Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 What is going on here?

Why do I like stuff like this?

 7,000 dollars.

This '41 Cadillac Series 60 sedan showed up recently on CraigsList. It is not that far from me, as it's located just south of Gilroy, about a one hour drive. This is a model that I have admired for a very long time. I had gone to look at a '40 LaSalle sedan earlier this Spring, and I thought that it would be a good idea to take a look at this car. These don't turn up that often, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity. 

The car had not been misrepresented by the seller, it had been stored in a barn for over 15 years. It was a car that had been continuously used for a long time, and it was pretty worn out. 

The story was that this car belonged to the seller's Wife's Grandfather, who drove it for decades. At one time the engine was rebuilt before the owner passed away. The seller had inherited the car, which had been stored for over fifteen years. At one time the seller had wanted to completely restore the car, but he had lost interest in the idea and thought it was best to sell it. Talking with the seller, I felt he was in that stage of life where he wanted to simplify his life.

Although the seller was younger than me, I can't fault that sentiment.

Bill Mitchell's styling triumph established trends that lasted into the 1970's.

It is a pretty neat car, but it is pretty worn out. The body is straight with only a few noticeable dents. The paint is faded, the chrome work is pitted and rusted. The interior is worn down and dirty. The trunk is locked and since the seller couldn't find the key, he removed the rear seat back to access the parts that are stored inside.    

Oh, it smells like an old car.

You can see the added gauges and the added speakers for the 8 track stereo that the previous owner installed. In many ways this car reminds me of my '51 Jaguar Mark VII, it was a car that was in steady usage for decades, but was not restored or cosmetically maintained by the end of that time. Then the car was moth balled, for a couple of more decades. Luckily this Cadillac was stored in a barn.

I don't think that my Wife would want to go for a ride.

The front seat looked pretty rough, that battery was used to start the engine when I was there. It fired right up and settled into a smooth idle. 

The back seat area looked even worse. The floorboards looked to be quite solid.

It would take a lot of cleaning to make the inside of this car bearable to use without a feeling of disgust. All the door panels are there and mostly dirty, but intact. I saw the missing window and door cranks in a box on the floor. Maybe the panels could be steam cleaned and stained a darker color?

Perhaps a set of sturdy seat covers could be sewn up using some Army surplus woolen blankets? 

Dynamat and generic auto carpet could be used to recover the floor.

The bottom edge of the trunk lid has the most obvious rust. This could be fixed properly, or I could use POR 15. I know that it works.

The rusty areas of the bumper could be scrubbed and polished with Simichrome, and the worst areas could be sprayed with silver  paint. I'd done that before and it goes along way to making a car look presentable. I read on a forum that the bumpers can be wrapped with a chrome looking vinyl. Certainly something to think about. 

It is a handsome car.

I told the seller that I would be interested in making the car into a driver, and would never attempt to restore it. While all the trim is there, it is in very poor shape. The die cast parts are pitted badly. It would cost a fortune to replace all that bright work. The head liner is gone, and the seats are toast. Of course the car would need the braking system and other mechanical systems gone through completely, the wiring would also probably have to be redone. But the engine appears to be in good shape.

I went to Kanter's online parts catalog and found that most common parts like water and fuel pumps. starters, generators, and brake master and wheel cylinders were available and fairly reasonably priced. I've done a lot of auto rewiring, so there's no need to pop for an expensive aftermarket wire loom. Still it would take a lot of work, and a bit of money.

Is this car just a sad piece of junk?

No, but it would be a foolish mistake to buy a car in this condition and then decide to do a full restoration.

The guys on the ACCA forum would call this a parts car, they don't think that any car warrants a full restoration anymore. It would probably cost around 100,000 dollars, over twice what the car could be worth. 

When I got home, I told my Wife that I liked the car, and if it was selling for 500 dollars, I would have bought it right then, but not for 7,000 bucks. I didn't make an offer at the time, it doesn't make any sense to throw out an offer unless I'm seriously interested in it. 

I'm going to follow this car on CL, I'm pretty sure that the seller will be reducing his price over time. I don't think that there will be a long line of buyers queuing up for their chance to own this car. 

The '40 LaSalle that I'd gone to see, earlier this year, had originally been listed for 10,000 dollars. By the time I went to see it, the asking price had been reduced to 7,000 bucks. It was still listed on CL for another month or two, before it disappeared. I don't know if it was sold, or if the seller had just pulled it and will relist it at a later date. And that was a nice car, running well with a redone interior and nice trim. My issue was really whether or not I wanted such an old car.

I've still got that guy's phone number.

There is a very nice '41 Cadillac coupe listed currently on CL for 24.5K/offer. This is a restored, show level car. Truthfully that 60 Special could not be brought up to this level for just 25K. 

Wouldn't it make more sense to buy something like this?
The hard truth is that it would end up cheaper in the long run.

My plan for the '41 Cadillac that I went to see, would never produce an example like this. I would hope to clean it up, redo the seats, and maybe paint it. Would it be a good idea to buy it, even if I could get it for 1,500.00? 

It depends. I would have to be satisfied with a pretty rough car, even after it was rehabilitated. Once it was back in good mechanical condition, the cosmetics could be improved over the years, bit by bit. 

My '66 Riviera was never restored, or even repainted, though I spent quite a few years improving it. I used that car extensively and without apology. Maybe I'm just past the stage where I can, or should be satisfied with a rough driver. It looks a lot less appropriate to an old guy. It just kind of marks him as a bit peculiar and eccentric. 

 If I really want an old car, I'd give the guy with the LaSalle a call and see if it is still available. I told my Wife that perhaps someday, someday, the stars might align and that LaSalle and I might end up together.

She got quite a laugh out of that. It's no wonder that Men don't open up and share their feelings!