I found a 69 gs 400 4 speed and would like to find out how much is to much to pay. the motor is out of the car but has the original. the interior is trashed. the grill is in the back seat. some rust around the wheel wells but straight body. had vinal top, rust hole by rear window. the owner of the car knows that it is rare. thanks for your input hada-x
Pics would help. 4-speeds are pretty rare. Sounds like $3.5-5K range depending on how bad the rust is..
You can bet if there is visible rust, there's more that you can't see. I think the value might be lower than Tim suggested, but that's just my opinion. If the engine is out, you can imagine a possible reason. Needs a full interior. Probably a lot of rust repair. Sounds like a total resto needed to me. I might go down to the 2-3.5 range. Pics tell a lot too, if you have any.
Thanks For The Input. I Will Talk To The Owner This Next Week. And Try To Make A Deal. A Will Let You Know
You're welcome! Oh, and welcome to the V8Buick board too. Good luck with the car, hope you can get it! :TU:
I would have to AGREE with Mark. The costs of Restoration NEVER are less than what the value of the complete car is UNFORTUNATELY. That is where it becomes a "Labor of Love", or the Love/Hate relationship comes to play. People see RIDICULUS figures on some of these cars, and under estimate the costs with the "I can do it myself for less" attitude, or the owner sees the Prices people are ASKING for Completed cars, and uses that for a figure, less $500 for the needed work, and they AREN'T ANYWHERE in the Ball Park! Barrett-Jackson, Boyd Coddington's Show and others have created a MONSTER in what was a FUN & enjoyable Hobby, UNFORTUNATELY, NO ONE sees the begining Project or the Bills for the parts & Labor on those projects. IF the owner the owner starts throwing the Terms, "RARE, Classic, Antique," Take pen & paper with you, give him your name & contact number, Thank him for his time, & WALK AWAY! He'll either WAKE UP & Call you, if you leave, or continue to have a nice flower pot until it "returns from where it came". JR
This is one area where I get really confused?? Lets say I had money,time, and room to take on a full blown rustoration project and found a car that I really liked. If I pay $1000 more for a car than it is actually worth, by the time I get it done, that same starter project may be worth $1500 more than I paid and gas will be $3.00 a gallon for 87 octane!! I think for the most part, when a project sells or sits, it really depends more on if the right person sees it than the actual INITIAL investment. Assumeing it is a desireable car to start with. We've all seen the worthless 4 doors overpriced just because it is an old car!! The car is a big factor too! I'm sure most would pay a few thousand more than the actual value for a complete GSX project!!!! When a car like an X is completely restored, I can't see a few thousand really mattering UNLESS it was just done for an investment and I really hate to see a car used for that anyhow! Just my thoughts!! Ken
The last basket case 70 X we saw here, 4 speed, nonmatching numbers appears to have gone for more than 15K. I would have taken more than 50K to bring it back. For the 69 car you describe I would think less than 1K and with the rust I would pass at that price. There will be better deals with little or no rust.
