Took my son to camp and saw a 71 or 72 cutlass conv. possibly a 442 in a back yard rusting away. Probably parts condition. I have a 71 conv. and probably could use some parts off of it. It has a OAI hood.

I would like ideas on how to approach the owner about the car. Not in a great area. I can almost hear banjo music coming from the house.

Thanks Larry

Going by the house again on Fri.

 

Just go in the middle of the night and take it. He won't mind.

 

tell them you have one just like it

ask how much they'd take for it.

be prepared for some knucklehead response

leave your name and number if they dont answer the door

 

I've done it before,
If the guy has had it for a number of years the " I'm gonna restore it some day disease" has probably set in. Be polite and tell him it will be a father and son project and If we ever decide to sell it we will let you have first chance to buy it back.
It worked for me and I sold the car back to my brother in law.
Dave

 

Like, "It's not for sale, I plan on restoring it one day", or "The same car sold on Barret Jackson for $100,000 a couple years ago, so since it's not in the greatest shape, I will take $40,000"

 

Dave's idea of a father and son resto project might work. The worst he can do is say it isn't for sale. Too bad there are so many knuckleheads around.

 

I've heard of guys putting an card under a wiper with a short note saying they'd seen the car and if by any chance it was for sale to call xxx-xxxx. Thought that was a pretty good idea. This way you know you won't be a complete stranger interrupting somebody, or catch 'em in a bad mood etc.

Of course this all hinges on:

1. The car having wiper blades
2. The person actually remembering the car is there
3. The person actually looking at the car

However you go about it... good luck! I had a friend ask a guy about a '75 Ninety Eight that had been sitting in a barn for years. Drove by it every day. One day he just knocked on the door and asked if it was for sale. Ended up getting it for $50 and drove it home!

 

I found my Cutlass SX Convertible in the carport of an unoccupied house, so there was no banjo music playing. There were a few other rare cars in the driveway like a Sunbeam Alpine and an old ****** Jeep, so I assumed he knew cars. Overtime I left a few notes on the windshield, and kept them pretty straight forward (no phony stories). Eventually I got a response from the guy, but he wasn't ready to sell just yet. About a year later I got another call and he was ready to talk. In the meantime, I tried to learn as much as I could about its' condition and value. When it came time to deal, we were both ready. Good Luck with yours!

 

Drove by and saw a 69 cutlass rusting away. The guy had painted on it. NOT FOR SALE. It sat there for 3 years. So I went up to the door one day and asked him if I could have it beings it wasn't for sale. Got it for $100. True Story.
Alb

 

Dont bother him!Just tell me where it is and i'll go check on it for you!hahahah.............Good luck,hope you get it bought,later,BO

 

i do this all the time. my wife loves it when i just stop at some strangers house with the entire family in the van. if i see an old oldsmobile somewhere i stop on the spot and find out everything i can. if for sale, if not do they have any parts, do they need parts, do they know of any other oldsmobiles around. every time but one it went very well, may not have got the car but give them my name and number so if they ever need anything to let me know and i can help. most of the time if i don't get it they will call me in a year or two. the one time it went bad, he told me to leave because he was tired of people jacking around with him on the car. after i got home i jumped in my Rallye 350 and went back. he seen my car and was willing to talk and i ended up with his car.

 

Just the OAI hood makes it worth going for. It might have some really nice options. As far as getting it? Talk some of your buds into : Stuff your mouth with cotton, put on an Armani suit, dark glasses and strap on your Glock so it's really visible. Then pay the house a visit and make them an offa dey cant refuse. You know whadimean? Forgetaboudit!! Da boys will be around later ta pick id up. Ya know, I like you....here's a c note, now beat it. Theres no room for 2 wiseguys in da same hood.

 

I actually was debating on doing something like this.

There was an 83 98 around the corner from my house just sitting in the driveway, now it's gone

I was going to slip a letter in the mailbox with my name and number. The worst that could happen is they throw the letter away

 

i am so bad that i seen an add on craigslist for a 442. i could not get hold of him so i looked his phone number and name up and found his address. i drove to his house and knocked on the door. i was to late, someone else done the same thing i did the night before and got the car. he said that his phone was dead and did not know it. he could not believe that people would just show up at his door for the car. i told him it was because it was a good deal and nobody wanted to miss it.

 

Well, technically it is a federal offense to use someone else's mailbox for any purpose. And since your mailbox actually belongs to the US postal service and not to you, the worst that could happen would be that you would be charged with tampering with federal property(i.e. opening and adding to) or you could actually be charged with impersonating a federal agent. Yes, the postman is a federal agent. Though not exactly the first person you think of when the words "federal agent" are used.
Not likely, but it is the U.S. government we are talking about. They could if for some reason they really wanted to.

 

First off I would just go and knock on the door and ask if they were interested in getting rid of the car. I would not mention sell as that would start that part of the conversation too soon.If they do want money and you think too much then say nothing but ask to look at the car with the person selling it. point out everything that is wrong but in a way where you are sounding disappointed ( like a badly rusted part is no good cause that's one of the parts you wanted , whether it is or not). Got to make it sound like you are doing him a favor cause it's not what you really wanted but it might have some good parts.

 

what is also neat when going to somebody's house,is then they tell you what the neighbors might want to sell.


i drove 40 miles to a a guy's house yesterday to buy a 70 Buick GS grille,i have to go back this weekend to pick up some old speed parts for a 324 Olds off his neighbor..

 

The ol' Jedi mind trick works for me.

 

Awsome!

This isn't the car you want to restore.

 

Thanks for the ideas will stop by on fri if I can. If I can't will get a address and mail something. It is not to far away will go by in my cutlass one weekend.
Will let you know what happens.
Larry

 

the 98 is back, with a new top and tires

i doubt someone going to sell it now

 

I've yet to make it work on my wife.

 

I have been driving past a house with a 70 442 Holiday coupe parked in the front yard for about 10 years. Every year I stop by, knock on the door and leave a note with my name & number. I met the owner back in 2000 and I just stopped by again today and knocked and the owner came out. I told him I am the person who keeps stopping by every year and if he was interested in selling the car. He said "no I don't want to sell it, I want to get it running" The car is rotting on every panel, the windshield leaks and the front cowl area is rusted, the bumpers have rust holes right through. The interior is black cloth with auto on column. I opened the hood years ago and noticed original air cleaner (no ram air) The one thing that keeps me going back year after year is the numbers I got from the carb: 7040256 and the original drivetrain. This guy is a little odd and the car is really gone. He thinks he's gonna restore it but it is gone. I want the car just for the carb. What do you guys think it's worth?
Anyways, I got to talking to him and he mentioned a car in a back yard up the street, I said where? he told me and I went up the street 1/2 mile and saw a 70 conv. with OAI hood in the back of another yard. I pulled in the drive and stared at the car. I said to myself " here we go again" I went up to the door and knocked with no answer. I then left a note with my name and number. As I was leaving a car pulled behind me in the drive. An older lady got out asked if she could help me. I said I was interested in speaking to the owner of the car. She said they are an older couple and she is their neighbor. She said O.K. I'll tell them when I see them. I said thanks and was on my way.
I guess you never know what you can find until you start poking around and asking questions. We shall see what happens. I'm not holding my breath.

 

have you stoped yet? keep us posted.

 

this is exactly how i find cars and old 3 wheelers. it is as much fun finding them as it is working on and driving them.

 

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Doesn't take much to stop and ask, or leave a note. Sometimes it is just being in the right place at the right time.
I can say it worked for me.

Back in the late summer 2001, I spotted an unfamiliar, but very nice '67 442 convertible parked at a local tavern. I left my "Oldsmobile business card" on his dash figuring he'd want to contact me, a fellow and *local* Olds guy.
Didn't hear from him until *2 years* later when he called me to tell me he wanted to sell the car and got my name and number from the card I left in his car. I ended up buying the car, and he never even advertised it for sale.
Yes, I still have it.

 

Was running late didn't get a chance to stop. Going to go back this weekend or next. will be a nice ride in my cutlass.
Larry

 

This might be mean to do, but I've known people to call the town or city or whoever and complain about the guy with the old, unregistered car on their property. In my area here, it is illegal to have any unregistered cars on your property, unless they are garaged! The town inspector goes down, leaves the people a summons, and a date that they either need to reg the car, (and you can't do that w/o insurance) or get rid of it! That's your "18 inches of daylight". Go down and act like your helping the guy out and take the car off his hands!

 

I've heard of it done that way. Seems a bit unethical. If Tony Soprano were into Oldsmobiles, I would imagine a similar scenario. I could probably only do that to a guy if he was a real a-hole.

 

We do things a little different here in NY....

 

Great post! I have gotten a number of cars over the years by either knocking on doors, leaving notes under wipers or my favorite:

I spotted a guy driving a white '76 Ninety Eight Regency right in my town one night and followed him into a shopping center parking lot (I know it sounds a little crazy!)...I was actually driving my black '76 at the time and this was the first time I had seen another one in years! It was in amazing shape and loaded with options. He was not at all into the car but was amazed to see another one like his. He had bought the car as a temporary means until he moved. Gave him my number and bought the car when he moved as he promised me.....what a home run that was!

I say knock on the door and be as polite as possible...you do need to be careful but if you come across well, you should have nothing to worry about. I like the father and son project idea...or maybe "my father had one just like that and I always wanted one for myself".

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Years ago, there was an old Porsche 911 marooned in a driveway on my father's way to work.

