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twintubdexter

twintubdexter

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
2,292
Location
Palm Springs
I finally sold that awful 1957 Thunderbird that sat in my garage for 12 years. I knew I didn't like it from day one after driving it home from the house up the street where I bought it. I wanted to get another "classic" car and participate in the local collector's club, Great Autos of Yesteryear (GAY). My across-the-street neighbor's friend was selling this car and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it parked in their driveway. I decided to buy it today. We went cruising yesterday and it reminded me of my very first car, a 1962 Buick Electra. This 65 Buick Wildcat is amazing. It looks like it just came off the showroom floor. The owner spent a great deal more restoring it than he sold it for. Classic cars can really be a money pit. Since many members have very wonderful vintage autos I'm curious what they think about this car. Everything works perfectly including the clock.

 

PS...I'm just excited, please don't take this as bragging

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Joe this 65 Buick is absolutely beautiful! Buicks are my personal favorite classic cars. I owned a 67 Buick Skylark from 76 to 81 and it was the best car I ever owned. I know that you will really enjoy driving this beauty. Thanks for sharing the photos.
 
Love it...  My wish list classic car is the 73 boat tail Riviera.  Perhaps when my biking days are over OR the husband really wants to make my 60th birthday next April really memorable.. Like that's gonna happen but I have enlisted the neighbors to keep putting a bug in his ear  LOL   For now though I don't think I could give up the m/c 
 
Great Cruise!

Are those stock wheels or after-market?

Do I see factory air?

I worked for a Buick dealer 1972-1974, not their highest point in auto history. Bought a '72 Skylark 350 for my 21st birthday. A lemon from the day I got it. Off-loaded it in '74 for a Ford and never looked back. Also never bought GM again!

Many happy miles of smiles ahead!
 
They are original stock wheels. Do you see that Wildcat emblem in the center of the steering wheel? This car has the optional "wood" sport tilt wheel which came with the standard Buick tri-shield emblem. The owner paid $800 for that Wildcat center piece. Yikes!

 

and yes, it has factory air conditioning that works perfectly

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Joe, that is a major improvement over the '57 T-Bird.  I've always considered the '55 -'57 T-Bird a wives' car.
 
Beautiful....

Dynaflow, "Ron" will have a fit, I also am a GM hater though, Don't get me wrong, I think they are beautiful, but if I drive one you can bet something will break or tear up within a month..LOL, My last one was a 2001 LeSabre, bought it new and after it left me stranded in traffic on a 100 degree day...it was GONE!!
 
How can a 57 T-bird be 'awful'? Unless it was like, beat to poop.

The Buick is bitchen. Buick then was GM's style and performance leader. It's still the most reliable US car (Consumer's survey just released). I was busy eating but I think they said Buick was the ONLY US car in the 'reliable' rating. Ford/Chevy/Chrysler were in the 'not' ratings along with most German cars. Consumer's surveys are entirely owner sourced. Their editorial staff long since moved to Argentina.

Olds Starfire and Cutlass had their days and Impala had its novelty (big engine/light platform) while Cadillac was always the bloated genetically-deformed symbol of 'I have so much money I can throw it away and not miss it'.

Wildcat and Riverarea were without peers. THE AC STILL WORKS?? They SERIOUSLY don't make them like that anymore. GM never got the vacuum headlight actuators right. My 30yo Toyota headlights still go up/down upon command. The windshield washers quit 4 years ago, possibly a freeze. And DFW atmospheric sand ate the last of the alternator brushes a month ago at 95,000.

I'm genetically bound to respectfully acknowledge engineering solutions which not only grab attention at the time but also last for generations.
 
Phil in Montreal will faint when he sees this!!  He has a '65 Wildcat, but I think that's his favourite car in his collection.

 

Congratulations on finding a real beauty!!
 
I am such a sucker for mid-60's design.....

.... I got twitches down below when I saw the dash.

-Exterior body colour carried over into the interior.
-The 'fighter jet' influence on the dash design with the deep-set gauges, cowling, etc.
-The chrome.
-The design of the gas gauge --- vertical needle swinging/sliding, not pivoting
-The temp and mode sliders of the heat/ac controls
-Even the pedal design.....

Oh, yeah ... This stuff sends the blood rushing south!

Ok, geek-out time:

-Gas pedal hinged to floor?
-Reading lamps still work? Are bulbs even available?
-No domelight, right?
-Center fold-down arm-rest?
-Gas cap hidden behind license plate? or did that start a year or two later?...
-"Super Turbine" transmission??? What, 'Hydra-Matic' sounded too stodgy to the advertisers?
-No seat belts in back and no locks on the seatbacks, right?
-Power steering and brakes were options but I think PS was included with a/c because of the "extra weight" of the compressor. Brake pedal makes no mention of power assist or discs so I'm betting no PB and drums all around?

I've been told Palm Springs is 'Key West for grown-ups'; is it also a classic car haven?

To answer your question... I highly approve!
 
I can see why you're excited and understandable if you do brag. Beautiful car. Love the lines. Sorry but nothing today compares IMO. The styling, appointments and details inside and out make the cars from that era standouts. The interior color combination is beautiful and matches the exterior two-toning. Im not a fan of black interiors and today if you want something other than black you're just about S.O.O.L. Hope you enjoy many years of trouble free cruising in her.
 
