After three weeks of research and getting the answers I needed I was high bidder on this GS 400 Convertible at the Mecum Kansas City auction over this past weekend. This was a feature car and went on the block at noon on Saturday. It is an original car with 54,000 miles on it and was ordered by a woman in Dallas and delivered on 17 Nov 1967. The car has lots of options including power bucket seat, power top, AM/FM, power windows, and A/C. I used the new Mecum transportation to bring it to me in Fort Worth and was told it would be probably the end of the week when delivered. I was on the way to the bank at 9:00 AM this morning to do wire transfer on the balance owed (after a 20% paid last week on what I thought would be my high bid, shows them who is a serious bidder). My phone rings and it is the shop where it was to be delivered in Fort Worth. The driver had left a message he would be at the shop with the car at 9:45 AM! I got to the bank, made the transfer of funds, got to the shop and 10 minutes later the driver shows up. Talk about service! The good news is the car is even better than I had expected. I has a repaint and new interior in 2007, (pin stripes in the wrong place), transmission rebuilt in 1998, new exhaust in early 90's. The car clearly has been taken care of, no bubbles/pits in the pot metal chrome around the car especially the trunk and tail lights. No rust in trunk floor, and took it for a 4 mile drive and it is smooth as silk and no rattles. Even passing gear works great and engine is strong. Will go through it with fluid changes, check brakes, maybe new points/plugs, and it will need a new top as it is original and has some small splits in the vinyl material and will also need a new boot. I have always heard "if it is red and a convertible you can always get your money out of it". While it was a chunk of money, from several valuation books a number 1 ranked 1967 GS 400 convertible is listed as $45K and it would not take much to make this a number 1 car. Here is original Mecum website on the car. https://www.mecum.com/lots/KD1117-298768/1967-buick-gs-convertible/ The complete Mecum experience, starting three weeks ago through questions and answers, to the actual bidding was awesome and who can complain about the car being delivered two days from the auction 700 miles away. Now I will be adding my 1967 GS 400 four speed convertible to my For Sale list along with the GS 400 hardtop. Have several other cars I may be selling also. It has been a good day and told my wife about it tonight and it was my 'early Christmas present to us"
Beautiful car Chuck. Congratulations! I would really enjoy seeing more detail pics if you could share some. Thanks.
Thanks guys. Ed, you can see more on the Mecum web site listed in the post. We started rain and cold weather here tonight so it will be several days before I can get it outside and really do a photo shoot on details. Will post more when I get them done.
You paid $1.00 more than the car is worth, but a month from now you will be a thousand ahead! Gotta love a red headed Buick.
Thanks for the positive comments guys. I had the car on a lift today to inspect it and it truly looks like a 53,000 mile car. No evidence of rust anywhere, newer exhaust system, rims are correctly date coded and in very nice condition. Checking the numbers on the rear end but don't think it is a posi as there is no posi tag anywhere. Will be checking the transmission numbers but look right so far. Have receipt for new coil springs and not sure they are right as the car sits a bit high in the rear. Might order a correct pair and see if it comes down a bit. Tested the power windows today and they go up and down nicely. Looked over the body carefully while on the lift and no waves or evidence of bondo or damage. Nice smooth red paint. Gaps are very nice at doors and trunk. Will have the bumpers re-chromed as both front and back have a couple of dings that are noticeable if looking closely. The engine runs so nice with no vibrations or misses we are NOT going to mess with the carb, points or plugs for now. Will put red line tires on it to complete the stock look. Ordered a new white top for it today as the original top has small slits where over the years the metal tips on the outside have cut into the vinyl and the vinyl after 50 years has a few stains and discoloration. About to order new top rubber from Steele Rubber. Looking at adding an original console, shifter and tach between the bucket seats and adding a correct tilt column. Basically I am going to make it look new without major changes so it will be a very nice low mileage stock GS400. With that all done it will be ready for driving and the local shows! I am going to followup on the registration documents and receipts and try to build a complete history of the car and have an excellent start given the documents that came with the car. Now I just need to convince Santa to bring me a few parts and 4 red lines
Steve I was so pumped that the car had shown up so quickly I did not critique the trailer although I did look at it close up and said to the driver 'it looks brand new" and he confirmed it was. Not sure how many trips it had made since new but everything was pristine and the graphics were awesome. From Fort Worth driver was headed to Louisiana to pick up several cars for the Kissimmee, Florida auction coming up the first week of January. Over 3000 cars in 10 days which is incredible. Just got a Mecum brochure for it and the collections being sold are super quality and anything you would want will be offered.
