Hi All,

I was looking at a 68 cutlass and posted regarding what the value was vs asking price. Most felt it was overpriced. With that I started comparing prices off of the web. I came across a gold 68 442 with approx 60k orginal miles(owners say they have documents from orginal owners). The car was repainted one time and everything else is supposed to be original including the top. The car looks very nice from the couple of pictures. Owner is looking for 20k for it. it has AC and buckets seats with console shifter and rally wheels, Power drum brakes and pwr steering. 400 eng and 400 trans. Interior looks very nice. Can you give me your opinion on the price and value. Thanks, Joe

 

i do not know a value for it but what a beautiful car!

 

To me 20k is alot, but that car looks clean. I would do some digging to make sure that pup is as claimed b4 I bought, and would try to haggle, but I have seen less demanding more. Everything is a sliding scale with these things. Can you afford it? Do you want it? Are you comfortable with the agreed price? Those are the three biggest determining factors in a classic cars value IMHO. Hope this helps.

 

The pics you show look pretty. The fender stripe wasn't original, judging from it's position relative to the wheel trim. The wheels aren't painted the original color either, if that matters to you (should be argent).
More pics?

 

According to Steve Magnante and the Speedvision team and I quote..."documentation.....documentation.....docum entation!!!"....Barrett-Jackson is the standard....love it...hate it....envy Craig Jackson (sure beats my job....lol) I would get the VIN and check it all around for originality....just my 2 cents....I have the build sheet, protecto plate, window sticker on my 70 SX drop....even have the original invoice....over $5400.00...whew....thats was tall in 70.....Oldsdroptop

 

Owner said car was repainted, guessing they didn't place the strip exact. The rims appear to be a silver grey, I thought that was orginal? Maybe they repainted them as well?

 

I was planning on comparing vin plate to title, engine, and trans(if you can) Owner claims to have all original paper work. If that all matches could I assume legit?
Thanks for the help! Joe

 

Added other 2 pics-not real useful though

 

Seeing as I've now spent close to $30K now "restoring" my '68 442, and at the end of the day it's no longer going to be numbers matching, provided everything is legit, I'd say that's a pretty darn good deal. Everything looks either restored or in great condition. Check everything out--paperwork, block VIN numbers, trim tag, and make sure it's a 442. After that, try to talk him down to $18.5-19. If so, I'd definitely run with it. You can fix any minor issues as time goes on. I don't think $20K for how the car looks is a price to really be super nitpicky. At most, any changes will be minor.

It's a big plus he has all the original paperwork.

 

68Tom thanks for the info!

I plan to check things the best I can, unfortunately I am not an expert when it comes to this stuff I know the block vin is below the left manifold. If anyone has a picture that would be great. I believe the vin's all start with 344878 for the 442. Will the trim tag match as well(assuming body trim tag)?

Joe

 

For that money, the car needs to look as good in person as it does in the photos. In a cutlass (not 442), 20K buys you perfect. 12K buys you "looks great in photos". It is important that you get under the car and inspect every inch for rust. Since I assume you're from Jersey, and assume the car is too, it will likely have substantial repair or rust. Look for signs in the trunk, rear quarters, wheel wells, floor pan, and frame front to back. If you see anything at all, it is likely you missed some as well. The economy is tough and not many old cars are selling for the asking price. If you like what you see after inspection. Negotiate. It will be unlikely he has another buyer stepping up with cash.
Good luck.

 

I wasn't trying to dissuade you on the car. The sport steering wheel is excellent. The paint and interior look great in the photos. The wheels look black to me (argent is the correct color--the symbol for silver (Ag) is derived from argent). The paperwork is great, and you should definitely check out all the numbers to confirm it is a 442 and whatever else the seller says about it.

Joe P and others have talked about the 68 stripe on here many times. In 68, the 442 fender emblems were originally mounted in slightly different locations depending on whether the car was ordered from the factory with or without the stripe. If it originally came with the stripe, the stripe roughly bisected the distance between the back of the wheel well and the trailing edge of the fender, with the emblem centered in the stripe. without the stripe, the emblem was mounted a bit forward of this location.

Today you see a boatload of restored cars with the stripe centered on the emblem, but the stripe is not in the correct place on the fender, because the car didn't have it originally and the restorer didn't change the emblem location from a non stripe car (or fender), since that would require fill welding all the old holes and drilling new ones.

Another thing I just noticed--68 Super Stock II wheels didn't have the 5 central stainless bezels. For 68, the SSII was a 14 x 6 inch wheel. For that year only, the lip or rim of the trapezoidal cutout was painted silver. The lip around those cutouts may also have been slightly elevated.

Hope that info helps.
Eric

 

I hear you, car was suppose to have been local it's entire life, the rust definately worries me. Claims are that it is rust free, may be possible if the milage is true and the car has been stored. This is my number one worry though Thanks Joe

 

Hey Eric, Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate any and all comments. That is the reason why I am here. Mechanically I am familar with cars but when it comes to details I have very little knowledge of the 68 year. I did not know about the rims! I have seen a lot of 68's with the chrome on the cut outs and just assumed it was original.... Thanks for the info, Joe

 

Joe, you've been given very good and accurate advice here. Keep in mind that 99% of the time, pictures make a car look better than it really is. Sometimes *much* better.
Personally, I would never drop that kind of change on a car without personal inspection by you or someone you trust. Preferably both, in fact. A second set of eyes always helps.
With the exception of some minor detail, everything looks good. But what you can see in the pics is just the tip of the iceberg.
And good documentation is important to the value, as is number matching what they should. If the engine and trans are original, the VIN derivative stamped on them will match the VIN. "Has all of the original paperwork" *can* be golden, but it depends on exactly what he has. Like the original owners manual is relatively worthless. The original window sticker is extremely valuable.
Good luck!