1969 Oldsmobile

Wagon

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

Gasoline

Up for auction is a rare piece of American automotive history. This is a 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon, 8 passenger with the rare-for-its-time forward-facing third row seat. It has the faux wood grain on the sides, and the skylight triple rear window arrangement. I don't see these come up for sale very often, especially not the pre- 1970 cars. A little history behind this one: I bought this car about 2 years ago from a fellow in Charlotte, NC. The car had belonged to his uncle, and they used to all pile into it and drive to Myrtle Beach back in the 1970's. The last time the car was registered was 1985. The owner passed away, leaving the car in a covered garage where it sat for about 20 years. They started it periodically, but didn't drive it (since it wasn't registered) and after they lost the storage space for it, they decided to sell it. I bought it, and trailered it home, hoping to get it back on the road where it belonged. When I first got the Vista, I pulled the plugs and shot oil down the cylinders, and the engine did turn over freely. I cleaned it up a bit, and fiddled with the engine but never actually got it running. Things came up, and the car languished for some time. I just pulled it into my garage again a few days ago, tried to turn the crank with a wrench, and couldn't. The starter wouldn't turn it, either. So, something is wrong with the engine, and I just don't have the time nor the money to put into it right now. Hence, I am putting it up for sale. First, the bad: As I said above, the engine (The venerable Oldsmobile Rocket 350) does not run, and appears to be stuck. However, it has only been stuck for at most a year or two, so its possible that it may not need to be rebuilt. As I've never heard the engine run, I know nothing about the condition of the transmission, or the rest of the drive train. I know the brakes do not work and will likely need a full overhaul. It has drum brakes all the way around. The steering seems to work fine. The tires are round and hold air for a day or two, but are dry rotted and leak slowly. This Vista has rust where (apparently) most Vistas have rust- the back glass area. As you can tell from the pictures, the window openings rusted out under the stainless trim strips, and the strips won't stay on anymore. (I do have all this trim.) Luckily, there are only a couple of spots around the large center window (the one with the sun visors on it) where the metal is actually rusted through, but all 5 of the back windows have rust around them. The weather stripping around the windows has gone bad, and water has leaked in. The carpeting is pretty well shot, as is the headliner. The sun visors are dirty, but possibly salvageable. The interior trim around the back windows is rusty, too. The seats seem to be in decent condition, with the exception of the driver's seat which is torn up, as you can see in the pictures. The glass is all there, but the large center window does have a crack in in and some chips. The rest of the glass has no cracks. The windshield is delaminating around the edges, maybe 3/4" in from the edges. The tint is bubbling and peeling from the three top windows around the back. There appears to be some water leaking in from around the windshield as well. All that being said, there are positives about the Olds. The body is pretty straight, especially for a wagon. Most old wagons got used up, beat up, and crushed. They were utilitarian vehicles. But this one is remarkably clean. The doors and hood all open and shut perfectly, and the door windows all roll up and down. The back window is electric, and it does not roll down nor up but the motor does make a clicking noise, so its trying. It may just need some encouragement. Since I've never gotten that back window down I don't know about the condition of the tailgate, but it doesn't appear rusty or damaged. The car is equipped with factory air conditioning, which appears to be all there. The fan motor works. There are only two dents that I've seen on the car. There is a slight crease in the front driver's side fender. I tried to take a picture of it, but it's hard to see. It doesn't even appeared to have taken the paint off. The other damage is the driver's side rear bumper, which has a crease in it (you can see this in the picture). Apart from the obvious rust in the back window area, the rest of the car is pretty solid. There is some rust through in the lower rear storage compartment and the passenger side rear lower well. I took pictures of these. The floorboards are still solid, as are the rockers, door jambs, etc. Once the rear glass rust is dealt with, the rest of the cosmetic restoration should be pretty straightforward. The car still wears its original paint, too. The mileage is listed as 109,658. The odometer, of course, reads 9658 but the previous owner told me that it had rolled over one time. Since the car was only on the road for 16 years or so, this story seems legitimate. As for the title: The previous owner did have a clean NC title in his name. He signed this, and gave it to me when I bought the car. I apparently did a good job of putting it in a secure place as I can no longer find it. I never had it transferred to my name nor did I sign it. I will keep looking for the title and if I find it, obviously the winning bidder will get it. However, if I don't, the winning bidder may have to apply for a replacement. On a vehicle this old, it should not be a big deal. Bidding: I'm starting the bidding at what this car is worth as scrap. Please do not infer that this means that this is what I think the car is worth. I simply want this to be a "true" auction and I don't want this rare old car to go to scrap. It really does deserve to be restored, I just can't give it the attention it needs, and I don't want it to sit around gradually deteriorating. I do not have a reserve on the car, other than the starting bid, so high bidder gets it. A $500 deposit will be due within 1 week from auction end, with the balance due on pickup. Deposit may be made using Paypal. I'm pretty flexible with pickup, obviously the sooner the better but if it has to be 2-3 weeks I can keep the car that long until you can come pick it up. I do have a truck and trailer, and I can deliver the car pretty much anywhere for $1 per loaded mile from my house. Or you can arrange for your own pickup and delivery, I'll work with you and the car transport company. Please note that all costs associated with pickup and delivery are the responsibility of the buyer. Also, there is no warranty on the car of any kind. The car is sold as-is where-is. If you have any questions, please ask. If you email me with your phone number, I will call you, if you prefer to talk over the phone rather than email. If you want to come see the car in person I absolutely encourage this, and will work with you to show you the car. The car is located near zip code 29690, in South Carolina. Thank you -- Mike