finding that certain car, how do YOU do it? any tips?

Hi guys, I thought it would be pretty interesting to see just how you would typically find "that elusive car"

Do you just wait it out, constantly search online, word of mouth.. etc..


A little off topic, but this still pertains to old cars/hot rods as well.
I have been looking for a 90-93 ****box ford festiva in good shape for a daily driver, I have been looking for like 4 months and cant find anything under 500 miles away,

And forget ebay nowadays too, everything is soo inflated with shill bids,scams,junks, a stupid car worth $500 will sell for like $2500, a car worth $10k seems to mysteriously have 43 bids by 1 guy with 0 feedback to pump the bid up to $25k.....

I have even resorted to putting up flyers in supermarkets and giving my stupid flyers to current owners asking "if you ever decide to sell in the future,please call me."


seems like stuff old and newer depending on make/model and cult status is starting to dry up..

 

autotrader.com isn't producing anything for you? and is there a reason you are dead set on the Festiva? there are plenty of ecoboxes that get similar gas mileage.

 

Craigslist! Mark

 

already posted on craigslist and search twice or 3 times a day, heh...

the reason im set on a festiva as a daily driver is #1 they are the most reliable cars i have ever owned. (stupid me sold the last one, i dont know why.)

#2 gas mileage, I drive 65 miles each way down here to Radir and back home.

#3 I located a mazda b6t turbo engine for peanuts down the street from me.
This bolts right into a festiva and instantly puts a festiva in the 13 sec range, while still getting 34+ miles a gallon.

#4 everything for them is super cheap and they are simple to work on.
everything is big money for my current vw jetta, not to mention its a unreliable hunk of ****.

 

I guess the best thing to do is play the waiting game, and dont settle, wait for exactly what you want, i know of guys who have waited years to finally find a 40's willys coupe for instance.

 

I was going to ask why... but this is enough reason for me! Cool.

Imagine being p***ed (and not being able to catch) a Festiva...

 

Thats the fun of it, nothing to do with the whole "rice" scene either., just a fun daily driver, Heck even Smokey Yunick had a Festiva as a daily driver and wrote about it in his autobiography, Jay Leno also owns a 300hp festiva/shogun with n2o and drives it to the tonight show on oc***ion.

 

I think that the best place to find old cars is through local ads in the paper. There is where you have the best chance of finding someone who doesn't know what they've got. Most guys posting in the cl***ic trader know what their **** is worth. Not that there aren't any deals there, but I think local ads in the paper are the best palce to find deals.

Here's another one. Find the local feed and seed supplier. They often deliver, and see exactly what is hanging around on the farm and can clue you in to the barn finds. My uncle used to run a feed truck.

 

wow i found one on autotrader, and they want 5k for a festiva? thats discusting.

 

thats a good idea too, I have freinds and family who work in waste management and a cable contracting company always on the lookout, even the ups drivers, heh..

The newspapers can still be good too,

Although with Barret-jackson and ebay these days are dwindling. some guy who knows ZERO about cars can have a 59 chevy 4 door sedan rotted in half in his backyard,..

For some stupid reason you ask if its for sale and you get the "I can put it on ebay and get a gazillion dollars for it" or "one of these sold on tv for 80 gazillion dollars."

 

craigslist or cars.com, word of mouth, maybe if you see one parked ask.

 

I could give a **** about Festivas

but I am curious,
when did you say the 8.20-15s will ship?

Paul S

 

WHOA!hahaha
New tires for the coupe eh?

As for where do I find cars? I don't. They find me!

Josh

 

Hey now! Those are fighting words. I love those little cars..

Good question on the 8.20s AND 10.00s. My wife is getting jealous becuase we are being jerked off at the shop so much latley.

The last update I have from M/T is "about a week to 10 days."

 

When I decided I wanted a pre Mk7 Mallock U2 I I found out who bought and sold old RaceCars in England, and I called them and kept in touch with them for a couple of years.

Untill one of them had a Mk6, incomplete and unrestored, that I could afford.

By that time I already had collected 2 sets of wheels for it and other misc parts....

 

I have a friend that runs a Salvage Yard business, and I let him know when I'm looking for something. He normally finds it fairly quick to, it amazes me how many times a day that they get contacted by folks wanting them to 'Come and get it' .
Otherwise, word of mouth.

 

If your looking for something to put your motor in try your local salvage yard for one that might need a motor. Easy to make a few phone calls.

 

Coolest Festiva - Jay Leno's Taurus SHO Powered 425hp Rear-Engine

 

sick machine indeed....If you have the means, I highly recommend one of these, hah

 

the funny part is that the guys over at speedway motors have all the molds
to the shoguns, just like jay is driving and i heard that they will not sell them or even rent them out, etc to be used to make more molds from.. boohoo on that..

anyone know the fellas over at speedway motors?

 

Are you talking about Jeff Caulkins at Speedway?
He is in purchasing / merchandisng.

 

Repost from somone over at www.fordfestiva.com forums, Jay Leno Is supposed to come on the forums over there.

"I have called Bill and Marty at Speedway for 4 years know asking about the molds, I even offered to buy them site unseen. No go. After a few false leads from Bill him self they dumped the Shogun project rebirth and want to put the molds in a museum.

If Jay could do anything I would love to get him to call Bill and try to talk him into running a half dozen sets. Im not rich but I would pay some hard cash to finish my SHOgun with a set of "factory" fenders"

 

..what we did was print up a "wanted poster" with what you want on it.I have found several cars & trucks & many parts that way...if you live in a small town post them on the local "bullitin board" at some of those "mom & pop" markets on the back roads..old guy's love to look at those boards for "yard sale ****"...make the poster BIG PRINT...half those old guy's (including myself) can't see small print...works for me.....

 

Fiesta-Festiva. Ford does the worst job naming their cars. I was thinking of the Fiesta.

If you still made the 5 poke wheels I wanted you could afford that nice Festiva you want.

What about the Ford Expire... I mean the Ford Aspire.

No wonder Ford is so ****ed up these days.

 

FYI: If your looking for something cheap, watching the $2006 Challenge part of the Gr***roots Motorsports (www.grmotorsports.com) forum is pretty handy. There's a lot of guys with a lot of interesting material that could be made into a beater for daily driving. There's even some fun stuff too. A banged on Mazda Miata with a turbo is for sale over there currently . . . and I just missed a $1600 one in St. Louis (no turbo though).

 

I don't know about getting factory fenders, but I've seen a few examples of home-brew ones before. One guy in the GRM $2004 Challenge (I think??) had a Festiva/ShoGun that he built.

 

what 5 poke wheels did you have in mind?

 

Must be a Typo.

He ment 5 Spoe...

 

The handsome but discontinued Bullet Spokes. I missed the clearance sale.