Anyone else have a ride that can't be bought?

I have my grandfathers. 64 skylark. A little different than he had it but its a nice ride. Shaved lowered mild kustom. I love this car always will.

 

Hi all.The cars that I will referr to in this post are not mine.I would`nt have enough money in TWO lifetimes to own them.A friend down Fl way has an original Cord AND Auborn that his Grandfather bought new.He inherited them through his Father.His son will get them when he passes.
When his son passes they will go to the Peterson collection or the Smithsonium.Don`t even think about trying to offer to buy them,or you will be introduced to the business end of a 12ga and given 60 seconds to get off of the property.And you better have a FAST car.His driveway is 300yds long.And no,they arent trailer queens.They are each driven at least twice a week if not more.They are a blast.I know.As I have ridden in both.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

This probably sounds dumb but my dad isn't the type that kept stuff from his or my child hood. I am the type of person that thinks its so cool to look at old pictures and see old stuff that is kept within a family. For example my non friendly childhood electric Mercedes Benz with a radio my dad installed. I would give anything to still have this (Im 28 ) and be able to pass it on. So with that said, I would probably not sell my 59 f100. I knew nothing about cars in February 2012 and bought this truck to teach myself and It is my first vehicle that I really love. So I would like to keep it in my family as long as I can just because It does have sentimental value. My uncle must have put in hundred hours on the phone and computer helping answer my questions. Most were videos going hey what's that. His response "your alternator" my response " what the hell is an alternator". Ya that bad!

 

I like to bring this thread back around now and them to pick up those who may have missed it.

I know how gratifying it is for me to ride and share road with others.

So many great stories have come forth from people who have a special place in their hearts for our rides. Always good to hear new accounts of the passion to ride.............

 

Both of mine will stay with me and then one will go to each of my two kids......eventually.

 

I've had people ask me if I'm building my roadster to sell or if it's for me. The answer is always "everything has a price."

I could easily say "nah, it's for me to keep. I could never sell it." But if I bring it to a show and some gentleman comes up to me and just HAS to have it and waves $75,000 in front of me. Of course, I wouldn't say no right away.

Although I believe everything has a price, I don't think I could find it in my heart to part with my 1968 Chevy C10. While OT, that truck holds a special place in my heart because it was given to me by my dad as a senior gift in high school. It has a lot of issues right now but it still drives. Sorta. My dad was killed by a drunk driver in December of 2009. There's a thread on here about him but he and I worked on that truck so much just to keep it running. That truck brought me and him close together. Needless to say, that truck will stay in the Bridges family for a long time to come.

 

That's why we don't have kids! Don't have to worry about selling off the colletion,,,,
Until one day sitting in a Doctors office and being told I have cancer. The collection was small at the time my 40 Ford pickup we bought a year after Chick and I got married. True it was torn down and not running for 5 years. And as I got sicker some of the extra parts I had collected were sold off. A complete bed, front clip and two doors for $500.00, a 40 Packard 4 door sedan. Wouldn't let Chick sell her 63 Bird. Knowing that truck was still in the driveway gave me hope when it got really bad and with help from friends I got it running and drove it down the street about the time I was given a 3 years life span... But they say miracles happen and it did. Flash foward, a trip of a life time to Australia for a month. Brought back a 1950 Chevy Ute for Chick for which she sold her Bird to pay for shipping. We have had it on and off the road for 7 years, in which time the offers have risen to obsene amouts. But we went to Australia, who can say that, and bought a car from the original owner from his shed. Could we have used the money? Sure but we got over thoes times and we still have them, and more now.

 

I dont think there are a hand full of people on the planet that have a "ride" that cant be bought. Think about it....... Dump trucks full of hundred dollar bills, everybody I know would sell and laugh.. Oh but wait it was grand dads or we built it together or it has real heart felt value,,,,, all gone with the right amount of money. Sad but true.

 

I used to but I sold it.

 

my car till i die , then my sons / g/sons

 

You seem to have no soul. some things are worth more than money. Some people just don't understand that.

 

This.

Whenever this subject comes up about my rides (been in the family for 61yrs and 77yrs respectively), someone will bring up the goofy examples like "what if someone offered you a million dollars?". Since that simply wouldn't happen, it's pointless to discuss it.

So basically these cars wouldn't get sold for any amount that a reasonable human being would offer for them. haha

People always regret selling family heirlooms.

 

This O/T trike. Building it helped me through a bad time, got 80,000 miles on it and been all over Europe in it. Would like one of my daughters to have it;

 

That cars name must be TEEN....

 

Actually it has nothing to do with the right amount of money with me. I have never really cared much about money if I did I would have some.

This attitude abut money explains why some of the fellas post threads about some old coot that doesn't want to sell a car. To some of us money and Gawd are separated by a very large abiss. I am not talking a religious gawd here I am talking about what we hold closest to our heart.

The same goes for cars as well, some cars have sentimental value but once you have lost everything a time or two you realize that they are just cars and there will always be another one.

