zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
For $4,000, This 1964 Rambler Classic 660 Is Almost Ready To Ramble
For $4,000, This 1964 Rambler Classic 660 Is Almost Ready To Ramble-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:02

Today’s Rambler is a barn-find blast from the sixties past, and looks like the fire chief’s car too. Your job will be to decide if its price is a red hot deal.

Despite what certain people claim, sometimes too much really can be just enough. That was obviously the case with yesterday’s which had a lot more than junk in its trunk. An engineering school project, and hence better than your typical hold-my-beer backyard project, it was still too wacky for its asking price, and it fell in an overwhelming 90% Crack Pipe loss.

Two engines, eight cylinders, four driven wheels, and two gearboxes, today’s Nice Price or Crack…

I think it’s about time that we give the crazy a rest and look at something that’s as not-crazy as you could imagine; a car that’s both as American as is name implies, and possibly as comforting as a hot bowl of chicken soup and a hug from your mom. Or maybe a hug from your best friend’s hot mom, whatever floats your boat.

This is the quintessential American mid-size sedan of the sixties. This kind of car was the Camry of its day; simple, solid, and unpretentious. It competed against the likes of Ford’s Fairlane, Chevy’s Chevelle, and the Dodge Dart, and was originally championed by Mitt Romney’s dad.

George Romney was president of American Motors Corporation from 1958 to 1962, and under his management the company pushed the value-driven Rambler as a cost-conscious option to (in his words) the Big Three’s “gas guzzling dinosaurs.” The effort turned around AMC’s fortunes, but before the company could take Romney’s vision even further, he left both AMC and Wisconsin to become Michigan’s 43rd Governor.

This 1964 Rambler Classic still embodies that vision, however. It’s a mid-size sedan with a stout 287 CID V8 that was originally good for 198-bhp. Not only is this a mid-sizer, but as a 660 it’s also a mid-trimmer.

The ad says that it was restored a decade ago - to the tune of 18,500 American dollars. Those are the good kind, and not those undeniably tasty but practically worthless as a mode of exchange IHOP dollar pancakes. The current owner says he pulled it from a barn and affirms that every nut has been turned and every bolt torqued. Well, actually the ad says that somebody named Avery did the torquing. Way to go Avery!

The odometer says 20K, but who knows how many trips around the horn that has made, and actually, who cares now that Avery has done his job. The paint is new (ten years in a barn) as is the interior (ten years in a barn), and the seller avers that there is no rust or Bondo to be found either inside the car or out. Hopefully for his sake one of those dogs in the pics isn’t named Bondo!

That paint makes the car look like it may have been driven by Mayberry’s fire chief, but the white over a contrasting hue is appropriate for the model. The matching steelies and dog dishes are nice touches too.

What’s not so nice? Well, that 287 apparently will need a new water pump pretty soon, and if you’re a stickler for a clean driveway be advised that, according to the ad, both the engine and transmission weep like a teen girl watching A Fault in Our Stars.

Then there’s the title which, while clean, is apparently several decades out of date. That’s more of a hassle than anything else, depending on how big of a dick your state’s DMV likes to be about such things.

For a while there, hipsters were buying up all the sixties iron that their grandparents discarded years before. I think they’ve moved on to something else - although I’m not cool enough to know what - making it once again safe to buy these kinds of cars. To buy this one, you’d need to be flush to the tune of $4,000, or have something with a motor in it to trade. We don’t do that, so let’s focus on the cash.

What’s your take on this barn find Rambler for $4,000? Considering the description in the ad, does that sound like a decent deal? Or, for that much, would you just… ramble on?

You decide!

Denver , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to bbbdang for the hookup!

Help me out with NPOCP. Click to send a me a fixed-price tip, and remember to include your Kinja handle.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
Someone Willingly Paid $16,000 For A Maserati Ghibli On Cars & Bids. Don’t Make The Same Mistake
Someone Willingly Paid $16,000 For A Maserati Ghibli On Cars & Bids. Don’t Make The Same Mistake
Let’s cut right to the chase: buying a is not a good idea unless you have deep enough pockets for the upkeep. For those not in the know, they’re sirens. They draw you in with their premium Italian image and sweet songs of and then go in for the...
Oct 30, 2024
At $8,600, Would You Go Topless In This 1994 Cadillac Eldorado?
At $8,600, Would You Go Topless In This 1994 Cadillac Eldorado?
The seller of today’s Caddy claims they should be selling it at auction but says who’s got time for that? Let’s see if we have the time for this custom convertible at its non-auction price. Many of you agreed that the $950 asked for yesterday’s was “chump change.” Even...
Oct 30, 2024
Which One Of You Suckers Is Going To Pay Over $32,000 For A 25-Year-Old Toyota 4Runner
Which One Of You Suckers Is Going To Pay Over $32,000 For A 25-Year-Old Toyota 4Runner
The (and Tacoma) have a death grip on used values. It’s been this way for years. Go ahead, go try and buy any TRD trim that’s a couple of years old; it’ll cost you as much as a new one — not that you could buy a new one...
Oct 30, 2024
At $18,500, Would You Lean Toward Buying This 2022 Ford Mustang?
At $18,500, Would You Lean Toward Buying This 2022 Ford Mustang?
Today’s Mustang is being sold by a towing yard, which means it’s probably a lien sale. Let’s see if this clean title convertible is priced to put a new buyer on the hook. The general consensus on last Friday’s was that it would be the perfect car for someone...
Oct 30, 2024
At $950, Would You Go All-In On This 1984 Plymouth Colt GTS Turbo Project?
At $950, Would You Go All-In On This 1984 Plymouth Colt GTS Turbo Project?
One of the calling cards of today’s Plymouth Colt is its “Twin Stick” overdrive gear change, which gives the car eight speeds going forward and two in reverse. Let’s see if this project car has anything else to offer. Just as Goldilocks discovered when appropriating Papa Bear’s lifestyle and...
Oct 30, 2024
At $5,900, Is This 1984 Nissan 720 4X4 A Solid Deal?
At $5,900, Is This 1984 Nissan 720 4X4 A Solid Deal?
According to its seller, today’s Nissan 4X4 shows “pride of ownership.” Let’s see if it would take swallowing one’s pride to pay its asking price. Opinions were split on how well the design of yesterday’s has held up over the years. Some of you commented that the design still...
Oct 30, 2024
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved