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Condition
Used
Drive Type
Rear Wheel Drive
Fuel Type
Petrol
Doors
2-door
Cylinders
8
Transmission
Automatic
Color
Green
Description
I got a phone call by a young guy who inquired for a 1979 Lincoln Mark V that I was helping a friend to sell. It turned out that they both live in the same city. The next day the guy saw the car and got in touch with me again. He was not completely satisfied with the condition of the vehicle and explained me that the model is not exactly what he is looking for after he…
I got a phone call by a young guy who inquired for a 1979 Lincoln Mark V that I was helping a friend to sell. It turned out that they both live in the same city. The next day the guy saw the car and got in touch with me again. He was not completely satisfied with the condition of the vehicle and explained me that the model is not exactly what he is looking for after he saw it in person. He had a general idea what he wants but didn’t have exact make and model year in mind. I offered him my help and very soon he agreed. He was aware that his favorite American classics 68-70 Charger and 65-67 GTO are beyond his budget, but wanted something similar. He definitely was able to afford something interesting and rare.
We discussed mostly 60s classics: Riviera, Grand Prix, Thunderbird and some Mopar models also. His top pick was 65-66 Pontiac Grand Prix, because it was very similar to his favorite GTOs from the same years. This is a great choice for a stylish and powerful car. 1965 Pontiacs were awarded Car of the year from the famous American car magazine Motor Trend. Regarding the condition the guy wanted a well running car that needs mostly cosmetics and eventually paint. The search began and soon it turned out that he had to increase a little bit his budget. The classic cars were getting more expensive as usual. The 65-66 Grand Prixes are fairly rare, so we also considered several Catalinas and Bonnevilles. We skipped the convertibles and emphasized on the 2 door htp coupes, which were the preferred body style by both of us.
It took a couple of months until we were able to see some better offers. Most of the cars were either freshly restored and expensive either were non running projects that needed total restoration. We first applied for a 1965 Grand Prix that was in a car dealership in Washington state, but we didn’t receive an appropriate service and gave up from the car. Then we inquired for another 1965 Grand Prix which had a newer Pontiac 400 engine installed. Much to our surprise the sellers from the Missouri dealership got rude when we decided to schedule an inspection for the vehicle by an inspection company. We had to give up from this car as well. A month later I found this 1966 Grand prix that was for sale from a private seller in West Virginia. The car was exactly in the condition we were looking for and the seller was cooperative. He agreed to provide the car for an inspection and to negotiate the price in advance. A couple of weeks later we had the inspection report. The car had slightly more issues than expected, but generally was what we were looking for. It was in the preferred green color to match the green Camaro the guy was using as a daily drive car and had the rare Strato-Bench seat with fold down center armrest also. We got a little extra discount from the seller for the issues and closed the deal.
We faced two difficulties after the agreement. The first was the bank transfer. It turned out that the seller had his bank account in one of those small rural area American banks, so it was quite a challenge for the new owner of the car to make the payment through the bank in Bulgaria.
The second drama was the car collection. It took almost a month to the transportation company to pick up the car. It was in a small town, that was far away from the big interstate highways, so we had to be very patient until we understand that the car was finally loaded on a truck.
When the car arrived in Bulgaria it had some transportation issues that needed to be addressed, but the buyer and me were very satisfied to hear how nice the engine run, how solid the car was and how nice was interior. It was a great buy with original numbers matching engine and original interior. The only non original part are the American Racing wheels which contribute for a more aggressive look of the car.
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Here you’ll find classic American cars and projects for sale, along with vehicles I’ve helped fellow enthusiasts find over the years.
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