Now if there was a car or a bike in my stable that I held very dear and you really wanted it and you could give me something that I held close to my heart you could get the car. But it isn't likely that you can give me what I already have.

 

Not For Sale, been offered a truck load of money, Still not For Sale

In the case of Sandy's car I've been offered nearly 600k for her by the owner of a Ford dealership.

The old man I got her from took me for a white knuckle test drive to see what I thought of her and what I would do with her if he sold her to me.
The money was alot but no where near what we both knew she was worth. He wanted her left pretty much like Sandy had intended her to be, beat on and well cared for.
His other stipulations were: I couldn't sell her unless it was back to him or I donated her for charity but he would have the first right of refusal on that. We shook hands on the deal and although I have since found out it can be a pain in the ass to be a caretaker of someone elses legacey I can confidently say I wouldn't sell her for any amount.

I'm not perfect by a long stretch, and there's nothing in writing saying I couldn't sell her without letting the old timer know, but it sure was nice to look him in the eyes and be able to say "You know I turned down nearly $600,000 for the roadster." He patted me on the back and with a smile said "I knew you would."
It was one thing to turn the money down and quite another to realize someone else had that much faith in you. The feeling is indescribable.

Ps; You can't imagine how pleased he was to hear we blew the hell out of the trans a couple of weeks later doing burnouts!

The 777 was my Father's, can't imagine parting with it after the years it took to relocate it.

 

I didn't intend this to be a car for life when I started it, but it seems to be turning out that way:



I bought it in '89, a pretty clean 37K mile car in Minnesota. I thought I would customize it in a way that I had imagined in high school 30+ years earlier, and see if my ideas and skills could produce a worthwhile car.

By the time it was painted in '97 it had turned out better than I expected, so I overspent to get a really nice interior, and the car was finished up over the next year or so. Thanks to the skills of those who did the heavy lifting, it turned out to be a REALLY enjoyable car to drive.

Since the car was complete, I've done four more cars and the fifth is under way. I haven't liked driving any of those as well as I do the shoebox, so three have gone on down the road.

It's not that my car is the best one on the road, nor is there any sentimental back story to it. It just suits my preferences so much more than whatever is in second place that I can't imagine parting with it -- yet.

 

Bingo Best explanation I've heard yet

 

What color and brand is this yellow? I love it! I don't like most shades of yellow but when it's just right, it looks really good, to my eye. And this is PERFECT! Please tell us the name and brand, if you don't mind.

What color and brand is this yellow? I love it! I don't like most shades of yellow but when it's just right, it looks really good, to my eye. And this is PERFECT! Please tell us the name and brand, if you don't mind.

 

My 64 Galaxie 500XL Convert - until some schmuck offered me waaaay too much for it. I thought about it for a nanosecond and said yeah, then he laughed and drove off.
I learned that day that they all have a price, even the ones you reckon you'll keep forever.
I'm not greedy, just not stupid.

 

I don't have any that can't be bought but seem to have a few that can't be sold.

 

I can understand the sentimental value that you have for the car but I am looking at the pics and I am just not seeing 600K, was the Ford dealer also related to your father or at one time part owner in it? What makes it a 600 thousand dollar car?

I am not trying to pick a fight it is just a question.

I wqas offered 55 hundred for my '65 when I first joined the HAMB. I told the kid that would be fine and could I see the money. he asked if his mechanic could look at it first and I said "fine bring your mechanic and 55 hundred." He said, "why", and I said, "because if you don't have the money your mechanic isn't going to look at it." Last I ever saw the kid.

 

Its either i dont have a soul like you say or i answered the question like a realist. Like my post states, money talks and b.s walks

 

Some of us just don't care about money that much. It has nothing to do with soul and everything to do with priorities. If I need money for something for something at the time of the offer than I will probably take it but if I am in good shape your money really doesn't mean that much to me.

That is whay some fellas are so surprised when they can't buy a car from someone, money is the highest priority in their life and they think that everyone else has that same priority. To some people money just gets them what they need for life and if they don't need anything that don't really think about it much.

If you are one who places a high value on money as it pertains to life there is no way for you to understand.

Now not being a religious sort myself I would not go as far as to say that you have no soul, you just have different priorities than others do.

 

When you really put heart into a ride, it becomes more valuable to you. No item is worth more than what someone is willing to pay for it, or what a seller is willing to refuse for it. If someone refuses 600K for a car, then it is worth more than that to that person. Sensible? To him it was. Was it worth 600K? If he was offered that, then yes.

Just because we won't pay the price someone else would ask doesn't make that vehicle worth as little as the low bid. Auctions sell to the highest bidder and that sets the value. Just because someone doesn't agree to a value, doesn't make the value someone else accepts as wrong.

Priorities? Of course, can't imagine two people exactly alike. For me, I wouldn't sell mine for what most people think I should, but then I put my own value on MY own ride............And I don't hold it against others who do the same.

