First a little background..........Old friend of mine bought this car on a whim....he is not a mechanic or a body man and he is also 78 years old and not in best health. Paid $6500 for it, running and drivable with later 350 Chevy and TH350 trans......has some rust in front lower quarters and a fair amount of surface rust along with rusty bumpers and grille......oh and a 60's style fake vinyl roof.......now he wants to sell out his entire collection. What can I do short of total redo to help him recoop some of his investment? and does anyone have a clue what it would be worth? Sorry hit wrong button it is a 1951 Series 62, 2 door hardtop. Fatman
The collection is worth $580. Call it what you want, but a whim buy is not usually considered an investment.
Go you have any pics? A '59 is a nice ride.. but in the condition you mentioned I'd say $2500 - 3500 tops. A '59 had a vinyl roof? Hate vinyl roofs.. hopefully the metal below it is decent, but doubtful. Re-chroming the front end alone on that thing would be real pricey $$$$.
Sorry guys ........slip of the hands typing, it is a 51 Caddy, and if I can figure out how to post pics I will.... really not a bad car, I am just not in to Caddys........
Well, I will chime in with my opinion.. Based on the pics and your description I would shoot a figure of ~3K for it, assuming it runs and drives..Cool older car, but nothing special due to the engine change... As I said, JMO..
Kinda what I thought too, Thought about sanding it down and putting a coat of Hot rod black on everything except the trim around top and windows........figured it wouldn't hurt? Might even help a bit?
It depends on who you're trying to reach to sell... I personally HATE buying primered cars, takes so much from the car and it almost seems as if theyre trying to hide something. People insist on primering cars, thinking it looks good, I dont understand it... HotRod black isnt quite grey primer but a lot of work for not alot of return on your part.
I agree completely, I am not a fan of the primed look either, and if I am buying I want to see what I am getting. Just did not know what else to do with it short of complete all over paint. The only rust thru places on the car are just behund the door on the lower quarters, I have fixed that and took detailed pictures as I went, just did not know if painting the bumpers and grille would help or hurt the sale........... now the wife and I are thinking about just buying it and just keep it as a travel car once it's done. It would make a really cool streetrod............
After a lifetime of selling old cars I find it does not pay to spend money on them. It is better to discount the price. In other words before you spend $1000 cut the price $1000 and it will sell quicker, saving you a lot of work. Best thing is to clean it up and get it running as well as possible but don't put more into it than you can get out. This is harder than it looks. Once you are behind the 8 ball STOP admit your mistake and take your loss. Do not keep throwing good money after bad and do not let it sit and rot, and lose all your money, just so you don't have to admit a mistake. As far as squirting on a cheap coat of primer: I would MUCH rather buy that car as it is right now. If I looked under the hood and found stuff hodge podged by some amateur attempt to get it running I would walk away. The original parts are too hard to replace and too expensive. The more stuff damaged and missing, the more half assed repairs, the more leery I get. If it was covered in a fresh coat of primer I would wonder how much bondo, rust, and shitty body work you were trying to cover up and I would RUN away. When I see an original, untouched, un messed with car I know I stand a chance. It is more than twice as hard to fix a car someone else has messed with.
Been doing this around 40 years myself, gone as far as I intend to go on this one, my friend is just going to have to cut his loss on this car. After checking into parts availability and cost ($300.00 for taillight lenses)......the Misses and I have decided to leave it alone, we have a 59 Galaxie 2 door sedan that serves as our fun car quite well. Thanks for the advise and insight, some things are just better left alone and this was one of them, really hate it for my old friend though..... Fatman
I was looking in one of my books and an average price for it is around 3k. Hope this helps Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Guessing what it's worth doesn't mean anything. The only real way is to put it on the market and see if someone will pony up cash. Put it on ebag and Craigslist for $5,000 If nobody bids try again at $3500 and go down from there. I think he over paid at $6500 for what he got. Not having the Caddy motor and rusted panels hurt the price if I was bidding.
I'd say your in the 3-5 k range as is. assuming the the floors/trunk are ok. SBC mill hurts it IMO, but it is what it is. If had some money lying around I might be a player. Irregardless, he overpayed at $6500 and you're going to have to invest a lot to get it to a break even/make money point. my gues is that 10-12 K is going to be your investment/break even point.
I had a talk with him this weekend, he has decided to sit on it for a while til he can make his mind up what to do with it. Just too much for me, I am just not able to take on that big a project anymore..... besides I am already building a 1959 Galaxie 2 door sedan.....so for now the Caddy sits. Fatz
Not me........would have rebuilt the caddy or sold it as is....... I put ford in ford, chebbie in chebbie....no cross breeds.......
Those body style Caddie's are very desirable and the advice about leaving it along and listing it are spot on. I will never look at a car that has been primered. The stuff you have described won't hurt the value to someone who wants that car. The upolstery looks pretty decent. Put it on E-Bay, set the reserve at $4500 and see what happens. Those cars are in high demand in Europe. Good luck
Great Idea!!!!! Know where I can find some? Could always put some Chevy emblems on it and sell it as a Swelled up Belair?