Hey guys, hoping I could get some opinions on a "what's it worth"... Basket case (barn find) 69 442 convertible 4-speed. Completely wrong engine and trans (early 70's Olds 350), but it IS a real 442, and an original 4-speed ragtop car. Colors were good, Fathom Blue, white stripes, light blue interior. It's an original A/C car, but with manual brakes and manual steering, and power windows. Not sure what the original owner was thinking ordering manual brakes and steering, 4-speed, and a/c? The VIN has the "M" in the code. Still has the 12-bolt Olds rear, sway bars, original plastic inner fenders, rear bumper with cutouts, and a few other decent body panels, and it has a clear title. Question: Would this be valuable as a restoration to someone? Not sure about the rarity or desireability of a 69 442 convertible 4-speed in these colors. Was looking at either parting it out, or selling it as is. This is not a classified ad, just trying to get a ballpark estimate on value before E-bay'ing it. Thanks in advance! :TU:
I have no idea what it's worth but it's got a fairly unique set of options in a ragtop to boot. To me, the 4 spd and convert is what really makes this one desirable. So, to at least answer one of your questions, yes---pretty cool and desirable car to restore. The missing parts don't help but they aren't anything that are impossible to find correct replacements for. How is the core of the car itself??...meaning the floorboards, trunk and frame?
Frame rails are fine, trunk floor is actually very good, right rear 1/4 separated from trunk pan, trans tunnel excellent, most of interior gone or damaged. I also found on the trim tag that the top was blue too, so the car was Fathom Blue, blue top, blue interior, white stripes, very nice color combo! Again, car is rough... Being I'm a Pontiac guy (on a Buick site, asking about a 442? ) I was really just wondering if this was the equivalent of a 69 Chevelle SS396 Convertible 4-speed or a 69 GTO Convertible 4-speed. I was thinking the car would make a great resto project. Just hate to part it out if the car is worth more in its "barn" condition. Thanks!
Rough?? How so? You mean the missing/deteriorated parts? To me, when someone says "rough" I envision a real bad CORE...ie frame, floors, QP's etc. How will the car clean up??? Or is the paint completely gone, etc.?? Hate to see something with those options get parted but it's not my car and I'm not a buyer anyway....just another Olds fanatic with plenty of Olds stuff already to keep my plate full!!:laugh: Evilbay, RealOldsPower.com, 442.com....all possible sale venues. Olds Club of America Nats are in Pennsylvania this summer. There's the big one day Lansing Homecoming show and swapmeet coming soon also....massively popular event among Olds people. Like a lot of the others if it was a 70-72 it would be even more "popular"...but being a 4 speed ragtop with cool colors and options it is pretty unique. More and more 68/69s are being done now anyway. You see less of them which frankly, makes them more "unique" looking. Heck, someone would probably build a 455 to put in the place of the somewhat restricted-breathing 68/9 400 anyway. More torque is always nice. Have any pics of it yet??
Hi Mike, That is a very desirable combination of options and in my opinion one of the best color combos on a 69. The 4 speed, convert, but also the factory A/C are all very high points in my book. I especially liked the blue top cars....most people today can't wait to tear that off and put on black or white... Like Patton says, though, the decision to save it or part it out should be based around the "core" of the car, not what parts are missing or need replacing/restored/etc. Virtually everything is readily available as the Cutlass S is exactly the same car except for the 400 vs 350 engine and a few badges. All the trim differences are/were optional on the Cutlass S series (not the Cutlass Supreme....totally different theme car even though they share the same basic body/chassis.) I recall one with exactly this color combo when I worked there, but wasn't a 4 speed. Even the pin stripe was in light blue to match the top/interior. Very few were with A/C. Lots of people rip all that off when they redo one to have a non-A/C car...another one of those stupid "Yeah, me, too!" things that people do on these cars. Unless you're doing a rebody or building a "tribute" car and matching a body plate or build sheet, :shock: :shock: :eek2: :eek2: uzzled: uzzled: ...and nothing beats this on a muscle car unless you're one of those girlie boys...:3gears: :3gears: :3gears: Pics will go a long way in zeroing in on more help on what it's worth.. If it's strictly to see what kind of money can be made by flipping it as is, good luck in this market...also few people starting projects these days...but then again, there"s Miller and I hear he's looking for a project for Pure Stock. Sounds like maybe it's time to build a small bore Gblock screamer just to shut me up....like somebody was spreading around a few years back...That would probably bring the Ramrod back out of retirement for just one more match race....not much else will. :bglasses:
You could figure out a ball park return on parting it out...... Then throw it out there with that as a reserve and see if someone wants to save it. o No:
Thanks for the feedback folks. Have a few people interested already. When I say "rough", I meant "expect the worst", and go from there. p I'm not a resto guy, so I have no idea what's involved in a restoration. These body guys I've talked to seem to be able to look at a toaster and a file cabinet, and say they can make a valence panel for 69 Camaro out of them, but that's beyond me. Sorry, haven't taken anymore photos of the car yet, hope to this weekend. You know, I've seen cars listed on E-Bay that were sitting in swamps, with a tree growing through the roof, and it looked like wild dogs dragged the carcass away, yet someone still buys it for the tags. uzzled: Obviously, this car is far from that. We pulled this off the trailer, then pulled the convertible top frame up (no top of course) and latched it. The title still has the original owner's name on it, and the license plates are from 1979. The car came with extra front fenders, doors, and a hood that were in fantastic shape, as the owner was going to set about doing a resto. It needs an entire interior, from dash to steering column, etc. The seats and door panels are still in the car, but I don't think they're useable. The door panels had the rocket emblems. Stainless trim around the windshield frame and wipers are perfect. Has the stainless trim down the sides (RR 1/4 missing), and on all 4 wheelwells. The car rolls, has a 12-bolt O-type posi rear, 4 SSI wheels (1 wheel has a dent in the lip), sway bars, frame rails are good, trunk pan is surprisingly good (1/4 separated from trunk as I mentioned earlier), boxed arms intact, trans tunnel great shape, floorboards have holes in the footwells, etc. Just seems like this would be a good candidate for a resto, and above all, it IS a real 442 ragtop. Correction to an earlier post: This is Trophy Blue, not Fathom Blue (not sure where I got the "Fathom" from). Just got the name wrong. Code 51 C, dark blue, blue top, white stripes (W-42 stripes I think they're called). Can't see it in the photo, but the white stripes are still on the hood and trunk. Currently has a 350 Olds in the bay with "5" heads. Has the 4-core top plate. Questions: 1. Did all 69 442's have black plastic inner fenders? These appear to be the original inners, and are in great shape. 2. Is there any way to tell (like PHS) what else was on this car originally? 3. Were all 442's (in 69) built in Lansing? Thanks again!
1)Yes--all Cutlass and 442 had PLASTIC wells. ALL were black plastic EXCEPT W30 which got RED PLASTIC. 2)I don't think there's a source other than a build sheet or broadcast card you MIGHT find with the car. Maybe if it was Canadian built...I think there's a GM service that has records for CA cars that you can get history from. 3)Top line of the FIREWALL/COWL TAG.....after the "ST6934467XX...." The "XX" part could be BF(Fremont, Cali), BL (Linden, NJ), LAN (Lansing, MI), or OS (Oshawa, Canada) I believe. Regular 442 production not limited to LAN like the W Machines.
I had a 70 442 rag about 4 years ago that was so rotten you couldn't look at it without parts falling off. No Trans, no engine. I kept the 12 bolt but the options and the colour code (blue with white) made it worth alot of money as a donor car, put it on ebay and had numerous calls within the first few hours. I bought the car along with a 72 442 coupe (clone) for $150.00. I felt bad parting the convertible but it was so far gone it would have been near impossible to repair, and I had student loans. As for the coupe, i kept the buckets, sold the front clip and whatever else was left went to scrap (it was a rollover car). I wish I could have the ragtop back.
Fathom Blue = Chevy color.:spank: All an Olds guy needs to do is restore it and drop in a 455 and then everyone's happy. It's just a turkey otherwise, which is a shame because I think they're among the best looking 4-4-2s made - I LOVE the OAI under the bumpers.
Almost agree with the 3-5 K estimate except that it doesn't have the original motor. I'd say 2K tops. If it had the orig. motor, only then would it be worth 3-5K. There was a frame off restored blue 4 speed 69 442 convertible NOM in Mass on EBay a few times recently and bidding didn't get past 20K IIRC each time.
Sounds to me like it was ordered by a MAN who did not have a WIFE to tell him how to option his car!:TU:
