A fella along the California coast near Pismo Beach has some interesting iron for sale, and buying any one of them only sets you back $1,500. I’m making no promises, but it’s possible you could buy all six for a mere $8,500.
Here’s his pitch:
“I have a bunch of old cars and trucks for sale. Most of them came from a friend’s estate. He had well over 1,000 cars when he passed away. I am trying to liquidate some of them. ONLY $1,500 EACH!!
Sound promising, let’s take a closer look…
Here’s the first offering: “1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4 dr sedan. The bodywork is done and it is in primer. There are no dents or rust in the body. There is some rust in the floorboards, but not critical.
I sold the mags that were on it. I had them on another old Plymouth but they were too big for this one and they rubbed on the fender. It has stock wheels with white walls.”
I assume the wheels in the picture are the ones he sold, but this example might the most road worthy option. If you’re familiar with the cost of body work, the value of a blocked and sanded body in primer greatly exceeds the asking price (if the car is truly ready for a finish coat). The post includes a second picture showing the an equally clean driver’s side, so this may be a tempting opportunity.
The engine starts. It was rebuilt and has zero miles on it!”
I’m always leery when promised a “rebuilt” engine, but it’s awfully tough to mess up a post war Plymouth flat six. However, I think we can all agree that IF this motor has been rebuilt, a significant amount of time has passed since the project wrapped up- Based on the battery markings, at least two years.
“The carpet and headliner were removed. He was going to take an upholstery class and redo them himself. Seats are present.”
The interior pics are less promising but not bad for a 68 year old. Most of the pieces are there, and thanks to the flat glass panes, the cracked passenger’s side windshield is a relatively cheap fix. In addition, the seller has a further inducement:
“I also have a 1950 Plymouth 4 dr sedan parts car for $1,000 NOT RUNNING It has lots of cool, period, accessories.”
Mucho Exciting- Two early ’50s Plymouths for 2,500 bucks!
Next up, this “1952 Studebaker Commander Suicide 4dr sedan. V8 AT engine will start and run. The body is pretty decent. It has a dent in the rear, passenger side, door and not many other dents or rust. The glass is mostly good. The chrome is driver quality.”
I’d forgotten Studebaker offered a V-8 before the ’53 Starliner Coupe, but here it is in a ’52 complete with an automatic. The seller seems to offer a positive spin, but I’m not sure I see it.
“The doors open and close nicely. The old gal is complete and quirky.”
Can’t argue with that prose. I know we have a strong Studebaker contingent here at Curbside, and “complete and quirky” is just the phrase to stir their loins.
“We just installed new plugs, points, condenser, cap, rotor and plug wires. When was the last time that you saw one? Tires are rollers and hold air.”
That passenger door dent doesn’t look like structural damage, so I’m not seeing any deal breakers. You know, outside the sketchy tires and the Studebaker badge on the hood…
“Sold on a bill of sale. Out of DMV system. No back fees”
Well, no title is a big downer, but once again we see a worn but mostly complete interior. Note the V-8 badge on the dashboard along with the wide oval brake pedal. Studebaker for the win?
In the number 3 slot, a “1962 Chrysler Imperial 4 dr hardtop. Body is pretty decent. Not much rust. Not many dents. Front bumper is a little tweaked. One of the last years for the free standing headlights.”
Once again, a car with a strong Curbside following. However, this generation Imperial was well past it’s sell by date in 1962, and I’d say that front bumper is more than a little “tweaked.”
You can see I’m trying to walk away, but it IS a hardtop. Temptations, temptations… Before moving on, we should also check out those additional tempting morsels parked out back.
“FACTORY A/C! Loaded! NOT RUNNING 413 V8. Engine turns freely. We have not tried to start it yet. Too many projects. Tires are rollers.”
Not much good news here. Certainly factory air is a plus, but neither the engine or tire descriptions provides much confidence in their overall serviceability.
“The interior is shrunken up. My neighbors had a light blue one when we moved to California, in 1963. I always like that big old “LAND YACHT”!”
Based on evidence, a “shrunken up” interior means “Too far gone to photograph.” Personally, I’m leaving this one sit, but the fender of that two door hardtop intrigues me- Is that a ’56 New Yorker?
Representing the compact ranks, a “1964 Dodge Dart wagon 225 slant 6 motor { seized } with PUSH BUTTON A/T.
The motor is toast. Needs another one. The good new is that Chrysler built millions of these slant 6 motors. They are easy to locate and won’t break the bank. Cool little surfer wagon!”
How is it possible the slant 6 seized? I was under the impression they would travel 100,000 miles without any oil in the sump. I also think you could do more with it than drive it to the beach. Lots of folks out here in Cali want to relive the days of The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean, but this wagon is cool with or without a surf board.
“The body has a few small dings. Minor rust in the driver’s door, rear floor between the front and rear seats, and a little in the passenger side rocker. It would take an afternoon to repair if you know what you are doing. The chrome is half decent.
The tailgate window is broken. I have located several. They are not hard to find.”
A couple of things to unpack here. While I agree the body is pretty clean, I see a lot more work than his optimistic “an afternoon to repair.” The tailgate by itself looks like a three or four day project, and it just escalates from there. The chrome, door handles and tail lights all look OK, but missing glass is always concerning. A quick online check confirms glass is available, but how long has it been absent, letting in rain and critters?
“There is no rust in the cargo/spare tire well area. Headliner and carpet have been removed. Tires are almost new looking.”
OK, if they removed the headliner and carpet, these pictures are out of date. Also, if they removed the carpet, why couldn’t they pull out the plywood in the back, and THEN take pictures of cargo/spare well tire area, and let us evaluate the rust on our own.
Still from a style standpoint, this car pushes my buttons the hardest. If that slant 6 had a pulse, I’d be mighty tempted.
Well, that ’56 New Yorker isn’t available, but you could pick up this “1968 Chrysler New Yorker 2 dr hardtop. The old gal doesn’t have much rust. It is missing one fender skirt and one piece of trim. Only about 9,000 built in 1968. It is a kind of rare, cool fastback looking model. Tires are decent. I have all 4 hubcaps too.”
It’s likely the ’62 Imperial rolled out of the same factory as this car, but outside of the drive line there’s very few common touch points. If the’62 looked this good, I might bite. This car? I just think “Meh.” There’s nothing there to hate, but also nothing there to love.
“Steel crank 440 V8 4 bbl. The trans was removed for rebuilding. Tom passed away before getting it back. We don’t know where he took it. The good news is that it is just a 727. Very easy to locate.”
Hmmm…Perhaps I spoke too soon. Lots of big block goodness here, but with no transmission we’re rolling the dice with no recourse if the engine proves to be scrap metal.
I’m amused by the comment “We don’t know where he took it.” Somewhere along the central coast, there’s an orphan 727 rebuild waiting in the corner of a transmission shop. If someone could locate it, they might could make a pretty good deal.
“Highly optioned car. Split bench seat, power windows/seat. A/C, etc. The glass is good. The interior is pretty shrunken up and dirty.”
Well, now we know what a “shrunken up” interior looks like. It looks a whole lot like the interiors on the other cars, and I’m seeing no reason to get excited.
To close out this listing, we have an “1986 Chevy C30 ex military { AIR FORCE } one ton diesel w/12′ flatbed. Ran when parked. Looks complete.”
I’m not sure why the seller lumped this truck in with a group of older cars, but this might be the best buy of the bunch, if you’re just looking for value for your money. However, like most vehicles in this listing, it appears there’s no clear title, which does depress the value.
“The cab is real nice. Very minor dings/rust. The front windshield is broken. The back windshield is missing.”
Another missing back window. In this case, I can find 10 pieces locally for under $100, but once again we have concerns about weather damage to the interior.
“The 6.2 diesel motor is NOT RUNNING but a great motor! It has a turbo 400 AT. Dual fuel tanks and batteries. Low miles.
Great old workhorse! Nice body. Huge flatbed!”
In the initial description, the seller used one of my favorite phrases, “ran when parked.” It seems from the engine description that moment in time has passed. Despite that, the seller says this is a “great motor.” I’d say the 6.2 liter diesel is a vast improvement over the Oldsmobile diesel, but is very average compared to other contemporary options.
So there you have it, six cars for $1,500 each. Anything catch your fancy?
OK, a lot to love here – especially for a guy who lives in the great salty midwest.
I am kind of in a 3 way tie between the Plymouth, the Stude and the 68 New Yorker. The Plymouth is the most “there” but is the least appealing in an “all things being equal” kind of way. I know my way around those Chryslers and there is indeed a lot to love here. Parts would be relatively easy and this was a fairly rare and nicely optioned car. 2 door New Yorkers are not on every corner.
Bringing us to the Commander. If this had been a 3 speed/OD car it would have jumped to the top right away. But it’s not. The Stude V8 is a gem, though. I generally like the 52 model – not as well as the 47-49 but better than the 50-51 bullet nose that everyone else loves. I think the Commander is it – if for no other reason than what a great platform it would be to move good parts over from a nicer rustier car as is commonly found hereabouts.
Actually, even the Imp and the Dart make me think a little. The Chevy is too far outside of my wheelhouse to think about.
