From 1959 through the mid-1970s, if you wanted a full-size, budget-minded car, the Biscayne led the way at Chevrolet. Rubber floor mats? Six-cylinder engine? 3-on-the-tree manual transmission? Yes, those all came standard on the bargain Biscayne. Including this 2-door sedan from 1963 (which acquired the nickname “Biscuit” on its way to the seller). This Bow Tie was last registered in 1999 and wears newer paint but needs some TLC to be the whole automobile it once was. Located in Van Nuys, California, this simple Chevy is available here on eBay where the bidding is holding at $3,450. Barn Finds contributor David Surber brought this car to our attention.
The Biscayne name was first used in 1958, but it was the second-tier Chevrolet at the time. The Del Ray was at the bottom level and only for one year (it was gone by 1959). Biscaynes were popular with fleet buyers and with those customers who wanted a frills-free larger car. In 1963, Chevrolet built 149,500 Biscaynes with a 230 cubic inch inline-6 engine. And 135,600 2-door sedans, but that number also covered the Bel Air and a free Impalas. So, there were a lot of these Plain Jane means of transport running around back then, but not so many these days.
This Chevy has moved around a bit over the years. It was originally purchased in the 49th state, Alaska, and stayed there until nearly the turn of the century. Next, it was in Utah where it only saw the occasional trip around the block for 20 years. After that, the seller acquired the car and it had a brief career as a prop in several lesser-known movies, including Unfrosted, MaXXXine, and The Sympathizer.
But it’s time for Biscuit to move on and potentially get restored by a new owner. The window sticker on the car must have been a short read when new as there are no discernable options. The seller had the paint redone after he/she acquired the machine, but either missed a small dent in the trunk lid or it has been added since. Mechanically, it needed the steering column rebuilt along with a new fuel pump and lines. The interior is far from perfect but is serviceable and there is a hole that rust brought about in the right rear frame rail and wheel well. For a plethora of photos, take a visit here. Would you like to “see the USA in this Chevrolet”?
Betcha’ Dollars to Donuts this will become a 409/4 spd clone. That’s the Nostalgic route. Or, how about a LS with a 5 or 6 speed? I have seen Rocker covers that have been adapted to the LS. to make it more ‘presentable’. Howard A’s comment on how the LS is an ugly engine is burned in my brain. With the manual transmission setep, you have a good start…
My aunt drove one in the late ’60s.
Her car was some shade of tan and
as bare bones as it got with only a
radio and heater as options. When
the Maverick came out in ’69, my aunt
traded her Biscayne in on a red 2-door with a radio, heater, and a 3 on
the tree. The Maverick was her first
new car and was cherished by her
until 1975, when she traded it for a
Volare wagon. As for this car, she’s
fine the way she is. All she needs is
an AM/FM radio to make ‘er perfect
in my eyes. I hope the next owner
doesn’t turn her into a fire breathing
muscle car. We have more than
enough of those to last for eternity.
:), settle in for another of “Howards Raaaaamblings”,,,stop me if you heard this one,,too late. It’s actually uncanny to see these reminders of my past, and hope my “stories” are entertaining to folks that did the same thing, younguns just can’t relate to. Cars like this were the mainstay of the American worker. It was a car just about every family could afford.
It was the mid 80s( ’86?) my ex-BIL, Dick, was a car dude too, and we got this half baked idea to go to Nashville( from Madison, Wis) to bring back a rust free classic. He was a good welder, and he “converted” a tandem axle boat trailer into a makeshift car hauler. He had a ’72 K5 Blazer for the “power”, kissed our “then” wives goodbye, like some primal hunt, and off we went. We took Friday off and figured a long weekend should be enough. Drove non-stop to Nashville, about 9 hours, picked up a car trader magazine, and a pocket full of quarters. Back then, it was ripe for picking, literally columns in the paper and that’s how it was done. We had a $500 limit, and narrowed it down to a ’65 Falcon 2 door wagon( that I wanted) a ’56 Chrysler, perfect body, no motor, and this car. All rust free and about the $300 range. Dick was a GM man, and wanted the Chevy, so the deal was made, and we loaded up our “treasure”, and headed for home, or so we had hoped. Once on the highway, it was clear, the trailer had serious design flaws, and we almost lost the whole kit and kabootle. Now what to do? We hadn’t slept, so we took a nap, got up, and I said, why not just drive the car back? He was leery, but we changed the oil and plugs in a KMart parking lot, no license plates, and made it back without a hitch, except to get more oil.
He ended up fixing the car and sold it, but that was my “fetch a classic” story, and vowed to get a UHaul trailer from now on.
