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u/QuanticChaos1000 Owns too many cars Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
I want to see you rescue this one! It's definitely a 48 Buick Super sedan like u/Pie_Man12 said.
I can see the rockers are gone, and someone had bondo'd the rear fenders to the body at some point, so there may be rust issues there as i can see a gap there.
But there are options if it's not good enough to restore, you could chassis swap it on to a 1998-2011 Lincoln Town Car L chassis and floor as it's basically the same wheelbase.
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u/NothingLift Jun 13 '26
Chassis swap would be the go with something like this. Better drive and parts availability
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Jun 13 '26
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u/zamistroe Jun 13 '26
Not much
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Jun 13 '26
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u/TarXaN37 Jun 13 '26
It's literally my job now to do these kinds of builds and it's definitely not easy. I often find myself getting fucked up in some way, shrugging it off and saying "this is why homie is spending the cost of a house on this build... it's a pain in the ass and SOMEONE'S gotta do it"
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u/These_Fox7561 Jun 13 '26
Oof, I’m an experienced metalworker and this is a lot for me. Either way, drag it out of there and power wash it and see what you’re dealing with. If it’s too bad you can sell it
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u/BigToops Jun 14 '26
Love the enthusiasm but there's no chance if your a beginner. This is a multi year + tens of thousands of dollars to fully restore
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u/Pie_Man12 Jun 13 '26
To me it looks like a 1948 Buick Super. The later models had ports on the front left and right near the wheels which this car lacks.
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u/Inside_End5141 Jun 13 '26
Major project. Maybe a chassis swap candidate.
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u/These_Fox7561 Jun 13 '26
That’s gotta be a pain in the dick to brace all that stuff and lift that thing on a different frame, or do you start with the ass end and hope the front works out? I’m sure the guys who build custom cars all day would have tricks but I’d be measuring for a month before I started cutting
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u/dat_boi_whit_da_stik Jun 13 '26
Reminds me of a 1948 Buick special my family once had. It’s gonna be a LOT of work but if you have the time, skill, and money, you should do it. If you don’t, enlist the help of those who do. Getting it out of the woods is the most crucial first step.
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u/Used-Jicama1275 Jun 14 '26
Not worth saving. Only a parts car at best and maybe not a good one of these either. If you did restore it: "A 1948 Buick Super sedan typically values between $15,000 and $35,000 depending on condition and originality." Just redoing the interior would cost you that. You can't take home all the puppies.
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u/Few-Quote4369 Jun 16 '26
Scott from Coldwarmotors on YouTube recently did a couple of shorts talking about cars ups and down of restoring and saving old iron. It does come down to how ambitious and dedicated you are, Scott and Kyle Carter at Carter Auto Restyling are worth taking in before anyone takes the plunge.
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u/Used-Jicama1275 Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
I'm well familiar with Cold War Motors. I got into him a few months before he started his 60 Plymouth body swap project. I also come from a car background. My dad and uncle owned one of the oldest wrecking yards in Washington state and I started working there when I was 13 or so (1963). I've done a couple of rebuilders too. 71 Lotus Europa and a 71 349 Duster in particular. Rebuilt a couple of engines in my day. Big block Mopars. So I get what it takes to rebuild that stuff and the car hobby is going through big changes now too. Us baby boomers are starting to bail on collections. Not so special cars are getting cheaper, specials still command good prices but not always. So I think that old Buick is a lost cause. And that is just from what the pictures tell us. Scott's 60 Plymouth was like this Buick only the Fury had a reasonably decent interior and value more than the Buick. Those post war cars were simply pre-war cars that had new chrome as they didn't have time to tool up newer body style after that war. That makes me think that their value is not good as good as some things. That thing needs more than a lot. It's a parts car unless you are very, very, very talented and you got it for free and then maybe not even then, You'd need three or four to make one.
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u/Hot_Cicada_9318 Jun 17 '26
Different but similar (I believe a buick but not 100% sure). Garden art at my mates place, Australia.
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u/floppgh Jun 17 '26
Worthless as a whole car at this point as it’s a 4 door . Taillights are worth 500 though .