And I think that since Aaron65 has successfully made it through the learning curve, the Dirty Dart II should be a no-brainer. 🙂
You beat me to the punch, JP! I was typing while you were (see below). 🙂
That is a neat little Dart though…
Well, here’s your chance JPC, V8 and o/d, albeit with an astoundingly awful hood scoop. And in RHD. And literally 10,000 miles away. And approximately 10x the price, but it hasn’t rusted yet in 67 years, and the interior’s still full size and not shrunken up….
https://www.shannons.com.au/auctions/2020-shannons-sydney-summer-classic-auction-rare-number-plates/PS21F3I91C0917P8/
I’m with the Stude too. And that very advanced B/W Automatic Drive actually increases the appeal. I’d probably swap in a later 289.
I’ve always liked these suicide door Studes, although a bullet nose Starliner is still at the top of the pecking order for me.
Actually Starlight Coupe, not Starliner.
If you like a back seat with no ventilation and no AC. No opening back windows to extract incoming air and no flow-through ventilation provision. I have no idea how that was supposed to work.
As a child I once puked out the back window of a normal 1950 Studebaker two door, although it didn’t roll down all the way. Good thing it wasn’t a Starlight!
Why do I always mix the two up?
I wasn’t planning on sitting in the back seat. 🙂
I already have a Dart wagon, so I think I’d go for the ’68 New Yorker; it looks like it’s in the best shape of the bunch (other than the truck). On the other hand, having no title would be no good in Michigan, shipping costs would be ridiculous since the car’s not moving on its own, and it wouldn’t fit in the garage. Hypothetically, however, that’s the one. 🙂
I don’t know about any other states but in my native Kentucky it is easy to obtain a “salvage” title for a vehicle, especially one as old as these. The salvage title would permit one to license and insure the vehicle without any real hassles.
All of these cars have some good points but, for me at least, the bad outweighs the good. All of them need pretty extensive work to become really road ready and I would expect it to be a real challenge finding many of the necessary parts. The Dart wagon is the most interesting to me but by the time you found and installed another slanty, and made the other needed fixes, you could easily have $5000 invested in your $1500 car. It might be worth it to some but for myself, if I were interested in buying a “collector” car, I would want something that needed less time and effort to become presentable.
You’re in CA, there were over 1000 cars in total and some are being liquidated. I’m thinking there may be a phase II of this process which will include Toyota Corona wagons etc and I’d hate to blow all my lunch money now in advance of that offering…
But if the money were absolutely burning a hole in my pocket anyway, then I think I’d be leaning toward the Dart wagon! Followed by the red New Yorker.
The only car I would be interested in of these 6 is that Dart. But being a Dart instead of a Valiant, and having a seized engine (really? what can you do to get a slant 6 to seize other than drain the oil and let the insides rust for 40-50 years?) kind of dampens my enthusiasm.
I’m not playing by the rules, but could I get the first photo’s Ford Custom (’65?). I wouldn’t expect to get it for $1500, but I’d know what I was getting into…
So far all I see are money pits with the potential to be the next project sold on the local Craigslist in 2022 with ‘Not having time to finish but it’s a roller and complete. Price firm, I know what I got!” in the description. These cars would arouse some interest at the car show but you will never, never recover the money and time invested. The one that most interested me is the ’68 New Yorker, finding a rebuilt transmission and rebuilt engine for it would be easy-peasy, but still an extra $2,500 to add to the $1,500 and my cost in getting it home and putting in the engine myself. Even just a running pair would be $1,000 by the time I paid to have it put in and checked over at a junkyard. With redoing the interior and who knows what else is wrong…
Now if he starts posting VWs, that’s my expertise and my weak point and I have some non obligated cash saved up. Eagerly waiting for the next installment…
Damn right I know what I got buster! That always cracks me up.
Over 1,000 cars? Junkyard? Hoarder? Owned a used car lot and these were trades he couldn’t sell? What’s the story here? It’s like that auction in the midwest that was posted on here a couple of years ago with all the 20s -60s iron
I suspect you are thinking of an article I posted.
In that case, the guy was a combination hoarder and speculator. While I haven’t calculated it, the rate of return for spending $50 in 1975 (as he often did) to yield $500 or better in 2005 isn’t a bad investment.
The only thing that stirs any real interest of the ones currently offered for sale is the Imperial, but it is too far gone. Now there are a couple of old pickups in the background that could be interesting.
I’m going with the suicide door Studebaker.
’60s luxury cars (especially Imperials) are money pits with their vast array of motors, wiring, switches, vacuum actuators, and the like. Better to find one already sorted out that someone else has taken the hit on.
Pretty much true of all old cars.
The Dart wagon’s my favorite, but just a hunch says $1500 should buy a runner in that shape even if it’s something that’ll still need work to be safe and legal.
These are all pretty far gone for me, it’s just too easy to buy much better examples for under $10,000. But, these seem like decently priced parts cars.
The Imperial should speak to me, but would be a very complicated restoration with a poor return on the dollar. Of the ’58 – ’63 Imperials, the ’63 is my favorite, so, I’ll hold out for a better condition ’63.
