1971 442 Convertible
December 6th, 2017, 06:34 AM
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Merrill, WI
Posts: 787
1971 442 Convertible
I have decided to sell my 71 442 convertible. It's a one family owned, numbers matching, pretty much unmolested with the one repaint, lifetime Georgia car. I thought I would list it here first before listing it elsewhere
Equipment
455 V8 Turbo400 Automatic, Power Steering , PowerDisc Brakes. Air Conditioning Power Top, Split Bench Seat Interior, Dual Sport Mirrors with Left Hand Remote
AM/FM radio with rear seat speaker, Under dash 8 track tape player, Tinted Glass VisorVanity Mirror, Door Edge Guards Sport Steering Wheel, SSII Wheels
Car History
Lansing Built TR980 = Black Split Bench Seat Interior
Paint Code 75 = Matador Red TopCode A = White convertible top
Build Code 06A = First week of June 1971 – a very late production’71 car.
The following information is from the estate of theprevious owner as well as my own research:
The car was purchased new at Robertson Oldsmobile inGainesville, GA sometime in the late summer of ’71. The Robertson location stillexists as a Cadillac/Mazda dealership. I was told that the senior Mr. McClureactually bought two 442 convertibles that day – this one for himself andanother for his lady friend. There is no trace of the second car. McClure Sr.appears to have driven the car sparingly until his passing (date unknown). Atthat time the car was passed on to his only son – McClure Jr. He also appearsto have driven it rather sparingly. The car was last legally registered byMcClure in GA in 2002. McClure Jr. passed away in 2014 and his estate was settled late that year. I bought the car at the McClure’s estate auction nearGainesville on Jan. 1 of 2015.
The odometer reads 44,959. I have absolutely no proof thatit is actual but there is evidence to suggest that it likely is.
Engine &Transmission
Numbers matching
There is no evidence that the engine has ever been out ofthe car or that any major repairs have been required. Many, but not all, of theclamps and fittings under the hood are unique and original to the car, againsuggesting low mileage. The engine runs great and appears to have nosignificant issues. While I would never drive a car like this long distances, Iwould not hesitate to use it locally. The transmission works perfectly. Itseems to shift a little more firmly than I recall but that could just be badmemory on my part
Known Issues
Air Cleaner base – for reasons knownonly to them, the previous owner drilled two holes in the front of the aircleaner base. They are clearly visible above. They do not affect drivability.
The body overall is in great shape. The panels appear to beall original to the car and I can find no evidence of collision damage The carhas been painted once in the original color but it has not held up particularlywell – it appears a little cloudy. It is possible that a good detailer couldbuff this up quite nicely but the car will need paint at some point in order tobe its best.
There are some dings and scrapes on the body. There are twoareas of rust, neither of which is particularly visible at first. The left fromfender has a rust through lower on it. It’s an easy patch job or could be replaced.However, if I were doing it, I would keep all of the original sheet metal onit. The other is the right rear quarter panel with a small area near the wheel.
There are no rips or tears and the top works perfectly. Therear window is glass and in good shape. The black boot is present and usablealthough it has been stored in an awkward way and doesn’t lay flat. They arereadily available.
Interior
Interior has the optional front bench seat with fold downcenter arm rest and column shift. It also has the under dash 8 track tapeplayer (with The Greatest Hits of Tammy Wynette included) I have no idea if the tape player works as Ihave never tried it. It also has the AM/FM radio with rear seat speaker. Thecarpet was bad in the driver’s foot well when I got the car. It really botheredme so I pulled the entire interior out of the car one weekend and replaced. It.The floor pans appear perfect and rust free. I put down new sound insulationand new jute padding as well. I did not glue anything down as I intended totake it all again someday. I also replaced the arm rest pads and chrome backingplates on both doors as they just didn’t look good. I cleaned up the arm restbases but they need more work to match. The seat belts also need a really goodcleaning. There is on seam split on the passenger side of the bottom frontcushion. Everything else is in great shape. When I had the interior out of thecar I also checked and filled the hydraulic fluid reservoir for the top. Itworks perfectly
As a Lansing car, there is no build sheet. I do have twobroadcast cards for the car. The first one was hog ringed to the back seatbottom cushion. The other one was under the carpet next to the end of thepassenger side bench seat. They are identical and show that the car was builton June 24th – a very late car.
