You know, when you come across a car like this 1968 Chevrolet Caprice station wagon that’s wrapped with a strap, you know something’s up. Yup, this one looks shaky, but there’s even more to it than meets the eye. This top-drawer Chevy station wagon was probably a looker in its day, but time has marched on. Still, this one’s intriguing, if only to figure out what that strap’s all about. Found taking up space in Hebron, Maine, this suburban staple is listed here on eBay for $6,500, OBO.
Chevrolet had a huge year in ’68, knocking out 2.1 M cars, earning them first place in the great domestic automobile production race. As for the range-topping Caprice, 116K found new driveways that year while the station wagon count, in total, topped 176K units. I could not determine, however, how many of those wagons wore faux wood paneling, the primary Caprice identifier.
The seller states, “The body is very rusty, and was bondoed up by the original owner to keep it on the road.” This baby’s rough! Chevrolet’s ’65-’70 version of their B-body is a known rust magnet- I’ve owned enough of these to know. Assuming this Caprice has spent most of its life in Maine helps explain its deteriorated condition. If you’re thinking parts, most of the body panels possess rust, though there are usable components such as the hood, tailgate, and bumpers.
But the BIG problem is the frame. The seller tells us, “The frame is severely rusted, with part of the left-side rail missing, so the left-side frame rail is currently held up by a strap so the car can be moved.” OK, well now we know what that strap’s all about.
This 114K mile wagon is powered by a 325 gross HP, 396 CI “Turbo-Jet” V8 engine, which is married to a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 (Chevrolet had a lot of “Turbo” goin’ on back then) three-speed automatic transmission. The rear-wheel connection is bolstered by a heavy-duty twelve-bolt differential. The seller states, “Car is not running, and we haven’t attempted to turn it over, and we are selling the car in basically the same condition as we got it.” Sounds like a flip to me.
The interior is pretty well what one would expect; it’s basically destroyed. The upholstery, door panels, headliner, floor covering/floors- all of it is in bad shape. I am curious about the steering wheel. I’m yet to find a one-year-only ’68 stock wheel that isn’t severely cracked. This one has a lace-on cover, so the rim isn’t visible, but I’d be surprised if it’s intact.
The seller suggests, “This is a great parts car, or a fixer-upper if you are the ambitious type.” Yes, there are some valuable parts such as the engine and transmission, though their true condition is unknown. The twelve-bolt axle is only good for another B-body car; it won’t fit a Camaro, Nova, Chevelle, or El Camino. And there’s some other stuff, such as the previously mentioned hood, tailgate, bumpers, and the glass and front disc brake calipers (this vintage can be tricky to source). A fixer-upper? I can’t see that happening. I also can’t see this Caprice yielding $6,500 either; how about you?
Definitely not a ‘fixer-upper’ imo. Can’t believe the asking price for this literal rust buck.
Yep….pretty pricey parts car…..rear end and disks are nice but only fit the big cars…..so alot for a motor and AM/8 trac….
As it is with many of the cars we see; If you really want a 1968 Chevrolet Caprice Station Wagon, to restore, for yourself, as a hobby, than go for it, but if you think that you’re going to restore, this car, to perfection and then try to flip it for 10s of Thousands of Dollars, you should seriously reconsider your motivation.
No one thinks they can restore it a flip it for profit. Nor are there any people that think this is restorable, especially if the money is coming out of their pockets.
Steve R
$6500 OBO, how about $0! That thing is a death trap.
What’s up with the whored up u.s. car market…the fact this JUNK YARD crusher candidate is even listed much less for 6.5k is absolutely ridiculous & says the u.s. market has lost its damn mind.
This would be a great parts car, at a fraction of the price. Is it safe to assume sellers never overprice their cars? This is nothing new and will never change. Just like there are a lot of sellers featured on this site who are out of touch on the high side, it’s just as common for commenters to be out on the low side.
Steve R
Sadly, probably not a parts car or restoration candidate
It’s too expensive for a parts car. There are some great parts with substantial value, but how many of those can be reconditioned and reused. If you look at the rest of the sellers items listed on eBay, he sells a lot of parts, mostly NOS, but that likely wouldn’t slow him down if there was money to be made.
Steve R
Facts!!
Get your shots before going to look at this.
Must’ve been really nice in its day with the big block, A/C, and power windows. Until someone thought it was a good idea to park it outside for decades.
the rust results from excessive road salt in that region. Excessive to the point that you could drive around behind salt truck with a shovel from the excess, and pourly distributed.
They salt ALOT, even when not needed. So much salt the roads turn white even when theres no snow.
The only way to counter this is regular flushing with the hose, which is what ive done when im back East, but you gotta take the hose back in to keep it from freezing and turn off the water to the spiggot so the line doesnt burst in the middle of the night..
its not for the meek or lazy.
In that region, brand new trucks can rot out in a few years.
In a way, its amazing this wagon made it this far.
As for me, ive been looking for a big block wagon with AC an power windows..even like the color, id remove the silly wood grain. The rot dictates its a parts car.
As for the price everyone gets all trigger over, its an asking price.
If you really want it, simply call and make a deal.
It could be a flip but I am thinking the seller realized after buying that it would take more work than what is would be worth to fix it. So now they want to unload it onto some other sucker.
another case of “arrusted development”. Some sellers should should just advertise their offerings as iron ore mixed with platic impurities. What is scrap iron goin for these days?
LOL yyyaaa right, ..
cant scrap it for metal because of all the interior and hoses. The amount of effort to remove the ‘impurities’ would be a dirty, laborious job.
