{"id":4279,"date":"2012-10-11T01:15:03","date_gmt":"2012-10-11T05:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/?p=4279"},"modified":"2012-10-18T08:50:05","modified_gmt":"2012-10-18T12:50:05","slug":"six-grand-and-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2012\/10\/six-grand-and-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Grand and Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1974<\/a><\/p>\n

Three years ago I devoted a post<\/a> to buying a car at Hershey for less than $3,000. I found the pickings were pretty slim, and that the only one I’d have been able to drive home was a Studebaker Lark<\/a> for which the owner was asking $3,800<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yesterday in 2012’s Car Corral, however, I was struck by the number of decent cars for $6,000, or a little more, that were not only driveable but pretty nice as well. Take a look at what I found.<\/p>\n

It was Rambler day in the Corral, for I found this very tidy, if spartan<\/a>, 1968 American<\/a> for under $5,000<\/.a><\/i>, plus a nice 1966 Classic<\/a>, albeit over my price target<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An even six grand<\/a>, though, would buy this rare<\/a> 1987 Pontiac Sunbird GT convertible<\/a>, if such a car appeals to you (it didn’t to me). This 1978 Ford LTD Landau <\/a>represented more car for the money<\/a> than the ’68 Rambler American, although not in as good condition and not to my taste<\/a>. Upping the ante to $8900<\/a> would buy this 1979 Pacer “Village Squire,”<\/a> but only for somebody named Wayne<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Breaking the seven grand barrier<\/a> would allow a couple of running 1920s cars, like this 1928 Chrysler Model 62<\/a>. It looked pretty solid<\/a>, if distressed<\/a> and weatherbeaten<\/a>. Even better, though, was this 1928 Chevrolet<\/a> at $7,900<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This 1956 Studebaker<\/a> Flight Hawk<\/a> looked interesting, but I thought that $9,500<\/a> was too much for a car that obviously has been poorly rodded<\/a>. There were several viable projects in my price range, like this barn-fresh<\/a> 1926 Model T<\/a>, but it was not of sound mind and body<\/a>. A 1970 Olds Cutlass<\/a> was suggested as a 4-4-2 clone<\/a>, but not only was it beaten and battered<\/a>, there was trouble in the engine room<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When all was said and done, I think I’d have spent $6,450<\/a> and driven home<\/a> in the nice lady’s 1974 Mercury Comet.<\/a><\/p>\n

Update – Oct.11<\/B><\/p>\n

I was wrong about this 1960 Rambler American<\/a>. Its onwer was asking $10,000, not $6,500. Having owned a 1951 Rambler I’m quite partial to these revival Americans, although I didn’t care for the Continental spare<\/a>. This onlooker<\/a> didn’t either.<\/p>\n

A few other cars in my six-grand price range turned up today. This 1963 Studebaker Cruiser<\/a> looked pretty good at a distance, and its $5,250 price<\/a> was in range. However, close examination showed the ominous bubbles<\/a> to which Studies are all too susceptible. More enticing was this 1938 Oldsmobile<\/a>, straight and solid at $4,500<\/a>. Among newer iron was this roomy 1986 Ford full-size LTD station wagon<\/a> at just $3,750<\/a>. All things considered, though, I still prefer the Comet.<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three years ago I devoted a post to buying a car at Hershey for less than $3,000. I found the pickings were pretty slim, and that the only one I’d have been able to drive home was a Studebaker Lark for which the owner was asking $3,800. Yesterday in 2012’s Car Corral, however, I was….<\/span>
Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,1],"tags":[194,77,33,63,193,59,61,74,152,57],"class_list":["post-4279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-cars","category-events","category-uncategorized","tag-amc","tag-chrysler","tag-citroen","tag-ford","tag-hershey","tag-mercury","tag-oldsmobile","tag-pontiac","tag-rambler","tag-studebaker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4279"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4329,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279\/revisions\/4329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}