I have done several of those “Southern Car” runs. I got the taste of it from spending the winter of 1981-82 in Houston, and being just SHOCKED, I tell ya, of the rust-free car options in the Southland. I went down in a rusty Pinto wagon with busted floorboards, body welds failing…and after having this rusty piece of garbage stolen down there (Northern cars were in demand down THERE, for their better-condition drivelines) I found a completely rust-free replacement, same year, at a Buy-Here-Pay-Here lot two blocks from my job.
I did; I later took that car north, and it served me five years, until the 1980s recovery finally caught up with Cleveland. Sold that wagon for what I paid for it…and I wish I’d never done that, since it was still rust-free. I’d learned the concept of the Winter Car by that time.
I repeated that action five years later, making a run to Georgia to get a truck. I found myself with a 1971 Econoline…unfortunately, with less success. The body was perfect, less faded paint. The driveline, not-so-much, and I sold it a few years later.
The Econoline, in 1990, was $300.
I never had the yen for one of these plain-jane GM sedans – although I do now. In their time, they screamed POVERTY (put your pejorative in there if you like). I knew of two families (defined loosely) in the 1970s, who had nearly-identical 1964 Biscaynes. Two-door sedans. Faded blue paint, both of them. Floorboard failing on the left-front corner, both of them. Had to keep using it, both of them.
You get a bad taste, remembering such details; but this is definitely a slice of Americana worth saving. But I sure miss the three-digit prices on such work cars….
My dad had a love affair of plain Janes. He has a 63 Biscayne four door equipped just like this but in a light tan color. I always thought he was a little off on his quest for the most stripped down version he could find. I can kind of understand his logic now with everything being so over the top.
It was a different mentality back then. People who came of age during the Great Depression were in their prime car buying years. So yes, frugal vehicles like this were actually very common as the article points out We had a neighbor down the street who had a ’67 Biscayne. Light blue. No options except the Powerglide. Small hubcaps and all.
It’s important to remind younger people of that because they assume almost every big Chevy purchased in these years had the SS package and a 327, 396, or 427. But that wasn’t the case. Those were relatively rare, despite the fact that almost every survivor is equipped that way today!
This will almost surely get a big block transplant. And it will join the thousands of others like it. It would be more interesting if it was kept original, albeit less exciting.
Would be nice to keep it stock but will probably end up as a low rider.
Low rider? Maybe, though that car culture tends to favor the more ornate Impala over the plain jane Biscayne. I’d say it’ll most likely end up as a muscle “sleeper” with a Chevy big block, a 4-speed swap, and a bunch of aftermarket gauges. I can see it in my mind now. And yawn.
Just like every other.
I really don’t get this lust for big-blocks or SBC transplants. THINK about it…this is a classic, maybe not so well-trimmed as others, but it’s 60 years old. Is any sane person, paying this money for it, and then the cost of an engine swap…is he gonna be doing competitive quarter-mile runs? Is he gonna be doing stoplight drags? With the risks that entails…everything from old parts like U-joints failing, to taking a steering column in the gut if you lose it and hit a phone pole?
No, most rational people will motor around sedately. That’s what these are for – Sunday drives and parades and celebrations. Or, daily drivers – where again, the six makes more sense.
It may be that the car’s extreme poverty-spec, it’s sedan (not hardtop) style, and a high price (compared to the past) will limit that. Lowrider converters will look for a higher-spec starting point.
Although, with the interior near-trash, it might be fun to get a too-far-gone Impala SS convertible and use the trim and interior parts to make a never-made SS two-door sedan.
But that’s just me. Kit-bashing, amuses me.
My parents were depression era kids. And they wouldn’t have been seen dead in a strippo car like this. My dad’s mentality was: “I lived through being poor. I’m over it. I’ll take the Mercury.”
I would keep it as is, but add a dual master cylinder and front disc. Maybe power steering, depending on how hard it is. Fix the cosmetics as you go along and enjoy.
My mom and dad’s first ever new car was a 1963 Biscayne wagon!
230 straight 6,2 speed automatic and plastic seat covers!
150.000 miles and 10 years later still running and sold it for a $100.00
To a kid going to community College! Aqua with a white top!💖
This car has nothing going for it,the color interior motor post model everything,move on to something else worth your time and money!
Perfect candidate for an “‘09”.
Back then, I never understood why the stripped down – basic – GM models came without backup lights. Other manufacturers did the same thing. The higher cost models always had backup lights, so I guess they figured poor people didn’t need to see where they were backing – making it more likely to hit things and doing damage they had to pay for that kept them poor. Never made sense – how much more would backup lights tack on to the price??? – NOT enough to make any difference in sales – but they did it anyway – just to show that if you can’t afford anything more, you don’t deserve to see where you’re backing. That’s obviously the way they thought, which is why so many people had such sour opinions about people at the top making these bad decisions.
