I'm kinda coming up on a milestone in my life and my cars I guess. by about mid summer I will have owned my 32 for half of my life. I bought it with lawn mowing money in 1994 at the ripe old age of 14. got it up to a rolling car by the age of 16 where it took a back burner to college and racing for 8 years. it's been in storage with nothing more than little bits and pieces done too it since then. So it leads me to ask the question, how much of an attachment do you have to your car?? I know mine has been with me through girls, racing (worse than drugs), home ownership, and in 30 days, marriage. Throughout my time with her I have NEVER thought of selling to pay for other things. Why would I sell something that I have put so much of myself into, just to put more of a down payment on my house?? Am I the only one that has prefaced every relationship with "the car was around before you, the car will still be here when you're gone"
You're not the only one, although many of us are wise enough to only mutter this under our breath or as the door to the garage is swinging shut behind us. It is only loudly exclaimed when there is a threat to the car or when reaching finality in said relationship. I wouldn't sell that car ... no matter what. Okay, if a family member needed an operation, but for a woman? Nope.
I'm like you in every way, even the same age, except I sold my 56 ford that I got when I was 15 last year to pay for life stuff. I cried, but I got over it. Now I'm building a cooler car, one I suspect I'll keep. Anyway, if it was a 32 I may have felt differently...
Gigantor, you have a subliminal point that everyone here needs to hear and that is the term "pre-nup". It will be your friend long after the woman is nothing but tail lights.
I have had my 1962 Galaxie since I was 20. There are so many memories of me and my grandfather working on that car together that it has become so much more than just a vehicle. It has been sitting for along time in my garage since marriage and a house have come first, but I know with my love of cars that some day it will get done the right way. I also know that this sickness for cars will never go away and if I got rid of it I would have to start all over again. it seems like you are in the same boat. The only thing that is lost to holding on to your car right now is a space to park. There are always ways to fund your down payment and if you feel like this car is the one, keep it. In the grand scheme of things, it's just a car but all of the memories that come with it can't be replaced.
i have had my 51 since i was 13 when i bought it for $75 my first car. now im in my forties and the car is still sitting in my drive (hopefully ill have it out this weekend if it is nice). amazing the amount of cars ive been through but this one has stayed with me.
i sold a `32 ford 5 window coupe in 1985 when i was buying my house , the dumbest thing i ever did. i could of done it without it , but the sale helped...i wish i kept it you may feel the same way in a couple years
I sold some turbos, m/c parts and other junk. the car stayed. A down payment can get your monthly mortgage cheaper but another 32 is quite a bit more $ and will appreciate faster than bricks and morter.
I've had my '29 Coupe since I was 16. That was 23 years ago. If I had to sell everything, it would be the last to go. Before I got married, I told my wife that if she ever made me choose between her or the car she would lose.
First car was a 55' Nomad I paid $500 for in 66'. Sold within a year for a 56' Chevy Wagon. Sold the 56' in 69' and bought a Bug. Went to college, got a job, then married in 73'. Divorced in 76' and had a 55' Chevy 210 and a 65' Malibu SS. The 55' was stolen in 77' and the 65' was sold in 78'. Got a 68' Vette for street racing in 79', then sold it in 83'. Didn't get back into cars until 99' with a 32' 3 window. Didn't think I'd sell the 3 window, but I did in 05'. Still have a 31' and a 51'.
I've been dreaming of owning a hot rod for over 30 years. I'm just about ready to get her on the road legal and got an offer. A very good offer, but how do you sell a dream? My brothers home on leave before going on a WestPac and he finally got to take a quick spin in her. He and I used to sit up at night looking at hot rod magazines and dreaming of that drive. She ain't for sale. Maybe the next one, but not this one.
When you sell a car, unless the money is immediately invested in another car or house, it just seems to get frittered away. It is far better to make sacrifices then be tempted by mere money. Of all the cars I have owned or currently own, there is one special car that will have to be surgically removed from me. It has become part of my persona. A great car is like a great woman - you keep on wanting to chose the same one all over again.
I've never been terribly attached to my cars, selling them as needed when bills piled up or life got in the way of my hobby. That said...the '27 Essex I now have is not for sale at any price. It was the first hotrod I ever got to drive at the tender age of 16, way back in 1979. I helped work on it when it was being built, and I've wanted to buy it for ages. Now that I have it I will never let it go.
