Technical When you have the money in your pocket

I'm reflecting on the past year. I guess about September I went and looked at a 62 Galaxie. This was going to be...the car. The car I would liquidate all my projects for. You know that one car you love.

It was 390 3speed OD car. I would have loved to get my hands on it 25 years ago. Had it been what the guy said it was, I would have bought it. He was under the impression I was tire kicker or maybe we were going to work out a possible trade. Little did he know I talked it over and was prepared. The dough was on me.

I'm telling you this guy had some hum-dingers.... They rate right up there with the 36 Chevy I looked at years ago when the seller claimed it had the original air in the tires....imagine that authentic 1936 air!

The small (post it note) sized hole in the drivers floor was really about poster board size. The whole floor was gone including some of the fire wall.
Oh but it has the rare tri tone interior.....just look at those panels. Silver trim, black white and red... all factory!
It was mildewed and the vinyl was rotten (it takes a lot for vinyl to rot) and peeling on the bottom half of the interior panels....
The seats....split seams and were going to pieces with the default dukw-tape repair ....Just look at those seats man......silver (Chrome trim) white, black and red vinyl....that's rare!
So what if it's the tr-tone interior. It was the tri tone interior. I thought.
Now it's mildew holding hands.
Oh it runs so so good.
Did I hear it? Why, heck no! He did not have a battery. 50 cars there and the guy did not have a hot battery.
Truthfully after 5 minutes....I was just along for the ride.
I actually found myself palming the bank envelope just to make sure I still had it.....To keep it from magically jumping out of my pocket. It was almost like I was subconsciously guarding it.

That engine has blowby I thought......."Man, there's lot of oil under here." Says I.....Here's the Big One.....

He goes on and on about how rust free the sides of the car are. Meanwhile I'm looking at daylight from holes from the front fenders down the rockers through the quarters. The whole bottom side was rusted out.
The perfect rear floors.......don't drop a ping pong ball in front of the back seat because it will go to the ground.
I really resent being treated like an idiot. With that said I was somewhat captivated. What else would this guy say?

He worked at a "rod shop" so he knows how easy those cars are to fix.....A weekend or two.
He hates it when people waste his time.........It was 2.5 hour round trip for me so I was going to get my moneys worth.
People these days do not know the value of these cars.
His neighbors are crackheads so he shoots at them.
He knows the sheriff.
Of course they still steal parts off his cars while dodging bullets.
I looked at some of his other stuff.
He did have a fair deal on a 56 Effie, but still a little high. I did not want another truck.

Then he shows me his pride and joy. Really I think the guy did have respect for me to invite me in his garage.
It was show quality '56 F100. Nothing spared.

This fellow was a car guy. He knew...... I think he knew, I knew.
In our prior phone conversation, he really talked it up.
It was not the car he said it was but by golly he stuck too it.
I had the cash but I played the tire kicker.
In closing I'm usually pretty good about spotting these too good be be true cars. This time...not so.

Has this happened to you?

 

Yes. "It runs but I don't have a battery". Their daily drivers don't have one ? Some buyers are just as much full of it.

 

On a positive note, I liked the way you told the story.
You may have missed an opportunity in your life to be an author or novelist.......

I guess we all have a similar story.
Mine, (many years ago) after several phone calls to organise going to look at a nice ‘37 ford coupe an hour and a half away, guy wouldn’t answer the phone on the Saturday morning so took a good friend (gofannon on here), and set off. Kept ringing as we got nearer, and as we turned down his street he finally answered his phone to tell me that he sold it half an hour prior.
3 hour round trip and gas for nothing !

 

...............It always cracks me up when a seller describes something as an "easy fix". If it were such an easy fix, wouldn't it have made sense to fix it before trying to sell the vehicle!!!

 

You got that right Don. It just needs some TLC. Yea right buddy....

 

Sounds like a typical narcissist, why wouldn't he want to show off his truck to you? Bet he never asked you to talk about anything you've ever done.

 

I Have traveled hours with cash to look at some cars in years past and IMO the phrase " Pictures Don't Lie" is not a true statement. I don't know how it's done or if it's experience with camera angles but upon arrival and inspection you would swear it's a different car along with the long list of lies on mechanicals. IMO the Hot Rod sales is just like The car sales business or any other thing where someone wants your money, A Buyer Beware For Sure. I don't know how I've survived all these years with that damn tattoo on my forehead that states, F me, I'm Stupid, I don't see it in mirror when I shave but when listening to what people say to me, it must be there.

 

Hell yea. Travelled all the way from Vienna to Berlin to see this OT 68 Pontiac Lemans just to discover it was not what it was promised to be: yes, it had a 5sp conversion but you really don't want to know how. Painted over rust etc. etc. Was no more than a project car.

But I was a part of history because the train I took was the last night train from Vienna to Berlin - ever. And I got to see the Slovak Republic's Bratislava train station at 06:00, the most depressing train station in East Europe, lol.

