I traveled to the Berkshire Mountains this past weekend to check out a 1959 PV 544 that had been sitting in a garage since 1979. For inspection I brought a flashlight and a 1/2" Dia. X 30" steel rod. Starting with the body I found no visible rust holes anywhere It looked like it had been repainted once and the top coat had started to flake off in spots. But other than that the body was nice and straight could not find any type of previous body work or even any little dents or parking lot dings. I liked the color a lot It is paint code 31 called Midnight Blue looked more gray than blue to me. First look under the hood I noticed that the radiator was missing owner had removed it to gain access to crank shaft to try and free it up (engine seized)The battery hold down bracket was missing and also missing was the windshield washer bottle/pump. Everything else seemed to be complete. I took my steel rod and bounced it off the front Spars from front to back top and bottom both sides and got a nice solid sound all the way. Moving next to the interior I noticed that the head liner had been removed owner says some mice had made a home in it so he had to riped it all out to keep them away.The carpet/floor mats were missing which gave us a good look at the floor. Bounced my metal rod all around the floor pans and all seemed solid,The owner removed the rear seat and showed me the only floor rust holes he new of on both sides at the rear corners under the seat as far back as you can go where the pan starts to go up into the trunk there was a rust hole on each side about the size of a half dollar> The upholstery appeared to be all there but the drivers seat back seemed to be detached some how from the frame work. Moving to the trunk I found the radiator and it is in pretty good shape the cooling fins were attached to the tubes and inside looked really clean. The bottom of the spare tire well has a rot hole about the size of a quarter and the very rear section of the trunk floor had a half a dozen rust holes in it none bigger than a 1/4" but the rest of the trunk was very solid. I could only check the tunnel at the rear end from the inside with seat removed everything looked good. While laying on the ground checking the underside I opened the doors and pulled down the weather stripping and found some rust on the bottom of the doors but banging it with my steel rod sounded pretty good will have to sand blast to check it out further.All the glass is in great shape very clear and pit free. The chrome varied while some was pitted and rusty like the centerof the front bumper other areas were near perfect. The owner has a stash of spare parts that comes with it stuff like front fenders chrome trim.
Well I just couldn't let it sit there any longer so I bought it,now I just have to figure out how to get it home.

SIL Thanks for the heads up on AC wheeler in North Leeds ME. my son lives not to far from there I'am sure I will be visiting soon also could you email me the location of that duett in South Freeport I go thru there a few times a year and would like to make the wife think we just stumbled upon it.
Mike
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1968 122S 1990 240 DL