Good morning! Today we’re visiting the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the sandwiches are cheesy, the mascots are gritty, and the two most interesting cheap cars on Craigslist in the dead of winter are convertibles. Which drop-top will take top honors? We’ll find out.
Yesterday’s choices both came from Tacoma, Washington, and both had the potential to break their next owner’s hearts and wallets. The voting was pretty close, but I don’t expect it to change much, so I’m calling it for the Odyssey minivan. There is a good chance that whatever transmission issues it may have suffered have been remedied already, as several of you pointed out.


I’m torn on this one. The Odyssey could, in theory, replace two of my own vehicles: the 300 and the pickup. Of course, there’s no way I would give up those two for a twenty-year-old minivan. Practicality only counts for so much. The Veloster could make a good park-it-wherever beater when going into the city, except that I think it’s one of the super-easy-to-steal ones. I guess I’ll go for the van as well.
Mid-January is, of course, the perfect time to shop for a convertible, especially in a city that always seems to be cold. Okay, not so much, but the only three cars that caught my eye were convertibles, and one of them, a VW Super Beetle, only had three pictures in the ad, so I had to go with the other two. So let’s go topless in the winter! Here we go.
1965 Ford Galaxie 500 – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 289 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Quakertown, PA
Odometer reading: 114,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, but has a “low end noise”
If there were an award for “Jauntiest Angles Of Photos In An Online Classified Ad,” I’d nominate this old Ford. Every one of the photos is wonky or oddly framed in some way. No matter; they give us a good picture of a reasonably decent fixer-upper opportunity. The Galaxie was Ford’s full-sized car in the ’60s, and the 1965 model was an all-new design, with its characteristic stacked headlights. I don’t know why, but it always bothered me a little bit that the low beams are in the upper position and the high beams are in the lower position on these stacked designs.
A wide range of engines was available in the Galaxie, from an inline-six to a 427 cubic inch monster of a V8. This one has what was probably the most common engine, Ford’s ubiquitous 289 “Windsor” V8, along with a basic three-speed Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission. It runs and drives all right, but the seller says it makes “low end noise,” which I assume means a main bearing rumble. It will need an overhaul, or an upgrade. Just about any Ford RWD drivetrain should work, with a little creativity.
What surprises me most about this car is the interior. I would have expected it to be absolutely trashed, but it’s actually not terrible. It’s filthy, sure, but the upholstery looks all right, as do the dash and door panels. The carpet is probably not worth saving, but replacement carpet is available from the repro shops.
Outside, it needs a bit more work, but again, it’s not awful. There is some rust in the rear quarters, but the floors are solid. Most of it has been primered, which means some other rust repair might have already been done. It was originally dark green, but you could repaint it any color you want. Or just leave it in primer, and not worry about it. It’s not like it’s some priceless classic; it’s an old Galaxie. No need to get too fancy.
2004 Saab 9-3 2.0t – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 2.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Glen Mills, PA
Odometer reading: 144,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I’ve always loved the fact that Saab made convertibles. For a company so laser-focused on its engineering, a convertible just seems like such a frivolous thing to build. It requires compromising the structure of the car, decreasing its safety in a lot of ways, and for what? Sunshine and fresh air? In a country that spends half the year in the dark and cold? It’s completely unnecessary, and that makes it awesome.
This is the final generation of Saab 9-3, before General Motors pulled the plug on the beloved Swedish marque and the most GM of them all. It’s based on GM’s Epsilon platform, and powered by a turbocharged and Saab-ified version of the 2.0 liter Ecotec engine. You could get a manual, but of course this one is an automatic, because far too many Saabs sold in America were so equipped. It’s a two-owner car, with a carefully documented maintenance history. The seller loves it, and is only selling it because they have decided to spend summers in Italy, and so no longer need a convertible here. Must be nice.
Inside, it’s in nice condition, and of course it has the typical Saab center-console-mounted ignition switch. I don’t know which trim level this is, but there are an awful lot of buttons in there, which makes me think it’s one of the higher levels, the Arc or the Vector. Because of course Saab couldn’t stick to the typical DX or LX or logical trim designations like that.
