Hey. Got a '79 Buick Electra Wagon- Mom bought it new. My brother used to call it The Boat- Mom corrected him, saying, "Bess is Not a Boat- She is the Queen Mary!" Sweet ride
Nice to see yet another proud owner of the same 'ol wagon that they grew up with. There are a few other of us here, too. Would love to see some pics of Bess.
Bess Yes- she's a nice one:2_thumbs_up_-_anima- I do have some pictures somewhere- I will have to post them much later, however, as we are having to move in near future- so lots has already been packed up(trying to get most done beforehand, as I have an entire woodshop yet to disassemble,as well). And yes, I suppose all the smaller wagons may be princesses.... my little '91 Subaru wagon thinks she's a truck,however. Bess has seen better days(I made the mistake of loaning her for a time to my brother, who did not return her in the pristine shape he borrowed her in!), and I would love to fix her little ills Does anyone know where to find interior fixings? I'd like to bring her back up to snuff. The interior roof covering is gone now, and some interior trim(which I am not sure if it is hiding amongst the extras in the box). His lovely dog decided to burrow a hole in the driver seat,as well. Used to have lovely pearl w/emblem hubcaps, and the emblem on hood. I suppose these are "minor things",as he said, but finding them.....?And he CUT the A/C unit out, as "it was in his way" when he was checking the spark plugs... eeerrrggghhh. Clearly, SOS(Stuck On Stupid).Some people have no regard for quality, and no respect, I suppose- he refers to Bess as The Tank, The Boat, etc. I have no idea what her value would be today, but I can get her polished back up, and hopefully find the few little things needed to put her back to the condition she left here in... Also was kind enough to blow out the small seal at rear of tranny (decided she could plow out of a pile of 3' high snow...not). I nearly cried when I saw how kind he'd been to her. She has had the motor rebuilt, and I gave her a new radiator, new battery(yet to be installed),etc. Don't know who to get to - reasonably!- tend to her, and fix these things... She's a funny gal; she doesn't like to be called anything but Bess- she runs real nice when you call her Bess. Anything else, and she'll give ya trouble. She runs like a champ, and oh so smooth a ride....
Thank you all for the welcome! Nice to hook up with others who appreciate the great cars of our youth
Oh Yes And we'd stop and get a Mounds and an Orange Crush Soda while gassing up- Of course, back then, they had Attendants that cleaned the windows, checked the oil and tires, while THEY pumped one's gas into the glory boats!
Oh yeah, in the day of the 30 gallon tanks! Just long enough to do a bathroom run and stock up on snacks!
cruising the country Yes, cruisin' the country was FUN then! Say, any idea of what the Queen Mary might be worth today?
What I do is cruise ebay and craiglist, and kijiji and look for ads that describe cars in similar condition. Then you have a reference point to decide how much to ask. For instance, this isn't a wagon but it's the same year: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979...cks?hash=item3ca59fbbc3&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245 Watch the ad and see how much it goes for. Generally, IMHO, an older car has to be pretty special to be worth over say, $5k, and more likely a couple of grand. I paid $1000 for my '78 Fairmont, and although it was running and virtually rust-free there were/are a few problems and required quite a bit of work, still in progress.
An Electra Wagon should have a bit of a boost, since they are getting rarer, but I honestly wouldn't know. One or two guys might help you zero in. 75RivGS or Krash Kadillac. PM them.
Thanks Thanks, I really appreciate the advice. Bess needs a little TLC- mechanically sound- rebuilt motor, new radiator,etc. Needs a headliner, and one of the armrests needs to re-attached; some other small stuff. Would love to keep her, however, I am having to possibly move soon(landlord passed away, and daughter wants to sell ); have too many vehicles to move sensibly (unless I somehow luck out and manage to get a huge country place with a barn and outbldgs. or something- Am looking,tho!) Time will tell on how everything turns out.