 

“It’s a cherry, it’s a peach! Won’t find a better one !”

rhis was told to me by a guy selling an o/t 86 bmw 6 series m car.
I know it’s ot but they drive absolutely amazing.

years ago before the internet
anyways find the car in auto trader, get this yahoo on the phone and like you described “ it’s mint” “it’s a cherry” all original””runs mint” “mint paint” it’s a peach” won’t find another like this anywhere”

so ask for his address , says no worries I’ll come to you. Ok.
He shows up in a faded paint rusted out , torn and worn interior clapped out non m series car!!!
Gets out slaps the hood and goes on about how mint the car is all the while huffing on his cheap cow shit smelling paper cigar !!!

Was so mad and disappointed I didn’t even walk out my garage, just told him beat it , not interested.

I don’t get the lying, especially when what your lying about is obviously right there staring at you.
Waste of everyone’s time.
But I guess stupid is as stupid does right?
Looking for a fish takes time
Shitty

 

Yeah, I know this situation. When I went to look at my Plymouth. The " rust free daily driver" was anything but. It had sheets of aluminum rivited in over the non existent floors, the tires were completely bald due to really bad alignment and the clutch was trash. Ultimately I still wanted the car, so I called him out on his bullshit and negotiated the price accordingly.

 

I got to know this older gentleman that was a wheeler dealer like that back in my younger days. I was warned by his own sons so that should have been a red light to start with.

we are not sure if he had dyslexic or did it on purpose. he liked reversing the year numbers. 1 time he had me look at what he told me was a 57 chevy and it turned out to be a '75 instead. or the time I thought I was going to look at a late model '97 and it turned out to be a rusted out '79. Should have known by then but the price given I had to make sure, once in a while he gets it right.

Everything he has is rust free but when you get there you can see where he spray bombs over the rust. no bodywork, no primer, just right over the flaky rust and around the rusted out holes. What makes it worse is he must have been somewhat color blind and never matched the color closely at all. I can remember the maroon truck and he spray bombed the rust fire engine red. or the dark blue one and he sprayed the rust baby powder blue or whatever light blue color it was. The vehicles would have looked better without his touchups.

Can't forget about being mechanically sound and you would see black tape hiding the leaky radiator hose on the one car.

or him and me before the auction letting him know I was going to bid the 1 truck up to $500 and then he jumps in when I was the only bidder and I drop out at $400 thinking he is going to sell it to me for $500 and he wanted $1200 afterwards and got mad at me for not buying it from him for that, saying I was willing to buy it at the auction. Yes, I was a player for $500 or less which he knew, not $1200 for a parts truck. He never sold that truck and ended up scraping it and I brought it from the yard for $300. he never found out about that.

Rip Harvey. You were a good character.

Still good friends with both sons which both are good wheeler dealers but don't try to hide issues and fix things correctly when they do. Amazing how night and day parents/kids can be.

 

"It doesn't have a battery" . ----Well , I'll pull mine outta the car I drove here. " There's no gas in it." ----Got a can in the back of my truck. "What if you catch it on fire?"--- Then I'll buy it. " I'm not comfortable with that."---- See ya!

Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

It's true...
The human race has forced me to take a new attitude...



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I've told the story here before of the 47 Ford Tudor we went to look at a few years back. Yeah, pics will lie, because the pics were much better than the car was. Top was rust pitted so deep you could have probably poked through it with a ink pen, yet they painted right over the pits, not even bothering to sand it. Had a FE and a 3 speed in it, shifter was installed wrong, pattern was reversed. Had a home made grille out of perforated shelving material!
Wife nixed it real quick when we looked at it, was going to be her car. Ended up trailering her OT Vette we were planning to trade for it up there and back, 3 hours each way, for nothing....

 

"Yeah, pics will lie, because the pics were much better than the car was"

You got that right. I almost brought a 56 olds off the auction sight that was fairly close. went to a swap meet and it was there. Picture was so much nicer and glad I didn't pull the trigger on that one.

Another ebay episode. was cruising the car section and saw these 4 old hudsons listed. thought they looked familiar and as I was studying the photo I spied a truck in the background of the 1 picture. I knew exactly where these were. I brought that truck from the guy. problem I had was I brought that truck over 10 years ago from the guy so he was using a picture at least that old.

I went to a house demolition sale on the lake a few weeks later not far from this place and decided to circle over to this guy. sure enough the cars were still there but nothing like what they looked like in the picture. yes in the same spot but sinking in , deteriorated and one had a crush roof that wasn't in the picture. they were nice looking in the picture and when I brought the truck.

Pictures can lie especially if taken years earlier.

