What dictates your projects? Desire or Chance?

So when I have gotten into the last few projects it has been more on chance then actually searching out a specific make and model. Came acrossed good deals on stuff that I saw and liked and went on with the builds. How many of you are the same way? How many of you have exactly the car you set out to find? One you were dead set on having.

 

Maybe some of both ..I REALLY wanted a Model A coupe, but bought a pieced together roadster body off that "one auction site" because is was very "affordable", and within driving distance. Upon getting to the place to pick up the roadster body, I was dissappointed, but saw a 29 coupe body buried in the back of the guy's garage, and when I asked about it, I was offered that body instead for a small additional amount, and it came with a good title, and nice doors! I was SUPER excited! It was quickly loaded up before anyone could change their minds, and is now resembling a car in my garage!

 

i was lookin for something when i found a fleetline on that auction site. after the owner couldnt come down on the price i found this car on here. it was pretty close,...not exactly what i wanted but for right now it works. it was chance and desire. desire to build something i could drive everyday a little at a time and chance that it was local.

 

Desire.
You won't stick with the project if its not really what your after. It's hard enough to tough it out and finish one that you really love.

 

More chance than anything.

1shot

 

A bit of both, there are quite a few cars I really like. So far I have built a few, among them, x2 28A RPUs, x1 32 Coupe, x1 38 Coupe and a 30A Roadster.
One car type I have always wanted was a gasser. I always liked the A40 Austin ever since I was just a kid and hang around with Anthony Shaw and got to ride in 'Datsfas' A40 pickup. When my brother in law bought an A 40 I tried t get him to build a gasser, he wanted a mild family Hot Rod.
It never happened and he offered it to me. Hence my Gasser project.
I wont build a car just because it came along or thats all I had at the time. It has to be a car type I like.
Doc.

 

If I'm looking for something I never find it. I usually find it when not not looking

 

Chance has always been what suckered me in. I just picked up an all original 47 Chevy Stylemaster 2 dr 6 passenger coupe. I happened across it on craigslist. Was actually looking for a 69 firebird but had always wanted a pre 50 whatever. Took the chance, bank messed up and approved my loan and now I have what I never knew I wanted. I only bought 1 car that I was actually really searching for. 99% chance here.

 

pretty much all chance here on cars, there is only one car i would really like to find and that is a pre 50 3 window plymouth coupe, but when i do find one it is either to much or to far away

 

Desire. I can't see spending hard earned bucks on something I don't really want.

 

Chance, usually combined with no brainer pricing. I always wanted a 49-52 Chevy Fleetline but I never set out to buy one, had a guy come up to me at a car show and wanted to get a couple cars out of his yard, cheap. Bought both, sold one, kept the 50 Chevy fastback, and was ahead money-wise when I was done. Would rather have an A coupe than a pickup, but ended up with all the stuff for the pickup, and started putting it together. So I figure I'll let chance dictate which one gets finished, too.

 

My projects have ALL bugun when CHANCE turned to DESIRE...

I have never gone looking for a project.... but shit happens...

 

It's desire. It usually starts out small. You see one and think that's pretty cool. You always liked them but never paid much attention to them. Too busy fulfilling your current desire, after all. Then the gears start turning. You see a couple of threads on the hamb. Then you sart planning out how you'd do it if you were ever to get it. Then you see one in a field or on craigslist. Then you sart trying to sell a car so you can buy that '57 chevy pickup.

Wait, what? Did I say that out loud. I hope my wife's not reading this.


Maybe it is chance too. I guess it's probably a little of both.

 

All my cars found me and I'm happy with them. There are two out there I'd really like to have some day but the cost is out of reach. I'm sort of overdue for finding something, that always happens when the funds are low.

 

I'm a combination of both worlds. Right now at seven cars I have a few that I've wanted for a while...and a few that I bought for the hell of it because they fit in my "can't pass it up" car budget. One of my current projects I drove about 8 hours to see for the first time, decided against it and bought another project...then came back in a year and bought what I came for the first time around -->desire. One example from the other end is finding a car that's one of a handful left that popped up on c-list as an unknown pile...I wasn't looking at anything as old as it but it was cheap enough that I picked it up the next day -->chance.

I've found that both ways of car buying make me happy, although I do have a hard time passing up adopting unusual orphans when I find them.

 

Desire

I do not buy any project unless I REALLY want it bad.
I find it difficult to stay motivated unless I really wanted the car. I usually KEEP my cars a long time. I am not a buy and flip type ( nothing wrong with that ... just not me ).

I have had a few old pre WWII Fords ... in the past 30 years or so.

1 ) 1932 Ford steel roadster ( still have it )
2 ) 1940 Ford coupe ( sold it to buy # 3 )
3 ) 1932 Ford 3W coupe ... ( Henry built and still have it )



.

 

Both. I desired atraditional rod. Scored my T coupe body in pretty good shape for $400 minus doors.

 

to add to what i said before, i have no problem staying focused on a project, as long as i have the time to dedicate to itbe it a week or be it 3 months, if i can dedicate my time soley to one project i can do it, i did a 51 ford pick up one year ( it was mostly complete, and i stuck with the flatty) in 2 weeks of 7 am to 1 am work on it, the only time i stopped was to let paint or a bit of mud set up.and by God i had it on the road, driving and respectable at the end of those two weeks, this year i will be doing a T coupe and a 57 cj 5, the t was by chance but the more i reasearch what they can look like the more i like them, and the 57 cj 5 was desire, i really really wanted a jeep and i happend upon this one, asked the guy it it was for sale and got it for 750 dollars, 90% rust free and drove it the 5 miles home ( no brakes) this one i have to re do the brakes, wiring, fuel system, and some minor body work to un-bubba it, i plan on having the T on the road within 3 days of getting home ( more time will be used to get it where i want it exactly mechanicly wise), and the CJ will take about 5 days to get it where i want it. next year the T will get chopped and the body will come off for final paint and interior

 

A little mix of both. It happened by chance that I got my '40 sedan, a car I really desired. I desired a model A, and by chance I ended up with a coupe body that my uncle gave me and a sedan body that's now long gone. My next project, a '48 ford tudor, is by chance, but the driving force behind the build will be to flip it and put an interior in my '40, and hopefully pick up a '49-'50 ford sedan... another car I desire.

Some of it is chance (I call it luck) and some of it is desire. Like others, desire is what keeps me motivated.

 

thats me all over!

 

Usually the car grabs me by the ass and won't let go. (chance) Most of the time I was waist deep in a project to satisfy my addiction when something pops up that I never thought I would find.

The few times after I sold something and had a pocket full of money, I could never find anything that I could not live without.

Timing has so much to do with it. One thing that I have learned is when that special car that you have lusted after for many years does pop up, you better bite the bullet and do whatever is necessary to get it.

 

Chance turns into desire.

 

I'm down to keepers right now, finishing the builds/restorations is taking longer than just about every project on the HAMB, but I really don't car. Having them is what matters most to me, having them finished I know will be a let down.

 

Chance to find it. Desire to finish it like you want. Projects I think are getting harder to find. at least the ones I want. 40 ford, merc or willys coupe, 32's any flavor in steel. ect. ect. my 2

 

If you are building from the ground up- it had better be desire.

An example- I like 55 Chevys. Not 56's or 57's, but 55's. And then, it must be a 210 2 door sedan.
I bought 2 projects recently. One was a 55 2 door hardtop. The other was a 56. Price was a screaming deal. After 6 months on both cars, my heart just wasn't in either of them. Everytime I looked at them, I'd envision how cooler they would be if they were 55 2 door post cars. So- I sold them (for a healthy profit)

My 55 2 door sedan was a frame-off build & took 16 months start to finish. Won't happen w/o desire.

 

i agree with 66elcam....chance turns to desire.....i desire a chopped 36 cabriolet...i know what the chances of that are..my chance turned into a 40 merc convert...as i started a frame off,it turned to desire.

 

Desire. Hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars later, I'm still working hard at it. I wanted a 32 3 window, had to make my own. See here.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=324514

 

Used to be if I liked it, I tried to end up with it. Now that I'm old enough to realize I'm not gonna live forever, I'm a little more focused. Made a list, started working on the top 2, maybe keep the next couple in line, the rest are for sale.
Larry T

 

chance sparks desire.

 

Started a '40 Ford 1-Ton 'truckster' project. Was going to run the old flathead ..., wanted better power to weight ratio.
Found a '61 Cutlass in decent shape, with the 'Ultra-Hi Compression' engine. It's the aluminum 215 w/3spd! That'll be the drive-train for the 'truckster'.
Wasn't lookin' at the time, it was just the right donor for the desired result concerning this project.

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith