I wouldn’t have seen this car if not for the forest fire.
We had booked a site at Grundy Lake Provincial Park for a week this summer, but it had been a hot dry summer up north and the park was evacuated and closed a few days before we were to go. Looking around quickly, Mrs DougD booked a vacant site at Mont Tremblant park in Quebec.
We decided to take the scenic route up, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere my kids spent most of this summer at a youth camp near Huntsville, so this journey started with a side trip to collect their laundry and wash it at the local laundramat. From there we went east on Highway 60 to visit relatives in Ottawa before entering Quebec, and in the thriving metropolis of Barry’s Bay Ontario there was a CC to be had:
A servicable looking 1959 Buick, with those cool outward sweeping wiper arms resting on the FOR SALE sign. $3,000? Not bad. Oh wait, there’s no motor or tranny. And AS IS underlined, that’s not a good sign. (Get it? A good sign?)
For a non-GM guy, I really like 1959 Buicks although I’m not sure what model this is. As the fashion of finned cars reached it’s crescendo is this the only car I can think of that had fins on both the front and rear? Of course they toned it down for 1960, and by 1961 the fins were gone but the 59 is just so… uncompromisingly finny.
This must be the AS IS, which is different from as was, or as supposed to be. I see homemade patch panels, rust, tar, and I think some fibreglass poking out there. What I do not see is a missing chunk of the frame.
The iconic Nailhead V8 is gone, but the iconic aluminum brake drums remain
The interior is not hopeless, looks like some recovering of soft surfaces and different carpet, but at least everything appears to be there and usable. Unbroken glass is a plus on this car too.
I recently read some wisdom by JP Cavanaugh here which I think we can apply in this case:
I have always broken a car down to 3 main areas – body, interior, mechanical. My rule for a fixer upper is that when any 2 of the 3 are good, go for it. If you really love the car I could see it if even 1 of the 3 is good.
I give this car 0 for the body, 1 for the interior and -2 for the mechanical, so overall we’re at -1. Halve the price and it’s a good parts car for someone.
I’m really glad we got to see this interesting car at the side of the road, but since we were already pulling a trailer with our van there was no way we were taking this one home.
Further Reading:
Shot in Barry’s Bay Ontario July 2018. I don’t know if it’s still there, drive up yourself if you must know.
$3K with the trailer, maybe? A slightly better deal, but no motor, trans and effectively no frame makes this Buick a pretty sad deal. Even in Canadian dollars.
I know where there is a supposedly good 425ci Buick engine and a transmission. Comes with a free Great Dale House Car, or sold separately…
I believe that’s a LeSabre, Brad Hamilton in Fast Times had a ’60 version of the cruising vessel with the “toned down” front end…”Four more payments, gentlemen, and this beautiful four-door luxury sedan is all mine…”
Came for the cruising vessel comments, was not disappointed!
Heres the problem: Quebec plates. If it had spent ANY time in the beautiful Province of Quebec, the rust monster lurks in plain sight. Its a well known fact that everything rusts in Quebec. EVERYTHING. Metals, plastic, glass…everything. The fact that this one has intact glass leads me to think it was an oversight by the monster. Here in BC we regularly see Quebec plates driven by rough looking “earthy types”, on their way to fruit picking or some such endeavour, and I flat out marvel at just how bashed things get in their home Province. Mind you, Quebec is close to Ontario, at least geographically, and oiling your car regularly in Ontario is as much a constant like death and taxes, and doing that at least makes it last. If nothing else, you get used to the sight of blackish oily grime creeping out from every panel gap signalling its presence. Almost like diesel grime, but everywhere. But Quebec….Sweet Jesus….the rust…How a ’59 anything still exists in that climate leads me to one conclusion: Cars from then were just replaced and decently cared for units quickly got stored in a garage, or later picked up as a “collector car”. Either way, low miles, reasonable condition with caveats.
On the advice though, this is a parts car only, and if one was looking to restore anything, the body, trim condition is primary, interior followed by mechanical. A blown trans, hooped brakes or smoking engine can be sorted. A rust bucket never will have the potential, only the misery.
