I bought this car in fall 2002 on eBay. It came from Kansas. There was a bit of grief getting it here. As I type this, the car is receiving a lot of work. Parts of the car are in three shops. The engine will be undergoing a rebuild shortly and the mechanical and body work is going on at another shop. If all goes well, I may even get to drive the car before the snow flies. Sigh.
The day before I had the car brought home, we had freezing rain and the car was being stored in an outdoor compound. So, it was coated with ice. This is reflected in a couple pictures. Of course, the freezing rain had also made it difficult to push the car into the garage as required.
Here's a bit of the interior. It is a red and white combination. There was a steering wheel for this car at the BCA National Meet in Flint, but I wasn't sure I wanted to part with $145 for a less than perfect specimen. The disappointments here are all the wires hanging down, many of which don't seem to connect to anything and the cutting of the dash to get an aftermarket stereo in.
Here is the V6 that powers this car. In 1962, Buick introduced the first V6 in a passenger car. This car was Motor Trend's Car of the Year. The air cleaner I have isn't correct - it should be a single snorkel with "Fireball V6" on the top. If you have one that you are willing to sell, please let me know.
This page will change shortly as I will update photos once the car comes home looking and running better.
If you want my opinion, be extremely careful before purchasing a car through eBay. This car looked to be a decent deal, but when all is said and done, it needed a lot more work. Once I have completed repairs this summer, I will have a lot more into this car than it is worth according to the value guides. Of course, I will have a driver, so there is something to be said. The car was supposedly running. However, when it came home, we couldn't get anything out of it with a good battery. As it turns out, the distributor had been really butchered to switch it over to electronic ignition. There were filings everywhere. After a new battery and distributor, it would run, but extremely roughly. A compression check showed one cylinder at about one-third the compression of the others. So, the engine was pulled and sent to a machine shop. It turns out the heads had some minor cracking (I am told easily repairable), there was a fair amount of play in the cylinders and the timing chain cover was in poor shape, particularly the oil pump.
1962 Buick Special Convertible
- Drivetrain: 198 ci V6, Turbine drive automatic transmission
- 135 brake hp at 4600 rpm, 8.8:1 compression ratio, Rochester 2GC 2-bbl carburetor
- 112.1 in wheelbase, 188.4 in overall length, 56 in front tread, 56 in rear tread, 6.50 x 13 in tires
- Series 4000, Body/Style No. 4067
- Options include: Turbine drive automatic transmission, Back-up lights, power steering, bucket seats
- Factory price $2587, shipping weight 2858 lb, production total 7918
- Colour: Arctic White (Code C - obviously, the car is not currently the original colour), Interior: Red
Email us at:
derek.thille@ieee.nospam.org and remove .nospam
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