All B-platform cars in this era (from this humble straight 6 Chevy Biscayne up through the fancy Pontiac Grand Prix) had the same chassis. Heck, the luxury C-platform used for the Buick Electra, Olds 98, and Cadillacs (except limos) was very similar, they just had a longer wheelbase,
So they had to get you to spend more money somehow! They did that by equipping higher level models with increasingly more appealing styling and trim, including lighting.
Safety regulations, or lack thereof, gave them more leeway to do that than now. Backup lights did not become mandatory in the U.S. until January 1, 1968 – along with side marker lights, 4-way flashers, energy absorbing steering columns, dual brake master cylinders, head restraints, padded dashboards, and other safety features we cannot imagine being without now.
So some cars in this era did not have reverse lights as standard equipment. Heck, they were even optional on the Corvette until 1966, when they became standard. I believe they were optional on the Biscayne by this time too.
Perhaps I can shed some light on that. The 3 speed manual trans was considered the low of the low. On cars like this, where few options were ordered, where the real money was made, car makers made these as cheap as possible. It not only required a clear lens, but a worker had to install a switch on the linkage to actuate them and the wiring, times a million cars, it adds up.
I got a chuckle out of your comment, “poor people don’t need to see backing up”,,it wasn’t like that at all. I suppose, in the day of back up cameras, back up lights that rival older headlights and what not, it’s easy to think, how did we ever survive without them? We just did.
In 63 my dad ordered a Bel Air 4 door in autumn gold with 283 V8, Powerglide, Positraction, AM radio, rear speaker and rear antenna from Nickey Chevrolet. What I remember most was the Corvette on the showroom floor with the 36 gallon fuel tank for road racing visible through the back window. Even as a thirteen year old, I thought the chrome strip on the top edge of the body on the Biscayne was weird. I guess they wanted to differentiate it from the Bal Air and Impala that put theirs further down.
One option I forgot: Driver’s side door mirror. Back then, only the inside mirror was standard.
My late friend had a black with blue interior ’63 Biscayne 2-door. 6 cyl., Powerglide, Am radio from what I remember. He added dual exhaust at some point.
He passed away 32 years ago and left this car and a ’68 Riviera to his daughters.
Fortunately for the cars, his neighbor bought both of them.
I occasionally see the neighbor at car shows and he told me he’d found a ’63 327 that he was rebuilding to put in the Biscayne along with Vintage Air. He’ll no doubt revamp the exhaust system too.
My late friend also had a ’67 Biscayne for a, as we call them in Mn. , winter beater. He was driving home one night when he felt the body shift on the frame! LMAO! When he told me about it, it reminded me of the Laurel and Hardy skit where they testified against the bad guy in court. The dude was sentenced and turned and glared at these two and said, “if I ever see you, I’m gonna grab your heads and twist ’em so when you’re walking north, you’ll be looking south!” LMAO! That’s what Mn. winters will do to a car.
I just sent the eBay link to my friend who had a brown 63 Biscayne 4-door. She has been looking for one to replace or ideally find her original car.
Love “poverty packs” I find the bottom of the pile with no bells and whistles more appealing than the most highly optioned special. Radio delete, heater delete YES PLEASE! Also it would be a great base for a sleeper……….
Worst color combo possible for a ’63. That baby deserves a real paint job asap. Along with gutting that interior, and tossing the 6 . Someone will get a good starting point for what this gem needs.
My parents bought a 63 Belair 4 door new with a 230 inline 6 with a three on the tree with a heater and Motorola Am radio new for about. $ 2100 new.
It was as dependable as several Nova I owned with 6 cylinder engines.
The only upgrades I did was to install HEI distributors and 63 amp alternators with internal voltage regulators.
Talk about inexpensive basis transportation this was the ticket.
I at 10 years old read the owners manual and began driving the car up and down our driveway.
This is how I learned to drive a manual trans mission.
MY second car was a 65 Pontiac GTO that I purchased in 1970 at 16 years old for $ 780.00
It had a 389 four speed with Tri Power.
Positraction , Magnetic Pulse Pointless Ignition and a Vibrasonic am radio and Keystone Mags with redline tires painted aquamarine blue.
At 16 years old I was too paranoid to drad race.
My next car was a 71 Corvette 454 four speed.
At 21 I was employed by a local police department.and I wasn’t so paranoid.
A 292 six, all syncro 3 speed with O/D. Some brake and steering upgrades are my thoughts.
Anyone that butchers something like this is nuts. You will not be at the drag strip every weekend. There’s more envy in a complete stock 6 cylinder than some butcher job chrome beast in my book. Yeah let’s put a LS SWAP like EVERY OTHER CAR. Just to go cruse 30 mph. Could never figure that out
When people see the LS SWAP crew. They instantly think… Probably needs a “manhood swap” as well .