Trunk
As you can see the trunk needs detailing. It includes thefactory original floor mat. I did not want to tear that up but in the areas Icould see, it looks perfect. I am confident there is no rust hiding underneathit. I was shocked to discover that it was the factory original G70-14 UniroyalTiger Paw WSW that came with the car! It has clearly never been on the groundas all of the original mold separation lines and markings are present. Thebackside is perfect and still shows where the factory marked for and installedthe balancing wheel weight. I have never found one of these before.
Underside
The underside appears to be almost totally rust free. Theframe is as remarkably clean and rust free as only a southern or western carcan be. There is a pretty good covering of red Georgia dirt and a few hornet’snests from storage but everything else looks great.
The car is in remarkable condition but it isn’t perfect. Otherthan the one repaint, it appears to be pretty much unmolested and surprisinglyoriginal. It is very presentable as a driver but would also make a greatcandidate for a full restoration – which was my original plan for the car. Betweenthe photos and descriptions here and the separate photo files I will send, Ibelieve I have described everything fairly and accurately. I would prefer notto sell the car but priorities do change and this is one of those cases.
I would like to get $30,000 for the car but would bewilling to listen to reasonable offers. Cars in this condition and miles arejust getting very hard to find and I think it’s worth it. Lets talk.
Randy
VIN # 344671M208403
Equipment
455 V8 Turbo400 Automatic, Power Steering , PowerDisc Brakes. Air Conditioning Power Top, Split Bench Seat Interior, Dual Sport Mirrors with Left Hand Remote
AM/FM radio with rear seat speaker, Under dash 8 track tape player, Tinted Glass VisorVanity Mirror, Door Edge Guards Sport Steering Wheel, SSII Wheels
Car History
Lansing Built TR980 = Black Split Bench Seat Interior
Paint Code 75 = Matador Red TopCode A = White convertible top
Build Code 06A = First week of June 1971 – a very late production’71 car.
The following information is from the estate of theprevious owner as well as my own research:
The car was purchased new at Robertson Oldsmobile inGainesville, GA sometime in the late summer of ’71. The Robertson location stillexists as a Cadillac/Mazda dealership. I was told that the senior Mr. McClureactually bought two 442 convertibles that day – this one for himself andanother for his lady friend. There is no trace of the second car. McClure Sr.appears to have driven the car sparingly until his passing (date unknown). Atthat time the car was passed on to his only son – McClure Jr. He also appearsto have driven it rather sparingly. The car was last legally registered byMcClure in GA in 2002. McClure Jr. passed away in 2014 and his estate was settled late that year. I bought the car at the McClure’s estate auction nearGainesville on Jan. 1 of 2015.
The odometer reads 44,959. I have absolutely no proof thatit is actual but there is evidence to suggest that it likely is.
Engine &Transmission
Numbers matching
There is no evidence that the engine has ever been out ofthe car or that any major repairs have been required. Many, but not all, of theclamps and fittings under the hood are unique and original to the car, againsuggesting low mileage. The engine runs great and appears to have nosignificant issues. While I would never drive a car like this long distances, Iwould not hesitate to use it locally. The transmission works perfectly. Itseems to shift a little more firmly than I recall but that could just be badmemory on my part
Known Issues
Air Cleaner base – for reasons knownonly to them, the previous owner drilled two holes in the front of the aircleaner base. They are clearly visible above. They do not affect drivability.
- It appears that the previous owner didnot like the shiny power brake booster and master cylinder as both, along withparts of the firewall, have been painted black with a spray bomb. An odd thingto do but it doesn’t affect function.
