Boy, you could call this big 1964 Buick Wildcat “Old Yeller”! The very ouvert finish, which appears to be Sunburst is even more pronounced by this Wildcat’s outsized 219″ stretch riding on a 123″ wheelbase – just the length of the quarter panels alone emphasizes this car’s visual bearing. This St. Clair Shores, Michigan drop top is a beaut and we have Ted to thank for its discovery.
One thing that I learned about Buick’s Wildcat (’63-’70) is that it was also available in a four-door body style – I always assumed (incorrectly) that the sportiness factor mandated just two doors with a fixed or convertible top. As is often the case, out of the 84K 1964 Wildcats produced, only 7,800 (9%) could flip their lid. The seller tells us that this baby is originally from California and it has been a “garaged resident” of Michigan for the last twenty-four years. My initial thought is that it’s a repaint – it looks that good, but the seller makes no statement to that effect. Ditto the trim, chrome, and road wheels – no demerits to be issued. I’ll have to run with the assumption that the top is in as sound a condition as the body (the listing says that it has been “repaired” whatever that means). My only concerning observation is this car’s height, it seems to be down on its haunches a bit – tired coil springs maybe?
Get up and go is courtesy of a 325 gross HP, 401 CI “nailhead” V8 engine doing its thing with help from a first-year Turbo-Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission, a unit that Buick referred to as a “Super Turbine 400”. The seller claims, it “runs and drives well.” That “drives well” part has accumulated a recorded 50K miles though there is no authentication provided.
While the top was being “repaired” so was the tan vinyl upholstery which I gather means that the seats, fore and aft, have been recovered. They look fabulous as does the rest of the interior including the dash and center console. The most thorough image is that of the radio speaker-equipped back seat but this one image of the front gives you a pretty good idea of what’s in store when you first make ingress. This is an A/C equipped car which one might expect to find in a ’64 upscale Buick model but convertibles in this era frequently went without this expensive option. The original owner also sprung for power windows – a big help in a convertible when you want to drop all four as you prepare to cruise off in top-down mode.
So, what’s not to like here (maybe the lack of images)? Search me fish; at $18,500, and considering offers, this seems like a very reasonable buy. If you would like to learn more, you’ll find this Wildcat’s listing here on Facebook Marketplace. Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?
Nice car. I do have to wonder why every lowered car gets comments like “tired springs” etc. When was the last time you saw a car with real tired springs? They last forever in most cases. If you caught the original location of the car you would have seen it came from California. Half the cars in California are lowered on purpose. This car looks great a little lower to the ground, even has the California Rake.
Second generation Camaros and Firebirds are notorious for having tired rear leaf springs. I have replaced them on my last two cars. This Buick has definitely been slammed on purpose.
“When was the last time you saw a car with real tired springs?” My ’68 Impala convertible’s a start. I replaced them and now it sits at standard height (and no, they definitely don’t last forever!).
JO
I had one with tired springs. Back in the mid seventies I owned an otherwise tired 1969 Buick Riviera. It sat noticeably lower in the rear than thought it should. Back in those days your first thought was Gabriel Hi-Jackers air shocks. I was not the air shock type of kid and besides, I had put new Monroe-Matic shocks all the way around. I went down to the Buick dealer to see about new springs but they were prohibitively expensive. I ended up getting new aftermarket springs and voila! The car sat perfectly level.
Point made.
Beautiful originally , great price, but I think looks like crap lowered like that.
Yup.
For what it’s worth, I couldn’t agree more–with both of your points.
I bought a ’66 Wildcat four door hardtop in 1976 for $350 … nice car, but the frame had been welded and broke again a week after I bought it. It was white with a black vinyl roof and had red interior. I was 19 years old and what sold me was the radio speaker in the middle of the back seat. Seems to me it had a 360 ci engine but I could be wrong about that. Not a good investment but a fun drive at low speeds … lol.
Buddy had a nailhead Buick Wildcat. Let me tell you, once these boats are up to speed, they pass cars like a dream on the highway 🛣
Very nice `64 Wildcat, but bring the suspension back to standard height & I bet the seller could ask more for it. As it is, this looks like a lowrider from L.A.’s south side. Pfft!
This one is really nice. Two questions: what garage would it fit in, and what parking lot slot would she slide in”. Oh well I guess you park it with the Dodge Rams. The lowered stance will give you .50 more MPG while cruising. A wonderful car of the ’60’s.
Old Yeller is right! That color is so loud, you can hear it coming down the road! LOL
The only thing I’m not a fan of is the colour.
Hey, nice car! I’d take it regardless of the color. I never cared for a Yellow car until I had one, now no problem.
Beautiful car. I’ve always loved Buicks of the 1960s and early 70s. My maternal grandparents drove Buicks for most of their married life. I know they drove a Buick Wildcat, but I don’t recall them driving this year Wildcat.
Yeah I’m not too “wild” about the color on this Wildcat but it is a beautiful car. Well preserved and with all the goodies you expect on a car of this type. I knew someone when I was back in middle school who had a later model, maybe a 66, in that Maroon color I associate with Buicks and other high end rides.
my dad had a 65 4dr and it got 5 MPG and was super fast! burn the tires right off the rims. love it as a kid it had so much room in it. one could play on the back floor and still have room. truck was so big anything would go in it.
it was a dark color and was so sharp looking with all the chrome. the biggest car ever made.
From the way you are talking about burning the tires off, I wonder why it only got 5 MPG. In decent tune, driven responsibly the car should have been capable of 12-13 MPG, about average in those days.
they took trip out west three days there and 3 back they got 7MPG. this is the big 4 door so lot more weight. the biggest motor with all the speed stuff they put on at the plant. he got it used. if i recall right it was very dark green. at night looked black. darker than the green hornets car. the man that got it after him turned it into a pickup. also no air in car.
Should have a name contest for this one “Ole Yeller, Yellow Banana, Yellow Submarine, Mellow Yellow……and on”. Just fun’n…..
Lowering a large car like this makes it look even longer, and more ungainly. At least the interior is a nice tan color. A friend of my brother’s dad had ordered a yellow 1960 Buick Electra convertible with a red interior, and a black top. The only explanation I could come up with for him choosing this color combination was that he wanted to make a bold statement.
Thank you to Will Fox
If you zoom in on the dashboard pic, you’ll see the ignition switch is the kind you don’t need a key for. I had the same thing on my 1962 Electra 225 convertible. It had lock, off, run, start. If you left it on off and took the key, you could start it without a key. Being a drop top you should always lock it.
My 225s ignition had a little problem. Normally, when starting the car you turn the key all the way to the right then let go and it automatically springs back to run. Mine didn’t do that. You had to manually move the key back to run, otherwise the car car would not go over 25 mph. Weird, huh? As soon as you manually put the ignition to run the car would work as it’s supposed to. This was back in 1972.
Right on Angel. 🙌
@ Stan
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