Bearsy

HowStuffWorks "1954-1956 Oldsmobile 98 and Super 88"

I'm driving down the road in this small town out in Cattauragus County, and there's an auto shop selling two 56 Oldsmobile Super 88s. One's body is in terrible condition but has a real solid interior for 4500 obo and the other is 5k/obo and is in pretty great condition except it needs brakes also the chrome is rusty and the interior could do with a washing or two but other than that it's in great shape.

I'm getting a student loan soon and I have an option to tack on enough for a car. Would it be worth it to get this car? I've always loved classic cars and I love working on cars as well.

I'm driving past it again tomorrow and I'll stop and take some snaps.
Fucking beautiful car. Absolutely gorgeous. It runs fine, and I don't care if it takes me a year or two to fix it up, I'd be happy with it as it is now. Minus needing to add brakes obviously.

__________________

Bearsy

I've survived without a car for twenty years. I'm pretty good at getting around without one.

__________________

ionlylooklazy

I would go with something more reliable. I get the impression from your posts over the years that you have difficulty following through, and this could turn out to be a very costly lesson. Parts are going to hard to find and expensive. It's a high-risk buy for sure.

Bearsy

Yeah you're right, but Idk maybe I could use a lesson like that.

__________________

Man in Black

it depends man. do you want to make a project out of it? cars like that need a lot of TLC. but like in most scenarios I do say do what your heart tells you.

but good god almighty that is a beautiful American made masterpiece of a car. if you actually want to invest in it, especially considering how rare of a ride it is, customize it the way you like, and then when you ride through the hood, errybody knows it's Bearsy's ride.

a lot of kids are talkin shit because I bought a 1984 z28 as a project car but when I drop that cam and a supercharger in there they are all gonna be eatin dust. none of the older folks be hatin, just the kids with pimped out Hondas.

guy across the street has offered to buy my camaro 3 times now. my baby is not for sale.

__________________
When I was arrested I was dressed in black.

Bearsy

Yeah for about 10 years I've been wanting to rehab a classic. I'm always on the lookout for one that will present a challenge but not be impossible. Since its already most of the way done it's a good choice.
That's a big part of it, yeah. No one in my entire city is gonna be rocking this car. And like you said, its fucking beautiful. They just don't make them like they used to.
I was talking with madukes about this and she mentioned how much she hates new cars cause they all look identical with just a little bit of fiberglass decals that are different.

I really wanna do this, I have to take out a student loan for school this semester so I think I'm just gonna tack on what I need to pay for the car on top of it. Plus when I get a car I'll have a job ready for me so I'll be able to pay for it.

__________________

Man in Black

yeah you gotta think about how often a chance like this arises. if it's what you really want then go for it. or take out a 7 grand loan to get a faggy fucking kia like my younger brother.

__________________
When I was arrested I was dressed in black.

Flamingnun

If you've got the time and money, go for it. Be prepared to spend at least 300% of the sale price, getting it working properly though. And at least a few years, if you're doing it yourself. Old car renovation is srs business.

__________________

Mercury

Don't do it man. Normally I would advocate buying the coolest car possible and reliablity be damned! But a 56 Oldsmobile is liable to be cartoonishly problematic.

Bearsy

I got pictures. I have to run out the door but I'm gonna post them tonight. They're awesome.

__________________

Bearsy

I'm in love

__________________

Mercury

I gotta say they do look leagues better than i expected. but i'd like to see under the hood and also take a look at the under carriage for rust. rust is like cancer to a car. the body looks good. interior looks liveable too.

Flamingnun

That does look pretty good, and that hood ornament is p sweet. Only thing I'd be concerned about from the pics, is under the floor carpet in this pic, looks like there could be rust living under there. Not necessarily a big problem depending on the scale though, it's easily (read: cheaply) fixed if it's just a thin isolated patch.

Make sure you join a few Old's forums before you buy though, get advice on common problems, what to look for, and where. And make sure you check the BOTTOM of the chassis as well, and meticulously go over the engine.

__________________

Bearsy

So it's still for sale, which I don't know if that should set off alarm bells or not, but I'm working on a getting student loan for class and trying to finagle the money for a car into it as well. Once the loan goes through I'm gonna have a mechanic friend of mine come with me and give the car a twice over.
Oh man I want this baby.

__________________

Bearsy

I checked it out again, couldn't lift up the carpet too much as it was secured in, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of rust. I think it's just on the outside by the door.
And I don't know how I didn't notice before(now that I know it's there I can see it in the photos), but there's a Y shaped crack in the windshield from top to bottom, and that could be an issue. But at the same time, I could probably get them to take a solid grand, grand and a half off cause that's got potential to be somewhat costly to repair due to the abnormal shape of the window.
I'm keeping hope alive though.

__________________

Captain Cannabis

if you are serious about buying it give the guy like a 500$ deposit so he doesn't sell it to someone else while you are making up your mind.

old cars are a lot like a furnace to burn your money in

__________________
fuck the monkeys

osirus2020

Yeah man get some ground time with a flashlight and check out the undercarriage, the bad rust is usually where you can't see it. A shiny, freshly painted underside is usually a sign of an attempt to cover up rust.

I would bring it to a mechanic, have them do a good once-over, maybe a compression test on each cylinder, see how much brakes will cost and price out a new windshield before you decide to buy it.

Yeah...you know it's bad when it's no longer growing older, but becoming new part by part.

__________________



ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

SmokeSomeDoja

Whatever happened to getting a bike and biking across country? Is this kind of like that?

__________________
fotoz fo yo azz



"I've run over black cats that were luckier than me."

kamikazi89

im going to stick with the prizm for another year...there's a bunch of reasons they don't make cars like that anymore...mostly good ones

__________________
katie west is the best