Projects 57 Pontiac Safari wagon like a "Nomad" body

I have an opportunity to buy a 57 Pontiac Safari 2 dr wagon - it has the roofline exactly like the Chevy Nomad. it is pretty solid, been stored inside, has a GTO engine (400 i think) from late sixties GTO.
the car is in old white paint, has good glass, all the interior and chrome but needs resto. the guy is asking $5500.00 which i thought sounded interesting if not on the low side. what do you guys think?
He also has a decent project car 55 Chevy 2 dr hardtop and a 54 or 55 Chevy truck that can be bought for the same price.
I would like to know how rare that Pontiac wagon is....
thanks Brian

 

Buy the Poncho.

 

The Nomad is rare - only 6103 built, according to my information. I don't have the production numbers for the Safari, but I'd be suprised if they made over 3000 of them. Buy it!

 

buy the safari they are good lookin cars & only made about 1100 57 safaris.
i missed a nice unrestored 57 safari once for 9000 & i still regret it.

 

Sounds like it's a steal at that price. I would be wishing it was closer & I had room for it if you pass on it.

 

57 Safari......One of my dream cars. Buy it and post some pics.

 

It is the Pontiac version of the Nomad. If there aren't hidden flaws like a bent frame, rust, bondo, etc, $5,500 is a steal. Buy it for me and I'll pay ya back after the recession.

 

Hens Teeth ring a bell?

 

Hell yes, it sounds like a good deal!

 

Here is a picture of it.
Brian

 

A friend of mine in BG, Ky has a '55 Safari and a '57 Nomad. Both damned cool cars but if times got tough for him I know he'd keep the Poncho. I agree with everyone else; $5500 sounds like a steal unless it's a total POS.

 

Do Not Read Any More, GO BUY IT !

 

does he have all the trim? look at the roof for rot along the drip rail its hard to fix but roofs can be bought for 1000 or more.

 

1292 in '57, a far more rare piece than any Nomad. Much nicer car than the Nomad too, came standard with leather upholstery, carpeted load deck/rear seat back, and could be gotten with the usual plethora of mid '50s GM options. Although all motors were 347 CID, they had a number of engine options including TriPower (no F. I. on Pontiacs in '57 unless you bought one of the 630 Bonneville convertibles though). All in all, a much more luxurious car than the Chevrolet Nomad.

 

Thats a great price for that car.

 

Update for you: the guy is now saying he wants 30k for the Pontiac, not sure how that got messed up but anyway out of my range.
the 55 Chev 2 dr HT is still at 6k though, that is more in my range....

 

Here is the 55 Chev.

 

By the way, the "dip" at the bottom of the "B" pillar was body colour from the factory, NOT the top colour (colour separation was a straight line through the "B" pillar at the belt line), but myself and my fellow Safari owning friends at the time thought it was "cool" to paint the dip to match the pillar/top colour. Both of mine were done that way.

 

Like many things the "too good to be true" statement works again lol. I am receiving all of this info from my father, who tends to get the details mixed up alot. the first comment was that this guy has about 7 old cars, is in failing health and would like to start unloading some of the cars. all of them were supposed to be around 5 to 6 thousand each, unfortunately that did not include the 57 Pontiac Safari.... I got all excited there for a while and now brought back down to earth. i still like the Chevy though!

 

a 55 hardtop is a GOOOOD piece to have!

 

Better buy it! Im on my way to Iowa!!

 

yes, a 55 HT would be a nice addition. i have a 57 HT right now (project car) and the 55 appears to be very solid. better than my 57.
Brian

 

Buy the Safari 57....from the 55 to 57 Nomad/Safari (same bodystyle,same roof and tailgate) the 57 Safari is the rarest and lowest production with 1292 made...i think they made more than 6000 Nomads in 57,go figure...
If has all the trimmings ,moldings,trinkets parts then buy it....if not consider the Safari parts hard to find...good luck

 

No way to go wrong with the 55 Hardtop. It will always be worth 6k unless it is a total rust bucket. Every part is available to fix it too. The Pontiacs of this era have a funky king pin setup up front and the master cylinder is under the car. Lots of the brake parts arent even available. Grab the Chevy.

 

The Pontiac would have been a STEAL at $5500!!! Someone probably tipped him off that he was letting it go too cheap. The 55 is still a good price. Just my 2 cents.

 

Actually the roof on the Safari is not exactly the same, I was surprised to learn they're different stampings. And the tops do like to rust along the drip rail.

Unless that '57 has a factory fuel injection setup on it or something, it's way high, haven't priced 57s specifically but I've seen as-nice '56's sell in the $5000-$6000 range.

 

If the guy wants $30k for it in that condition, he is smoking some good stuff.
A project 57 Safari like that should be between $7500- $9500 tops.

They are rare, and very cool, but its not cheap to fix one up and it WILL have hidden rust everywhere!

Here was the floor on mine:


And the roof:


They are sweet for picnics when they're done...

 

Not a 57 safari but my 56 nomad will be up and runing some day. And if your are lucky and at the right place it could happen to you as it did me. Got this from a hamber a few months ago.

 

How are they different? My 57 roof looks the same as the nomad we are working on at the shop. I know the Safari has a longer wheelbase than the nomad.

 

the owner is maybe a HAMBr LOL!!