 

Called the guy three times setting up a time that was good for him. Drove SIX hours ONE WAY, on a Sunday, to buy an OT convertible. Car was right, price was right....BUT the asswrangler still owed money so there was a bank lien. Guy said he was gonna use the money from the sale to pay off the loan. I asked how he was gonna do that on a Sunday? He figured nobody would have the cash on a Sunday, and he wouldn't sell it anyway. Showed him the cash, and said he was half right. He wasn't selling it today. By the time I got back to my car I was so pissed I grabbed the bat out of the trunk and was heading back to his garage to do a little home run derby on his dumb ass. Gotta thank my buddys cool head or I'd have been doing another stretch.

 

Yep, you need to keep cash handy when a true to be real deal does come through. I have brought a few cars sitting on a bar stool and have been happy with every

 

There's a dealer upstate who has a decent selection of older cars but beware the pictures on the website are at least ten years old... I went up there to buy, yes,buy a certain car because it was a good looking presentation on the internet.... well, except for much of the interior having been sold out of it, rust holes in the roof, damage from being dragged from spot to spot.... I was pissed. I walked the place over for a couple of hours trying to find something that would redeem the trip.... came home empty handed.

 

I have had the experience also. That is how I found out that I don't know what rust is. I always thought that rust was the cancer that ate up whole floors and fenders and the bottom 6 inches of a car. But no, I found out that stuff is "patina". Oh well, whatever you call it, I try to avoid it.

 

You can hunt forever and never find the good deals. For me good deals simply happen by chance. Now a days many sellers think old junk should bring Barrett Jackson prices.

 

I think I've been by that place before. They used to put a lot of pics in the Auto Trader books, have a website, too. Always looked like nice cars, but get up close and you could see they were junk. Pics taken from the good side, old pics, pics of cars they don't even have anymore. Best I remember, was on a major highway, can't think of the town name. Been a few years since I've been to SC.....

 

Unless the leopard changed his spots look out for this place. Motion Unlimited in Rapid City SD. I was warned about him back in the 90's before the internet and later talked with some people here in Mi who'd bought a car from him and it was nowhere near what was represented. A lot of his cars back then would be in primer which was just sprayed on over rust, dirt whatever. I was told he bought whatever primer was the cheapest so sometimes it was red, other times black or gray

 

I’ve seen it before, it’s sometimes like they are trying to make up for their parents bad names.

 

Once upon a time a buddy and I were vending at the Jefferson WI. swap and a guy walks up and wants to know if we wanted to buy a bunch of his Mopar cars and parts. Tells us all about the cars and buildings full of nice parts.
We agree to meet up and bring cash.
5 hour drive to Fond Du Lac and 20K in cash. We look at a few cars at his house. Personal projects,not for sale.
OK,fine...let's move on. Get to the first building and it is full of 68-71 high perf stuff as well as highly desireable accessory parts. How much per or for the stack of these? What's the money on the pallet of those?
Not for sale.
On to the next building and my buddy and I are getting steamed. 12 project cars and tons of good parts in this one. Any for sale? Nope.
Turns out it was just a museum tour thing. Guy had no intention of selling,he just wanted to show off his stuff.
Think he got off on knowing guys drove a long way to buy nothing.
Maybe someone on here knows if he ever did sell any of that stuff or if he is still playing that game. It'd been 20 years since that happened and I don't recall the idiots name.
Took 8 hours to get back as we needed to stop at a tavern or 4 on the way back to calm down

 

Image that,, someone Lied

 

Another clue, wet car on a sunny day! Seen that many times! When I put something up for sale, I include close up pictures of any and all problem areas. And I talk it down a little. That way when a get a looker, he is surprised that it’s better than described. Make for a better transaction.
Working on buying a 64 Galaxie factory four speed now!





Bones

 

Last spring I tripped over the ad for my 53 coronet ...


I was (Just Looking )... and Did Not have Cash In My Pocket .....
drove and hour out of my way ...
The car was better than the pictures !
The reason he was selling it was He didn't want to Cut it up , and wanted something different .
It started on the first try ! the rust was less than it stated in the ad .

I did not have more than a deposit on me ... and the kid was willing to wait the week it was going to take me to get the cash out of a money market account ...

Sometimes the ( deal ) is there waiting for the right buyer !

 

First time in my life, I got the cash to buy a fresh stroked 383, still on the stand, from I guy I know. Fresh from the machine shop, paperwork and all, but no sale.....because I know the guy. Good deal, but totally untrustworthy guy, very slippery, so, my money stays in my pocket. Probably what he says it is, but I won't go there, nothing would make me buy from him.

 

Sounds kinda like online dating......

 

Fella up in north central Iowa had advertised a '38 Olds Business Coupe, looked good in the pictures, but they were taken from a long ways away, so couldn't really see any detail. Ad said straight, rust-free, good interior, original driver, price was reasonable. Cash in the pocket, I left Kansas City at dark-thirty, picked up a buddy in Des Moines and drove another two hours to the farm where the car was. Saw the car sitting by a shed. Drove up to it, and took a quick look. It was a piece of shit. I didn't even knock on the door, just turned around and headed back.