NEW! Award 63: 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser – Sold?

May 16, 2021 Update – After a two-month pause, we just came across a fresh listing for this freshly restored 1969 Olds Vista Cruiser we first featured in February.  This time around, the seller replaced the Oldsmobile factory-style mags with a set of Cragar S/S rims. They also reduced the asking price from the original $36,000 to a still very optimistic $29,000 that helps it retain the “NEW!” (short for “No Effin Way!”) Award. We watched this flipper struggle to sell several station wagons over the past year as he tries to recoup his investment in each.

March 23, 2021 Update – We just confirmed the listing for this Olds Vista Cruiser “Classifind” expired, so with no replacement found we’re assuming this ride “Sold?” until we find an updated listing for the car.

On our February 20th Talkin’ Cars Livestream, you may have heard Lou mention that classic station wagons are a hot commodity right now.  At the top of the list are 1960s vintage Oldsmobile Vista Cruisers with their unique glass-trimmed roof.  Unfortunately, it’s becoming easier to find flippers attempting to capitalize on that trend with cars such as this freshly restored ’69 example once listed near Charlotte, North Carolina for the asking price of $36,000. Unfortunately, comparing that price against the Hagerty Insurance Online Valuation Tool confirms the private seller has their optimistically priced $12,100 above this guide’s #1 “Concours” appraisal of only $23,800.  As a second data point, the  Collector Car Market Review Online Tool again confirms an optimistic asking price that exceeds this guide’s #1 “Excellent” appraisal of $25,600 by over $10,000. the asking price is nearly ten thousand dollars above this guide’s #1 “Excellent” appraisal of $25,400. Finally, Bring A Trailer had one high auction of $30,250 last fall and Classic.com confirms the average price based on a number of comparable sales (including the BaT data point) of $18,883. With these four fact-based syndicated data sources referenced, we have no choice but to give the seller our latest NEW! (short for “No Effin Way!”) award for what would become a record price on a non-Concours quality Vista Cruiser.

Adding fuel to our fire is the fact one picture shows a GAA Auction tag remains on the front bumper.  We tried to find out whether this car was recently sold there but so far have come up empty-handed.   Additionally, this is the same person trying to sell this rusty ’70 Chevrolet Kingswoof for $16,500 who continues to increase the price as he completes work on it.

We would inspect this car’s fresh paint very thoroughly with a paint gauge and magnet as we’re always suspect about quick flips like this.  If it turns out to be a rock-solid restored car and you have the negotiation skills to get the seller to come down by ten large on price, then we wish you good luck with the purchase!

Here’s the seller’s description:

“Hard to find 1969 Oldsmobile vista cruiser wagon. New paint, new interior, and rebuilt 350 turbo 315HP motor and 400 automatic transmission. A car power steering and brakes.”

Fair price or NEW! Award material: do you agree with our valuation assessment?  Comment below and let us know!