What dictates your projects? Desire or Chance?

I was looking for a '50's Pontiac Wagon when I came across the Merc.
I also wanted a Chevy AD and fornd the '50 GMC.
Same with my '85 Elky.
Great prices dictated doing deals.

 

Personaly, it begins with chance, the morfs into DESIRE. I didn't set out looking for a '54 Buick. My wife and I were looking for a driver (or close to it)/ project on craigslist. She found a '51 chevy 4Dr. she liked and the price was right. In the background was this beautifull buick, she pointed it out as a "I WISH".....turns out the owner was a very close friend of a friend. And for a bit more than we had or could afford the Buick was our. I go back and forth on it, I LOVE it when I'm making progress on it. but when it sits on jack stands partialy stripped down in my garage for a few months untouched......I begin to LOATH it. I shoot it dirty looks when she's not looking. But now that its back on track and DRIVEABLE, I love it again. It's a love/hate relationship like everything else. Someday I'll be able to afford the "dream project" I have in mind and NEVER let it go.

 

Desire - its too hard to spend the time and money on something if it doesn't move you.

I've tried to build the cars that were just "good deals" but I didn't love. I never finished one of those.

 

Desire that turned into a lucky find! That turned into an obsession! If I could sell all my extra stuff I could drive it! LOL The good and the bad of the economy I guess!

 

Well this may sound dumb, but personally I love old cars in a general sense. So I find it fairly easy to "love" a project no matter what it is. The only problem I have is no matter what it is, I do get bummed when its progress gets slow. due to time, money, motivation. Right now it's slow goin on mine because its 105 outside where i work all day and when I get home I'm just too drained to do any work on the car. That and I moved about 3 hours from all my buddies and family so I'm rollin solo on this build. Sometimes its discouraging when its just yourself working on it. Everyone I know here is into crotchrockets, tuners, or new muscle.

 

Both. I had a Metropolitan present itself a few years back. I was not actively looking for one, but was keeping an eye out for one. Picked it up, ***led and complete, for $300. Did the body, brakes, and what little mechanical it needed, and found a parts car for just $150 while all this was going on. So, this was the desire part...I get a call from a guy in another state and he asks me if I'd be willing to trade on a '53 Hudson Wasp, running/driving, straight up, and he'd deliver! Chance! I swapped and got that Wasp running very sweetly! Sold it later, but that is how things go!

Desire. Chance. Both work for me.

 

I am the definition of broke; therefore everything I do is 100% chance. So far I think I'm doing pretty good, though!

 

Some of each, although I don't think I've ever bought a car I didn't want or like.

Cars that I found by chance, that turned out well and that I kept for a long time:
'51 Ford Victoria (still have it)
'63 Lotus Super 7
'67 Chev Stepside

Found by chance, got tired of it before I expected to:
'34 Ford PU
'60 Pontiac Catalina hdtp

Looked for this specific model, glad I found it:
'56 Ford Victoria (still have it)
'40 Ford cpe (still a project)

Looked for specifically, got tired of it eventually:
'24 T track roadster (still have it)
'36 Ford 3W

 

I'm like most of you I think, I have a ton of cool builds in my head.
T? Check. 32? Check. 33-34? Check. 41 Willys? Check. 55 sedan? Check.
I don't have the funds to purchase most of those, and sure don't have the funds to do them the way they are in my mind. So I look at stuff that is within my grasp. I like Mopars, so that makes them a very palatable alternative. I'd really like a Sedan Delivery, but they only come up rarely, and usually above my current funds. So I looked at Coupes. Found 2 and took the best from both for the current project.
Then when I needed a quick project for motivation, I wanted a 46-48 Plymouth 2 door sedan. They were all more than I was willing to spend. Broadened the search and found the 47 Chrysler 4 door. Good price, fairly easy project. I'm happy.

 

Definitely desire first - then you wait on chance to make it happen.

 

SO, what you want is a 49 Plymouth Business Coupe or something pre-33 then? There were no 33-48 Plymouth 3W Coupes.

 

I guess it would be chance for me. I'll see a good deal and swipe it up, but the car I really want is a '55 Buick but I can never find one. The problem is that I always sell off my projects before they are finished because it's not what I really wanted in the first place.

Ed

 

what i want is a 1940-1949 mopar business coupe, with 1940-1942 being at the top of the list and the preferred brand being a plymouth

that is about as specific as it gets.

 

My '48 Chevy p/u was built by desire. I had a '50 in high school that never got finished and I always wanted to build one the way I wanted that one to be. The '48 filled that desire. Due to finances I had to sell it 5 years later.

My T-bucket was both desire and chance combined. I'd seen it when I was a 16 y/o kid in school and really wanted to own it some day. 8 years later the chance presented itself and I wound up owning and enjoying it for 7 years.

My current ride, the Es***, was desire. I helped work on it and drive it 30 years ago and loved the beast. It was the first hot rod I ever had the chance to drive at the tender age of 16. (You always remember your first ) When I was given the opportunity to buy it last year I jumped at it! This one is NOT for sale.

 

Desire,i also would find it hard to work on a car that i really didn't want.

 

I have a hard time deciding how to answer. I have never owned my real dream cars (36 Ford 3-window coupe,50 Ford business coupe with flat 6,and 56 Ford Victoria 2dr ht) because I never was able to find one at a price I could afford at the time.

On the other hand,I always kinda wanted a 32 Ford coupe but never thought I would ever find one at a price I could afford,so never looked for one. Then one day a friend called to tell me about one about 20 miles from home at a price I could put on my VISA card. It's in my garage now. Not a beater,either. A car that had been a running and driving hot rod since the early 50's but had been taken apart for a rebuild. The retard got tired of finding somebody to chop the top,suicide the doors (it's a 5-window coupe) and install pro-street tubs in the rear,so he put it up for sale.

I guess the only cars I have that fit the "always wanted bad and looked for" category are my 34 Ford pu ,my 38 Ford Standard 2-door humpback sedan,and my 33 Plymouth coupe.

The rest were bought because I just happened to have enough money to buy them when they became available,and I got lucky. Even they all fall under the "really wanted" category because the truth is if it was made before 1970,chances are I like it. Even if it's a stationwagon.

When you like them all it's hard to go wrong. What's hard is focusing on one long enough to finish the damn thing before moving on to something else. I was going to have my 32 back on the road this spring,and then found and bought a running original 31 Plymouth coupe. Since I like original cars better than I like hot rods or restored cars,I couldn't p*** it up. Especially not at the price I got it.

I have GOT to quit looking at the "cars for sale" ads!

 

As I told you in the PM,the 40's Plymouth business coupes had a different roof line than the 6 p***enger coupes,but it still had 5 windows

You want a Dodge,DeSoto,or Chrysler business coupe if you want a 3-window.

Here is the roofline on my 42 Dodge business coupe

 

Desire moderated by chance. Being and old fart and having lived in the 50s and 60s I have certain cars the are just ****ing cool in my mind. So when something I have been looking for comes my way I get it if the price is within my budget. I have wanted a 1963 Fairlane for over 35 years but never could afford one. Last year I was in the right spot at the right time and now I have a *****in 1963 Fairlane SportsCoupe!!
Fuzzy