1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser

330 V8. Well optioned with a/c, p/w and p/d/l.

For $1500, this Olds is a treasure trove of good parts even with the rust and other damage.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1966...8022839?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2c6bda3237

 

That thing is seriously messed up. From the way the ad reads, the frame under this one is not repairable. Forget about fixing this one unless you've got a spare Vista Cruiser frame laying around and are real good at rust repair.

 

Thats a very bent car,,,,,sad



I'll bet those doors don't even open now.

 

True...True

All the above comments are true BUT if you had one of these, that thing would surely be a hell of a parts car - I mean, heck I didn't even know the rear doors on a Vista of this vintage are longer than an F-85 wagon door until I bird-dogged one in a local yard for a guy in Oklahoma who bought the whole damned thing!

 

How short is too SHORT?!!!!

 

It is too bad about the frame under this one. That body shell looks very restorable, with a lot more easily repaired damage than many we have seen at much higher prices. Most impressive is how solid it looks around those roof windows. If a good frame, or parts from several frames that could be combined, were found, this could be the basis for something really nice. This is one you could hot rod to death and noone could ever really give you grief since you saved it from the crusher anyway.

 

I think that that is all is in store for this car. Too bad too...

 

It's 500-700 dollar parts car, it would be best for somebody restoring one.
That car is not worth fixing, you can buy decent restorable ones for less than it would cost to fix that car enough to just to get it driveable, and it would be a lot of work, especially on a rusty car. You wouldn't make much money (if any) on parts either, especially rusted out ones. You'd have to sell over 1500 bucks plus worth just to break even, and that would be tough if you honestly think about it and add up the numbers.
You'd have to find a Vista Cruiser or Sportwagon frame, nothing else will work, the guys full of it saying a Dellwood or Dynamic frame would.

Up until '73, when the hideous collonade body style came out, all the Vista Cruiser rear doors were longer than the regular wagon. BTW the 1971 model was supposed to be the last year of the old body style but a UAW strike delayed production a year so they did some hard and soft trim changes and they became '72's. The rear doors, frame, floor, and roof is where the extra length was added to the body, they also had boxed frames unlike the regular wagons.