1971 Custom Cruiser--My Dream Car is here!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280781455501+&viewitem=#v4-41

This 1971 Custom Cruiser is on eBay and I'm VERY interested in her. Trouble is, from here in sunny CA, there's no way to tell what kind of condition the car is in--specifically, what level of rust the car has. Is anyone near Glenview, IL able to check the car out, or able to recommend an inspection firm that can give her a thorough once-over?

The seller replied with pics of the undercarriage. Rust is apparent, but I'm not savvy enough to know if it's surface rust or worse. If you're interested, I'll send pics. I'm looking for a knowledgeable assessment.

I believe the car is the same one appearing in this Youtube video posted in 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxS8P_eB5MI

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and suggestions.

(Bidding on a car from a long distance, sight-unseen, sounds crazy, I know, but '71 Cruisers come up very rarely, if at all. And I'm smitten!)

 

Oh, my! Dream car, indeed! She sure is beautiful!

 

I'd be real wary too, my spidey senses are tingling.
Looks like a pretty unmolested car with a newer paint job. They should have molested the engine compartment, and I bet the suspension and underbody has never been touched much either. It always concerns me when people just go for exterior cosmetics because that's all you can see or to just sell a car, the other stuff is just as or more important than the pretty paint.
The engine compartment needs complete detailing, missing the heat stove and valve cover vent tubes, no water temp wire on the sender, voltage regulator is hanging there, incorrect hoses and clamps, old hoses, what else is neglected? If the underbody looks the same I'd worry.
The paint looks good, but it is white from a distance, the woodgrain was installed completely wrong. I have experience from doing the vinyl on my '71 Vista Cruiser so I'm not blowing smoke. The grain doesn't run through the indiv idual panels like one piece of wood that has been cut, ends aren't matched and the pattern repeats are obvious, no reason for it if you use the correct vinyl.
I'm a carpenter/cabinetmaker and that would drive me nuts, any woodworker worth his salt would be ashamed to do anything like that, major part of the job.
I spent years researching it off and on before I got my woodgrain. I know that vinyl and I didn't get it for my car because the pattern repeat is only about 3 feet before you get another big eyeball in the grain and there is no way to carry it through.

I'd get an inspector and have them check it out good, not the Evilbay company either. The guys who do antique and classic cars and not just lease turn-ins for dealers, a couple of hundred bucks is well worth it.
The car is overpriced IMO, need a lot of work and cash to get up to just driver quality car show standards, unless that doesn't bother you. With that stuff on the engine missing and incorrect I'd worry about what else is like that, especially what you can't see.

If it's clean it may be a deal, still seems like a lot of money but I'm no pricing expert.
The right car can take years and years to find, if the car knows you're looking they usually find you before you find them.
I get all my cars from out west so I know I have a decent body, all that matters to me, have to have a strong foundation. I've dealt with enough rusty cars to last a liftetime and won't even look at a car that has rust or has ever been rusty, transport costs are nothing compared to rust repair costs.
Good luck, I hope it checks out.

 

That car was on ebay in February of 2010. I don't know what it sold for. I downloaded all the photos of it then, and I still have them. I can send any or all of them to you if you want.

At the time, in the photos, it had a Kentucky license plate. Now it has a Maine license plate, but it's being listed by a Chicago classic car dealer.

Also, apparently it had just sold on November 28 (two days ago), for the $12,500 asking price, and now it's being relisted. Maybe the deal fell through, but so quickly?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971...1026642?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item415fda7552



It certainly looks like a nice car, and that asking price is enough to take your breath away. I would certainly give it a thorough going over, in person, before making a bid on it.

 

Yup, that car has been kicking around awhile and I agree with the things that have been said above. Even if it was rust free I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on it. A member here sold a 76 not too long ago that was cherry. A gorgeous car. He fixed everything on the car and fixed it right. The car was loaded to the gills with full power, split front seat....the whole 9 yards....and he had a really hard time trying to get $7K for it.
I really don't like the wood on this car. As has been said, it is installed wrong but, more importantly to me, it is the wrong pattern and looks way wrong on the car.
I know how it is to be "smitten" with a car...most of us do. But, I would think hard about spending $12K on this one.