Id go find a clean body and swap the goods. That AC dash looks good, the upper door cards, bumpers, all
under hood looks good ..
its a BO price so, make an offer; ill say $3k
Actually, you could scrap it very easily by taking it to a car shredder. A modern shredder separates magnetic from non-magnetic metals and further separates the “fluff” (the plastics and upholstery) as well. Once the fluids are drained, in it goes and 30 seconds later the minuscule metallic components get sprayed into a railroad scrap gondola headed for a mini-mill.
Years ago, when I was in the railroading biz, Landers Recycling in Orlando was one of my more significant shippers. I saw a lot of what looked like salvageable cars disappear in several blinks of an eye.
JO
Who isn’t drawn to a car held together with a bungee cord?
How about the OBO is YOU Pay Me to come get it
My weakness when it comes to projects has always been, I focus too much on what COULD be, rather than what IS, if that makes any sense. Glass half full, if you will. But that being said, “held together by a ratchet strap” is a line even I won’t consider crossing.
That strap holding the car together in the middle is a nice touch,…..
Brings to mind Don Meredith’s famous MNF closing………”Turn out the lights, the party’s over……..”
A 1968 Chevrolet Caprice Wagon just sold for $33,000, in Sarasota, Florida.
Did it look like this one????
No it didn’t!
I think it should buff right out.
ROFLMAO
With a coupla spots of touch up.
Out of existence maybe.
this roach has been for sale for a while. real shame here but this is done. has a lot of useable parts but i doubt the seller will let it go for a realistic number. it may break in 1/2 when you go to move it. i have had it happen.
The strap is $6500 and the car is for free. You may USE the strap to get the car off my property. And then you have to return the strap. (Good luck trying to move it after that.)
I have an old beat up 5th wheel that I got for $100 to make a,car trailer out of. (It’s name is Big Ugly) When all.of a sudden I had to use it to move out my garage for the divorce. ( no, the trailer is not one of the reasons for the divorce) It was so packed with stuff that I noticed some wall bulging. So I hate to admit it, but I used a large ratchet strap to make sure the transport could be accomplished without spares and tools littering the highway. And yes, it worked.
Ran when parked.
One of these was the family truckster of my ‘tween years… family vacations… rides to the lake… Sears aluminum boat strapped to the top… me sprawled in the back with all the junk. Who needs seat belts with the air-mattress, beach balls, and the green Coleman picnic cooler to protect you. Late in its life I remember my Mom complaining that it would “idle” at 30 mph. On those very cold winter mornings when I occasionally got a ride to school, she never had to touch the gas… just rode the brakes the whole way. Also remember the day we had to tow my older brother home with it when he blew the engine in his Corvair. Just tied a rope between the two cars.. Dad ordered me in the back to watch and yell if the rope went slack. What could possibly go wrong?… Different times.
Unfortunately this one needs to be crushed out of its misery…
Only 10% power required for the crusher! But at least pull the big block out first!
That’s what I was thinking, too. Pull the big block, tranny, rearend and any other parts to possibly salvage and make a buck or two on, but not for near the asking price of this one! At $1500, you MIGHT break even.
Just order that new metal spray off the net that claims to return the metal to original shiny appearance, just removes rust LOL
Well, they say anything can be rebuilt. I think this car took that as a challenge. These look great restomodded, and the big block would make it a a fantastic tow vehicle, maybe drag a nice Chriscraft behind it on the weekend.
“In Philadelphia, it’s worth fifty bucks.” Although I doubt the character played by Bo Diddley would give them that much!!!
You couldn’t give to me for free! It’s rusty junk, period!
The only “fixer-upper” here will be this guy’s bank account if he gets someone to pay 65 hundred for this thing…Stevie Wonder maybe
$6,000 is a lot to pay for an engine, transmission and differential!
Does the under dash eight track at least work?
I have many that still do work.
Beautiful car and a real bargain at that price.
BTW ~ that was a joke.
This is a poor condition parts car, these cars from 65-70 are known for having bad frames, they literally fall apart, there isn’t much usable here
Not necessarily. I’ve owned several (’66, ’68 & ’69) and never had a frame problem of any kind. If you’re consigned to a heavy salt belt, maybe so, but then anything built in this era had similar issues.
JO
Frame rust applies to rust belt cars, those are very prone to breaking frames, have owned a couple 65-66 with major frame rust, there are exceptions if a western state desert car
My ’69 spent its life in Maryland; never had a problem with it. My ’66 was a southern car (Georgia), so that helped with its rust-free state. The ’68 is a mixed bag, a resident of both northern and southern states; again, no issue.
JO
Over the years I have owned a 66 Impala, 66 Caprice, 67 Bel Air & 2 67 Impalas ~ no frame problem with any of them and I live near Chicago.
Take the lights out, engine, transmission, any bright work that’s still good, and part it out. The rest of the hulk can be used for Hyundai/Kia parts.
$6500.00 To quote a line from the late, great Leslie Neilson from Airplane…Surely you jest. To which he replies…Don’t call me Shirley.
Ooops, lots of job on this one but man what a nice car it would be as new!
Many interesting features/option.
This car looks like it was abandoned somewhere 30 plus years ago. It was towed out by the seller, who now thinks, because of what this car was at one time, he can make some money. This car is now just a pile of rust, not worth anything.
What’s a 396 & TH400 worth? Because that’s about the only thing of value here.
Yikes what frame with that rust. Could possibly use the drive line for another project and other pieces for another wagon maybe. Some parts mostly little and original parts are hard to find these days.