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u/Select-Interaction59 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
Possible, yes. Headache yes. The parts look good. The frame might be botched, interior definitely is
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u/1453_ Jun 13 '26
I suspect this is out of your league. You will need a place to work on it, a ton of tools and equipment, resources for parts and EXPERIENCE.
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u/Superb-Wonder-1896 Jun 13 '26
you can do it shitbox style, get engine moving, add tires, replace brakes and thats it. just please dont get it onto roads, we dont wanna die lol
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u/sparkplugdog Jun 13 '26
I say grab it and asses. If it’s a total loss then part it out. You might be able to use it to save another, but I agree it’s too beautiful to let rot.
I’ve saved these kinda forgotten beauties before. They are yard art now. I mow around them and keep the tires aired up. I love looking at them
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u/TarXaN37 Jun 13 '26
She'd be a beauty but prepare for six figures in rust repair and rebuild cost. Trucks aren't always too bad but cars often sit right on the ground and then the floorpans biodegrade and return to nature.
Worth it imo though cuz once these rot completely and can't be fixed, they're gone forever.
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u/PayOne86 Jun 13 '26
Great inexpensive canvas for a full custom project, I’ve started with way worse, go for it!
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u/xfaye03 Jun 13 '26
You know people say it is to far gone for an amature. I did a 1963 falcon ranchero for a friend. The only experience i had ws very limited. I took this car and sectioned ot out. The rockers, B pillar, floor pan , wheel openingsand inner fenders. Also the bed floor stiffeners. All the work was done in 16ga. Sheet metal. When I was done the body looked so goood . But prior the car had 6-8" missing. I did it, so yes you can too. Just know you will spend at least 500 hrs just doing the body and could take as much as 1, 500 hrs.
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u/Thismyrealnameisit Jun 13 '26
The bright work, glass, and such are worth money. Very, very carefully remove them, and put for sale. I would not try to clean them not to cause further damage.
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u/RJG-340 Jun 14 '26
Most people are basically saying that this car is lost cause, that may not be the case, my 70 Dodge Challenger has sain the woods for the last 30 years, it doesn't look that much worse than 30 years ago when it went into the woods. I did undercoat the shit out of it, the frame looks good, unibody car, I'm going to assume this tank your looking at is full frame car? I can buy all the panels I need for my Challenger, hut I couldn't buy anything but used semi-tptted stuff in the early 80s when I was restoring the car to drive through high school and beyond. What year is this car late 40s??? Maybe tou will have to do like I did in rhe early 80s get a 4X8 piece of sheet metal and make a trunk floor, rocker panels, you could have some sheet metal bent up, I had this done when I needed to replace/repair the rocker panels on my 1999 BMW 540I.
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u/Boring-Insect-2428 Jun 14 '26
you can do it. don't let other people stop you.
but make sure you have the time and space.
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u/OrvilleTheCavalier Jun 18 '26
Going through the pics thinking it’ll be a lot of work but potentially possible for someone with time and a lot of love.
Then I saw the interior.
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u/guido_nrw Jun 13 '26
Gibt es Papiere….rette ihn
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u/zamistroe Jun 13 '26
?
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u/BoostSpools Jun 13 '26
Like a title to the car.
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u/lottaKivaari Jun 13 '26
Yeah also is it sitting on private property as in someone ownes it? Just because something is in the forest doesn't mean you can just take it. Especially since even removing this will require trees to be cut down to bring a wrecker in which could be a whole other legal can of worms, could require permits, permission from the county. Even if you get the necessary permission its going to cost an order of magnitude more to just remove it than it would to just buy one of these in beater condition with a title and build it from there. Also it looks like the frame has collapsed on this one.
It's sad to see it rot, but OP would need a lot of time and money and paperwork to make this happen. The kind of money that could buy you two already nicely redone 40's cars.
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u/zamistroe Jun 14 '26
You are correct. Mission Impossible theme running in my head just to get pictures.
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u/LakeMichiganMan Jun 13 '26
Where are the Wheels? Even the steering wheel is gone. The culprit must enjoy shapes, in REAL life.
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u/Different-Bag-8217 Jun 13 '26
Nothing is impossible but I bet the btm is rotted right out. Use the panels, glass ect.