It might be located in Paradise, PA, but the new owner of this 1968 Chevy Caprice may not feel like heaven is his home when he gets this car to his own garage, if restoration is his goal. Yet for the brave, the car is available on Barn Finds classifieds for an asking price of $3500.
Perhaps the key tell here is the last line of the ad, which indicates that the engine is original but does not run and that the car would be a great project for the right person (in other words, a totally overwhelming job for most people). But then here it is: “or for parts.” So he’s not even sure that the Caprice can be resurrected. No wonder: aside from noted rust in the floorboards and body, the pictures show the car essentially caked in mud, the hood ill-fitting or non-close-able, and additional body damage on the passenger door. Now, these next words I am about to say may be of the “famous last” category, but honestly, the rust and body damage don’t look that bad, to me. (Oops, I said that out loud, didn’t I?) Slap me back to sense and sell me a cheap plane ticket, because I need to look at this one with my own eyes before I empty a bank account to own what is surely a massive project, especially when there are no pictures of anything except the mud-caked outer extremities.
But let’s pretend for a moment that the car is not so needy as the ad and photos make it seem. Restored, what would you have? A vinyl-topped beauty, the king of the full-sized Chevys from that year, and a car which would make its more-favored mid-sized stablemates, the ones everyone always lusts for from this era, pale with envy. No boytoy blue or flaming red paint obscures the luxury pretensions of this car, just a muted greenish silver or gold, depending on how the dataplate decodes. If properly equipped, full wheel covers would decorate the rims. And of course, the interior would say luxury.
The engine, according to the fender callouts, is a 327, which would produce at least 250 hp and more than 300 ft-lbs of torque. Not a race car, but more than adequate to dust off a few pretenders on the way to the grocery store, or even church. So are you brave? Do you have an even-worse example that could benefit from a stripper for parts? Either way, you’re getting this one cheap, but it’s a buyer-beware situation.
If it’s not being sold by a flipper, it should be put back in the muddy hole it came from so Flipper can enjoy it again.
flipper trailer in the background !
I’d rather send the money on stripper! Will have more fun & memories!😛
Did the mud make u think of that?
What a mess and not worth the restoration cost unless there are sentimental reasons for purchasing another one. Even so, I believe there are better examples to be found.
Too many other `68s that run/drive to choose from. Buy the very best you can afford and save yourself alot of tears & heartache.
This looks like something that Victory Auto Wreckers in Bensonville Illinois would have given you $35 for and hauled out of your driveway back in the 1980s.
With that mud that high up on the car almost looks like a flood car. To bad no interior pictures.
Ist thing i checked for was the insanely rare optional hidden healites. Nope.
I would think that option setup of parts alone would be worth a lot more than this car is selling for!
Note the ventless front door glass – oddly, for BIG chevies in ’68, they came only on 2 door caprice coupes – but not on ANY 4 door, or on any impala, belair or biscayne 2 door.
just bought one this week with hidden headlights,factory air too[3 days ago!]- 4Gs. It’s been sitting for 25 years-but in AZ , not PA, Body is very clean
I have always liked this roofline, put a set of rallye wheels on it, nice dual exhaust and you’re done
Mud? Or 30 years of dust from sitting in a real barn? Actually looks pretty solid for a PA car to me