The ’68 New Yorker is indeed well optioned, including very rare power vent windows. The complicated interior restoration makes this a mixed bag, tons of potential as a parts car, or needs a parts car with a good donor interior. In red, from a car that is otherwise a parts car. That should be easy to find (Not!).
The Dart wagon might have the most potential for me, the interior is not a complicated basket case, and a simple home made restoration would be good enough for me.
The Stude would be cool, but I can buy the car below on E-Bay for $9,900 today:
For another $1,500, you can give that E-Bay car a nice V-8/Auto upgrade,and have all the needed linkages and brackets…
Sold! Thank you! Now I don’t have to hunt down a 727 for the NY and hope for the best!
I can’t be the only one here that thought this whole writeup was meant to be sarcastic, right? I mean, “not much rust” on that Imperial? Do you see any rust? I don’t…
The “not much rust” description was made by the seller in the Craigslist posting.
All the text in italics represents the seller, my comments are in standard text.
But yeah, there may be a little sarcasm in there.
Those all go for 10K plus here but taking shipping into account plus being flagged at the border for rust they simply arent worth it, repairs for rust have to be certified and thats not cheap, lots of people have been caught out on imports from the US and other places where repairs arent up to standard, having said that though I do like the Studebaker or the Plymouth, even the Dart though slant 6s arent common here anymore it could be rebuilt, I know a guy who has a few Valiants hes parting out.
All of these cars require more work, time and money than can ever possibly be worth it. There are so many project cars out there in better condition for not that much more money. One has to really fall in love with one of these and want to rescue it, in spite of all common sense.
I am not currently in the market for a project anyway. But to interest me, a car – besides being straight, complete and not rusty as a non-negotiable given – must at least be able to be made to start before purchase and have a decent interior. Any less than that, and someone else can have it. None of these make this cut-off. In better condition, I might have considered the Stude or the Dart wagon.
These are all pretty rough. I’d say since most of these are not overly valuable cars, if you really wanted one, you’d be better off to pay more for one in better condition than try to fix on of these. But if I had to choose…hmm.
Initially I gravitated to the truck, mainly because a truck is always handy and it looked by far the best condition. However, discovering it’s a non-running 6.2L diesel is enough to keep me away. These were definitely not GM’s finest engines. The Plymouth looks appealing in that it’s a runner looks solid. But I wonder what secrets hide under that primer job. Which brings me to the Studebaker, with it’s original body, it looks pretty solid and it’s a runner. But man is that interior rough. So in the end, I might go for the ’68 Chrysler. As long as the 440 checked out, finding a 727 to swap in wouldn’t be too bad. The rest of the car looks pretty solid, and I prefer 60’s cars to 50’s cars anyway.
This reminds me of the “Old Actors Nursing Home”. Everyone knows what they looked like way back, and they still have some charm and radiance. The memories are warm and fuzzy, and everyone would love to see them make just one more public appearance. The fact is that they had their place in the sun. Restoration would be insane. This is where the Rat Rod shines.
The one that most interests me is the 1950 Plymouth, because it has that “it’s so ugly, it’s cool” kind of vibe, sort of like early Falcons. And I can remember when these cars were still relatively common late 50s-early 60s Pittsburgh. One of my grandmother’s best friends drove a 51 or 52 Cambridge at late as 1967.
However, at my age, I don’t want any projects other than a doing good cleaning, so the interior condition and rust in the floor would keep me from buying. Plus it’s a long way from me in Virginia.
That 68 Chrysler reminds me of one I photographed last fall in Sperryville, VA. It was a Newport of the same body style, with much less equipment (probably no air as best as I can tell), but in much better condition. It may not be a runner, given that both the license plates and inspection expired in Aug. 2011.
Interior photo:
These are the kind of cars that if you like them, and can get them cheap enough, you just fix them up enough to drive safely. Clean up the interiors, add some seat covers and a three hundred dollar paint job and you’re done. Not every old car has to be restored, just fixed up a bit. None of these cars are worth a full restoration, few cars are.
I like the ’68 Chrysler “fast roof “coupe the best, although the best buy would be the Dart wagon. You can pick up a complete motor at Pick and Pull for a hundred bucks on sale day. Take it out of a wrecked car, that means that it was running at the time!
I think that all these are overpriced, none are worth more than five hundred bucks.
Agree with point 1 the 68 Chrysler, point 2 the Dart, and point 3 they are all over priced by a factor of three. These guys all wear rose colored glasses so be alert or find your own rose colored glasses.
If JPC took the Stude I’d go for the Dirty Dart wagon. Maybe we could join a transcontinental CC old car road trip and all come home together.
Although the idea of spending more than 2 seconds in that Stude’s interior is not a pleasant thought..
Imperial. In that condition you could cut the top off and restore as a beautiful phaeton, have something lovely and of value and nobody would complain that a classic was sacrificed.
Something along these lines.