Copied this out of a CL ad for a '59 Fairlane here in Seattle: "All original parts. Ran at one time." How often do you run across an old car that actually ran at some point in the last 52 years? (Eyes rolling.....)
Well then by Sunday we ought to be seeing a thread by an fng in the Seattle area saying that he just bought and all original 59 Fairlane and needs to know how to get it running as the po said it used to run.
I understand you finding "ran at one time" to be laughable ... but, what about an advert for (just off the top of my head) a Manta Mirage (manufactured in the 70's), factory assembled chassis/body with a crate engine installed that had never been fired? Saying it "ran at one time" even though it is now an "old" car would not be correct. Not seeing the rest of the ad doesn't exactly help us with the context. Sorry, I get it ... just not finding it overly funny. ExWest must remember the Manta .... street going McLaren M8 ... mmmmmmm
yep, the classic "ran when parked". useless information. ALL CARS RAN at some point. i want to see the add that says "this car never ran, we towed it home from the dealership in 1956 and put it in our field. it did not run when parked".
I actually remember them, but what i want to find is a '57 Ford post car that never ran. Now that would be a find, talk about your low mileage car. Obsolete, Damn you type fast, thinking along the same lines as the 'beaner, that one will get you into deep do do.
Yeah....."Now, I can give you one hell of a deal on this one, but you'll have to keep your trade-in long enough to tow this one to your house".
Those KIT Cars that LoVette Brothers built down here in Costa Mesa were at best a loose interpretation of an M8. Calling it a streetgoing version of the M8 is an insult to Bruce McLaren
I'm thinking on getting a portable barn to rent out & haul around and let people take pictures of their Barn Finds for sale
I bought an OT 60's foriegn car that was part of a divorce settlement. the guy said he drove it to his ex-wifes mother's house and parked it in the driveway where it sat for 10 years until I bought it. so it "ran when parked" ... which is a good thing. not sure why people don't get that. what that usually means is you could get it running with some basic maintenance rather than a complete overhaul. people around here pick the goofiest things to gripe about.
Sorry Hotroddon/Bruce McLaren etc no offense intended ... The story goes that Lovette pulled a mold off an original M8 to create the Manta. No it is not a real McLaren M8 with plates ... I guess I should have said "a road going, SBC powered (and mounted crooked I might add), Corvair tranaxled, VW or Mustang IFS (with bump-steer because of poor rack positioning) Can-Am inspired KIT car slightly similar in appearance to a McLaren M8". My bad ....
Right now there's a '56 Nomad and '47 Ford coupe in my garage, and they both ran when I parked them there.
The OP didn't say that it said "ran when parked", it said "ran at one time", which, I agree, sounds ridiculous. You may as well write "lived at one time" on a piece of steak.
Hey I represent that. I would rather find one that ran when parked. than one with a rod sticking out the side of the block, I have cars that haven't been started in many years that I'm sure would fire without much work. I also have cars that haven't run in twenty years that I wouldn't bet on. (kind of like, Ran at one time) The truck in my avatar hasn't been on the road since 1967 but fires up and runs just fine.
Sort of like the '51 Nash I found that had been sitting under a tree for over 30 years: "Yup, this was a nice car when I parked it here". "Uh.......so why did you park it here?".