Classic cars: impossible on a limited budget?

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Here is the 2004 MC SS I had.

Wow I forgot about those. Its so easy with all the cars I look at all over the place. I completely forgot the 2000 thru 2005 ones. I think 2004 or 2005 was the last years...? How did those ride? looks like a good size chassis for those days.

 

[wtd]

Wow I forgot about those. Its so easy with all the cars I look at all over the place. I completely forgot the 2000 thru 2005 ones. I think 2004 or 2005 was the last years...? How did those ride? looks like a good size chassis for those days.

They still made the Monte Carlo past 2005 but can't remember exactly what year. In the later years of production you could get the 5.3L V8 in one but the automatic transmission was the weak link.

Mine rode pretty good but it wasn't anything special. Sometimes I'm sorry I got rid of it but I wanted a V8 sports car and so it had to go.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

They still made the Monte Carlo past 2005 but can't remember exactly what year. In the later years of production you could get the 5.3L V8 in one but the automatic transmission was the weak link.

Mine rode pretty good but it wasn't anything special. Sometimes I'm sorry I got rid of it but I wanted a V8 sports car and so it had to go.

There is something about a V8 under hood!

 

[wtd]

There is something about a V8 under hood!

I love V8's.

 

[gman2304]

No, mine does not have the air suspension. All of the 1970 and 71 Monte Carlo SS's had the air suspension and all of them had 454's. One of those is my dream Monte Carlo. I've had the opportunity to buy several fairly local but I never had the money at the time.

IIRC only the 454 big block Montes had the air suspension and only in 1970. It has been over 50 years so ICBW! Edit : Just googled it and the 1971 Montes had the big block 454 as well. My favorite is the 1970 with the turn signals in the bumper. The 70 in my opinion makes the perfect pro touring car.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

IIRC only the 454 big block Montes had the air suspension and only in 1970. It has been over 50 years so ICBW! Edit : Just googled it and the 1971 Montes had the big block 454 as well. My favorite is the 1970 with the turn signals in the bumper. The 70 in my opinion makes the perfect pro touring car.

Oh yes. When I went to lots of Super Chevy car shows with my Chevelles , those Monte Carlos took home a lot of trophies. I think they are not only the best looking but the best riding and handling Montes ever made. My brother in law had one in his collection for years he had bought brand new and he kept it like new. We definitely had some fun cruising in it with the wives. His came with the 400cui 4bbl 300 horse engine that was plenty fast. LOL Chevy called them Turbo-Fire engines. Never cared much for Generation II Monte Carlo cause Chevy turned them into almost full size big cars.

 

[wtd]

IIRC only the 454 big block Montes had the air suspension and only in 1970. It has been over 50 years so ICBW! Edit : Just googled it and the 1971 Montes had the big block 454 as well. My favorite is the 1970 with the turn signals in the bumper. The 70 in my opinion makes the perfect pro touring car.

You could get any Monte with the air suspension in 70 and 71 but the 70 and 71 SS came standard with it. 72 was the last year for that body style and was not available in SS trim but you could still get the 454 in it. 72 offered what they called a "Custom" and it could be optioned with pretty much all of the SS equipment from the two prior years. The 71 SS was the most rare with only 1,919 built. There were 3,823 70 SS's built.

Both the 70 and 71 had the turn signals in the bumper but the 70's was round and the 71's were rectangle. 72's had them on either side of the grill next to the headlights.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

This Chevelle (these were the last / the end of the line run that went from 1965 to 1976) , well Chevy did sell a few dealership prepped cars in the line that were name 1977 Chevrolet Malibu SE of which less than 150 were made. Those are super rare. I have located on or two thru the years and all were basket cases - ragged out rusted - destroyed etc... Those cars are easily identified by the dealer installed body matching rear deck lid spoilers. The only Chevelle or Malibus to ever be sold with a GMC dealer or factory installed spoiler. So this 1976 for sale on ebay is the same exact model of the show car I sold two years ago. I did not have a tenth of the money in mine that this guy sunk into his. I see he even modded his up to carry the "Cale Yarborough" emblems. Those Chevelles were so fast that Cale won 3 straight NASCAR Cup Championships before NASCAR finally bent to pressure and banned the car. KInd a funny cause the same time they banned the Chevy, they allowed Olds to run the 1976 - 1977 Cutalss 422 models that had a very similar aero slopped front nose clip. Its amazing these big chunk o steel 4000 pound cars were easily doing 200+ mph on the tracks. This guy has a fuel injection 454 engine and the car is loaded. He has done a complete nut & bolt disassembly / restoration and is asking at least $35,000 yet I know for a fact it cost a hell of a lot more than that to build this into a new resto-mod with all the options added , some of which Chevy did not even offer. If I had money to burn I would pounce on this one. Not wild for the color but love the air extractors he added + that motor with fuel injection is wild. I drove a few of those with carbs and they were a total handful yet kick in the butt fun even though they handled like you were trying to steer an army tank! Loved them anyway.

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[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

You could get any Monte with the air suspension in 70 and 71 but the 70 and 71 SS came standard with it. 72 was the last year for that body style and was not available in SS trim but you could still get the 454 in it. 72 offered what they called a "Custom" and it could be optioned with pretty much all of the SS equipment from the two prior years. The 71 SS was the most rare with only 1,919 built. There were 3,823 70 SS's built.

Both the 70 and 71 had the turn signals in the bumper but the 70's was round and the 71's were rectangle. 72's had them on either side of the grill next to the headlights.

its amazing (sad too) how the car companies at times would "hit a home run" with a body style or a combo of options etc to make a car really popular BUT..... then according to their foolish policies that the Big Three (who constantly copied off each other) while trying to upstage one an other would almost automatically stick to the foolish notion that every three or so years , they MUST kill off one body style to make way for the next one! UGH..... they foolishly eliminated a lot of cars the buyers would have kept lining up for over the years. Monte Carlo for sure is one along with FORD's Torinos that they would not leave well enough alone with .... one of my favorite offerings from them. Torino, Torino Cobra, Torino GT. Torino Fast Back etc..... Even Mercury had some amazing ones that hit the NASCAR track too - Mercury Comet. Cyclone, Cyc;lone Spoiler etc...

 

[Fabulous50s]

I always had a dream of owning a classic car. I found this 59 Galaxie 4 door....in a Pole barn it wasn't a basket case and the kids love it. Took 4 years of nights and weekends to get it to a place where I'd take it anywhere.

But I have 2000+ hours of love and just over 10k invested.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I always had a dream of owning a classic car. I found this 59 Galaxie 4 door....in a Pole barn it wasn't a basket case and the kids love it. Took 4 years of nights and weekends to get it to a place where I'd take it anywhere. View attachment 93284

But I have 2000+ hours of love and just over 10k invested.

a beauty with a nice story / like the two tone

 

[JHZR2]

What is incredible to me are the lies and horrible pricing on junk.

I’ve looked at some cars that on paper and with low-res photos, looked like they had promise. Only to see them and realize the cracks, rust bubbles, etc.

Lots of folks with stuff that needs work that are unwilling to budge on price. I guess someone ultimately buys… hard to establish price when there are big deltas between price guides and asking prices.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

What is incredible to me are the lies and horrible pricing on junk.

I’ve looked at some cars that on paper and with low-res photos, looked like they had promise. Only to see them and realize the cracks, rust bubbles, etc.

Lots of folks with stuff that needs work that are unwilling to budge on price. I guess someone ultimately buys… hard to establish price when there are big deltas between price guides and asking prices.

Those folks can keep those cars. They usually do if they are not rare or highly sought-after horsepower monsters from the golden years of about 1959 to 1971. Lots of caution needed when buying a car from far away. Some folks just automatically feel their old car is worth someone's bank account today. NOT!

 

[JeffKeryk]

What is incredible to me are the lies and horrible pricing on junk.

As someone who's education on classic Corvettes is bought and paid for, I can tell you this is nothing new...
Just part of the game.
The best advice I ever got was, "Buy the best car you can."

 

[350Rocket]

It's "spring". I removed the storage tarps then I couldn't resist. We had a ton of rain the last couple of days, hopefully most of the salt is washed away. I need to wash it and oil spray it ASAP anyway. This car lowers my stress and makes me less likely to have a stroke or a heart attack from work stress. I need this to get through the day. It also helps that it's better on gas than my truck.

 

[JHZR2]

Those folks can keep those cars. They usually do if they are not rare or highly sought-after horsepower monsters from the golden years of about 1959 to 1971. Lots of caution needed when buying a car from far away. Some folks just automatically feel their old car is worth someone's bank account today. NOT!

It’s far from classic American iron. The MB diesel world is plagued by it.

The liars who say their cars are great but they have rust in the usual spots, ripped seats, cracked dashes. And the ones who lie about the cars getting 40MPG or going a million miles (some have been known to go 2M in taxi service, but not the hunk of junk these folks are selling).

 

[14Accent]

While I get the appeal of owning a "budget" classic car, I'm of the opinion that if one is just starting to dabble in the "collectors" market they should focus on future returns vs. current value.

Here's a sample of what I'd be shopping for with a $10-15k budget:

Last-gen full size Buick. The big guy, B-body.

Lincoln Mark VII LSC

Another 2003/4 Mercury Marauder

A minty example of my current WJ (call me crazy, but take a look at recent Wagoneer prices)

DeLorean with the 5-speed. Absolutely no downside to this investment

The absolute beyond best condition Oldsmobile Aurora (1st gen) or Cadillac Seville STS (1998-2004 gen). Personal soft spot for those.

One more edit: I hate to say it, but a good clean C4. I'm sorry, but look at historical Corvette prices. Do they ever go down? I rest my case.

A Ford Fairlane Skyliner. Amazing piece of both mechanical and technological breakthroughs. This one isn't in budget, just for fun.

 

[meep]

The aurora was an interesting car, wasn’t it? I thought it was highly underrated. Tight chassis, solid power up front, good ride, yet could scoot out all day every day with minimal fuss. Perhaps Honda had the quality edge, but the aurora seemed to out-accord the accord. there was one in the family for a time and it also seemed very reliable, just as much so as the Camry-accord genre.

 

[14Accent]

The aurora was an interesting car, wasn’t it? I thought it was highly underrated. Tight chassis, solid power up front, good ride, yet could scoot out all day every day with minimal fuss. Perhaps Honda had the quality edge, but the aurora seemed to out-accord the accord. there was one in the family for a time and it also seemed very reliable, just as much so as the Camry-accord genre.

I couldn't agree more. I put 50k+ miles on an already well-used 1996 Aurora back in the '06-'07 range. I loved that car for reason's I still don't quite understand. It was just so... unique. Not to mention well put together! That was a car GM was proud of at a level they dared not admit, given the state of Cadillac during the same period.