1973 Chevrolet Caprice Estate

454 V8. 86k miles. 3rd seat.

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/cto/3552705782.html

 

Seems like a pretty good buy.

 

I think the price is kind of high for a car that needs a complete repaint and new woodgrain on one side. It's a $3,000 car, IMO.

 

I kinda like the faded woodgrain look. Paint looks sunbaked, bet the interior is too. Dont see to many bigblock wagons left though.

 

I bet the paint would buff out nice. But, it is a $3-3,500 wagon. I would bet the interior is junked out though

 

Awhile back I offered to trade him my '72 Kingswood Estate (with an original like new black interior), but he didn't have any interest. Here he says though, "looking for another one", so not sure what he is looking for.

I just prefer the '73 over the '72. Most prefer the 71-72 because of the smaller bumpers and higher hp engines. That has not worked to my advantage though when trying to trade for a '73. lol.

I think he sent me interior pics of this car. I never boast. The interior on this one is OK, but not near as nice as mine.

 

Oh - nevermind, he says "rare find, just try to find another one". I thought at first it said that he was trying to find another one. lol.

 

I would want to check this one out VERY carefully before making an offer. Unless my eyes deceive me, the 'bit of rust' he mentions is around the base of the quarter windows, and that can be a bear and a half to fix! Of course, the spare tire well is crispy, but that is normal. I'm betting the door bottoms and dog legs need attention as well. All the normal places these cars let go.

 

I did not look at the pictures very close the first time that I seen this one. Now that I have seen the pictures for a second time this car does need quite a bit of work. This would be a $2000 wagon if it didnt have that 454 in it.

 

You got that right. Spare tire well replacement is no big deal. But having to replace the top part of the quarters right below the glass - is. Major, major work there. Even if the rust were minor, you're still talking about having to remove the glass, repair the rust, find new glass weatherstrips, etc., plus paint......

 

Here are more photos of this '73 Caprice Estate wagon that he sent me awhile back when I was offering to try to trade him my '72 Caprice Estate for this '73 (simply because I am wanting a 1973 model and this one is already running and higher optioned). This is a much higher optioned car than mine. This is actually a very high optioned car and I just noticed it has the 454 engine as well and the towing package. This one also has power windows, power seat, power door locks, power tailgate and also has cruise control, none of which mine has. I cant tell if the car has Comfortron auto-climate A/C or FM radio, which would about top off the options list (minus bumper rub strips, which this one don't have, but it does have bumper guards). I don't think it has Comfortron because I don't see the temperature sensor on the passenger side of the dash. It does obviously have 4-season A/C.

My car only has A/C, tilt, 402 engine, 3rd seat, luggage rack, AM radio, towing package and deluxe hubcaps.

My car does have a much nicer interior condition however as I have no cracks in my dash or flaws on the seats. His engine compartment is rustier (but its surface rust), but his spare tire well and dog legs are better, but need attention now.































His spare tire well is better than mine...





Floor pans look solid...

 

WOW. That is NOT a nice car. $2,000-$2,500 is all I would pay, and maybe not even that much. The tailgate being crooked scares the crap out of me.

 

What scares me most about this one is the rust around the base of both quarter windows. The water damage is visible on the interior trim, so i imagine there is quite a bit of rust hiding in those quarters that cannot be seen yet. The door sitting cockeyed like that indicates to me that there is rust or stress fractures in the bottom of the tailgate. I bet there is a LOT of work needed on this one.

 

I just noticed it does have the rear window shades. Even though they don't work it is a cool option to get

 

Yeah, that price he is asking for this one almost makes mine seem like a bargain at the $4000 I paid for it and it was not even driveable - and still not. lol.

At least my interior is super nice, whereas this one needs alot of work. Also, while my car has rust, this one has alot of surface rust on the lower panels, but my car still has nice paint, HOWEVER, my car has a hole rusted in the spare tire wheel well, but this one dont.

I never noticed the crooked tailgate on this one before. It actually looks so pushed out at the bottom right corner, it looks like it would not even open. My gate goes up and down fine (last time I tried it 5 years ago, lol), but its a manual gate on mine, AFA the window goes, mine would open, but not close. I had to close it manually with the cable and a drill on the end of the cable. With that said, I cant open my gate now without alot of hassle. I dont recall what condition mine was under there, but I think it was solid under that lift up panel, I honestly cant remember.

As far as the rust around the back windows, that is an extremely common spot for rust on the clamshell wagons, I would say this is the FIRST place they rust. I rarely see one that is not rusted there. I will honestly say mine has rust in that area as well. I am sure its repairable for a bodyman that knows his stuff.

For $6500, I would expect this '73 to be a nicer car. Unless he just finds someone that MUST have a '73 Caprice Estate, I doubt he will sell it for $6500. I LOVE these cars and really want a '73 Estate and as bad as I want one, even if I had the $, I would not pay that for that particular car. I guess I learned my lesson from being a fool when I shelled out 40 $100 bills for my non-driving '72 back in 2007.

At this point, if I were to sell mine, I may let it go if someone offered me $3000 for it, I have not decided... I know its not worth that, I know it, but even at $3000, I would be losing about $2000 on it and if I could not get $3000 for it, I would just have to set and look at it in the driveway and wish it was running. lol. I still would rather pay $3K for mine and fix the engine and the body work than to pay $6500 for this one and it may even need engine work and we know it needs body work and interior work... and interior work can be very expensive. Mine only really needs new carpet and a panel on the cargo area recovered.