Hello all, recently I posted in the General Discussions section about going to look at a 1963 Plymouth Belvedere that was for sale at one of those classic/exotic car dealerships. I figured it would be more fitting to update that thread here, as I ended up purchasing the car. Let me start with a little of the backstory;
Besides a 1971 Road Runner (my other car), a max wedge car has always been a dream of mine, in particular, a ‘63 belvedere. I’ve been searching for project cars for a while. While doing so, I came across this car online about a year and a half ago. Not necessarily a project car but everything I was looking for: year, model, cross ram intake, push button tranny, not tubbed and no roll cage. I would check on the car every month or so just for shits and giggles. It became a bit of a joke between my wife and I with me saying “that car I want to buy is still for sale” about once a month. When I originally saw it, the listing price was in the upper 50K range. Way out of my budget. As time went on, the price started to come down. In the meantime, I was pricing out project cars, the parts I wanted, etc. The price of the car was lowered again over this past summer and I decided to go look at the car in person. It was a 3.5 hour drive from where I live to NY, where the car was located. Before going to look, I spoke with the salesperson for more info on the car. According to him, the car has been stored at their facility (they offer long and short term storage and full mechanical services) for a number of years. The owner recently passed away and his wife was now selling the car. It is a max wedge “tribute” with an original 426 max wedge engine. The salesperson had not other info on the engine or particulars of the car.
When I arrived at their facility, they already had the Belvedere on a lift for my inspection. I looked the car over for about an hour and a half, stuck a magnet everywhere, checked out the usual areas of rust/rot, went for a test drive, etc. I knew where I wanted to be as far as price and threw out a lower offer. The salesperson told me the seller originally listed it for 80K because her husbands friends told her the car was very valuable - I’m guessing they thought it had a 426 hemi in it. The car has been for sale since the beginning of covid. After a bit of finagling, I got the car for what I wanted to pay. There is no way I could build this car for what I paid for it.
The car will need to be repainted as it is showing signs of its age; a few dings, chips, etc., which I kind of suspected before going to look at it. The car, at least to me, appears very solid. My cheap refrigerator magnet stuck everywhere with no issues. Looking at the cowl from under the dash, it appears almost new. All the trim is there and the grill is in very good shape. The interior and headliner are in very good condition. The only questionable area I could find was the trunk floor. It appears to be a bit pitted under the paint but very solid. All the lights work. The dealership replaced a few of the brake lines, changed the oil and gave everything the once over before I took delivery. The engine is running extremely rich and will need to be addressed. The heater box is missing but I scored a really nice one online.
My plans for the car are to; eventually repaint it. This is a long way out, the paint doesn’t look all that bad unless you know what to look for. Upgrade the front brakes to disc, add seatbelts and change the rear gears - I’m thinking there’s 4.10’s in there now.
Thanks for following along!
Pics from dealer:
Delivered:
It’s new home!:
Replacement heater box:
Dings and things:
Weird spot of off-colored paint??:
Trunk floor:
Besides a 1971 Road Runner (my other car), a max wedge car has always been a dream of mine, in particular, a ‘63 belvedere. I’ve been searching for project cars for a while. While doing so, I came across this car online about a year and a half ago. Not necessarily a project car but everything I was looking for: year, model, cross ram intake, push button tranny, not tubbed and no roll cage. I would check on the car every month or so just for shits and giggles. It became a bit of a joke between my wife and I with me saying “that car I want to buy is still for sale” about once a month. When I originally saw it, the listing price was in the upper 50K range. Way out of my budget. As time went on, the price started to come down. In the meantime, I was pricing out project cars, the parts I wanted, etc. The price of the car was lowered again over this past summer and I decided to go look at the car in person. It was a 3.5 hour drive from where I live to NY, where the car was located. Before going to look, I spoke with the salesperson for more info on the car. According to him, the car has been stored at their facility (they offer long and short term storage and full mechanical services) for a number of years. The owner recently passed away and his wife was now selling the car. It is a max wedge “tribute” with an original 426 max wedge engine. The salesperson had not other info on the engine or particulars of the car.
When I arrived at their facility, they already had the Belvedere on a lift for my inspection. I looked the car over for about an hour and a half, stuck a magnet everywhere, checked out the usual areas of rust/rot, went for a test drive, etc. I knew where I wanted to be as far as price and threw out a lower offer. The salesperson told me the seller originally listed it for 80K because her husbands friends told her the car was very valuable - I’m guessing they thought it had a 426 hemi in it. The car has been for sale since the beginning of covid. After a bit of finagling, I got the car for what I wanted to pay. There is no way I could build this car for what I paid for it.
The car will need to be repainted as it is showing signs of its age; a few dings, chips, etc., which I kind of suspected before going to look at it. The car, at least to me, appears very solid. My cheap refrigerator magnet stuck everywhere with no issues. Looking at the cowl from under the dash, it appears almost new. All the trim is there and the grill is in very good shape. The interior and headliner are in very good condition. The only questionable area I could find was the trunk floor. It appears to be a bit pitted under the paint but very solid. All the lights work. The dealership replaced a few of the brake lines, changed the oil and gave everything the once over before I took delivery. The engine is running extremely rich and will need to be addressed. The heater box is missing but I scored a really nice one online.
My plans for the car are to; eventually repaint it. This is a long way out, the paint doesn’t look all that bad unless you know what to look for. Upgrade the front brakes to disc, add seatbelts and change the rear gears - I’m thinking there’s 4.10’s in there now.
Thanks for following along!
Pics from dealer:
Delivered:
It’s new home!:
Replacement heater box:
Dings and things:
Weird spot of off-colored paint??:
Trunk floor:
