Someone has discovered a treasure trove of rusty ’50s American Convertibles hiding in Pennsylvania. These cars are very rusty, but they could be used for parts or restored if you’re willing to invest the money and time into completely rebuilding them. The seller is listing each car individually on eBay and has listed the first two convertibles today, a ’56 Chevy Bel-Air and a ’58 Olds 88. They claim they will be listing many more soon, so we will keep an eye on this seller.
The seller not only has these rusty shells, but a large number of spares as well. We assume they are in the business of parting out cars since they have trim pieces for cars from the ’50s up to the ’70s. This Bel Air looks to have already been picked clean of most of the important bits, but there might be some pieces still left worth saving.
The Eighty-Eight is just as rusty as the Bel-Air, but is more intact. The seller claims everything is still with it, but there is a lot of chrome missing from the body. Hopefully it’s with the car, as it can be very challenging to find all the shiny bits. We aren’t sure if there is much hope of every seeing either of these cars back on the road, but there are plenty of good parts. We are going to assume the seller’s other convertibles will look just as rough as these two, but you never know. So do you think either of these cars is worth saving or should they just be salvaged to save others?
Barn find ? looks more like a swamp find, the Bel Air looks only good as a VIN donor for a rebody
I think they forgot to put the decimal point between the “9’s” in their asking price!
exactly what I thought!
where are these old converts –i know i have saved worse shape cars –would like to get a price on them
I can believe that the Bel Air has been sitting untouched under a tarp for decades. Unfortunately it looks like the tarp was put on right after it served as a prop in a 1950s the-world-is-being-blown-up-by-aliens disaster movie.
Hysterical , did they find these on the bottom of the ocean?
I sure would like to follow the restoration / rebuild of the olds.
This is a joke, right?……ha ha….good one….
actually these were at the Lambrecht chevy field auction the Buick has 11 miles while the Chevy has 24 miles & they were sold to a****m for 79k for the pair.
Sorry lost my head , Olds, but in this shape who cares.
Oh dear. Oh dearo, dearo, dear. Sadly methinks their next iteration will unlikely be restoration…more like recycling.
I think he got confused and posted what he is calling the parts car pictures instead of the under a tarp “barn find”.
No way. That much coin for that much rust. I’ll pass. I’m sure someone has a fine bridge they’d like to sell me……….
Whoever treats a 1958 Oldsmobile that way should be shot.
CLEARLY too far gone.
Convertible……..ya…….these cars convert your money into nothingness…..admire from a far and let some other knucklehead convert his money. Damn shame about that ’58. Great looking bit of iron at one time.
The cost to restore the chrome and stainless on that Buick would start at about 15K, and you would still have a hulk. What do you think the wire loom and power motors for the all the windows, vents and top cost ? And you would still have a hulk. You could drop 50K into the car before you even started body and paint. Upholstery and new top, at least 15K. Sounds like fun !
Okay, I know its an Olds 88 !
The Olds is a keeper…period..Too many NON reproduced parts..Throw the Bel Ache in the crusher.
I don’t think the Olds is even a parts car. I would think you would buy a 58 parts car for its chrome and trim. This one you cant even do that,
On TV, those could be rebuilt in an hour.
Sad Find.
The 1958 Olds reminds me just how over the top GM went with it’s styling that year. However, despite that, it’s still an undeniably cool car with amazing details. It makes me want one in salvageable condition. This one I tend to think is WAY too far gone. New York is a salt state, and I doubt much can be salvaged. The last car I saw that was this far gone was a ’58 Edsel in the local U Pull it, and the quarter panels were literally peeling off the car in one big sheet. I tend to think this one was probably sitting with it’s frame on the ground and no top for the last 35 years, so it’s nothing more than a parts car with an over the top price tag.
The starting bid is beyond ridiculous.
People have lost their minds.
I’ll give the seller fifty bucks.
Lunatics
Another case of “I’m gonna restore it one day” but not I’m old and I saw Barrett Jackson once at 3 am and a Bel-Air convert sold for $11ty Jillion dollars so my car must be worth $4995.
Carry on, nothing to see here.
I’ll be happy when more automotive enthusiasts reply to pics. real car people. oh too rusty,too much to restore or whatever.wah wah wah ! please reply if you like cars! not if your a whiner.
Look, atleast the olds MAY be worth saving if your bank account is big enough, BUT lets be honest, its wayyyyyyyyyy to overpriced for that hunk a junk! We’re car enthusiasts, but were also realistic, unlike someone *cough smokewagon cough*
This car IS on eBay, along with ANOTHER..in Fla. in showroom shape. The starting bid is $30,000.00, Could not TOUCH the cost to make this one like THAT one for $30K.
real automotive enthusiast would restore the car from an oil spot. obviously you are not that person.im very realistic.youre wallet isint.elbow grease and personal devotion to cars is hard for some people to understand. got the elbow grease ,use it. all old cars deserve a chance,even if its for parts,but as long as it exists … it exists,there is a chance.
You seem like the guy that can do it so start bidding. Oh & good luck to you.
Yes, Let us know how it goes upin Smokewagon. I love to restore old cars, work on em every day myself. I wouldn’t go anywhere near these two, so you are obviously made of bigger fluff than I. Look forward to hearing your Barn Find follow up when you bring them home…
These cars redefine “needs work”.
Reminds me of that 56 Belair vert that they rebuilt on Chop-Cut-Rebuild. They bought the rusted out car, and saved the vin tag. The end result was stunning, but very little of it was actually made in 1956, and none of it was original. They built a resto-mod with an LSA powerplant, but even if they had intended to do a complete restoration the original car hade little to offer other than the correct numbers.
Anything can be restored if you have the skill, money and the time.
We all enjoy the car hobby from our own perspective.
For myself, I work 70 hours a week, have limited skills, and don’t have a wheel barrow full of money to throw at a restoration. I prefer to purchase the cars that I collect in good condition, only needing a little maintenance, and maybe a few minor repairs. My two Trans AM’s are both low mileage original unmolested cars. One car has 30K actual miles and the other has 24K actual miles. I am the second owner of both of them. I keep them as stock as possible, doing some of the work myself, but sending the complicated stuff to a professional mechanic. The maintenance costs are not a lot higher for these cars than a late model car. Both cars are reliable, and are ready to go anytime that I am ready. Both cars brought home multiple first place trophies in the shows we attended this summer. Preparation was a good detailing, and some minor repair work. That’s how I prefer to enjoy the car hobby.
If I were to tackle something as rough as that poor Olds, it would be years before it was ready to enjoy. At my current age, it might not be finished before I am too old to enjoy it. If someone has the passion, skill, patience, and resources to save these cars, more power to them. If someone on this site buys the cars, please keep the rest of us updated on your progress.
Well, to the seller’s credit, in his pictures he shows
the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Uhh, to the seller’s
credit, in his pictures he shows the Bad and the
Ugly.
Well guys, here is what the ’58 looks like after some serious buffing and polishing…
Nice!