The convertible top appears to work just fine, and the paint is nice and shiny, though I do wonder if the rear bumper hasn’t been replaced and repainted. It looks just half a shade darker than the rest of the car. It’s not a big deal, but it’s also worth asking about.
No one has guessed my silly theme for the week yet, and I’m curious to see if today’s choices give any of you another clue. If you’ve figured it out from today’s choices, then you already know one thing about tomorrow’s and Friday’s. If not, don’t worry, I’ll reveal it on Friday. For now, all you have to do is choose which convertible you want: a scruffy American classic, or a well-kept Swedish orphan.
(Image credits: sellers)
I’m going Galaxie. I’ve always wanted one, I’d yank the 289, rebuild it, and save it for a later, smaller project and put at least a 351W in the Galaxie, and then proceed with fixing the rest once running.
Galaxie. Because I don’t want to deal with trying to get a 21 year old car to pass smog in California.
The Ecotec is a solid engine, and relatively easy and cheap to work on. (My 03 VUE was trouble free well past 130k miles when I sold it to a friend’s kid who needed a first car and wasn’t afraid of a manual.) In general, I have found 90s and 00s GM cars to be easy to get past smog, unless the engine has internal issues. Basic port injection sold on millions of vehicles.
I love 90s and 00s GMs too. Great value as a used car. You can actually put a nice stereo in them I wouldn’t even try to upgrade the stereo in a modern touch screen car.
I like the Saab better and it’s in pretty good condition…I do like the V8 in the Galaxie but too bad it’s an ugly Fix Or Repair Daily and I always hated the look of those lights
You take the dog
I’ll take the Galaxie 500
You get the cat
I get the couch you don’t want anymore
You take the fish
I’ll take the bowl
You take the dishes
While you’re at it take my soul
But things ain’t so bad
‘Cause I’ve got a Galaxie 500
I really wanted to vote for the Galaxie…. but it’s just way too much work for that amount of money. I’ll take the Saab where I can just get in and drive it for a summer and then get rid of it for probably what I paid.
Saab, and I usually prefer the old Iron, though I will say this FOrd predate’s steering wheel locks it appears. so it would also be nearly as easy to steal as the Hyundai from the other day. thanks to a single wire jumping the coil and a lone wolf 3000. Or honestly really just a lawn mower keyswitch and 15 minutes of swapping wires.
If the Saab is even close to as nice as it looks and sounds it is a bargain!
I have a 1999 9-3 convertible with 187k miles. The top recently quit working, but otherwise it looks good and drives great – possibly the most reliable car I have ever owned. A new radiator and a new blower fan switch are the only big repairs it has ever needed. I haven’t even bothered to figure out why the top isn’t working because my favorite way to drive it is with the top up and all the windows down, giving lots of air but shade from the sun.
A ’65 Galaxie is a fun car and it will just fit through the choke point in my driveway, which is to say not at all comfortably. There’s a reason I’ve tended to accumulate smaller cars than this.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54268360153_0681f5aa2c_c.jpg
Now that is a cool collection of cars. You’ve stumped me with the yellow one, though – what is that?
Thanks! It’s a 1976 Volvo 66 GL. My brother’s ’65 Galaxie was just visiting.
Austin Allegro? Bold choice… A Top Gear favourite for sure!
I’ve also had a Metro and a Maestro. I’m not good at this.
If you like obscure Austins, check out the Lancer Series I – Australia only. We had one growing up – didn’t realise how cool it would be now… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Major
Nice! I also have a Triumph…
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53958968424_fbb558552a_c.jpg
Tough choice. I am not overly interested in a 9-3 Convertible, but that seems like a nice car for the price. I genuinely like the Galaxy, but a few of the photos make me think it may have had some very amateur body work done in the past. I would like to know how much of the body is still metal. I think this is probably not as easy a project as it appears.
Overall, I think I can get a better project Galaxie for the price, but I don’t think I can get a better 9-3 for that price. The Saab gets my vote.
Like yesterday, today seems to be a choice between a mechanically solid boring car (no offense, Saab fans) vs an interesting vehicle that is a bit of a gamble. I’ll be curious if tomorrow has a similar matchup.
My sentiments exactly. Except for the part about yesterday’s choice. Neither the Veloster nor the Odyssey is boring!
The Galaxie is awesome, but way overpriced for what is really a down payment on a running car. You’ll be in $6k on the cheap, and a lot more if you want it nice.
