As some of you might remember, I used to buy a lot of cars. When I first joined the GTF in 1998, some three years after I got my drivers’ license, I was on number five – a 1985 Cadillac Eldorado. By 2005 I had gone through about forty. But after a career crisis in 2005-6, I slowed way down – only buying six cars from January of 2005 to February of 2010. I haven’t bought a single car since.
Part of that is that my life got heavily wrapped up in aviation in 2010 – both personally and professionally – and part of it is that I’m also much busier than I used to be. But suddenly late last year I realized how long I’d been “out of the game” so to speak, and now I want to change that.
I have two cars now – and neither is exactly the car I want, although they’re both nice and they do exactly what I intended them to do.
I had moved to Seattle in 2009 with a plan – sell my Saab and buy a full-sized van, use the van to move, and then sell it. But the van – a 59,000 mile, totally documented, one-owner 1997 Ram - encountered an unexpected mechanical flaw and that plan never happened, instead, I sold it for a steep discount in New York some months after I’d moved. I had also sold my BMW around that time to a fellow in Michigan who ruined it. And so I needed a car.
In 2007-2008 I had been looking for another older American car after years of older foreign cars, and had set my sights on either a ’73-’77 Pontiac LeMans or a ’78-’81, but preferably the earlier car. I looked at a half dozen of them at the time but all of them had pretty serious rust. Maybe not on the surface, but definitely where it counted. Not being able to find a decent one, I bought my E21 BMW instead.
Just a month after I moved to Seattle I found this guy on Craigslist for $1400:
1979_LeMans_PAE_112713_side.jpg
…I’ve had it ever since.
It’s nothing special honestly – a 1979 LeMans with a 3.8 liter V6 and an automatic. But the exterior color combination is super rare – I’ve only ever seen it on one other LeMans, a ’78 wagon. This was a special-order paint job available on the Phoenix, the LeMans, the Grand Prix, the Catalina, and the Bonneville, but aside from the Grand Prix it was not really promoted and seems to have been rare even when new. The interior is green as well.
What’s rare about it is key to it’s value (because it certainly isn’t anything special to drive) – but also what’s holding me back from spending any real money on it. It’s a solid 20-footer, but closer than that and serious flaws are apparent in the paint, some of which is flaking off on the “endura” bumpers – the early plastic kind that doesn’t hold paint well. I get the impression quality control wasn't so hot on this paint when it was new, and now it's 35.
To repaint it in the original colors would be some serious dough, and the car just isn’t important enough to me or valuable enough to justify the outlay. Plus, a repaint would mean replacing the plasti-chrome strips on the bumpers, which are worn out and totally unobtainable. Similarly, green trim parts for the interior have proven extremely difficult to locate, and some of the trim is scuffed. Apparently the only interior parts harder to find than green panels are white panels.
So it’s time to say goodbye to what has become the car I’ve had longer than any other car – nearly five years. I still like the car, mind you, and I know I won’t get another one like it. But I’ve also had it a long time, and am probably not willing to spend the $$ it needs for it to be show-worthy.
My partner and I drove all over in this car when I first got it, since he doesn't like to drive, so it has many memories in it. But we're not really using it anymore. I still drive it semi-regularly, even take it to work sometimes - but it often sits for weeks at a time, and I've probably only done about 400 miles on it in the last year. There's nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't get used.
Then there’s this guy:
07FocusF.jpg
I bought this in 2010 because I needed a commuter car on which I could do all my own work if I chose to do that. Turns out, I never really had the time to do anything to it. Good commuter, always reliable and eager, but very loud inside and feeling very dated now – it’s like 1999 in there. And while that’s expected out of an old car, it isn’t so good in a modern car. The seats have grown progressively more uncomfortable and the noise steadily more annoying – but it does what I bought it for. Still, time for a change – and this car is just about to hit the big depreciation curve in the sky. A good detailing and I can get almost what I paid for it (I got a screaming deal on it) back out when I sell it – one of the few good side-effects of the great recession.
