I talked to the seller of this car over the weekend. Was going to go see it Sunday afternoon, but we were not able to work out a time this weekend, so we are going to meet up next weekend. He lives right across the street from my church. The car belongs to his dad and is just down the road from where he lives. He said he is selling off his dads collection for him because he is getting older and can't enjoy them anymore. He said this car has been sitting in the garage for the last 20 years and they just got it out and got it running again. I am not interested in it myself other than the curiosity factor, so I will report back what I find in case someone else may be interested.
I went and looked at and drove this car today. I will have to say it is the nicest, un-restored 66 I have ever seen. The car has obviously been garage kept it's whole life by the condition of the chrome. My quick summation of this car is if someone wants a rust-free '66 GS 4-speed car that you could put on the road immediately, this is what you want. Here is the long story: Car has been repainted, but is the correct NN color by the tag. The interior is obviously all original, but since it has the white interior, the vinyl is starting to yellow after 40+ years. There is one tear about 3" long in the drivers seat that will continue to spread. The rear shelf was cutout at some point years ago for stereo speakers and has two aftermarket grilles over the holes. The stereo was removed, so there are no speakers under them and the factory AM radio is in the car and working. When the car was painted, the painter obviously removed the arm rest bases and painted them the same color as the outside of the car--pretty sure that was to cover up where the plastic chroming had worn off. The chrome on the car is the nicest I have ever seen on a '66. If someone were to restore this car to 100%, the only piece of trim on the car you would have to replace is the strip across the back of the trunk lid--it had one ding in it. Everything else is perfect--including the grille and headlight doors. The front bumper has two bent places on the bottom edge of it--looks to me like someone towed it years ago using the old style tow truck with the big straps and hooks that grab under the bumper. So to be perfect, you would need to remove the bumper and have it straightened slightly and re-chromed. Back bumper looked perfect. Paint will shine up really nice--there were only a few imperfections. One place in the middle of the hood appears to have some surface rust making the paint bubble up, and one the drivers quarter, something has rubbed on the paint over the wheel well and scrateched it--I belive this could be buffed out. On the engine, the fuel pump, water pump, and fuel filter have obviously been replaced. The heater core has also been bypassed, so you can count on having to replace it right away. Master cylinder has also been replaced. Story from the seller is that it belongs to his dad. His dad had over 25 cars--mostly exotic cars-and he had a stroke not too long ago and wanted his son to start selling off his collection because he didn't want his wife stuck with them all if he died. This car has been sitting in a huge garage out behind their mansion for the past 20 years. He bought it from a guy that used to work for his company and that guy bought it new. Been sitting in this garage ever since. Has a 1990 NC inspection sticker on the windshield. Car has 119,000 miles on it. They have a mechanic that works for their company, and he has been working on all the cars getting them ready to sell. I believe this guy is the one that replaced the master cylinder, fuel pump, fuel filter and also the fuel tank (forgot to mention that--has a brand new fuel tank under it). I am guessing the tank was junk after sitting in the garage for 20 years. The car looks great underneath--it has been spray painted with some gloss black, but it is clean and has never been undercoated. Even still has the original boot on the lower z-bar and it is completely in-tact. Exhaust system needs to be replaced. For mufflers it has a pair of the old style resonators and they are really loud and raspy. One of them has a hole in it that has been patched with one of those mesh muffler patch kits. Still has the original tail pipe hangers on it. No tag on the rear axle, so assuming it isn't a posi. Has a set of air shocks on the back that need to be pumped up. Has a set of American Racing simulated wire wheels on it. He said they were on it when his dad bought the car. Everything looks correct and I couldn't find anything significant missing on the car other than a few rubber bumpers in the doors and the battery clamp (part of it was still there and had been rigged with a piece of wire cable). Also noted that there is a piece of metal welded to the rear bottom corners of the frame right behind the rear bumper--looks to me like some kind of homeade trailer hitch may have been on there at one time and it was cut off leaving these pieces still welded. No rust inside the trunk--still has the original foam backed mat in it. I pulled up one corner and it looked perfect underneath. The Wildcat 445 tin for the air cleaner is in the trunk and looks excellent. The gasket for the trunk has been removed (likely when it was painted), but since it has been garage kept, it didn't hurt anything. I drove the car--it drives and runs excellent. The mechanic obviously went through all the brakes because they were firm and stopped in a straight line (unlike cars I have driven with leaky wheel cylinders). Shifter is very tight and works perfect. I see now why Buick moved it off the trans over to the crossmember in '66. My '65 GS has it on the trans and this one is alot easier and smoother since it doesn't move around with the engine and trans (first time I have driven a '66 GS 4-speed car). He told me he relisted the car this weekend at $19K, but that it is negotiable and he would be glad to talk to anyone about it. I have his phone number and you can Email me and I will give it to you. I also took a ton of pictures (many of the imperfections I mentioned) and I will Email them to you if you want to see them. Send me a PM if you want the number or the pics. If I had the money and another garage spot, I would be going and negotiating to buy this car myself, so I highly recommend this car if someone is interested in it. If it were mine, I would invest in a new set of seat upholstery because of the yellowing and fact this will come apart if you start using it regularly. I would also fix the heater core, put a correct set of Buick 14" chrome wheels on it, put a complete new exhaust system on it, have the arm rest bases plated, remove the cheap aftermarket tach, put a Buick Tach in the console, and have the front bumper straightened/rechromed. Then I would hit the road and enjoy it!
I had no trouble with it.:grin: :grin: Brian's review was definitely well written, and his opinion is trustworthy. If I could find the cash tomorrow, it would be heading to Canada shortly thereafter.
Thanks for checking it out Brian. I don't need another or don't have the cash for it currently but someone here on V8 will appreciate you review and hopefully go get it.
I didnt mean the content, he did a good job....i need an indentation once in a while...my eyse get funky and i just cant comprehend it..its the dyslexia... sure i'm..uzzled:
I you have an extra minute or two, you could always quote it, and add a some spaces for easier reading.:TU: :TU: I hear you on the funky eyes, as mine befuddle me on occasion.
