I’ll be the first person to tell you that this car isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s not at a perfectly high price either–I may just have to bid on this one if it stays anywhere near this low (as I write this, bidding is below $2,800!). It’s located in Cleveland, Ohio and is offered for sale here on eBay at no reserve.
Ok. I don’t care where your car loyalty lies, I don’t think many of you could look at this picture and say this isn’t a cool looking car! I wasn’t familiar with the side chrome fake scoops in front of the rear wheels, and it’s a feature I really like (a little bling?) This particular car has two corrosion issues: the leading edge of the front hood (more about that in a moment) and a little bit of bubbling on one of the rear quarter panels. The seller tells us it starts and drives well!
Here’s a closeup of the hood issue. I wonder why the rust concentrated in this area so badly. I found a nice replacement hood here after a little looking and I’ll be honest, if it was reasonable, that’s probably the route I’d go rather than trying to repair this one for time purposes.
The seller tells us that all the floors were professionally replaced, including the trunk floor. However, the seats are from another car and the rear one is from a coupe, so it doesn’t even fit. As I’m not a purist in this case (this wouldn’t be the car to perform a perfect restoration on anyway), I’d rock the seats that are there and try to trim the rear one to fit–then go with a seat kit and go for it. We can also tell from this shot that this is a late year car with the three speed automatic as it’s a floor shifter. Now I’m assuming here that it’s the original transmission, which may be a big assumption. The seller tells us that the interior can be completely replaced for $1,385 in parts plus your installation.
The seller asserts that this is the 425 cubic inch, 345 horsepower original V8. I hope they are correct! Power steering is also present, but naturally no air conditioning. Considering that the car isn’t really stock, I wouldn’t feel too bad putting a modern unit in for those days when it’s just too hot to put the top down. Like I said, I’ll be following this one closely–what about you!
Jamie, if you ever want to bid on a car don’t publcize that here unless you want to make the seller happy – bidding is already over $5500 and it has generated quite a bit of activity. Even at this price it’s still a bargain but I sure would like to lay my eyes on the car.
Hey, I didn’t figure it would stay where I could afford it anyway :-) Good luck to the seller! I hope things go this well when I try to sell some of my cars on Barn Finds soon! We’ve had a lot of good luck selling cars lately!
No 425cid motors for any Cutlass in 65. Just saying, it ain’t “original V8”!
Thanks, Randy! I still like it, though! I found that it should be a 400 with 345 hp; maybe they got the size wrong?
The 425s were used in Toronados, 88s, and 98s. ‘Nice motors, just not available in the Cutlass.
Not a convertible fan but I really like these cars, even at 5K it’s not a bad deal yet.
I have a 65 442. They did not come with a 425. It also looks like it has a front grill and headlight buckets from a regular cutlass and not a 442. It also looks like its missing the center console.
I would also definitely want to see firewall trim tag. It should have a 4v on it to denote real 442. Seems fishy that seller didn’t post it to begin with.
If it’s here in Northeast Ohio, I can practically guarantee it is a rust bucket. Count on replacing the bottom of the front fenders and quarters, possibly the frame too.
No offense, but there are too many unknowns and inconsistencies in the eBay listing for me to be comfortable with this one. If that floor work wasn’t done right, there’ll be no end of grief in getting the parts to fit and the car to work properly. I highly recommend you do a PPI before you bid.
I call BS on the No Reserve Auction. Check out the sellers Completed Lisitngs and you will see this very car sold on June 27 for $9100. They also had a convertible 88 Mustang that “sold” 4 or 5 times…. could be flake buyers, but that seems like alot.
Hmm. It seems like it should have a 4 speed as an original 442, shouldn’t it? Didn’t the 442 stand for 4 speed, 4 barrel, 2 exhaust later to be replaced with the bigger engine? I could be wrong – just remember what my dad said.
I want one of these but won’t be buying an automatic from Ohio. Too scared of the rust.
That was the original meaning, but they added an automatic option pretty early on. Guess one of the 4s switched to stand for 400 – as in 400 cubic inches.
That was the case in ’64. In ’65 you could get a three or four speed manual as well as the Jetaway two-speed automatic.
BTW, the 442 emblems on the front fenders are incorrect. They were only on the side scoops, not the fenders. My guess is that he put the 442 emblems in place of the original Cutlass emblems.
Just as an FYI, I contacted this guy about six months ago about a low mileage Honda Odyssey that he had listed on a website. After contacting him every day for a week, I finally gave up since he always had an excuse of why I couldn’t come look at it. Caveat emptor.
I remember one of my car mysteries involved a dark blue with light blue interior ’65 Olds 442 with factory console and 4-speed shifter. I saw the Olds 442 parked on a side road off a road I regularly drove down. I went up the side road and knew enough about the 65 442s to see that it appeared 100% original. I knocked on the door of the duplex it was in front of and a well dressed black gentleman, probably in his early 30s, came to the door. I inquired about the car and if it was his and if so whether it might be for sale. He told me yes on both accounts, but that it needed a starter. I asked if he had a clean TN title and he said yes, at his mother’s house in Knoxville, TN. I asked him if we agreed on a price and we did, if he could get the title. He said yes, to come back in two days. Well I did and there was no sign of the Olds 442 or the man. It was like they both vanished. I figured “Seller’s” remorse before the fact. It would have made a nice one.
Here’s my latest project. My friend bought this ’64 Cutlass back in 1970 while we were in high school and has enjoyed it ever since. Unfortunately, his Parkinson’s has caught up to him and he can no longer drive. I got it off of him with the promise that I would fix the scary brakes, vague steering, and wallowing suspension. I hope to have it back on the road next year.