My brother was thrilled to have his NY-based Olds 98 featured on CC the other day; as he said to me, the comments section is always the best reading. So he’s been inspired to share a few more gems with us, including this near-decrepit Buick. If I refer to David Saunders’ rating system, this would appear to be in Stage 5 condition, but for how much longer?
From front-on, things don’t seem so bad. Its the sort of beater that would have made for genuine backdrop in a movie like Fort Apache, The Bronx – heavily patinated after quite a number of New York winters but solid and apparently still able to move under its own power.
From the rear, things take a turn for the worse. Then again, it does make for mesmerising viewing compared with today’s appliance cavalcade parked around it.
So long as the underskin essentials stay alive, I don’t see this moving beyond Stage 5 anytime soon. Yay!
Further Reading
1963 Buick Skylark Convertible by Laurence Jones
1963 Buick Special Sedan by Paul Niedermeyer
1963 Buick Riviera by JJPowers
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I’ve owned a few cars in similar condition. If they run good, I always thought cars in this condition were quite appropriate for big city parking. People with better cars – which is almost everyone – never seemed to park to close and forcing a squeeze.
I’m curious about this pic’s location was it in Staten Island, Queens, or The Bronx?
The row houses remind me of Baltimore only without brick and marble stoops. The background buildings also makes me kind of glad Chicago had that cleansing fire back in 1871.
I love ‘Y’ body GM compacts. Would love to own a ‘62 Skylark hardtop coupe, ‘63 LeMans coupe, and any F-85, Tempest or Special wagon or 4dr sedan. Of all the ‘Y’s this CC ‘63 Buick Special/Skylark is probably the dullest style wise IMO, but you got to love that patina.
I agree that owning a crappy car in a big city is a bonus, as people do provide you a bigger ‘space bubble’ to move around and park with. Back in the mid eighties I sometimes borrowed a ‘76 Chevy Nova Concours with a grill that stuck out about three inches and a big side dent – people in Chgo always gave me plenty of room.
Pic was taken at South Williamsburg in Brooklyn.
Takes me back, to the ’70s and ’80s, when cars from the ’50s and ’60s in this kind of shape were quite common. But in 2019? This is a real survivor. And a treat to see.
In the early 80s, my sister and I pooled our money to buy a white ’63 Skylark convertible that had seen better days but looked way better than this — even after the rust finished bubbling up under the layer Bondo the previous owner has slathered along the sides. But within a couple of years the rust got bad enough that the car needed to be put out of its misery at the crusher.
So seeing this example is definitely a blast from the past for me.
Yes, beaters in everyday use seemed common then. There seem to be few on the road nowadays. Did Cash for Clunkers do them in, or is it because cars just hold up better now?
Cars are 1000% better these days. My 1960 Corvette has 17 zerk fittings, the least expensive Toyota has none.
As my FIL observed, “you just don’t see cars broken down on the side of the road anymore”.
I would love to be driving this car when someone aggressively moves up out of sequence to violate the time honored “one-from-this-lane & one-from-that-lane” zipper rule concerning traffic jam merges.
Yes, this reminds me of my early 80’s Subaru Wagon with the crumpled front fender and various other battle scars when I lived in San Francisco in the mid-90’s. There was never a faster way to get across San Francisco, just aim and it was like the Moses of cars, the traffic couldn’t have moved aside faster. The Fire Department should have bought and “modified” a fleet of them, no siren needed, just let it wander back and forth a little in the lane…
I had a 64 Valiant wagon and 71 VG hardtop in beater condition that elicited the same thing. The one that really had cars moving aside was a friend’s ex-army Land Rover.
Cars in that condition are great in city traffic, other drivers give you a wide berth, nobody parks close at supermarkets, Ive had a few old bombs in this state of disrepair bought for peanuts and just driven into the ground just park em when your done even wrecking yards wont take them free.
When our family Suburban suffered this kind of bumper damage, my stepfather simply pushed it against a large tree until the bumper bent back. It really needs to be taken care of, because it’s a hazard. Other than that, this is a perfect NYC car. And if it survives another ten or fifteen years, chances are it might become valuable enough to get restored.
I dunno, to my eyes the paint’s maybe a little faded, but otherwise, I thing it’s in admirable condition – I’m five years younger than it and have far more wrinkles and rust and bits missing.
I suspect the top is the key. It looks solid now, but based on the fit above the side windows it is starting to shrink a little. If that needs replacing in a few years, then somebody has to make a decision. Probably about a $1000 replacement, but without a good top or covered parking things go downhill quickly.
Based on what I was quoted for a new convertible top 25 years ago I would estimate a replacement for this car would be at least $2000, if not more. It would depend on whether or not the mechanism needed repair as well as replacing the top itself. A convertible top will wear quickly if it is exposed to the weather on a 24/7 basis.
I didn’t notice that. Given the condition of the rest of the car, that roof is still relatively taut and uncut.
I am going to guess that there’s a paint shaker V6 under the hood? Or else someone gets a trophy for keeping one of the early aluminum 215 V8s in service for over 50 years. My parents had trouble dealing with the periodic overheatings on their Olds F-85, which was only 3 years old when they traded it in 64.
I think it’s important to note that this CC takes place in New York CITY.
Having lived in both nearby Westchester County AND Central NY – and being familiar with both Upstate and the City (where you separate Upstate from Downstate depends literally on your POV) – it’s two completely different worlds.
Outsiders to the NYC Metro may be surprised at the number of older vehicles that, as dinged up as they are like this Buick, haven’t succumbed to the Rust Monster that makes short work of seemingly everything north of Orange/Dutchess Counties.
Besides how roads around the city are treated, I remember many times they were just plowed and maybe ashes spread, there’s also the simple fact that in a snow event, many Downstaters simply stay home.
Upstate simply piles on the salt and brine, as they must. There’s usually enough of the white stuff in any typical winter that if the residents took a Downstate approach to snow, life would grind to a halt.
Long story short…if this were Buffalo, Syracuse, Capital District, etc…this CC would be a pile of ashes. But living in the city, it’s a banged-up but still driveable veteran.
they use pleeeeeenty of road salt here in the Big Apple. I’d say that the visibility of survivors is that there are ten million people in this burgh, and natural selection and the hard hand of automotive disintegration half-life lies just as heavily on a very, very large number of automobiles concentrated in a small area.
That being said, somebody has parked a ’51 Ford Customline curbside on Alderton Street in Rego Park for a whole damn year. The thing was shedding frame bolts into the gutter.
Contrast this with the 64 Dodge Dart from a few days ago…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/1964-dodge-dart-2-door-sedan/
They could so easily be reversed.
It will cost more to fix it than the car is worth and there’s not much won’t these days for a 63 buick skylark the 64 and 65s are more wanted…
I love old GM cars back when the corporation stood mighty and proud. When I see a car like the ’63 Skylark pictured, and how it stood the test of time for nearly 60 years, I would love to buy it and try to nurse it back to health. But one unfortunate thing with older cars is rust. And sadly sometimes the condition is terminal.
hey guys, this was actually my mothers car back when i was growing up. notoriously a problem child that car was. wound up getting sold and still lives in the neighborhood to this day.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/realestate/05habi.html