What is my uncle’s ‘65 Bel Air worth?

[J_dude]

I’m not even sure this is allowed on a German diesel car site but here we go! Haha

My great-grandfather bought this car new, later it became my uncle’s first car, but has been sitting rotting in the grass for a decade or more and he’s planning to tow it out to the back pasture. Now I would like to resurrect it and keep it in the family but he’s not sure what it’s worth, so let me know what you think.

It has its share of dents and scratches, the hood was caught by the wind once but overall it is still mostly intact. It’s the 283 and what I *think* might be the PowerGlide, I’m not sure though. I’m pretty sure the engine is seized as well. The driver door doesn’t latch right now and we’re not sure where the keys are so we can’t see what’s in the trunk lol.

 

[Mongler98]

Running 4 door with minimal rust like that in any make or year other than the normal classics everyone wants, 25k to 30k a 2 door.... 15 to 20
non running like this... i would not sell for less than 15k as is. you can easily get a $3k motor and make it run thus why its that much less.
back in 2013 i sold my 1971 4 door skylark for 15k. NOW i was just at a show for the 4th and saw a 68 2 door and it sold there cash in hand ... got to talk to the buyer... for 18k. in 10x worse shape than yours.
IMO swap a running motor into it for $500 to 1,000 put some air in those tires and make it drive to a show with a price tag on it. make an easy 10k right now. 15 to 20 if you wait, 30k if you wait for the right buyer and do some work to it.
they are virtually impossible to find complete in a 4 door and there are active buyers looking for these. im one of them. the day i find my 4 door skylark again is a day my wife will not be able to acsess the bank account any more LOL

 

[Lightflyer1]

I would say in that condition $5k at the most. Here is the NADA guide for that car.

Used 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 Door Sedan Ratings, Values, Reviews & Awards

Get accurate pricing information for a used 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 Door Sedan, and explore other options.

www.nadaguides.com

It has two things against it. Not running/seized engine and a 4 door (two doors draw the most attention). You can buy ones already restored for $25k +/-. It is in pretty good shape body wise from the pics, but would still cost a ton of money to make it more than just a driver.

I am driving a fully restored to stock 1935 Ford. It cost over $85k to restore not including buying the car. Some of the best advice I got before buying this car was "If you want it restored, buy it already done.". Let the other guy take the hit from that. I bought it for $24k in a down market. It was a full frame off restoration with NOS parts.

 

[oilhammer]

Sounds to me like it should be a gift to you if you want to fix it up and keep it in the family. I certainly would.... sounds like your uncle inherited it anyway.

 

[burpod]

.......the day i find my 4 door skylark again is a day my wife will not be able to acsess the bank account any more LOL

...don't you mean the day she files divorce??

i was expecting it to be in worse condition. looks pretty nice from the outside!

 

[J_dude]

Sounds to me like it should be a gift to you if you want to fix it up and keep it in the family. I certainly would.... sounds like your uncle inherited it anyway.

Well that would be nice but there’s another guy who’s been asking about it so I guess I have competition lol

 

[Lightflyer1]

I drove for UPS for some years and had a route out in the country. I saw old cars sitting in fields that I wanted to buy. Contacted the owners but they were always going to restore them. They sat out there over the years until completely rusted out and never moved again.

 

[J_dude]

I would say in that condition $5k at the most. Here is the NADA guide for that car.

Used 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 Door Sedan Ratings, Values, Reviews & Awards

Get accurate pricing information for a used 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 Door Sedan, and explore other options.

www.nadaguides.com

It has two things against it. Not running/seized engine and a 4 door (two doors draw the most attention). You can buy ones already restored for $25k +/-. It is in pretty good shape body wise from the pics, but would still cost a ton of money to make it more than just a driver.

I am driving a fully restored to stock 1935 Ford. It cost over $85k to restore not including buying the car. Some of the best advice I got before buying this car was "If you want it restored buy it already done.". Let the other guy take the hit from that. I bought it for $24k in a down market. It was a full frame off restoration with NOS parts.

Yeah I wish it was a 2 door!
The driver’s side is a little worse, you can kinda see the rear fender is crunched where someone ran into it, and I didn’t get pics of the rust, I’m sure it’s worse than it looks underneath too as it’s been sitting in the grass for years.

 

[J_dude]

I drove for UPS for some years and had a route out in the country. I saw old cars sitting in fields that I wanted to buy. Contacted the owners but they were always going to restore them. They sat out there over the years until completely rusted out and never moved again.

Yes, this bothers me, everyone has “plans” but you know darn well it’ll never happen. When I was ranching one of the boss’s neighbors had an AMC Javelin torn apart in his shop, rusting away, full of mice, but he wouldn’t ever dream of selling it because he was “going to finish restoring it one day”. He’s 55 or something now and hasn’t started on it yet...

 

[tactdi]

Yes, a friend has a 65 Studebaker Hawk, inherited when his father passed away, father was the second owner. My friend wrecked the car back in 1984 (he was impaired), has sat unstarted since then with a dented front fender. Has been moved to several different garages over the years, and is currently rotting away in his garage. He has plans to restore the car (fathers car and all that), with the projects he has ongoing with his running fleet of cars, that takes months or years to complete (still has a dream to build a SS Caprice Wagon (has two wagons, neither are close to the desired result). His daughters will be giving the car away (or paying to have it hauled away) for scrap after he passes.

 

[Lightflyer1]

Yes, a friend has a 65 Studebaker Hawk, inherited when his father passed away, father was the second owner. My friend wrecked the car back in 1984 (he was impaired), has sat unstarted since then with a dented front fender. Has been moved to several different garages over the years, and is currently rotting away in his garage. He has plans to restore the car (fathers car and all that), with the projects he has ongoing with his running fleet of cars, that takes months or years to complete (still has a dream to build a SS Caprice Wagon (has two wagons, neither are close to the desired result). His daughters will be giving the car away (or paying to have it hauled away) for scrap after he passes.

At least it is in a garage and not sitting out in a field of grass somewhere. Those rot from the bottom up.

 

[J_dude]

At least it is in a garage and not sitting out in a field of grass somewhere. Those rot from the bottom up.

That’s my biggest worry with this car. I haven’t look at the underside much, but I’m sure it’s not great

 

[jmodge]

That’s my biggest worry with this car. I haven’t look at the underside much, but I’m sure it’s not great

The frames are thin on those cars. They rot parallel to the rockers and beneath the bushings in the front crossmember where the adjustment struts from the control arms connect.

 

[GlowBugTDI]

Might be able to free up the engine. Pull the spark plugs, try to turn over by hand. If its stuck dump some marvel mystery oil (or similar) down the cyls. Let it sit a couple days and keep doing that. Turn it over by hand and away you go. Lol
May or may not completely work, but ive seen it done before. Id bet it would run, but I'd be more concerned about the head gasket or various seals going out with some run time. In other words you could get it running but how long before it would need more major work. This was the case with my 91 s10. Head gasket went, water pump went, then the brakes (rust) then the clutch. All within 8mo it was at this point i sold it and got what i had into it back. Kinda depends how much of a fun car/project you want. Always like seeing a old car get back on the road

 

[GP_RZ]

I’m not even sure this is allowed on a German diesel car site but here we go! Haha

My great-grandfather bought this car new, later it became my uncle’s first car, but has been sitting rotting in the grass for a decade or more and he’s planning to tow it out to the back pasture. Now I would like to resurrect it and keep it in the family but he’s not sure what it’s worth, so let me know what you think.

It has its share of dents and scratches, the hood was caught by the wind once but overall it is still mostly intact. It’s the 283 and what I *think* might be the PowerGlide, I’m not sure though. I’m pretty sure the engine is seized as well. The driver door doesn’t latch right now and we’re not sure where the keys are so we can’t see what’s in the trunk lol.

Hows the body ? Original no patches??

 

[J_dude]

Hows the body ? Original no patches??

Some cancer on the fenders, a couple small dents here and there, and the DS rear, just behind the fender, was involved in a little accident at some point but never got repaired. Not sure about patches.

 

[Steve Addy]

It is a Powerglide (aka slushbox).

My neighbor (back in high school) had a 66 Bel Air...spent a lot of time riding around in that.

Steve

 

[benIV]

Such a tough question because you'll get a different answer from almost everyone. If it were me, assuming there's no major rust underneath, I'd feel uncomfortable much more above 10k and I would assume I'd have to put another 10-20k into it depending on how much you'll do yourself and how deep a resto you're wanting to do.

If the other buyer isn't family and your uncle isn't greedy or super needy, maybe he'd let you have it for cheap or free if you promise to fix it up and keep it in the family. I'd rather see a family member get a car like this with it's history rather than some stranger.

I bet if you could duplicate this scenario in multiple universes you could get one where you're driving it around having fun for total under 10k upwards to dropping 100k on it completely restoring etc.

Or you could buy it, scrap together like 250k and send it off to one of these customizers out west on tv and let them butcher it up lol

I hope you can get it.

 

[J_dude]

I'd rather see a family member get a car like this with it's history rather than some stranger.

Yeah that’s how I feel too, but I guess I didn’t speak fast enough and he’s apparently sold it to another guy he knows. But I don’t think he’s been payed yet and the car is still sitting there...
It’s probably for the better though, as sad as it is to see it go to someone else I have to face the fact that I am too busy to take on another project, and couldn’t give it the love it deserves now anyway. Trying to buy a house and get two of my other vehicles back on the road currently...

Ahh well.

 

[benIV]

that does make it bittersweet but probably smart.