One sat, when I was 15 my dad took me to supposedly look at a horse for my sis we pulled in the drive of an old farm house and he said sit still I'll be right back. So there I sat looking around till I caught sight of a Model A just around the corner of a barn. I had to see what it was. Turned out to be a 1928 roadster pickup, with a forty six flathead 39 trany and rear end. I soon found out there was no horse. My dad figured the only way to get me home at nite instead of running around working on other peoples hotrods, was to get me one of my own. That was 1966 and that pickup is still in my garage today. I drove it with the flathead till 1970, dropped an olds in then swapped drivetrain out for sbc and glide. Drove to Memphis Street rod Nats then kids, work, and life kinda put hot rodding on the back burner. I moved to Evanston Wyo. in 80 and finally sold the chassis out from under it before moving back to Ks. in 86. Some time in the 90's I remmbered somthing my dad said way back when I got it. Don't cut it up, some day you will want to restore it. He was right. It now has made full circle. 4banger, flathead V8, 56 Olds, SBC, 4banger. And I have just as much fun in it today as I did Forty years ago. I still like the rods and am building a 29 roadster with flathead, 39 tranny and banjo rear. Hope to have ready for Hamb drags in Aug. RMAC
i am very attached to my cars BUT they are only machines. i had to sell a 67 impala that my dad and i worked on before his health went away, he recently passed away. it never got finished but i really liked the car. lots of memories. i wanted to get rid of one of my cars to keep it, he kept the car at my house and used to just come over and tinker not really get a lot done but hang out with me and mess around with the car, we had a lot of fun and i knew from the day i made the decision to put it for sale, id regret it. my wife kept telling me not to sell it. the only part that helped, the guy that bought it was really into the car. as much work as it needed he loved it and i made sure he knew what he was getting. didnt get a bunch of money out of it but i was i na jame and couldnt kepp all these cars, something had to go.
I guess for me it would be the '33 chevy dirt car my Dad drove the year I was born. This pic is of when I was about to hopefully get it out of the weeds for the last time. It is now just about assembled and running.
My 59 is like that... I've had it waaaay to long. I'm embarrased to even mention ho long ago I bought it and still have not got it on the road. One life change after another has constantly pushed the car aside. Now it finally sits in my own garage (not my parent's) and I expect to have it on the road this summer. I've said it every summer before, but this is the closest I've come to actually following through with it.
I sold a running Willys coupe to help get a downpayment for my house and I have never regretted it. Probably because I aquired another Willys coupe body shell before I sold it.
I guess I really am weird! I get all emotionally attached to my next project. I get a vision and collecting the parts to make that vision come true is part of the joy that I get. Once it's done, then I find myself looking for something else to build. It's a hell of a lot easier to stay with one car and era. Not me. I've got to jump into flatheads late in life and climb that learning curve. Now I'm off on an FE learning excursion. You end up knowing a little about a lot but not a lot about anything. I've always recycled my hot rods to finance my next project but I've hit a small snag. I realize that if I sell any of my current hot rods, I'll never be able to get back on the escalator. It's not a good reason not sell but it is a realistic reason. Sometimes I wish I could have stayed with one make and model but variety is the spice of life.
yeah im the same. i got a non hamb ride (72 chevy short stepper) that i basically grew up in, trips to grandmahs 2hrs each way EVERY GD SUNDAY for 10 years. rides to an from school. then driven the the truck to highschool and to eat, to the girlies house. doing everything in this truck. its not even real nice after the resto, my first project. theres a hand full of things i would have done diffferent now that i know better. in actuality its prolly worth about 9 grand or so. but i just couldnt take any amount of cash for it. its the only thing ive had for that long. i met my girl the year before i started driving the truck..but i grew up in the truck for the 10+years before so its safe to say its not goin any where.. its been just a long life lesson of growning up, learning to work and trying to make things gel togeather. its more of a sickness at this point than a hobby (ehh) or lifestyle..
Not very HAMB friendly but I have an 87 Monte SS in addition to the hot rods. I bought it when I was nineteen in 1996. I've been through two engines, three transmissions, four radiators, one rear axle, and I don't know how many back tires with that car. Plus, every girlfriend, one wife, home ownership, and everything else. One winter while it was in storage I stupidly uttered "Oh yeah, I aImost forgot I owned it." The former wife says "Well if you forgot about it, WE can sell it." I informed her I would get rid of her before I got rid of that car. Low and behold I was right. If you have an emotional connection to a car, do everything in your power to not let it go. Here's a crappy picture of it and my first roadster project that eventually morphed into my sedan.
I've been on both sides of this one. Had a girlfriend once that complained I loved my car (65 Pontiac 2+2 convertible, 421/4 speed) more than I did her, when I agreed, she bolted. Five years later I bumped into another old boy friend of hers and found out she'd been through a bad marriage and had five kids. Dodged that one! On the other hand, I have given up my 57 Safari 2dr (fuel injected, B&M hydro), 61 Newport convertible (factory 413/3 speed), 67 Coronet (2dr post, 383/727), and 68 Z28 (rally sport, deluxe interior, tach and gauges, Corvette bronze/black stripes), among others, without much of a fight and regretted it ever since. Had a couple of girl friends I let get away without enough of a fight, too, but that's another story. An old adage my mother told me during a rough patch when my daughter was little (I won't go into details), "Kids and dogs all grow up". Basically, life changes and we adapt. Do yourself a favour, keep the car and find another way. In the not so distant future, you'll really thank yourself.
Home ownership is better investment then a car . But it sounds like you can get it and keep the car . Remember they are just cars but some are more interresting then others ( 32 ). I have one (67)that was so close to being done when i bought this house and it sat for 8 yrs while remodeling was a priorty . Since then i was able to pickup a couple more toys and the first one is going now as soon as i can get it done . I stopped any home projects to finish it . My wife said not to sell it but i'm 52 this year and working leaves not enough hours to get all them done .
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