A ’59 low rent sedan? 1500$ is pushing it. (pun intended)
Ah, my rule is getting some traction. If this car was a great runner with a good original interior, I would be all over it even with some of its rust and paint issues. A long-time garaged car with a great body and good original interior would be fine even with no engine or transmission. And so on.
Yeah, I’m getting a zero out of 3 here. The last car that suckered me in on a zero out of 3 score was my 61 Thunderbird. I finally gave up on that one and considered it a life lesson.
Based on my experience. If was a great runner with a great interior the search would be on for a solid body. Then move the parts and build a good car from there.
At one time I owned a 1965 Corvair Monza. Nice original exterior, awesome interior. 95hp/pg. Inspection of the body (I was still learning) showed it was gone.
I since bought a ’66 Corvair Corsa to replace it. Solid Arizona body. Nothing else. Traded the ’65 Monza for a ’66 140 engine and 4 speed trans. In the end built a nice ’66 140 Corsa. I made an economical dead end. But turned out pretty decent.
I digress. The Buick is a great parts car.
Bob
Fins both front and rear? How about the 1961 Imperial?
Even better – horizontal AND vertical fins on the same car!
My old heap was bought using a similar rule it was nearly complete it did run but didnt drive, there were holes in it it had not been crashed and wore the factory paint, rust is easy to fix brake and clutch hydraulic parts are easy to get and I’m still driving it occasionally it passed a warrant of fitness last week and got a years rego on thursday. But only has fins at the back.
Rust is easy to fix?
I wish someone would show me how, because I’ve never been able to stop it once it’s started.
Rust is cancer.
Bryce is from New Zealand, his idea of rust is unlike those who live in the salt belt.
Rust is the opposite of cancer as it destroys instead of uncontrolled growth. Rust is leprosy.
By cutting the affected panel out and fabricating and welding in a new piece, easy is only my point of view YMMV.
Different perspectives from opposite sides of this great orb that we travel on. Best wishes over on your side.
Nope. Parts, MAYBE.
I’d be curious if the engine and tranny are lurking in that old shed. Or any of the other outbuildings.
Maybe bought as a parts car for someone building an old-timey hot rod who wanted to run a nailhead?
But who wants a hot rod with a Dynaflow?
The chrome has to worth something, since so much of it and in good shape. Always hear about “hard to find trim pieces” for older cars.
They must be kidding. Maybe a late night with too much Molson?
The finned aluminum drums would indicate that it was an Invicta. A friend’s father traded their ’54 Super on a ’59 LeSabre (no aluminum drums). I still remember the car with disgust. it was a wallowing pig, no comparison with the Super in any way.
The featured car is a LeSabre. The Invicta had different armrests, a nicer interior, rocker panel moldings and Invicta badging on the front fenders, along with the Wildcat 445. Also, all 1959 Buicks, including the LeSabre, had the aluminum drums. (See 1959 Buick brochure at oldcarbrochures.com)
The first car with fins on both front and rear was the ’41 Dodge. (Admittedly the fins were bolted on, but they were still fins.)
As noted above already, parts only, and not a cent over $1500.
Here’s my opinion from a guy who doesn’t know much about cars but who is a first-class cheapskate and ferocious shopper: this is a transparent ripoff.
I wouldn’t go that far, it’s only a ripoff if it was sold on Ebay without mentioning the rust or lack of drivetrain.
Keep in mind where it’s at, this is a long, long way from anywhere rustfree old cars can be had for cheap.
An old post but this popped up on google on my search for ’59 Buicks for sale. Let me tell you the story of this car. This ones been around the block so many times. It was sitting at a shop in Toronto where the customer realized the car would cost too much to restore. At this point the motor and trans was sitting in the trunk in pieces. Sold for $750 on autotrader in 2014. In 2016 it popped up for sale with the motor and trans rebuilt but not installed in the car for around $5gran near Niagara Falls. And evidently by this post, someone bought it, took the rebuilt motor and trans for another project and put it up for sale in eastern Ontario. I wonder if this car is still for sale somewhere or if someone finally put it out its misery and scrapped it.