Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 More, On more doors.  Part Two.

Something that you might see on CL,
but not parked at your local supermarket.

Expanded edition.

My Son was visiting and I got my chance to have some car related conversations, 

We were showing each other cars that we'd seen for sale on CL or Facebook. 

He showed me a car that he seemed quite intrigued by, it was a '62 Pontiac Ventura four door flat top sedan. He found the grille and especially the tail end treatment to be intriguing and unlike any car he had ever seen before. 

I had to agree that it was a cool car, but it was "only" a four door sedan! 

Those had been consolation prizes for as long as I could remember. Some might have refereed to them as the booby prize!

But to my Son, the fact that it was cool looking vintage car outweighed the number of doors. That made it appealing, along with a much lower price. I could definitely see his point. 

This car had been loved by it's previous owner for a couple of decades.

I shared my interest in a car that I'd followed on CL for some time. It was a '62 Buick LeSabre sedan, nothing special. Except that even this model had some pretty amazing body sculpturing and detailing typical of so many '60s era cars. The roof line itself was quite handsome. It was straight and in good shape with faded original paint. The seller had owned the car for over twenty years. It had been stored in a warehouse for years, except that now the guy who owned the warehouse needed the space, and had increased the rental rates. The seller had to sell and he was trying to find someone who would appreciate the car and maintain and fix it up a bit. It would have killed the seller if his beloved Buick would turn out to be used as a parts car. And it could have, as this Le Sabre had the legendary 401 cube Nailhead engine in it. Which had been rebuilt shortly before being placed into storage. The engine was more desirable and worth more than the whole car. It was the 401 that made this car interesting.  It was almost the equivalent of a Wild Cat model. It had a two barrel carb and came with single exhaust. I followed this car, and thought long and hard about it. Asking price was only 2,800 dollars. The interior was the same plain two bench design shared with most other '60s sedans. Pretty boring, nothing luxurious or special there. I asked myself if could I actually love a car with such a cheap and ugly interior? 

The number of doors I could get over. I'd had two 1950's Cadillac four door hardtops, a '66 Lincoln suicide  door sedan, a '94 Seville STS, and finally my '97 Jaguar XJ6 , which put all my prior car's interiors to shame. 

Ultimately I didn't make a move on it, and I've kind of regretted that. 

My Nailhead itch hasn't gone away, except that now an early Riviera is just too expensive to even consider. So I'm always looking for the proper year Buick.

I stumbled across a car on CL recently that was described as a '64 Wild Cat four door sedan. I'd never seen or heard of that model. Wildcats were the almost top of the line cars, usually hardtop coupes and sedans. Many sedans had bucket seats and consoles which made them even fancier than an Electra. The Wildcat followed the Invicta series, which followed the Century series. The Century was Buick's muscle car. The shorter wheelbase model with the biggest Buick straight 8. The Century was named back in the late 1930's because it could exceed the 100 mph. barrier. Often referred to as "the Banker's Hot Rod." 

The engines were named for their torque ratings; the Wild Cat 445 and the Wild Cat 465, their actual displacements were actually 401 and 425 cid. Buick found a way to one up their competition, just call your engines something that made them seem larger! Being Nailheads, they are hard runners and beautiful motors to gaze upon. 

I initially thought that the CL seller was calling this car a Wild Cat because they saw the name on the air cleaner. I studied the pictures and saw the triple horizontal  vent like chrome pieces on the front fender as well as the bright trim that ran the length of the car above the rocker panels. That looked Wild Cat to me.

Just another tired old Cat lying in the sun.
Worth saving? Asking price on CL 2,000.00

I dug into my reference library and the mystery was solved. In 1962 the Wild Cat was a variant of the Invicta line available only as a coupe or convertible. In '63 the Wild Cat almost completely replaced the Invicta and was now also available as a four door hardtop sedan. The four door sedan and wagon remained as an Invicta. For 1964 the Invicta name was dropped completely and the four door sedan was included in the Wild Cat line up. The distinctive grille, tail lamps, and side trim were adapted to the sedan. It also got the four barrel, twin exhaust, 401 engine as standard. Interior trim was much plainer and buckets and console may have been available, but seldom selected. The Wildcat sedans that I found on the web had an interior which was almost identical to the LeSabre sedans.  It was the big motor that made the Wild Cat, a Wild Cat, and even the least expensive entry shared that feature. I imagine that this appealed to the thrifty buyer that wanted the association with the name, even if they weren't prepared to cough up the dough for the upscale interior. The trajectory of the Wild Cat was replicated with the Centurion model that followed it. 

So this Wild Cat is probably pretty tame inside. 

Though they didn't have to be. Here's a four door hardtop with buckets and console.

As I said, my Son who is now in his early Thirties, is more interested in these cars as an example of a vintage car, then as a sedan. These old more doors are usually in much better shape than available coupes and almost always much more affordable. 

When it comes to Fifties and Sixties cars I am more flexible in accepting a four door hardtop which I think is just as cool as the two door. 

Leaning towards Dope!

Last year I saw a '66 Caprice four door hardtop that was modified as a Lowrider and thought that it looked great. 

The truth is, sedans are much more sturdy than a hardtop. The frames around the windows lead to less problems. The center pillar adds a lot of strength and the cars remain much tighter and rattle free. From a safety standpoint the body is stronger and the center post allows a three point harness to be adapted much easier. 

Four doors always make more sense. Rear seat passengers have more space, and they can enter and exit the car without disturbing the front seat passengers. 

What about looks? Can they look long and sleek, or is short and stubby the best that they can do? 

I think that a lot of late 50s, 60's  and early '70's cars can look pretty good. A 1950 Plymouth, or even a Chevy, not so much! 

But the vintage vibe is there.

Here's another couple of shots of the '61 Pontiac that is featured at the top.

I  love the way the split grille curves inward at the top like a roll top desk. The side sculpturing empathizes the length and ends at the tail with those curved fins. The Wide Trac stance gives it impressive presence. The asking price on CL for this car is 4,000.00.

The interior is typically GM sedan plain, just two benches, but the door trim has a little snap with the emblem, pleat lines and stainless trim. The dashboards of this era were nice and shiny with distinctive gauges and controls. 

The next car is a 1960 Oldsmobile 88 four door hardtop. It a bit rusty but a runner. Check out that amazing flat deck with the rocket /jet shaped rear end. Just think, this was a one year design, totally changed the next year! 

The front end is almost conservative compared to the rear.

Oldsmobile was GM's forward leaning division. They did the development work on their high tech projects; Automatic transmission, OHV V8 engines, and front wheel drive for the fabulous '66 Toronado. They had a reputation similar to Acura in their hey day. 

The front end looks rather tame, compared with the rear. Best of all this is a four door door hardtop! The asking price for this beauty on CL is 2,900.00. 

Here's a shot of a '59 Oldsmobile, this four door hardtop is certainly dramatic, Olds really set themselves apart back then. This seller is asking crazy money, it's been "reduced" to 15,000! No bargain here though it does look rad.

It's hard to believe that a major manufacturer 
would build something like this.

I've saved the best for last. A '61 Oldsmobile 88 four door hardtop in red. 

This car has the hardtop version of the roof line on the Lesabre and Wild Cat. The rear lower "skeg" fin was shared in concept with Cadillac that year. It is featured in the front bumper also.

Look at the curved windshield pillar, all I can say is "Dang!"

Perfect for your entourage.  Or your crew, take your pick. But most likely for your kids. 

Asking price for this Jetson themed bit of Americana? 3,950.00

What about the conventional wisdom that decrees; "Four slams, no clams?"

Four door cars, sedans or hardtops don't command high prices especially in project car condition. However if the owner sinks too much money into it, they will probably never regain most of their investment. Starting with a two door will be more expensive initially, probably over twice as much, but the prospects of getting a good sale price are much better. If a guy does decide to get a sedan, the safest thing is to keep the investment low, no crazy motor work, paint, or interior. Just get it into good running shape and do a few little custom touches. That should be do-able on a restricted budget.

Then just drive and enjoy.

Or, just keep on dreaming of coupes!

Remind me why I sold it!

Have a Merry More Door Christmas!