- The heat riser to the air cleaner ismissing and several vacuum hoses are plugged. I’m not sure if they should bebut the car seems to run well just the way it is.
The body overall is in great shape. The panels appear to beall original to the car and I can find no evidence of collision damage The carhas been painted once in the original color but it has not held up particularlywell – it appears a little cloudy. It is possible that a good detailer couldbuff this up quite nicely but the car will need paint at some point in order tobe its best.
There are some dings and scrapes on the body. There are twoareas of rust, neither of which is particularly visible at first. The left fromfender has a rust through lower on it. It’s an easy patch job or could be replaced.However, if I were doing it, I would keep all of the original sheet metal onit. The other is the right rear quarter panel with a small area near the wheel.
There are no rips or tears and the top works perfectly. Therear window is glass and in good shape. The black boot is present and usablealthough it has been stored in an awkward way and doesn’t lay flat. They arereadily available.
Interior
Interior has the optional front bench seat with fold downcenter arm rest and column shift. It also has the under dash 8 track tapeplayer (with The Greatest Hits of Tammy Wynette included) I have no idea if the tape player works as Ihave never tried it. It also has the AM/FM radio with rear seat speaker. Thecarpet was bad in the driver’s foot well when I got the car. It really botheredme so I pulled the entire interior out of the car one weekend and replaced. It.The floor pans appear perfect and rust free. I put down new sound insulationand new jute padding as well. I did not glue anything down as I intended totake it all again someday. I also replaced the arm rest pads and chrome backingplates on both doors as they just didn’t look good. I cleaned up the arm restbases but they need more work to match. The seat belts also need a really goodcleaning. There is on seam split on the passenger side of the bottom frontcushion. Everything else is in great shape. When I had the interior out of thecar I also checked and filled the hydraulic fluid reservoir for the top. Itworks perfectly
As a Lansing car, there is no build sheet. I do have twobroadcast cards for the car. The first one was hog ringed to the back seatbottom cushion. The other one was under the carpet next to the end of thepassenger side bench seat. They are identical and show that the car was builton June 24th – a very late car.
Trunk
As you can see the trunk needs detailing. It includes thefactory original floor mat. I did not want to tear that up but in the areas Icould see, it looks perfect. I am confident there is no rust hiding underneathit. I was shocked to discover that it was the factory original G70-14 UniroyalTiger Paw WSW that came with the car! It has clearly never been on the groundas all of the original mold separation lines and markings are present. Thebackside is perfect and still shows where the factory marked for and installedthe balancing wheel weight. I have never found one of these before.
Underside
The underside appears to be almost totally rust free. Theframe is as remarkably clean and rust free as only a southern or western carcan be. There is a pretty good covering of red Georgia dirt and a few hornet’snests from storage but everything else looks great.
The car is in remarkable condition but it isn’t perfect. Otherthan the one repaint, it appears to be pretty much unmolested and surprisinglyoriginal. It is very presentable as a driver but would also make a greatcandidate for a full restoration – which was my original plan for the car. Betweenthe photos and descriptions here and the separate photo files I will send, Ibelieve I have described everything fairly and accurately. I would prefer notto sell the car but priorities do change and this is one of those cases.
I would like to get $30,000 for the car but would bewilling to listen to reasonable offers. Cars in this condition and miles arejust getting very hard to find and I think it’s worth it. Lets talk.
Randy
December 6th, 2017, 09:58 PM
#7
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Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 13,738
December 7th, 2017, 03:56 AM
#8
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Merrill, WI
Posts: 787
Thanks guys for the positive comments.
70Post - the tape is definitely included with the car
Fun71 - Seriously? Alright everybody, the car is no longer a one family owned car since I am not a member of the original owners family. Jeeez!
70Post - the tape is definitely included with the car
Fun71 - Seriously? Alright everybody, the car is no longer a one family owned car since I am not a member of the original owners family. Jeeez!
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