 

Nice looking car, surprised it has roll up windows and AM only radio. Wonder how many were sold this way?:confused:

 

Thanks to all for the input. Sage advice all around. Much of what's been offered confirms my gut sense about the car. And btw, here are pics of the underside as provided by the seller. As always, thoughts are welcome.

 

I wouldn't rule it out. For all the oddness with the constant reselling, it still looks like a pretty good car. In other words, don't hold the people who've owned it against the car itself. Those underside photos show that's it's been around the block a few times, but that's ok as long as it's structurally solid. It looks clean for a 40 year old car.

Your initial reaction in your initial post is right. It IS a nice car. It could be a dream car, considering how infrequently these come up for sale in any condition, let alone one that's as nice as this appears to be.

Don't let the fact that we've all got these weird ideas about it turn you off. If you can't find someone to go look at it for you, hop on a plane and fly there. If you've got the $12,500 it takes to buy this, you've got the $300 round trip to Chicago airfare to go check this out. If you look at it and find you don't like it, you'll still feel much better about the whole thing because you won't be constantly wondering if you let a good one get away.

 

For your perusal, CCfan....
http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12183

 

Probably most of them!

You have to think about this car in the context of 1971 and not 2011. Nowadays, even the most low-end new cars still come standard with power windows, power locks, cruise-control, and air conditioning. At one time, including the era of this car, while these kinds of things were slowly becoming more common, they were still mostly considered luxury items that you found on Cadillacs and few other cars.

Back in the early '70s, it was very common for even high-end vehicles to be fairly crudely equipped. I follow the Oldsmobiles for sale on ebay, and the number of high-end 98s coming up for sale that don't even have power windows, something you'd think would be pretty much a given on a car like that, is actually quite high.

Back in those days, there usually weren't option "packages" where one price gets you four or five power things. Back then, each option was its own checkbox, and a buyer often thought long and hard about each one as he went down the list with the dealer in the showroom as he ordered his car.

One of the members of our local Olds club likes to tell the story of his ordering of his '67 Vista Cruiser, a car he still has. As he was selecting options, he and his wife, then a young couple with small children, discussed thoroughly every option on the list before deciding yes or no. They even debated whether or not to spend the $13 it would have cost for a remote-operated driver's side rearview mirror. $13 was a lot more money in those days. He ultimately decided he could live without it, and to this day, he rues the fact that he did not spend the lousy $13, an amount that seems trivial today, on that mirror. They had four kids and took lots of vacations in that car, so the absence of the remote control was noticed constantly. His kids still kid him about that decision.

My own '73 Custom Cruiser is another example. It's a very low-optioned car. No power windows or locks, no cruise control, AM-only radio, base air conditioning. It doesn't even have the "mist" or "single swipe" or whatever you call it feature on the windshield wiper switch. Just low and high speeds and off.

The only power option of any kind, oddly enough, is power seats. But the original owner apparently did plan to spend lots of time in it as it was ordered for trailer-towing with air shocks and a heavy-duty cooling system.

 

When I was a kid, my buddy's dad did this same thing ordering a new Dodge Monaco ('66 IIRC...). It was his vehicle for work (salesman), but his wife might drive it once in a while, and she was quite a bit shorter, hence the power seat. Big Dodge got power steering and brakes of course, but no power windows......

Also seem to remember that it was car he actually ordered, too, rather than finding it on the lot.

 

I think this is exactly why mine was ordered this way. I never met the husband as he had passed away (why they were selling the car), but his wife (now widow) is not tall, and it was "her" car, so I'm guessing he wanted the seat to be easily adjustable for her as it was going to be adjusted all the time as they took turns driving it.

 

Yeah, I grew up in the 60's and 70's, but figured all the 98's would have power windows too. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Shazam!