hi there all, im bob, and you can read about me in the introduce yourself section of this wonderful forum. right now i have a question for you about something i found for my wagon. it is a vintage original gm parts luggage carrier. i believe member 75rivGS has one for his estate wagon. it is a metal frame with canvas and vinyl covering it. it was for an oldsmobile, it had the olds logo on it, which is perfect because its for my 1973 custom cruiser. what i want to ask is how much should i pay for this? i havent seen many of these before, which i know bumps up the price, but it does have two small repairs in the vinyl. not really that big of a deal, but just so you know that it isnt mint. it was on ebay, and the starting bid was $99.99 no reserve and it didnt get one bid. so i want to email him and try to negotiate with him. i wouldnt necessarily mind paying $100 for it, unless thats just too much, but the bummer is that it costs $45 to ship it! so tell me what you think i should offer the guy? does it sound fair? and if 75rivGS sees this, or if anyone out there knows, i was wondering how much he paid for his? thanks so much for the help guys and gals! your newest newbie really appreciates it! -bob
Bob, I chased for several years for such a carrier (and not only eBay). I only found 3 of them during that period of time. (2x GM logo (which is period correct for my wagon) and 1x Buick logo 70 and earlier) The only one I know right now for sale is at CARS (Buick vendor) It is used and needs a new board. Asking $200. The one with the Buick logo asked $365. I was very VERY lucky with mine (CA$15) and finally found a way to had it shipped to Europe. In first instance it would cost me $345 to ship it here (which I still would have done if I hadn't found an alternative.... it was that important to me.... I'm not a rich guy though... spent every dime on my cars and wagon... and gas: which hit over $9.00/gallon today) So: a very rare item... and even $99.99 is a bargain IMHO. Try to get a few $$ off is a wise idea knowing nobody made a bid (I know somebody here with an Olds wagon who would easily pay double for it.... ) Please show us some photos once installed
sounds good! i will have to go for it then! im excited because i think it will look great on the custom cruiser!i offered $75 for it, so we will see where it goes. knowing now what you've told me, if he really wants $100 for it still, i guess i will pay it. it'll be worth it! the one i found has "oldsmobile" in print logo, and that is the only logo that i have seen on it. so would that mean it is from 1970 and earlier wagons? even still, i dont particularly care. its a cool accessory and it looks nice enough, and very useable. my wagon isnt mint, so i cant expect the same from the accessories! my dad and i were both very excited when we found out the custom cruiser had the storage console in it when we bought it. there is a guy that lives near me who just finished restoring a 1973 custom cruiser and saw my dad driving around in our chrysler wagon. he followed my dad and talked to him. thats when my dad showed him our custom cruiser. his was a lot nicer to begin with, but ours seems to have a few more rare parts than his. ours has the third row seat rear speakers, and his doesn't, he doesn't have the center console either. his wasn't ordered with a luggage rack either. not that having a luggage rack is rare, but his looked funny without one. i also think he did not have the third seat. it was just funny because he was tempted to make an offer on our wagon just to part it out. my dad just sort of chuckled at him. and i would just like to tell you, 75rivGS, that you have impeccable taste in cars. they are all beauties! your time, effort and money shows through. i know the feeling, as all the spare money i have goes to my car(a 1971 olds 98 four door hardtop) or pitching in on the wagons. but $9.00 a gallon!!!? and we complain about prices here! ill tell that to the next person i hear bitching about gas prices! my favorite would have to be your wagon. i love the little accessories you've added, like the luggage carrier, and the window vents, or whatever they are called. it just has a great look to it! are buicks like that, or any car like that a rare sight in the netherlands?
Thanks! The wagon will get (and needs) a repaint It has a few scratches and the sun backed the roof and hood. Before that I want to install a LPG conversion, but the main problem is that I don't wnt the LPG tank to be visible from the outside, the only alternative is to have a wheel shaped tank on the spare tire place (and replace the spare tire into the luggage cover ) Only problem is that such a wheel shaped tank has 6mm fuel lines where a 455 needs at least 8mm to get enough LPG) So I need to find another place to install a small tank and attache both fuel lines together. Those wagons are huge, but due to the clamshell tailgate and the 3rd seat it is almost impossible. I have one more year to decide what to do, cause for now I#m sanding and repainting my 73 Riviera as this winter's project. For this Riviera I last week bought a mini console (with key!) for I want to be able to have the gauges installed in there to be ' invisible' once the car is parked. Although a Buick nut for the last 25 years I really like the Olds CC. Always loved the side trim molding getting in to the fender skirts
well, that tank sounds like quite the dilemma! your wagon looks great in all of the pics, and i might just be blinded by its beauty in general, but i never would have guessed it needed a paint job. lol. our custom cruiser is quite sunbaked! but it has a good patina to it, and since it was a california car, it works and gives off the beach cruiser vibe. it has dayton wire wheels which look great on the car and came with it. and yeah, i agree with you. i really like the way the woodgrain and trim extends down onto the fender skirts. i think thats why i like the custom cruisers of that era best, just because they are so excessive, even more so than the buicks! but i love the buicks pretty much equally too. and their slightly less bulbous design makes it a much classier looking car. and i grew up in 80's and 90's estate wagons. my dad would buy them for my mom because she refused to drive anything else. but then my dad would always get in accidents with them, luckily nothing serious, so he would always have to go find her another one! when we found the 73 custom cruiser, my dad and i were actually looking for a 71, because we thought it would be cool to have a wagon to match my hardtop 71 sedan. that and the 71's as a personal preference, are the best looking of that full sized olds era, 71-76. but when we found the 73, we couldnt pass it up. it was just too clean and solid, and just gave off a great vibe. plus it was sooooo cheap! i love your idea of putting gages in the console! it would look completely factory, and would just be a cool place to put them. it would be kind of james bond like, you know, rollling back the lid of the console and checking the gages as you roll along! put a radar screen in there and you'd be all set! lol. also the 71-73 riv's are among my top five or ten must own cars before i die. they are just so great looking. and couple all of that style with the power of the 455, and its a combo that cant be beat!
I'm the wrong person to ask.. I spend money like a drunk sailor....I can often be heard saying things like......"ohh....i dont have that one"..... so...i'll stay out of this
rev, its okay. im the same way! i spend money like its going out of style! then all my friends still look at my car and ask me,"so what did you do to it?" then i just tell them, "oh, im sorry, they dont make body kits for a 1971 oldsmobile!" and even if they did, i would rather be shot than put it on my car!
Now wait just one minute. Drunken sailors don't have a lot of money. I know by experience. I'm retired from that now and I'm still cheap!
wow, the opening bid for that is rediculous!...kind of. i mean, put a reserve on it if you dont want it selling for real cheap or anything, but at least have a lower starting bid to let the market determine what its worth! having said that, this item is pretty cool. i love the tri-shield logo, and the fact that it comes in its original box and has never been used is pretty sweet! but that raises the question; who buys a luggage carrier for their station wagon and never uses it? unless this guy or gal has a hook up at a dealer or something and they had it stashed away for years or something.
well its not surprising, considering that the oldsmobile one i was looking at had a starting bid of $99.99 and no reserve, and still no one bid on it. im upset now, because i havent been able to get a hold of the seller of said olds luggage carrier because ebay has a restriction where you are not allowed to message a sellers ebay account unless you are doing business with them in an effort to try and reduce spam. i guess ill just have to find anotehr one of his items and put it on my watch list and then ask him a question about the carrier. kind of a pain in the you know what!
