Taking the big dive with both hands and feet.
 

Been staring down that R word (retirement) for several years now trying to figure what I'll do when I keep on not growing up. One thing I've always wanted was to work on restoring/rebuilding an old car. Like '60's or earlier. Convertible as well as a decent size engine are primary requirements.

Couple of weeks ago came across an ad on FB Marketplace for a '63 Bonneville that looked awesome. Little over 61k miles. This thing really checked all the boxes. Garage kept by both previous owners mainly used for puttering around town on occasion plus car shows. I can tell it had been repainted over the original coat. Upholstery, front and back looks fabulous. Zero cracks or fading. Has all the trim pieces. The underbody still has a lot of the original coating.

Of course there's plenty of mechanical/electrical work to be done which I'm fine with. According to "the INTERNET" this is THE place for Pontiac owners so hoping to glean plenty of info. Clips below in case anyone is interested. Now I just have to clean out the garage!

https://youtube.com/shorts/440TNa0V_34?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/IqDEyG93ZLk?feature=share

https://youtu.be/nbC5BfVpgig

In 1999 I bought a 63 Bonne 2 dr. ht. out of Ga. Had it shipped to N.J. I restored it and got lots of trophy's. Yours looks like a great car to start with.. I bought mine at that time for $4000. Depends on what they are asking.

Are you asking for purchase advise or did you already buy the car?

Cool car if you already own it. If you don't, buy it.
Great looking car.

Thanks for the responses. @bdk1976 I already bought it. I paid 9k for it which I feel is a fair price given its condition. Especially the body.

My parents bought a car identical to yours, which I eventually bought from them and drove it until it got hit during a snowstorm in Erie PA, 1972 ish.

It was in our family for nearly a decade, great car, the only problem we had with it was the hydramatic transmission took a dump. Dad had it rebuilt and it soldiered on after the rebuild until the accident. The car still had a lot of life left in it had it not been totaled. The engine eventually found it's way into a 63 Catalina 2 dr hdtp. I blew the engine up in.

Back in the early 70s i raced 61 Pontiacs on dirt, basically the same car as the 63s, very sound platform. The automatic transmissions were the weak link in all those cars from 61-64.