There is never a shortage of project cars to go around. Plenty of cars with ‘everything’ wrong with them. It’s not too often we can say “there’s a lot that’s right with that car” to start with. But that might be the case with this 1964 Buick Special convertible. It’s offered for sale here on craigslist, and is located in Troy, Illinois, near St. Louis. The asking price is $6,000, which on first glance seems a little high-end, but upon closer inspection we can see some areas of the car that are normally expensive to repair, that are in good shape with this one.
First and most obvious is the beautiful red interior. Seat covers are expensive, and all the labor has been completed here.
The convertible top appears to be of relatively recent vintage, although the installation of it needs a little tweaking along the lower rear edge.
The gold-painted Chevy rally wheels don’t look bad, per se, they just look…incorrect. A little low-budget, perhaps. With this car, I’d probably buy some attractive aftermarket wheels, or go find the originals and some caps. These wheels would look great back on the Camaro or Chevelle they came from. But it’s a small complaint though. I wouldn’t change much on the rest of the car. Except one thing.
The seller says it’s not in running condition. He says it was when he parked it last May. He says he bought it with the intentions of doing an LS swap, but most of the text in his ad is devoted to a lengthy description of the engine that’s in it now. It’s apparently a 430 mill with lots of upgrade parts and machine work done. While the later Chevy engine probably has some superiority here, I’m sure I don’t see the point in a transplant in this case.
We can see some rust bubbles beginning to form, but it doesn’t appear to be the typical Midwestern rolling bondo-sculpture we often see.
The Chevy wheels and the desire to install a Chevy engine causes me to wonder if the seller might have preferred a Chevelle convertible over this one. But as the old slogan goes, wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?
At least that’s the question asked of you in the vintage commercial shown above.
White body and red interior is a timeless classic of a 1960s color combination for cars. I think it looks great here, and this car has lots of curb appeal. What do you think?
This looks like a good starting point for a cool build!
I just sold a really nice similar Buick with the “economical” V6
For $7250. They are very plain but you don’t see many.
Graft GSX hood vents make a never was period correct GTO killer, maybe 17″ period style wheels
looks to me that the Engine is running , look at Fan Blade and Alternator.
too bad they had that weird non-factory upholstery with white band installed – otherwise if had been all red instead would have been way better
Good eye rick
Looks like ponys could be running across
The seets
White panel could easily be panel matched to red vinyl.
I attached the car I sold last month.
Looks like Roadkill Episode 1, Backyard “Find”.
I don’t get why it would not run now a yr later especially with all that they say that has been done to the motor. Nice looking interior .
Is it just me or is there no shift lever popping up through that super-cool console? Seller doesn’t mention tranny being IN the car, just that he has it and the original one. I’ve had a few of these specials and skylarks over the years..tank like in hardtop or post coupe form.