Saw a '69 El Camino for sale off the highway last night, and called the owner asking what he wanted for it. (It didn't have a for sale sign, but I figured it wasn't going anywhere soon). It was behind a shed, front end sitting pretty high (I'm thinking no engine) The back end FULL of junk (radiator, mufflers, misc. junk). Anyway, I called the guy and talked to him. Of course it's a familiar story. He's had the car since he was 15, is going to restore it (it's been sitting for 15 years). It has no engine or transmission or interior. It does have a dash and steering wheel, that's about it for the interior. The body panels are all very weather checked and faded, but miraculously, no rust. All body panels are accounted for except the front bumper. It was a small block car (non-SS). And he recently bought a big-block hood for it (that's what caught my attention). He SAYS he paid $500 for the hood, and he also bought another Elky for parts to 'restore' it. With all this being said, he says (hesitantly) that he would need to get $2500 for it. WTF?!?

Saw a '69 El Camino for sale.... didn't have a for sale sign...No offense meant here...
-but the car had NO for sale sign on it The guy said he really didn't want to sell it cause he was gonna fix it up. You pressed him for a price- he gives it to you....

What is the problem? Yeah, that is way too much for a car in that condition, but then again, he really didn't want to sell it in the first place did he? If you really wanted to "SAVE" the car from him, he actually gave you a chance, so why the complain about the price? He's doing you a favor by selling it, not vice versa.

I don't get why people get so pissed that other people won't GIVE AWAY their stuff to someone who just happens along one day to ask about it.

Yeah I see what you mean. I did have visions of some old guy 'forgetting' about the car and just saying 'haul it away and it's yours'. Or a wife for that matter, tired of junk laying around the yard. We actually had a pretty good conversation over the phone - neither of us hung up angry or thinking the other was being unreasonable. Although reading my post I understand how you got that. If someone asked to buy my '68, I would probably shoot them a high-ball number too.

Well, the more you look around these days, $2500 for ANY rebuildable project with a title isn't really too far out of line.

Cam

You guys are making me feel a whole lot better about the hunk of rust I picked up. I'll leave the price out of it :eek: . Why is it I can help my friends buy cars and save them $$$ but when I see one I want I pee all over myself, forget what to look for, and pay no less than $100 more than what they were asking to begin with? My wife loves this quality in me... graemlins/clonk.gif

Ah, the great conundrum of car values: "the one I already own is valuable, but the one I want to buy everyone should sell to me for dirt". I see this ALL the time. Why don't we turn this around and ask just how much you would sell your '68 Elky SS for?

Over the years I have sold several cars that didn't have for sale signs in them. Sometimes a fair minded buyer actually completes a purchase. More often it plays out badly with me telling the would be buyer to get their fat gypsy backside as far away from me as possible.

Thomas

I always hope for a real low price and never lose money on a sale. But thats just me. If someone wants more than I am willing to pay then no thanks and no hard feelings. Speaking of pricing on Elkys I just picked this one up for 2k and its not for resale even though I had a double the price offer while I was unloading it off the car carrier. It's much more complete then it looks in the pic.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/jnorth/70elky.JPG

It's funny how these projects creep up on you,
I picked up my 72 el camino after seeing a for sale sign onthe window, owner wanted $500 with no interior but a cracked dash no wiring door panels, no motor trans but it did have a 12 bolt and disc brakes and ac. car sat in their side yard for a year but when my friend talked to the owner about a tranny core in the bed she said the price was $425 and her husbandhad installed a wiring harness from another el co and threw in a bed full of parts. then a month ago I drove past a 72 chevelle in a driveway with no motor ar trans I left a note on the door to see whats up and the owner says he's pulling the doors (2dr) trunk lid and rear bumper and having the rest hauled to the junk yard. Needless to say we swapped some motor parts and the 2 door is now in my side yard waiting for motor tranny install.

OK so now I'm feeling like a thief. I paid $800 for my rough but complete, running '69 el camino custom. Drove it home. I put a rebuilt carburetor on it. It passed smog, and it's now my daughter's school ride. It now has a nice new interior, and we're prepping for paint. Her friends think it's cool! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Skip

See two 70 model ones on 45 going to Dallas all the time.One sitting in a back yard looks complete.The other full of stuff in the bed sitting in a field.Always want to talk to them but have a big enough project already.

i saw mine in an auto trader several years ago, listed for $1900 i checked it out and offered him $1700 he says no thanks and i said fine and forgot about it. several months later it shows back up in the auto trader (same seller) this time listed for $1700, i offer $1500 and he takes it. in the big scheme of things that whole deal of a couple or three hundred dollars here or there is totally irrelevant, but in the midst of negotiations it seems important. no real point to my post. just thought i would throw that in.

Hey 79943, I'm from Goose Creek too. Fixing up a 65 but it's going slow.

great! i love those 64 65's. i think most projects go slow especially for those of us who have to work around time and budget restraints. i see a really sweet looking red 66 SS (chevelle) cruising around on 176 once in a while but i dont know who he is or anything about the car other than it looks really nice. keep us posted on your project.

I think it depends where you live.

$900, 1968 CHEVROLET EL CAMINO needs restoration , everything there, $900 obo 562-833-2812


$1,900, 1965 CHEVROLET EL CAMINO 4spd, 350, straight bdy, fixer upper, #1R95900, $1,900 310-522-9896

I see a 1966 Elky almost every day on the way home. It's at some sort of a machine shop and has a bunch of stuff stacked in the back. It looks like it's being used as a storage bin. I'm afraid to ask anything about it though. Besides the obvious that I don't need another Elky, I'm also afraid he'll tell me he wants $5000 for it (and that I'll tell him how much I think it's worth!). I really hate to see it just sitting there rusting away though, especially in the rains we've had recently.
I know I saw a 72 Camaro sitting in a parking lot for years. it was pretty straight, no engine, "multicolored". Then, one day, a for sale sign appeared in the window for $7900. What was that guy on?
Nice 70 Elky BTW, with the exception of the front clip, it looks better than mine was when i got it and I paid $3500

Did a real bone headed thing today, friend at work wanted me to help him fix his son in laws car. Cars been sitting 2 years, kid pulls carb apart and not sure if he got it together right so he proceeds to pull the dist. and thinks it might be in wrong. Then I'm told the car is a 69 cutlass convert and the kid hates the old POS with a new top straight az body faded paint 40k on rebuilt motor, and he'd let it go for $3k obo.
I told the dad car is probably worth twice that and it would be an easy fix. after thinking about it for an hour and calling the wife, went to find out if I could buy it but the price just went up, and the kids not sure of the selling price, doh! Jim

When I bought my elky the guy had it in the trader for $5k gave it a good look over and offered Him 2500 the next day over the phone.
Long silence( thought hes gonna hang up) He responds with If I got 3k for it I'd be happy.
Sold I said.
Sure he had a high asking price and you bet I really lowballed him on my offer. But if you dont try you'll never know how low He'll go.
If you think a asking price is too high Shoot the seller a equally low counter offer. be prepared to go back and forth a bit.