67 wildcat Questions - female newbie from los angeles! -

Hi. Buick LOVERS!

My dad was a buick fanatic! The only cars he ever bought were buicks. He had a '65 wildcat that I loved when I was growing up. I have always wanted one, but after doing months of research I decided I like the 67 better. I am looking to purchase one end of the year or early next year. I would like to get one as close to original as possible. I am finding conflicting photos. If you look at picture one, you can see that it has some metal going across the body and MOST of the ones I see don't have that. See pic two. Also notice in pic one, the steering wheel has a fat bottom part of the T. Most of the ones I see have a steering wheel like in Pic Three. I'm assuming Pic One has the original steering wheel. I also want to know how hard it is to find parts and are there any old manuals or magazines online that might show the 67 so I can see the original parts? Thank you for your help. One of these days I want to learn to repair the car myself. It's in my genes, my dad was a mechanic. :TU: Thank you for any possible help.


since I am new I cannot post the pics. I hope it's ok that I put the links anyway, since I am not trying to sell anything. please remove spaces and change DOT to . and paste in your browser.

pic one
w w w DOT adclassix DOT com/ads/67buickwildcat DOT htm

pic two

h t t p :// static DOT howstuffworks DOTcom/gif/1962-1970-buick-wildcat-18DOTjpg

pic three

h t t p : / / carphotosDOTcardomainDOTcom/ride_images/2/3365/2161/20911080021_largeDOTjpg

 

Welcome aboard Yolanda,

You've come to the best site around for anything Buick. I'm not familiar with the Buicks you're looking for, but there are alot of others on here that are experts. Good luck with your search.

Thom

 

Pic1
Pic2
Pic3............Ray

 

Hey Yolanda.

I will post some pictures of the 67, 4 door hardtop wildcat I purchased a few weeks ago, from what I understand nothing has been changed on my car except the wiper blades... and the exhaust.

just let me find some time to take the pics and a camera that doesn't take huge pics...

as for parts, I'm finding it rather hard to come up with interior restoration parts for this car. The guy I got the car off of just delivered some parts from another wildcat that was "recycled". I've got some doors with your "metal going across the body" and electric windows, A hood, a couple other random things... If you happen to come across any good companies in your searches let me know

ohh, and Welcome

 

Ive got some exterior pics online now, you can see some of the interior of the car... most of these pics are from the day I got the car, so I was trying to be artistic with my photos to make my car look in better shape than it is.

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
and Pic 5

I will post some interior ones when I have them...

~Christian

 

Yolanda,

Below are the pics you were referencing. I translated your links into web addresses, and linked the pics below:









My comments regarding your points are:

1) Regarding your question about the chrome strip along the swag line of the car, I see what you are referencing in pic #1. I have seen that metal detail on other late 60's Buicks also for the years where the car had the swag line (that curved shaped body contour on the sides of the car, running the length of the car). I think that was only an option on some cars, but I am not certain what specifically determined its presence. I had thought it was only present from '68 forward, but the ad you posted appears to be for a '67 car. Maybe someone else here can give you more specific info. I'm thinking it might only have been included on cars with a vinyl roof, but I am not certain.

2) Regarding the steering wheel, my '67 steering wheel looks like the one in the third picture. I have not seen one like the one in the first pic. My car is a '67 Electra convertible, so different model, but another '67 full-size Buick.

Good luck with your search for more info.

Rob

 

Yolanda:

You could buy a "regular" Wildcat and a Wildcat Custom for model year 1967, maybe that's where the difference in body mouldings is coming from ?

More 1967 Wildcat info:

 

I see! I wasn't expecting so many useful replies overnight. I'm already learning.

rg67beast and ROB_GRAY - Thank you for posting the pics for me!

I love that it's called a "swag line," because it does give the car it's swag. The '66 wildcat has some serious swag lines. Btw, I googled 67 buick electra, that is a nice car! Looks very much like this 67 wildcat. Looks like an impala in some pics.

That makes perfect sense. My dad had a "limited" LeSabre and a regular one and there were differences like this. That is a nice pic you posted too, makes me want a custom now. lol. Also, Thank you for that wonderful welcome!

Well, you did a great job because that car looks AMAZING! It looks clean and nice as heck! It looks like it has bucket seats, but it doesn't right? Thank you so much for showing me the pics and offering to take inside ones. I can't wait to see them. I will keep you posted on anything I come up with.

I have a few more questions for all of you. sorry. lol.

Were there some wildcats that were better than others? I only switched from the '65 to the '67 because I think it's prettier (you know us women) it's cuter to me, lol. But, I also like the 64, 65 & 66. If those were built better, I wouldn't be against looking into those as well. Or is that something I shouldn't worry about since this is 2009 and the car is over 30 years old and might have changes to the engine anyway?

 

Hey Yolanda,
Nice choice in selecting the Wildcat! I'm a big fan of the 65's, but the 67's have some beautiful features as well. I especially like the rocker trim. I've seen an identical car to mine with the trim along the swag line- I do not think that line needs to be emphasized as it is very bold on its own.

 

Key features to me for 65- last year the 4-speed manual was offered;
66- last year of the Nailhead dual quad option; Only year for the GS model Wildcat
67 First year for the 430; ST400 trans "switch pitch" still in there-awesome combo. :beers2:

 

Thanks for the info specialwagon65. That car is a beauty! I am jealous. The vinyl top is nice on the customs but I kinda like it all in one color as well. That custom is nice though. What is the red car next too your '65. Is that a wildcat too? How fast are these cars? I think I want a two door as well.

 

Yolanda,

Below are a few more links related to the '67 Buick line:

Technical info:
http://buicks.net/years/67/67tech.html

Production run (total vehicles produced with various options):
http://buicks.net/years/67.shtml


Full 1967 Buick line brochure (US):
http://www.tocmp.com/brochures/Buick/1967/FullLineUS/index.htm

Rob

 

Welcome! Nice to have another SoCal member.

 

I can answer the steering wheel question. There were two steering wheels used. The one with the wider horn bar was used in standard models and the one with the thinner three spoke horn bar was called a "sport" steering wheel and was used on the custom models.
I'm not sure I understand your question about metal across the body-do you mean body side moldings? If so, as far as I've been able to determine, there were only aftermarket companies that produced body side moldings for these cars. There was a company in the Chicago area that manufactered these. For some reason, they didn't make the moldings quite long enough for the front fenders, so they look short.
Buick typically differentiated a standard Wildcat from a Custom Wildcat by painting a dual pinstripe up the sculpted body line on the Custom cars.

 

It looks to me that it might be the pinstripe line your reffering to on the first pic? not metal trim but just a pinstripe following the body lines, picture of mine and a pic of a custom model sterring wheel

 

Doesn't look like a pin stripe to me:



More from the 1967 brochure:

 

I agree that there is a chrome trim piece that is showing on those pics. I've seen it on the swag line of some late '60's Electras as well. It appears that it might have only been put on the models with vinyl tops, but that is not entirely clear.

 

Hi Yolanda,

Looks like you've gotten answers to your questions.

FYI, if you come across photos of my '67 Wildcat, don't let them confuse you. It is a Wildcat, but the original side chrome and rocker moldings have been replaced with '67 Electra trim, so it's officially a "hybrid". p

Devon

 

lol, where can I see some pics?

Thank you so much for those links they are beyond great!

 

Devon