Every few months, he would stop, ring the bell, get no answer, and leave a note in the mailbox.

TEN YEARS later, he gets a call: "Hello, I'm the daughter of so-and-so with the Porsche. I'm afraid that my father has passed away. We were going through his things and found a stack of notes from you asking to buy it..."

Bought it for $50.

Of course, by then it was completely rotted away - the lights all fell out when it was trailered home because there was no metal left to hold them - but I still got a few thousand dollars worth of mechanical parts off of it for the 911 I was building at the time.

True story.

- Eric

 

Years ago I was a teenager looking for my first project car to tinker on. I saw a neighbor had an old 67 mercedes sitting in his yard. I knew it had been there for years. Looked like a fun/unique car so I knocked on the guy's door and asked if he wanted to sell. Unfortunately he said no. The next spring the Red River flooded like crazy and this car was swimming in muddy water. Too bad, I know it would've been saved if I had bought it. Such is life. I ended up working on a number of old VW's for years until lately I got my 66 Dynamic. Almost done fixing it up to drive now and looking forward to the future with this car.

 

I was recruited by a friend of mine to help him set up his drums at a college house party in about 1992. It was at a 3 flat in the north side of Chicago near Loyola. I was out back talking to some of the people there during a break when I noticed a car next to the side of the building. I asked the guy if that was a 70 Cutlass. He said yes. I asked if he knew who owned it and it was his. "What do you want for it"....."Ehh.....I'll take $400 for it". I gave him $200 on the spot and came back the next day and drove it home.

It was a 350/350 post coupe with quite a few options. A/C, P/S, power drum brakes, power trunk, the extra lighting under the dash, hood lamp, 2.56 posi,.....I can't remember what else. Unfortunatly I ended up scrapping the car. I really wish I hadn't done that but at the time I had nowhere to store what was left of it.

 

I have always gone up to the door and ask if their done with it. I don't even ask if it's for sale. When they say ya I think so. Then what would you take for it. I got $50 bucks..That has worked very well over the years. I have bought or got for free over 100 GTO's Trans AMs' and Olds this way.. I have sence got rid of everything. But it still works I bought a 63 Catalina 421 4sp 2dr hardtop for 25$ last year. It's not even a rust bucket. It just might work..

 

In my neighbors side yard is a 1968 complete camaro SS, I rode in it when my friend inherited it from his older sister who inherited it from her older brother. At that time it was restorable, some rust in the usual places but not at all wide spread. They have a large garage, if only it was stuck in the garage when he stopped driving it it would be a great project. Now it barely qualifies as a parts car. People do still knock at their door.

 

I can tell you first hand it is risky knocking on a strange door. I had my sites on a 70 442 in a back yard in south Dallas. My first and last time to try for this car, the door was answered by a man and a shot gun pointed at me, how rude!
I have had allot of success doing this though, My 72 442 came to me this way.

 

I have a number of options for you:

1) Ring the bell and tell the person that answers that you will offer $XX for the car. If they say no then say good-bye, but leave your name and number. When they realize that yours is the first and only offer in 20 years they will take it.

2) If you can spot the wife approach her first. I am sure she wants "that piece of junk out of her backyard"

3) Go to the house and tell them you are the town ordinance inspector and tell them they are in violation by maintaining a junkyard business. Then tell em that you'll do them a favor and remove it yourself for free - cause they are such nice folks

4) Tell them old cars are a bio-hazard and you are there to remove it at no cost because Federal super-fund money will cover it.

 

I once left a note on a '69 chevelle SS 4-speed 12-bolt up in Waukegan - got a call that evening, asking what I'd pay, including a '65 327 P/G 12-bolt El Camino?
Asked her what she was thinking, and she came back with $300, for both!!
Was back there in 1/2 hr. with cash!
While I was hooking-up the tow bar to the SS, a fireman pulled-up and asked if the El Camino was for sale. I asked what he was offering, and he said $250!! Wipped that title out in a 'New York Second', and he said he'd be back to get it, after handing me cash! Figured he could get it out, as it was to the rockers in mud, and the back was filled with pop bottles!
Towed it with my '65 2-dr wagon, swapped drivetrains, and made a 12 second wagon out of it! For $50 bucks, what a dea!!

 

I usually just stop and ask-haven't had any problems,especially if they see you are interested in maybe fixing it up.Usually they have kept it for a reason. I would never tell them up front I just wanted it for parts! I always stop whenever I see an Oldsmobile,in a back yard or even in a parking lot. One time I spotted a 70 442 across a dark bar-room parking lot,I was writing a note that i would like to see it and take pics in the daytime,the owner came out,we talked for about an hour about old muscle cars. He became my best friend,and I have done a lot of work for him and others he knows.That is how I got started working in the TV business! ---bil