The SAAB is definitely a bargain at that price. A solid, documented, well maintained convertible for under $5,000 that has almost certainly been garage kept its entire existence? Count me in, every day, all day.
This is one of those days when I really mean it when I say I’d buy it if it were close enough to go fetch before the weekend. (Bookmarked for later this week.)
I’ll take the Saab any day over that overpriced heap-of-shit-that-needs-everything Galaxie.
If that Galaxie had the 4 speed manual, decent paint, decent/cleaner interior and was in ‘driver’ condition, then it might have swung my vote.
And on these older cars, getting certain parts can be just as hard as getting parts for the Saab.
The Saab will be a much better and much more fuel efficient driving experience.
Apples and oranges. (Theme?) LOL
For the price, the Saab is the deal here. I like the Galaxy, but it’s a starter project and is going to take some money to get there. If the Saab needed work, I’d probably go with the Ford.
The Saab is probably the logical choice here but that Galaxie screams to be saved.
That Galaxie, if it were in far better shape, would be appealing to me, and I already have a 9-3 convertible in the garage. The Saab is the way to go; it looks like a really nice example, owned by the kind of people who kept it up well.
The 9-3 convertibles came in either mid-level (Arc) or fancy/sportier (Aero) trim, and yes, this would be an Arc. Extra power is a tune away, although the standard tune is quite adequate at 210 hp, and the V6 on later Aeros is to me, more hassle than it’s worth.
These work pretty well as a car, still competent at daily drive duty Saab parts availability is pretty amazingly good, even for a 20 year-old convertible.
If the Galaxie ran and drove, I’d probably go for that. The extent of work it needs pushes me over to the GM-Saab which I’ve never been fond of.
Already have a rwd convertible with 3 pedals, but have never owned classic Detroit iron, so Galaxy for me today
Friggin Outstanding Ride Dude
Fix Or Repair Daily
F’ing Old Rebuilt Dodge
Found On Road Dead
Feisty Old Reliable Driver
F’ing Obsolete Rusty Deathtrap
Forget Overhauling Replace Daily
Fuc..d On Raw Deal
This Saab is vanilla
This old Ford is chocolate with sauce on top.
Love Saabs but the Ford wins this hands down.
I find myself torn. As someone who has driven my best friend’s Saabs as loaners for years, his 9-3 Viggen in manual has been a joy. Unfortunately this one is not a Viggen and it’s not a manual, but it would still be a very nice part-time car. It’s also in quite nice shape. However, maintenance could get a bit spendy.
I am of the opinion that ’66 Galaxie is the best Galaxie but the ’65 is close enough. (For whatever reason, those year-to-year styling changes in the 60s do really make a difference to me). I also have great affection for Galaxies in general, as my grandparents had a ’63 and a ’73 which was later passed on to me as my first car, and my parents had a ’64 and a ’68 so there’s a real connection with my childhood and teen years. As for the car itself, the mechanicals are dead simple and since it’s a ragtop it would be worth spending the money to restore. It’s a project, but I’m picking the Galaxie. If I ever do get a 60s ragtop for my fun car again (had a ’66 Mustang in my 20s) it will be a ’66 Galaxie or a ’68 Dart.
I really want to like the Galaxie, and it would’ve been mi pick if it only needed bodywork or an engine overhaul. This one needs both and the entry fee is not particularly low. I also suspect there’s way more rust than what the pictures show.
It’s worth saving but I won’t be that guy.
Clean, one-owner, ready to go, Saab for me
That Galaxie is crusty, old, and ugly. No thanks. I’d rather be comfortable and happy in the Saab.
– Crusty Old & Ugly Dude
What the hell is wrong with you people? How is a GM era automatic transmission Saab curb stomping a pretty solid classic Galaxy?
I’m going to go ahead and assume that they’re voting for the Saab’s 3-star IIHS rating.
No Swedish-American electronics to figure out with the Galaxie, much easier to work on, and when fixed up, will turn more heads.
In a country that spends half the year in the dark and cold? A convertible for the rest of the year is even more valuable. This SAAB looks in great condition, but I’m in a land barge kind of mood. Galaxie for me, please.
I’m more at home in my Galaxie