What Makes It Special? This Ventura is a survivor with some restoration to make it drivable. In March of 2015, the car was dragged out from a garage where it had been tucked away in the late 1970s. Prior to that, in 1975, the car was impounded by Nevada Highway Patrol and listed as an abandoned vehicle. It was sold as scrap to a wrecking yard then resold to the prior owner for a parts car. The prior owner decided to restore it and began by removing the front clip and started with bodywork to the driver’s side front fender. After poorly repairing the rust and sanding the fender he set the car aside and the years slipped by with the car being untouched for roughly 40 years. The car is equipped with power steering, power brakes, three-tone Morrokide vinyl bench seats, SoftRay tinted glass, original windshield, the courtesy light switch next to the radio, speaker switch for front and rear speaker volume control. Original interior. The original padded dash is in poor condition so a metal dash was painted and installed to match the color of the padded dash, then scuffed up to appear aged. The original padded dash is included for restoring. The car is also equipped with a full set of restored original 1960 8-lug wheels and drums with excellent metal brake linings, all new stainless steel lug nuts and trim rings (correct left hand and right hand threaded lug nuts). Center caps are original but someone painted the details red (should be black) but I left them that way for that 1970’s touch.

Body Condition: With the car still retaining most of its factory original paint there are no hidden repair secrets. The left side of the body has a few dings and minor dents but the rocker panel has rust damage. The trunk lid and rear panel have some minor dents as well. The right side has body damage to both the door and the rear quarter panel. Those dents may be repairable but may be more cost-effective to replace the door and quarter so those panels will be included (removed from prior owner’s parts car). Since the front fenders had been removed and the rust repair was done so poorly both front fenders have been correctly restored and painted (scuffed to look aged) before being reinstalled. Along with refinishing the front fenders it only made sense to refinish all the front suspension and all engine bay parts before reassembly.

Mechanical Condition: My original intent was to assemble the car and keep everything as an untouched survivor but due to metal fragments in the original oil the engine was removed. The prior owner’s parts car had a very smooth running, low mileage engine that was to be swapped but once the original block numbers were researched I knew that the original engine needed to be rebuilt and reinstalled. The original engine has a matching VIN number to the car as well as being stamped A1, indicating a high compressing rating of 10.25 to 1. With new rings, bearings, cam, lifters, freeze plugs, sealed up and painted to original colors. The Tri-Power carbs and intake were also restored and checked for date codes. The Tri-Power set up is not original to this engine. The numbers indicate that the set is 1959. I’m told that this was a common dealer install to save on time and availability of special order cars as well as the fact that most of the factory-built Tri-Power cars had been going direct to race car teams for Nascar and Drag Racing.

After stripping and adding a fresh coat of paint on all the engine bay and frame rails (with the exception of cleaning and polishing the firewalls original paint) everything that the car needed for safe driving was inspected, rebuilt or replaced (with the exception of the transmission and rear end). While the transmission was out, it was drained of its old fluid (that had very good coloring indicating that the transmission may still be usable as is) reinstalled and refilled with fresh fluid. With the car rolling on a new set of steel-belted tires, the brakes were adjusted, the new front end was aligned and the engine went through a couple of hundred break-in miles. Engine runs smooth and strong. The 4-speed automatic transmission shifts smooth and stronger than expected but does have a leaky gasket. The rear end appears to have Posi-traction but recently the yoke seal started leaking. The wing windows are a problem in these GM cars. Both have been rebuilt and new weatherstrip was installed. This car can be enjoyed as is or will be a great candidate for a full restoration. Any questions or offers, please message me!

• Asking Price: $18500.00
• Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
• Mileage: 86000
• Title Status: Clean
• VIN: 360K5024

List your car here on Barn Finds for only $50!