Joe -
That is one beautiful Buick!! That two-door hardtop styling is so classic and handsome! Love the color combination, too - the white roof and interior are fabulous. Wishing you many, many miles of happy motoring in that gorgeous ride!!
 
so many nice comments, thank you so much

A few questions answered...

 

I think there's a lot of difference between a 1965 Buick and a 2001. I drove that 62 Electra all over the place and never got stuck. Of course it was no fuel sipper but I remember a gasoline "war" where the price went down to 25 cents a gallon...sigh! I had my own Shell credit card at a very early age and my dad could not understand how I could possibly charge $40 in one month. The Electra had Dynaflow which was fine for surface street driving but on the many trips I'd make to the nearby Santa Cruz Beach through the Santa Cruz Mountains it was less than ideal. Going downhill in drive was like being in neutral. You had to use low and watch the gas gauge speed towards empty. 

 

The gas filler is located behind the emblem on the back above the license plate. It tilts down and away which is kind of cool. 

 

I don't believe there's a dome light but there are several courtesy lights that all work. There is no fold-down armrest in the back and I don't recall seat belts back there (remember I have not taken possession yet). The front belts are factory. I don't anticipate many back-seat riders. Oddly enough the back seat is original. The owner had the front buckets removed and completely redone including new foam. He had the metal frame of the seats powder-coated even though you can't see them. The seat backs lock into position. You can see the release button on the side.

 

I don't remember if the accelerator pedal is attached to the floor but it probably is. Not to worry, my stiletto heals are all too tight anyway. I think power steering and power brakes were standard. They're drum but all new. The owner put 5 new whitewall tires on the car too. The spare was perfectly fine but he wanted all the tires to match in case he had a flat...mercy! In addition, all the door and window seals are new along with the trunk seal. The car was sanded down to the metal and repainted the original "turquoise mist" color. There is no paint on any of the trim. The white metal top is factory. The headliner was redone to the exact original and I'm not sure about the entire dash but it couldn't look newer. Alright, now I'm bragging but I guess I'm just trying to justify my purchase, it was a difficult car to resist.

 

As far as the Thunderbird being awful, it certainly was for me. I'm 6'1 and lost my school-girl figure back in the fourth grade. Even with the seat all the way back and the telescopic wheel pushed all the way in it was very uncomfortable unless you like steering with your stomach. With the soft or hard top on the car it was super-claustrophobic. I could not stand being in there. Add to all of this the fact that it handled like one of those steer-with-your-feet wooden go carts you had as a kid. I used to call it a death trap and never drove it above 40 mph. The little T Birds continue to be very popular. To each his own.

 

PS...And as far as Palm Springs being Key West for grown-ups...being referred to as a "grown up" is certainly nicer than being called an old geezer.

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E-X-CELL-ENT!

Great choice, Joe. I'm super jealous, in a congratulatory-way, of course. I hope you have many good rides and experiences with it, for as long as you wish to own it.

Really nice!
 
A beautiful car that brings back alot of memories. One of my very best friends thru Jr. and HS's parents had one the same vintage as this one only it was silver and I think had a black vinyl top but did have the same tri-shield factory wheels. Rode like a dream and you could tell there was a monster under the hood. Why they traded it for an Ambassador I will never know.
 
"Why they traded it for an Ambassador I will never know&

Probably because back at the time it was "just a car" like most regard new vehicles today. They weren't classics then. And people then like today want or need a new one after a period of time. And if they were driven in the winter on salt covered roads forget about it.

I always thought about the cars my father and later my parents had over the years and would think how Id like to have them now. But they were nothing special at the time. Just every day transportation.

OK...I did type a " after "know" and have fixed it three times. Why it keeps coming up with an & I don't know.
 
One of the nice things about the Turbo Hydra-Matic by another name in these Buicks is the "switch pitch" torque converter, sort of a hangover from Dynaflow. You get all the benefits of three forward speeds, plus the converter stator blades automatically switch angle, depending on throttle position, to give more torque multiplication on acceleration. At cruising speeds, the angle changes again to give minimum slippage and thus a little better fuel economy. A refinement soon done away with by corporate cost cutting.

The front drum brakes are aluminum, I believe, for better heat dissipation. I think only Buick and Lincoln had that, among American cars.
 
And I will bet

When you stick your foot in that old nailhead it will GO!!!!I had a 65 Ninety Eight with that 1st turbo hydramatic, it would really run even though it weighed over 4000 pounds, I also had a 63 Starfire, great engine, Terrible transmission!..I drove GM cars when I was a kid, the 65 Olds was the best GM I ever had,the fastest and thirstiest was a 68 Bonneville 2 door hardtop with a 428, about 12 mpg on a trip, but all the kids my age had Irocs and Firebirds and it would leave them sitting!!LOL...Maybe that's why I had GM troubles in my younger days..I don't drive like that now!..My favorite Buick is a 61, I love the Dynaflow, or as they called it then, Turbine Drive..
 

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