Hot Rods Leaving a Note on a Car That’s Not for Sale

Does anyone have a success story about blindly leaving a note under the wiper on a car you wanted?

 

I sold a car to a guy who left a note under the wiper once.

 

I would be happy to crumble a note left on my car.. However if someone asked I will politely tell them no.

 

x2 - know a big bucks guy that bought two cars at a show that did not have For Sale signs

 

Even though it's not for sale, I DO consider it a compliment to my choice of vehicles &/or skills that someone else appreciates it enough to inquire as to it's availability!! TAKE THE PRAISE WITH A SMILE! YA gotta admit it's a lot better feeling than when you've had the "for sale" sign in the window for 90 days & haven't gotten one lousy call....

 

It's pretty much how it was done in the 50's and 60's. Not only for a collector car but daily drivers. My Dad wouldn't go to used car lot to buy his next car because they were "thieves" in his words. What he would do, and he took me with him, was to drive around looking for cars with expired plates. If a knock on the door didn't result in a contact then a note under the wiper was the alternative. We bought all our cars this way.

 

You have wipers!

 

Ive had them left on my 55 Cameo One written mostly in Spanish about how he could use it in his yard buisness! Once had a German guy in the SF bay area try,and buy it cause he was driving to Central America,and wanted to go in a old American PU.There was a 55 Chevy step side 2 blocks from my house that sat for years.I wrote a letter,and mailed it to truck owner at that address.2 days later there was a BIG sign on it that it was NOT for sale. A couple years later he died,and it was towed away.Im about it try it again.Theres a 56 Chevy 2 dr post car 2 miles from me,and it sits at the back of a property covered in dirt. I guess the trick is finding out when they die,and talk to the widow.

 

Shame, happens a lot though.

 

Back in the day, I've bought a couple of cars by knocking on the door and asked to buy. In today's market owners knows what vintage cars are selling for.

 

Are those notes like the car show flyers that fill your car when you leave the window cracked?

 

Yup ... and it took them 14 years to get back to me ... sold all my '50 Olds parts to buy it. It was a hydro, E-Z Eye, radio, deluxe cab with all the chrome stuff. A few years ago I sold it to the current owner whose wife decided on the '56 Cadillac color on it now.

 

Great Score And Story...Appreciated...

 

Came home from work one day and see a 46 Ford pickup in a neighbors driveway. I thought it was somebody visiting them and didn't think much more about it. After seeing it in the driveway several days in a row, I stroll over there to check it out....I don't need another project. Clean old truck, so I knock on the door, but nobody home. I leave a note asking if it's for sale, and my phone number....I really don't need another project. About a month later I get a call from the guy. Turns out he bought it from the son of the original owner, who sold off all of his pop's stuff after pops had passed away. The neighbor had the truck stored in his garage and only pushed it out to make room for a new furnace install. After buying that new furnace and also being in the middle of a kitchen remodel, he was ready to sell....I didn't need this project

 

I have a buddy that just did that on an OT Ford p/u that had been sitting in the yard for a couple of years. Money exchanged hands and the flat bed tow delivered it to his house. The few times I have contacted someone about a car in the driveway I usually start with "I know you're tired of telling people its not for sale". I then say "I looking for one similar or parts for one and maybe since they have the car in question they might know a good source of parts or someone who has one that might be for sale". Establishing a re pore with the owner can lead to positive results, even if the car isn't for sale. You never know what the end result will be.

 

About 20 yrs ago I left a note on a 62 Catalina conv. that was sitting in what looked like an abandoned lot, top rotted,flat tires interior shot. left it on the dash up under the windshield. I forgot about it and got a call about 6 months later and made a deal. It was a lot of work but turned out to be a nice driver A pic after I sold it

 

A guy left a note with the kids who were renting the house I live in when my 51 Merc was stashed out to the side. Made a cash offer that was way more than I thought it was worth at the time and I was in a bind for money and my mom was harassing me because people were stopping to ask about it including one guy who towed a trailer from Portland thinking he was going to get a 51 Merc at "an indian house" for pocket change. The car actually wasn't for sale but he hit me at the right time.
I've had three 67/72 Chevy shortbed projects over the years that guys bought out of my driveway after offering me too much profit for what I had. None were for sale and the last one was bought by a guy hunting one to build for his wife.
I don't consider it an insult for a guy to leave a card or note on your windshield or dash asking if the car is for sale. That is a no pressure option for you and who knows a few weeks later you may decide that you aren't nearly as in love with the car as you were that day as the one you have always wanted just popped up for sale. I just sold my Model A Vicky body and frame for that exact reason. A car I seriously want is for sale and I am trying to buy it. The flathead will find a different home.

 

Back in the middle of the last century I did it a number of times, but only with cars that obviously hadn't moved for awhile.

 

My dad worked in a defense plant during WW2, and was lucky enough to own a 39 Plymouth at the time. Cars were in high demand, with no new ones being made during the war. Dad's car wasn't very old, and for years he found notes on it all the time. He kept that car until after 1945. He told me he got stupid offers for that Plymouth.

 

I bought a pickup broke down on the side of the highway one time by leaving a note. And, I have had multiple notes left on my cars over the years but never sold one that way.

 

Back in my younger days I did the note thing all the time. Runners, non-runners, nice, not-so-nice, they all got my note. I called it my 'scatter-shot' approach. Hell, I'd even put what I'd pay for it right on the note. I'd get the call, show up with the cash and my flatbed, make sure the paperwork was legit, load it up and leave. Easy-peasy. Once in a while I'd have some smartass tell me he would have taken less. I'd tell him that's ok because I had a guy who was gonna give me way more than I just paid.

 

All righty then!

 

Always worth a try, what you got to lose you can only get a NO at worst.

 

A tune that has played well for me over the years - Best time to buy a vehicle has been when I didn't really need to. More desperate a real or perceived need, the more fuzzy logic set in at purchase time, and the worse the deal turned out to be over the long run.

Ed

 

I consider it a compliment. I got one on my 49 Buick that said "If you ever decide to sell this car, please call me." Name, phone number, email address, town and state was on the note.

Needless to say, I'm knee deep in building it now and it is not for sale.

 

Back in the Day we used to Buy Car's from Junk yards
or Gas stations
No Used Car Lots!
That was in the 50's

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

So can we safely assume that you owned the vehicle in question?

 

My great uncle bought a new 1954 Pontiac but sadly passed away a year later. My aunt only drove the car to the supermarket and back for years and with only a couple thousand miles on it in the late 1970s she would come out of the store to find the windshield covered with phone numbers and people waiting outside the car for her. This made her a little nervous so she eventually gave the car to my cousin who still owns it today.

 

"Big bucks guy" probably has better luck than "low bucks me" when it comes to consummating a deal initiated by a note under the wiper.

 

No note....but a phone call or 3 ..offered me 30K for my De Soto.I said no thanks.The same with the Dodge they offered 20K....I was not interested.
It is a huge differences in prices in USA and Sweden!