This 1966 Buick Skylark convertible is listed for sale here on craigslist in Marcy, New York, near Utica, for the seemingly reasonable price of $2,500. At first glance it looks like a terrific buy. The owner says it has only 85,000 miles on it. The car was found in a barn, appears to have decent sheet metal and a very nice looking interior. The current owner bought it intending to do a complete restoration. Even the top looks to be in pretty good shape.

This car does have floor rust, which is more or less normal for any 50 year old car that has spent its early years in upstate New York, where it would have been exposed to plenty of road salt. But, the really bad news though is that this poor Skylark has a rusted frame. The seller is offering a powder coated replacement frame for an additional $1,500 though. I’ve had cars of this vintage with rust like this, So I know that fixing this Buick is going to be a daunting task.

It seems likely that this car could be more valuable as a donor for someone restoring another 66 Buick. This car’s body looks remarkably solid and overall it has lots of usable pieces, including an unusually good looking grille and front bumper. The seller provides no information about the engine, so that’s an unknown.

This is not a particularly unusual Skylark – looking around the vastness of the interwebs, it was easy to find several much better looking and fully driveable cars for not much more, so it’s likely going to mean spending less money and definitely far less work to buy a good one than it will be to fix this one. If this Skylark was one of the much rarer and sought GS models, that might be a completely different story, as they are worth saving in almost any condition nowadays.

Anyone out there willing to take this project on or do you the seller will be waiting awhile to find a taker?