Rusty But Trusty

If you’re looking to get the most metal for the fewest dollars, and the vintage truck option has been nixed, you can’t do any better than an older American wagon. Wagons of the 1950s with exciting features like fins and lots of chrome that are in relatively good condition have become popular and correspondingly expensive, but the same has not yet happened to 1960s and early 1970s wagons with relatively clean, uncluttered designs and improvements in safety, handling, and reliability. Which brings us to this 1966 Buick Special wagon for sale for $1750 in McCleary, WA.

This pale gold/green metallic is perfect on cars of the period, and does a great job of highlighting the car’s form while allowing the chrome to blend in more subtly than on a dark-colored car. This particular car is said to be equipped with the 300ci V8, likely equipped with a 2-barrel carburetor and good for 210hp and 310 lb.-ft. of torque. Upgrading to 11.0:1 compression pistons and a 4-barrel carburetor would give you another 40hp and 25 lb.-ft. – something to keep in mind for the rebuild. Not that this car necessarily needs one, as it’s said to run well, or at least it did when it was started last fall. Does the rear wheel look a little askew in the above picture?

There is no notable rust to be seen on these pictures, but the paint is oxidized. Its title status is said to be parts-only, but the owner is confident getting a new title will be easy with a DMV form and renewed registration – is it really that easy in Washington state? You may want to actually do the purchase transaction at a DMV if you intend to get this back on the road. Green on white plates suggest this car has been there for most, if not all, of its life. Interestingly, the 300 V8 was a bored and stroked version of the famous 215, using a cast iron block and aluminum heads, though in 1965 the head material was changed to cast iron. Buy this car, do it up, and you could spend your weekends driving around looking for the perfect mid-century modern house to outside of which to park it.

Tags: american, buick, Feature, special, under $2000, wagon

This entry was posted on December 14, 2015 at 11:29 am and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.