New guy with that typical "What should I pay?" question

Well I talked to the nice old owner: "Get in line". He is in fact the original owner... and has no interest in selling it. Gotta respect that.

The search continues.

 

This one is a compendium of all the current wagons listed on E-bay. Very handy.......

http://www.oldstationwagonsforsale.com/station-wagons-for-sale

This one's a 'private' lister... it's got all kinds of vehicles listed. If you scan down in the beige box on the lest side, you'll see a link to a 'Station Wagons' sub-section. NOTE: This site is not known for keeping their listings current. I know for a fact that many shown as still available ave already been sold. That being said, there are still quite a few that you can go after. Besides, what's phone call cost? Just don't be surprised to find one you like is actually gone.....

http://www.cars-on-line.com/

 

I picked up my 68 Sportwagon 400 for..........$700. Yep, I got it from the 2nd owner, has owned it since the early 70's. I got the books, everything with it.

Now, I know the paint isn't the greatest and it has a little rust (fraqme is perfect), but after replacing the points / plugs, changing the oil, it runs like a champ. The interior is all there and the ac even works. I have all new NOS trim for it even, with the exception of the side scallops.

I haven't really done much to it, and have it tucked away in a barn a friend owns.

So, what I'm trying to say, is there are deals out there. Keep looking, and good luck.

Here are some gratuitus pictures!

Bill

 

Just a few words about these cars in general... I had a '71 Skylark Custom Convertible for about 10 years and it was overall a great, fun car. I had to get practical several years ago when we moved for medical school.

One of the BEST things for these cars if you're going to drive them much is front discs. I'd say that a Sportwagon is likely to already have power brakes with front discs, but you'd also expect a '71 Custom Convertible to have it as well and it didn't. That first stop in a drum-brake car is no problem, but running downhill with a load can heat up those drums and get quite exciting.

The front-disc conversion is widely done and well worth the effort and the money, take my word for it.

A well built and maintained 350THM transmission should last a very long time. If you're going to be towing anything, a trans cooler is a must. In a hot climate with traffic like ATL, it won't hurt even if you don't expect to do much towing.

Sorry the one you stumbled across wasn't for sale, but I hope you find one to fill that need soon. 71 and earlier cars had less emissions crap on them, so they run better without modification than the later cars.

 

What someone would pay is a tough one cause if you have plenty of money then you can pay more up front. Say you have 5g for a decent wagon and you spend the 5g and then your transmission goes out then where is the money going to come from? If you spend 2500 for something that is running but a little rough, you have 2500 for upcoming problems and can fix it up yourself.

Vance

 

I started with nada guides and kelley blue book...just for a basic start. I have heard nada overvalues but it is free and it helps. Then gauged with ebay...everyone watches ebay so not many deals go unoticed...and search tempest which is a craigslist compiler which you can search by region like the whole pacific coast so you can search by counties. The key is the area you live in and the areas nearby. Where I live there aren't many classic daily drivers. Prices are inflated in my area. But when drove 2.5 hrs away to pick up my wagon which was a daily driver for the price I wanted to pay. When I pulled off the fwy I saw about 5 early 60's classic daily drivers within about 3 square miles, I knew this was the city that had potential. They were just daily drivers not fixed up, but a few grand for a daily driver is a good place to start. The deals are out there but it took me a very grueling year to find mine. It was torture. It's fun now though.

Vance

 

IMO, NADA undervalues everything.......

I think it might be a east coat / west coast preference thing. KBB is based on the west coast, so I think that's the preference out here (even though the guides are regional with adjustments to compensate..).