The owner of this Oldsmobile 442 describes it as a garage find that is close to original. You will find it listed for sale here on eBay. Located in Oak Park, Illinois, it comes with a clear title. The seller has set a BIN price of $31,000, but the option is there to make an offer.
While this Oldsmobile is clean, it doesn’t wear its original paint. It has been the subject of a repaint at some stage in Glade Green (which was a factory color for that year) with sprayed-on Crimson pin stripes. The paint looks to have a nice shine to it, and there are no obvious signs of rust or corrosion. All of the lower extremities of the car such as the rockers and quarter panels all look to be solid. The soft-top also comes with the optional rear defrost.
The interior presents really well, although there are some tears in the driver’s seat that will necessitate the replacement of the cover. Otherwise, the dash looks good with no obvious cracks on the pad, and the remainder of the trim and plastic all appear to be in good condition. The car has been fitted with an aftermarket radio/cassette player, but it doesn’t appear that the dash has been cut to fit this.
The car has been sitting for a number of years, so there is probably going to be some work required to get the car up and running properly. The seller does state that the 400ci engine doesn’t run, but he doesn’t indicate whether it turns freely. The car was also optioned with air conditioning. The engine bay on this car does give me a reason to pause and consider a few things. I’m a realist and I don’t expect that I am going to open the hood of a 49-year-old car and find everything factory fresh. However, things like the amount of surface corrosion on items like the brake booster and the alternator do make me wonder whether the car has been in a fairly damp environment at some stage in its life. Couple this with evidence of corrosion on the firewall which should be addressed before it becomes too advanced and these questions just get stronger. It is details like this that would motivate me to also give the underside of the car a thorough inspection.
There is no denying that this 442 is a very attractive car, and it has the potential to be a great top-down cruiser with the muscle to back-up those good looks. The corrosion in the engine bay is enough to raise some questions in the back of my mind. What do our Barn Finds readers think?
A decent car. But, to make this car a 31K car would require a full, frame off restoration. It has an automatic, not a 4-speed. Realize, I am NOT knocking the car but, the price.
Agreed. Nice car, wrong price.
As long as these cars keep popping up and someone is afraid they are going to miss out on something, they will keep selling and people will continue to end up with a $40k car with $65k invested. Someone will buy this, they always do because they had one or their dad had one and they want to recapture the memory. To each his own but someone will dive head first in to this one……they always do.
Seller states that he’s looking for “a buyer who understands this car”.
I understand that it’s going to take a ton of freshening and cleaning to be presentable.
I understand that it doesn’t run.
I understand that it’s going to need all the usual replacement parts, including a new set of tires.
I understand that there are several similar cars in much better condition for sale on ebay for substantially less.
I understand that Oldsmobile built 4,295 442 convertibles in 1969, not 2,000,
I understand that you’re asking at least double what this car is worth.
Do I qualify as “a buyer who understands this car”?
Wow. thank you. Amen and Amen.
Red Wagon below, correct, I live 20 min south of Chicago and I am sure this car has plenty of rust in all the wrong places AND everywhere else.
Great car BUT tons of $$$$$ for the resto. This guy should restore it PROPERLY and enjoy it or sell it as restored. He probably will get someone to pay the 31K for it, there are a lot of people out there with more money than brains. If it were a W car then I would think on it. Anyone who restores this will have $80 to $100K (including the 31K buy in) into a PROPER restoration and it will be worth far less than that. Good luck to all.
A shame it is so much. I probably have a buyer for this car but not for 30K.
A “Non-buyer” who understands this car. Yep, you sure are
I like it but not $31,000 like it…that would be crazy love it gotta have it dont care if it’s only worth $10,000 have it😂
Interesting find but IMO the price is a crystal substance that was a major problem in urban areas in the 1980s and early 1990s price.
Personally, I think it’s worth half this, maybe even less given the rust and the fact that it’s the standard motor with automatic If it was a W30 car, then maybe. Not to mention the fact that it’s an Illinois car, meaning there could be serious rust underneath from its days on the road there if it was driven in winter. I’d definitely want to see underside pictures before bidding.
But I’m always behind the market so maybe he’ll get it. As Daleone3 said, there’s often that “right buyer” who will overpay, especially in this economy and with Boomers 401ks having done so well.
** It’s hard to tell but zooming in, you can see that the car is wearing the old 1979 IL plates. Those were replaced in 1984 by the light blue “banner” plates and phased out relatively quickly. So this car’s probably been sitting since the mid-1980s, at least.
Yep, I kinda wondered about them old tires. Then the crusty underhood shot. And the wtf is that datsun breather lid on there when the factory one is in the trunk. Paint a color change or just a repaint? But if the engine bay looks like that with no battery, you can bet it’s barnacled up on the bottom too. Top has two patches in it. Little wavy over the quarters. Trunk lid bleeding rust from inside it on to chrome bumper. Chrome looks done. No way it’ll sell at 30k without buyers remorse. Needs to be around the 17k mark and let it go as is 13k for a good ( provided engine turns ) driver.
oak park, illinois is just west of chicago. i’m thinking road salt and all sorts of winter climate. an underbody ppi would be well advised.
redlines would really show off the pin striping.
Well.here we go again. Roll the car out , not running, and ask top dollar. As the seller is not a “car guy” and selling for his Uncle, perhaps it is excusable. But someone came up with this price. If nothing else, Oak Park is the home of Frank Lloyd Wright’s original home , studio and many of his important buildings and while the buyer educates the seller and waits for him or her to comedown to earth, you can always take this tour and look at some really rare art:
http://cal.flwright.org/tours/homeandstudio/walkingtour
I’ve restored 4 of the 68-72 cutlass bodies…. $8-10k tops….
Does that red pin striping look right to anybody.
It looks weird to me.
Bubba I’m gonna tell ya now u not gonna get 31000 for that with not running shined up running ready to go to the next car show,or the next cruise yea you’ll get 31 not like that I’m sure that bottom side needs work to tie rods ball joints trans oil changed rear end oil changed there probrely milky as all get out
English mother f*****, do you speak it !?