The seller of this ’69 Gran Sport (GS) points out that it “has rust in the common places.”  And according to him “common places” merely refer to the “sail panel…rear 1/4, doors, fenders, [driver side] floorboard…[and] trunk pan.”  May I politely add that he forgot to also mention the hood, front bumper, trunk lid, roof, and rear floorboards!  He could have saved time and a few keystrokes by instead typing “car is completely rusted!”  Offered at the ‘Buy It Now’ price of $2,900 this California edition GS is posted here on ebay and located in Greenfield, Indiana.

I’d like to think the seller is a ‘glass is half-full kinda guy’ based on his claim that this Buick is “very fixable” but there are some inconsistencies in his description of the vehicle that raise some red flags.  For instance, on one hand, he states that “with a little work this car could be a driver” but then goes on to say that it’s “an excellent total restoration candidate.”  I’m leaning toward the latter statement being more accurate.  Non-original paint attempting to cover existing body rust is never a good sign and the state of the entire lower portion of the driver side quarter panel looks especially precarious, as does the gigantic hole behind the sail panel.  A rear bumper will need to be sourced as this Skylark no longer has one.  On a good note, the seller claims “the frame is in good shape and does not show any signs of rust” but without pictures and considering the condition of the body, that’s a bit hard to imagine.

The rough condition of the interior appears equal to the exterior.  Check out the electrical tape armrest and the driver seat back that looks like it was mauled by a grizzly.  The rubber edge molding above the driver door window is deteriorating and there isn’t much left of what used to line the door sill.  Am I correct in saying orange was the original color?

The automatic 350 V-8 with just under 88,000 miles is reported to run and is original to the car, which is promising.  But to quote the editors of consumerguide.com the GS California with its smaller V-8 “…was a sheep in wolf’s garb” when compared to the GS 400.  To give the seller credit this car still holds promise due to it being running and mostly original.  But when considering a nearly mint all original GS California can be found for around $20K, this Skylark, in a partial state of deterioration and neglect, could be flying a little high at $2,900.