a small block Chevy. They also swapped out the interior and put green interior/exterior carpeting. Granted a 53 Olds isn't exactly the hottest car in the market, but really. Destroy an original car? 

 

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Den41Buick
Spelling (see edit history)

[zdillinger]

A sad end to what sounds like a nice car. 

[Pfeil]

Are you sure that has a SM chevy?? Looks like a BB

 

Installing a Chevy engine in an Olds or Pontiac has the same reaction to a Pontiac or Olds fan as priest showing a cross to a vampire! Those images ruined my day!

Edited September 12, 2022 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[Gary_Ash]

Never, ever, go looking for a car you or a family member used to own!  It will only be a disappointment.  Keep the good memories but avoid the current condition.

[1939_Buick]

9 hours ago, Den41Buick said:

I came across my old 1953 Oldsmobile Super 88 which I sold in 2002. The car was a great uncles car from Pennsylvania. When I sold the car it had 27K original miles. It had original engine, interior and original US Royal tires. I had a new exterior paint job on the car. It was a well sorted car that went off to California. Not sure what happened from there...The pictures make me sick. 

The car is now in Australia. The engine was swapped for a small block Chevy. They also swapped out the interior and put green interior/exterior carpeting. Granted a 53 Olds isn't exactly the hottest car in the market, but really. Destroy an original car?

 

Looks to be Vic rego OLDS53 (so you can check the chassis number)

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/buy-sell-or-transfer-a-vehicle/check-vehicle-registration/vehicle-registration-enquiry

 

Is not unusual for collectable cars to end this way.  Some like to start with a good car. 

 

Edit

This may make you sadder (but the car was sold) [same auctioneer name as on the images]

https://auctionsplus.com.au/auctions/machinery/f.p-nevins-broadford-vic%2C-3658--clearing-sale/1953-oldsmobile-rocket-88-engine-and-trans./98588-018

 

Edit 2

Edited September 12, 2022 by 1939_Buick (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I don't get it either. Swapping an Olds motor for a Chev is like gutting a Rolex to put in a Casio movement.

[lump]

Yeah, looks like a big block Chevy to me, too. Notice the prominent outboard bolts on the intake. 

 

Sorry your car got modified. Looks like it was too nice for such a fate. 

[Studemax]

Hey - you sold it. You don't get a say in what happens next.

[Billy Kingsley]

The carpet appears to be mats of astroturf. Probably placed right on top of whatever was there.

[John_S_in_Penna]

7 hours ago, Studemax said:

Hey - you sold it. You don't get a say in what happens next.

 

Although an owner has a right to do as he pleases,

with every right comes a responsibility.

Preserving history, to me, is far more valuable

than seeing what Joe's Custom Shop can do

to a historic vehicle.

[8E45E]

In the early 1980's, I owned a 1959 Lark 2-door hardtop, with its original gray vinyl interior, having very minimal to no wear, and no tears in the seats.  A few years later after I sold it, the the beautiful gray interior was swapped out for a totally out-of-character refrigerator white tuck & roll interior.  I could see doing that if the interior was worn & torn, but not to a nice original.

 

Craig

[MarkV]

Thankfully most of my former cars ended scrapped.

 

I was lucky the 48 Lincoln that belonged to my grandfather was untouched when I bought it back 16 years later. 
 

20 years is a long time but it’s clear that car lived a rough life 

[drhach]

If you want it to be preserved how you think it should be preserved, don't sell it. Even then, you have to die eventually and someone else will do whatever they want. It's harsh but true. Everyone has their idea about what's acceptable, even if they promise to take care of it. The former owners of my place of employment complained that the company changed after they sold. I knew a lady who sold her house to someone who promised they'd "take care of it". Well, they did take care of it, they cut down all of the viable lumber, tore down the house and built condos. I've often wondered what became of some of my old vehicles. But in truth, I probably don't want to know. It's like they say, "don't ask a question if you don't want to hear the answer". 

Edited September 12, 2022 by drhach (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

To quote "Jud", 'Sometimes dead is better!'  

 

(Fred Gwenn- Steven Kings 'Pet Sematary')

[TexRiv_63]

The second car I owned was a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500XL into which I poured a large amount of money and even more time to improve its performance. After owning it about three years I sold it for a surprisingly small amount and then - literally - saw it wrapped around a telephone pole less than a month later. So for a long time I did not keep tabs on anything I sold. But I will admit that I check Hemmings Motor News each month to see if any of my more recent prewar cars are there...