 

My wifes 1972 C20. It was her Godfathers new, he is her grandmothers brother. Then it went to her favorite uncle. Then her father. Then back to her uncle. When we had our son he gave it to us to give to him. He will be 2 in Feb.

 

yep!

 

"Everything has its price."...so you say.

You can't rightly speak for others, though...only yourself.

And vicy vercy.

 

It may seem silly to you guys. But this is actually the vehicle i can never sell (again)... This is what started my career, my hobby, my love and passion for all things automotive. I started out with not a very good past... by 14 i was looking at jailtime, by 16 i was in jail. mostly for fraud, (writing other peoples cheques for vehicles) did a lot of stupid things when i was young, all to impress either my friends or girls. or to get attention from my parents. once i was locked up it made me take a good look at where i was and where i wanted to be. This was the first truck i bought with my own money, through honest hard work, sweat and tears at age 18. The other reason i bought it was because my girlfriend at the time was pregnant, and instead of "just getting by" like my parents did with me, i wanted more for my son. so i started my own landscaping business. Which is why i needed to by the truck, at the time all we had was a 91 mercury cougar. Business was great, life was getting better, had a baby seat to match the interior. Was looking forward to working on the truck with my son, and someday pass it down to him. He was stillborn. I spent all my time coping with it by working on the truck, and because i was spending more time with the truck than i was my ex, she was spending her time coping by jumping in other guys beds. Had it all built up, (of course not finished, ya never are!!) drove around it in quite a while. a friend of mine wanted to buy it, was always bothering me, finally i couldnt pass up what he was giving me. biggest mistake i ever made, everyone started calling my truck "drews truck" when i built it, not drew, not anyone else, me. i had to see it almost on a daily basis and i always hated what he was doing to it, from the white letters out, to the asian whore house purfume it smelled like inside. well i dont think she liked him either cus in the time he had it it almost burned to the ground twice and spit out a transmission. He lost interest after that so i bought it for a tenth of what i sold it for. She went back under the knife right after that to go faster, be better, louder, lower, ect... and along the way its repaired some relationships for me that were broken from my past. my brother and i were always tinkering in the garage, my ol man would stop by for a couple beers, pretty soon i had a family again. She's running now, this winter i have to lower the rear a little more as well as any other upgrades i can do before the snow melts. but i could never sell it again. every time i get in it i remember why i bought it, what i bought it with, why i needed it, the carseat, the endless nights fixing that 1 square inch i wasnt happy with, what its taught me, and all the memories in between. makes some people scratch their heads tho, heard it too many times "why you fixing up that farmtruck? you should be spending all that time and money into something worth something" but it makes me appreciate more and laugh less at that kid whos building up something UN-desirable. maybe its worth something to him the way my black betty is to me.

 

You do understand we are talking about 2 different cars, right? The 777 was my Father's and I haven't had it appraised yet, it's interesting but likely when done only a 40- 60k car.

The Sandy's Muffler Shop's race car, has number 91 on the doors and is 1 of the 5 remaining original Pre-War dry lakes Hot Rods roadsters that exist today. It is also considered to be the most authentic of the group. Only 2 of the 5 have changed hands in auction in the past few years and both brought over 375k and the Belond is definitely more significant then those 2.
The gentleman that owns the Ford dealership has been trying to buy one of the 5 for a couple of years now because he wants one of the original 5 roadsters in his private collection. He bought a Post-War 32 with some pretty good provenance last year for over 450k at an auction in Monterery during the Pebble Beach Concours, don't know the exact amount.

The Sandy's Muffler Shop roadster was originally built is 1937 by Sandy Belond and Sam Hanks as a promotional vehicle for Sandy's muffler business. It won the Idlers Car Club trophy in '38 and '39, The Sta-Lube trophy in '39 and the REVS fastest roadster trophy in 42. It is considered to be the first race car to run on nitro and argueably the fastest of the Pre-War roadsters. 125.854mph at Muroc in '42 at the REVS meet. This roadster is also the only 1 of the 5 previoulsy mentioned to have been awarded the Ford Motor Co historical significance award. It was honored with Carroll Shelby's first Cobra and Bill Elliots Nascar T-bird from the million dollar Bill year.
It was tinkered with by the men that became hot rodding legends, Isky, Meyer, Edelbrock, Seccombe, Thickstun and more were Sandy's friends and customers, they equipped her with the best money could buy at the time, a one off Thickstun 4X2 intake, some of the first twin plug Meyers heads ever produced, a Scintilla angle drive from a Bugatti that drives a Nash Twin 8 dizzy. The body mods were done by Bill Summers, younger brother to the famous customizer J. Summers.
This is the only race car Belond ever drove himself, although he went on to sponsor many others and he won Indy in 57 & 58 as a car owner.
Hanks went on to become one of the greatest open wheel racers in history also winning Indy with Belond.

It isn't just the sum of her parts that makes her valuable its her history, she raced successfully at all the lakes between 38-42 with pioneering speed parts for the flathead V8 built by some of the icons of our sport. She is literally one of the very reason the term Hot Rod was coined.