Wheeler Dealers USA - Episode 9: 1964 Rambler Classic 770 Sedan

Welcome back to Wheeler Dealers USA, the online show where your fellow GRMers take miniscule risks buying ridiculously nice cars for pennies on the dollar and then sell them off at a massive profit so they can afford to put gas in their AMC V8 for another week!

This time, I picked up a real cherry. Meet Gladys:

She is a 1964 Rambler Classic 770 Sedan. That's the mid-size, unit-body, top-of-the-line trim version. The story on this one is pretty cool. I met the owner a few years ago when he saw my Javelin at work and he mentioned he had an old Rambler that needed a little TLC. We never could get together to work on the car, but he called me out of the blue on Monday to let me know that he got a divorce and the car had to go! His dad bought it brand new, and it was the only family car for decades. He inherited it when the old mad died and ran it as a fun car for a long time until it needed hoses and he couldn't find the correct upper. It's been sitting since more or less since 01, but ran and drove around the block until about 3 years ago. I met up with him and bought the car on the spot. It has 98K original miles, all documented, and comes with complete records and manuals. Check it out:

It is straight as an arrow, never been hit, and not even a door ding.

That seam split is literally the only thing wrong with the entire interior! The back seat is still in plastic.

Not even a crack in the steering wheel!

Here's where I need to do some work. The flex hose supposedly collapses in, which is why it was parked. So I need to do hoses, coolant, a thermostat, oil and filter, fuel filter and carb clean-up, plugs and points, and look at the brakes. It shouldn't take long to get her purring like a kitten again. That's the old 195.5 inline 6 paired to an automatic on the column, which should be a Borg-Warner 3-speed.

And the buying price for this jewel? I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I bought it for $800.

I pick it up Friday along with all of the paperwork. This should be a fun one!

(Note to GRM Admins, why is Rambler not on the Tag list?!?! )

Link fail!

Mad_Ratel wrote: Link fail!

None of the embedded photos in other threads are working for me, I was wondering if it's something with my browser.

It's the board software. The GRM Overlords are working on it.

Until then you can always search the book of faces for "Group 19 Performance" for the pics.

Looks great in photos. I always loved these Rambler Classics. I personally prefer the 1963 models, but they're all good honest cars. I can still remember my grandfather driving his, with a dab of Brylcreem in his hair.

$800 in that condition? A steal!

reminds me of my old 66, but mine was a v8.

Looks like a great project!

Side note: I found a Vectrex video game system in the back seat of one of those at a junkyard about 10 years ago. Probably the most random thing I've ever found in a junkyard. Strangely, the car was even the same color, and in unbelievable shape. I still don't know why it was even in that yard other than to provide me a Vectrex. Thanks Rambler!

speedometer goes to 12...

Aww yess, time for me to get my Wheeler Dealer fix without actually having to work on anything! Think that paint will come back with a good buffing?

I want to buy that from you when you're done.

t25torx wrote: Aww yess, time for me to get my Wheeler Dealer fix without actually having to work on anything! Think that paint will come back with a good buffing?

Then it's your turn again! The paint should totally come back. I'm really excited for this one.

Petrolburner wrote: I want to buy that from you when you're done.

That's if I even sell it! I may keep this one for a few car shows and cruises with the family.

Smoking deal!!

In reply to Javelin:

I guess demand for something this obscure will dictate how it goes. Sure is interesting, though!!!

Javelin wrote:

Petrolburner wrote: I want to buy that from you when you're done.

That's if I even sell it! I may keep this one for a few car shows and cruises with the family.

Well, it's not really a Wheeler Dealer thread unless you sell it on for a profit when you're done.

Nice find!

Neat! $800 seems like a steal for that!

Petrolburner wrote: I want to buy that from you when you're done.

Shoot me a PM, I'd make a killer GRM deal to keep it in the family.

First thing first, I had to get Gladys home. I brought a couple buddies with a Jeep and a tow strap and we pushed her out into the sun.

I manned the helm while they towed. The brakes came free really fast and seemed to work well for manual drums. The tires are pretty much square! They are 1970's Sears whitewall bias-plys, that have sat in one spot for years.

The cockpit was nice, even with manual steering, but vacuum wipers don't work when the engine doesn't run...

We got her to casa de Javelin without incident.

Initial assessment at purchase showed I would need a battery, fuel filter, and some plugs at the least so up the hood went and wrenches started flying.

I also matched up some random radiator hoses that should work, got a thermostat and some coolant, and various chemicals.

Unfortunately, the starter was toast. I hoped that a battery and some hammer whacks would wake it up, but she was done for. A frantic search throughout the country found me one leftover Remy unit in Ohio! I had it shipped in.

The starter came in, so I threw it on. It worked perfectly! Except now I had no spark, even after filing the points. Tune up parts are cheap, so I put new points and condenser in along with a coil. Now I had verified spark, but still no running.

At least it looked good in front of the house!

I pulled the 1 barrel Carter AS carburetor and cleaned out the float bowl, jet, and accelerator pump. After reassembly, she ran!

And drove! Everything was working like it was supposed to, so it was time to take it around the block. That didn't end well... I made it 3/4 of the way before it died. No fuel when you hit the throttle, so the jet clogged again. Guess the carb is coming back off...

Good start to that project. Looking at that I can't understand why Rambler was not more popular back in those days. That is a good looking car.

She's a beaut!

In reply to noddaz:

Rambler was actually really popular back then. They got up to the 3rd biggest automaker once.

Gladys is a perfect name.

Someday I may tell you how I got in trouble when Mom saw a size 5 footprint pressed inside the rear window of her '64 the morning after I borrowed for the movies.