1957 Buick Roadmaster Convertible - True Rust Free Survivor!

Description for Buick Roadmaster 1957

I believe this to be the finest unrestored 1957 Roadmaster convertible on the planet next to Jay Leno's, and with a few items attended to it would be comparable. Even the Buy It Now price is reasonable, but the reserve is quite reasonable to own this one-of-a-kind treasure - a top of the line, original1957 Buick in a beautiful color combination.

I have a CLEAR title in my name. Message me if you are seriously interested and want to speak on the phone.

Please read EVERYTHING here and look at pictures before bidding. DO NOT BID IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO BUY AND PAY. Ask any questions before bidding. I will cooperate as much as reasonable with the shipper of your choice, but shipping is your responsibility. If you’re close enough, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t drive it home. I have only driven it locally cruising, but am not aware of any significant mechanical failure points that I haven’t addressed.

Here is everything I know about the car's condition and history, based on what I was told and what I have learned myself:

The person I bought the car had it since around 2008 before I got the car in 2015 in IL. Before that, it sat in garage of previous owner for many years and was inherited from seller's father, who I believe brought the car up from TX (has TX inspection sticker on windshield) and probably started life in Nebraska, due to Linder Motors sticker on trunk. Linder Motors was a Chrysler dealer that opened in the early 1950's, but had a HUGE property with a vast used car business. So, this car was sold used there at one time - most likely as a trade in from the original owner in the late 1950's or early 1960's. The mileage of 62,xxx issurely original, judging from the overall condition of the car and service stickers in the door jamb from decades ago when the mileage was 5X,XXX. This car even has its original battery holder and jack.

Body:

The body still has all original paint, with exception of lower door on passenger side. There are some thin spots, mostly on the tops of the front fenders and edge of hood. The trunk has a large patch on top where the paint has been damaged, apparently from something dripping on it while in storage. There are a couple small dings in the trunk, but there are no other dents or dings - just miscellaneous chips and other small blemishes, although there was likely some sort of minor damage to passenger door bottom where it was repainted. Overall the original paint is very presentable on 90% of surfaces. Yes, there are signs of age, but looks great for a survivor. I have not buffed the paint out; I was going to do this after I fixed the spot on the trunk and repainted lower passenger door again. I have acquired enough PPG lacquer in original colors to do this, which goes with the car.

The top is fabric with plastic rear window, and there are no tears. With a good cleaning of the top and polishing of the rear window, it would look pretty nice. I installed a new top motor/pump last summer, filled it, anddropped it under its own power; I left it this way in my garage last summer. At the end of the summer, Ifilledthe pump reservoiras needed andthe top raised itself. However, I have not tried to lower it back down and up again to see if further bleeding is needed. The prior owner said he had installed new top hoses, but the pump had burned out shortly before I bought it. The previous owner had a very nice white top boot made which looks great; one snap is broken on it which is quite easy to replace. All of the snaps on the body and inside panels are intact.

The trunk is in good original condition; the panels are very good, original jack in in place. The trunk lining does need to be cleaned and is dirty, but is not torn up.

There is no rust out anywhere. By this I mean absolutely zero. Nowhere on the body or underside is there a single rust hole, thin spot, or repaired rusted area. It's absolutely 100% solid and original. The car must have spent a lot of timing driving on dirt or dusty roads though, because there was a ton of dirt caked underneath and around the transmission. I power-washed the entire underside, and was surprised to see that the car was never undercoated; this is the first 1957 or 1958 Buick I've seen that wasn't undercoated so that is a testament of it’s western roots. After I cleaned all the caked dirt off, I was compelled to paint most of the underside in POR-15 black semi-gloss and then undercoating on the sheet metal to protect it for years to come from rust. I did not paint the fuel tank; it is peeling paint and was painted by previous owner at some point.

The chrome is in exceptional original condition and is all original - no replating. There are some minor blemishes here and there as you'd expect from a car this old, but all is still very presentable and matched the patina of the body. The passenger front bumper donut has a dent. The rear bumper ends have some discoloration around the exhaust tips, but are 100% solid with no thin spots. There weresmall holesdrilled in the top of the rear bumper and fuel filler door, presumably for an anti-theft lock many years ago during the U.S. fuel crisis. The same was done on the upper grill bar and bottom of hood. I have filled all these holes with epoxy and touched them up so they are only noticeable close up; the holes in the upper grill bar are under the lip of the hood and not visible when hood is closed.

The windshield and driver door glass is cracked, but functional. The other glass is good.

Mechanical:

The car ran and drove when I got it, and stopped well. The previous owner had done a good job of repairing the brakes at all four wheels, and the master cylinder and booster works perfectly. However, the brake lines looked to be original so I replaced all brake lines and rubber hoses. I also replaced all fuel lines.

Although the car ran pretty well, it needed a tune up and looked like it hadn't had any ignition parts replaced in quite a while. Also, there was oil leaking from gaskets, and much of the paint was burned off of the motor. Also, the driver side exhaust manifold was cracked (common problem on these). With all of this, I decided to pull the motor, clean it thoroughly, paint it, and install new components. That is what I did, andentire engine was cleaned and painted in POR-15 in 2 stages; first with rust inhibitor and then with engine enamel in proper Buick Green. New hood insulation was installed at this time as well. I also had exhaust manifold professionally weldedand installed all new parts on engine at this time including spark plugs, ignition wires, cap, rotor, ignition coil, vacuum advance (NOS), dash pot (NOS), rebuilt carburetor, water pump (NOS), thermostat, fuel pump, radiator hoses, oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, rocker cover gasket, intake gaskets, and belts. I also installed a Pertronix ignition instead of points (lobe sensor style). I then installed a rebuilt generator andnew battery before running it. Also, an entire new dual exhaust system including the resonators at the rear and baffles in the rear bumper ends, was installed. The transmission does leak fluid, as is typical of these, and will need a repair kit installed at the torque ball.

Interior:

The carpet has been replaced by a prior owner and is incorrect loop style, but the rest of interior is original. The front seat has some craking, a tear at top in the vinyl portion, and a couple loose seams but the leather is all intact and would look pretty good with some re-dyeing. The back seat is in very good original condition, and the door panels are very nice with just some cracking on the arm rests. The dash is in outstanding condition. I had the Wonderbar radio professionally mechanically restored, and it works flawlessly, including the foot switch. I also had the speedometer professionally restored and installed a new speedometer cableand it also works as new. All gauges work except fuel gauge;I freed up the sending unit and it wasworking but then stopped againso I suspect it is stuck again and will need to be replaced. The clock works, but sticks sometimes so most likely just needs oiling, as is common on these type of mechanical clocks. All lights worked except headlights would not come on the very last time I drove the car in the summer; I did not try them again since then. Power windows work. The top bows (including chrome ones on the side) are in exceptional condition, as are the latches. I replaced the rear view mirror with a new reproduction. I have not tried the wipers, but assume that the pump will need to be rebuilt and have vacuum lines replaced to work properly; the same is probably true with the washer.

Summary:

Here is all work that's been done in past 2 years that I can think of:

· Engine removed, completely painted and reinstalled

· Newoil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, rocker cover gasket, intake gaskets, and belts.

· Professionally repaired left exhaust manifold and installed gaskets on both sides.

· All new ignition parts - spark plugs, ignition wires, cap, rotor, ignition coil, vacuum advance (NOS)

· Rebuilt carburetor, new dash pot (NOS)

· Replaced water pump and thermostat

· Replacedfuel pump and fuel lines

· Newradiator hoses and coolant

· New hood insulation

· Rebuilt generator

· New battery

· Entire new dual exhaust system including the resonators at the rear and baffles in the rear bumper ends

· Wonderbar radio and foot switch professionally repaired and tuned

· Speedometer professionally rebuilt and new cable installed

· New brake lines and hoses

· New top motor/pump

· New rear view day/night mirror

So, the car runs, drives, and stops well right now and can be enjoyed and driven as it is. However, if the car doesn’t sell and I keep it I will work on doing the following; this is everything that I think would need to be done to the car (at most) short of a complete cosmetic restoration (which this car is too nice for):

· Replace shocks (a bitbouncy)

· Repair transmission fluid/torque ball leak

· Repair tear and seam separations in front seat and partially re-dye leather (too nice and original to completely redo)

· Replace carpet with proper padded cut loop style

· Clean top (maybe dye), and polish rear plastic window

· Clean trunk mat

· Touch up paint on trunk and possibly front fenders and repaint passenger lower door that was previously repainted, then buff rest of car lightly. I already have acquired the paint to do this in the original lacquer

· Replace fuel sending unit

· Fix headlights; most likely headlight switch or bad connection somewhere

· Tires still presentable, but should be replaced in next couple years simply because of age (previous owner installed them)

· Exhaust needs to be adjusted; there is a small rattle where it is hitting something up front. Slight exhaust leak is coming from somewhere; I think the exhaust manifold on passenger side needs to be re-torqued.

· Rebuild wiper motor and replace vacuum lines, if desired. I don't think this car will see much rain so this may not be worth doing.

That's all I can think of. That is a pretty short list for a car this original and this old.

Note that this car is 60 years old. Some weird little thing may arise or may have arisen while the car was in storage this winter, but everything I’ve stated is true to the best of my current knowledge. I just drove it a couple weeks ago and put a few gallons of fresh premium fuel in it.

Car is sold AS-IS!! Must receive $500 deposit within 48 hours of auction's close via Paypal. Balance can be paid via bank wire transfer within 7 days of auction's close.