---------------
I think we found the LeMans’ replacement today, though I haven’t exactly made up my mind completely about it.
In the summer of 1997, I saw a 1970 Oldsmobile 98 two-door hardtop, in this exact color but without the vinyl top, for sale for $1300 in North Ridgeville, Ohio. I had a big car already at the time, and never did follow up on it. It sat for months looking for a buyer until one day it was gone. It’s one car I wish I hadn’t passed up. That and the $700 1972 Riviera I saw that summer. Blue with a white interior – what a car.
So this car popped up on Craigslist a few weeks ago. It’s still for sale but is no longer advertised:
70Olds98_1.jpg
It’s a 455 4V with what looks like a brand new TH400 attached, or at least, one with a super-clean bellhousing (it shifts silky-smooth). It came from Alaska and had been sitting for awhile before being sold. Looks pretty good doesn’t it? Well, at least from that angle.
From this angle, you can see why it’s cheap:
70Olds98_2.jpg
That big but gentle dent can probably be removed without paintwork – but it won’t be easy. It also extends to the missing skirt, which is in the trunk. The other skirt has some rust on it – but there’s not really any rust in the quarter panel. In fact, there’s really hardly any rust at all on this car anywhere, although there are some flaws - like that little bump on the nose - but they're fairly fixable really.
There was however, one serious water related flaw. When I drove it and hit the brakes, I could hear water sloshing around either in the driver’s door or worse, in the rocker panel. There is no visible rust, no mildew, no nothing. The trunk is dry and so is the floor, even under the carpet, so it could just be a combination of bad weatherstripping and clogged drain plugs and lots of recent rain, but that warrants further investigation for sure.
What’s wrong with it besides that? The front end needs a little tightening, the power steering pump doesn’t feel too good, and the tires are old. There’s also a big old crack – a very visible crack - in the left exhaust manifold – but a new one and a gasket set are included with the car. Everything else worked great – even the defroster. I didn’t drive it too far, but it drove fairly well for a floaty 44-year-old car (don’t expect a BMW from an Olds 98). With a little work, it could be used tomorrow. This car, oddly, appears to have come without factory A/C, and under the hood there's tons of room to work, even with that big block in there. I could probably do that manifold in short order.
Inside it’s immaculate other than one tear in the shoulder area of the front seat. It was clearly owned by an older couple who cared about it, there’s even a little note to grandpa and grandma in one of the blanked dashboard panels, behind glass. It’s clearly been there awhile.
This is in sharp contrast to the 1970 Chrysler Newport we looked at two weeks ago which, while in good external shape and running well, needed many many things before it could even be driven, let alone enjoyed.
For what I can get for the LeMans, even if selling it below what I want, I can pay for everything the 98 needs.
I’d like to hear anybody’s thoughts about this car, and any info on the Olds 455. The valve cover gaskets looked a tiny bit weepy, but no major leaks seemed evident. My guess is that this 455, like the different-but-identical-in size Buick and Pontiac 455s, is rock tough.
I’ve been looking for a big car that’s older than the big cars I’ve had before (nothing older than 1974 previously), preferably something that’s of 1968-1972 vintage. Whatever it is, I require three-point seatbelts, even if they're the old school two-buckle kind. The 1970 Riviera and 1972 Fury Gran Coupe were at the top of my list, but I can’t seem to find a decent one at a decent price (nice ones for bonkers money, crappy ones at too high prices, the occasional deal in a faraway place). The Olds does fit. Part of me wants another MGB/GT, but I never really fit too well in that car and I can't fit at all in a TR-6 or a Spitfire/GT6.
Part of me had also determined to source a Peugeot 504 Coupe or Opel Manta B - but honestly I don't have time and I definitely don't have the patience to be ordering parts from France or elsewhere again.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Taimar
)