[1937hd45]

You both made money on the car, that is how life works. 

[The 55er]

The short answer is no, I never really wondered much about what happened to any of the dozens of old cars I sold. I grew tired of them, it was time for them to go, I found something else I liked better, whatever. Some of them went to Europe and were never heard from again. On the plus side, I did make a number of lifelong friends locally by selling them cars so some of my old toys kept turning up. Wherever they are I'll bet most of them are still in existance somewhere. 

[rackops]

The only vehicle I've ever visited was a 1943 GPW that we sold to a collector in the UK (it was a California Jeep at the time). He was a friend of a friend, so on a trip over to the UK years later, I got to visit it. He had done a frame off restoration and it looked fantastic - far better than it ever had while we owned it. So, kudos to him for certain. My other old cars...no clue where they ended up...they just kind of vanished into the world of antique cars and haven't appeared since. 

[Pfeil]

My dad had a 59 Pontiac Catalina hardtop coupe. My dad ordered it out of the zone office, the dealer was surprised to find it on his doorstep with instructions one day. It was a S/O car with tag instruction codes next to the firewall data tag. Bonneville Tri Tone leather interior, A hand built four bolt main 389 tri-power built in the Pontiac tool room like every NASCAR engine sold to teams and drag racers. A heavy-duty police/taxi 4 speed HydraMatic with external oil cooler. A 3.08 Posi in the car and a 3.90 and a 4.10 posi. pumpkins in the trunk. The car raced in A/Stock Automatic. By the time I started racing it, it was racing in F/SA. A very consistent car when I had it, 13.90 @ 101-102mph and 3907 pounds.

I sold this car in 1969 to buy a new 1969 Pontiac LeMans 354 H-O (which I still have). Sometime in the late 80's I decided to try to find the 59 Catalina. I knew in the late 70's it was still around, and it was being street raced. I also knew the guy who bought it from me had pulled the 389 and installed a 421.

 I worked for a major auto manufacturer and at the end of the prototypical year we would crush pre-production cars at a place near the L.A. port and I knew the people who ran the place. I had friends who had access to DMV records and found out the car had been crushed 3 months before I started looking for it, and it had been crushed by the facility my company used to crush our pre-production cars.

I have a picture album of the car from its delivery to when I sold it in 69. I also got an affidavit from the crusher company to put in the last page of that photo book on my car. BTW a S/O Pontiac today would be worth big bucks in Pontiac circles. The only other Catalina I know of with a Bonneville interior was a S/O car made for Harly Earl's wife, it was a pink Pontiac convertible.

Lots of memories in that car. I got my drag racing license in it when I was 14, and my regular driver's license when I was 16, and a year after that my dad and I taught my mom how to drive in it.  

Edited September 12, 2022 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

21 minutes ago, Studemax said:

Absolute hogwash. No buyer would sign it, and no lawyer would honor it. You are living in a dream world.

That was how I was thinking. Why sell it if in the first place, not many people would buy it for fear of washing it improperly. 

[jpage]

I've always wanted to hunt down my '28 Model A that I sold in 2000, but I'm afraid of what I may find. The hope was to possibly buy it back, but mow I'd probably have to pay twice as much as I sold it for or fully rebuild it. But, one never knows!

[JACK M]

So, the town I live in was a dry town until the late 60s.

There is a strong religious standard to this day. It is said that there are more churches per capita than any other city in the US.

Years ago, the Quakers started a university here and it is still running strong.

A friend of mine bought a house near the university that had a "branded deed" for the lack of a better term.

It says that "no alcohol will ever be consumed or sold from this property".

Still says that but to my knowledge has never been enforced and can guarantee that the terms have often been abused.

 

[Buffalowed Bill]

My secret is to never sell anything! At least nothing that I might feel inclined to go looking for later.

[TexRiv_63]

20 hours ago, Buffalowed Bill said:

My secret is to never sell anything! At least nothing that I might feel inclined to go looking for later.

If I was fortunate enough to have a very large warehouse and unlimited funds I would still own almost all the cars I have had in my life.

[Brass is Best]

I have seen many cars we have sold over the years. Sometimes it is good. Sometimes it is bad. The best was a gentleman who told me he had just won class at Pebble Beach with a Packard we sold him. The worst was an Oldsmobile that was unrestored original like new when we sold it. When I saw it years later it was repainted and ruined. Once a car is out of your hands it is at the mercy of the new owner.