"BLOOD is thicker than water"... 1936 Cabriolet

This is a long story of the events that had taken place from the last couple of days...

25 years ago I became friends with a car guy I'll call James...

James is now 84 years old and has built and owned a 1936 Ford Cabriolet Washington Blue with the original paint still intact with a "stuck" 1956 Olds 324 three speed.....he has had this car for many years before I met him and I tried buying it from him 15 years ago and again seven years ago before I built my Roadster.

Recently James gave me a call and asked if I wanted to buy the car and I was jumping out of my skin... but I was thinking he wanted a pretty penny for it and I asked him what he'd like to get out of it and he said that he noticed the prices were dropping a bit and he'd let it go for $8-$10 grand and I told him to give me until December to s****e up the money and he said that sounded good with him!

Well this past Saturday I turned on the computer and a fellow HAMB'r made contact with me and we struck a deal.

Needless to say I was happy with the deal and happy that I could afford James car so I proceeded calling James but to no avail so I continued calling him and leaving messages bordering on becoming Frantic!

Tuesday afternoon I get a call from James and He told me that he just got back from the Holidays in MN where his brother lives and that he "SOLD" the car to his nephew and delivered it on Thanksgiving Day....

He told his nephew that he was waiting for a call on the 36 before his trip to Minnesota and his nephew said that he wanted the car so James told me that since he didn't hear back from me he ***umed I wasn't able to buy it and he sold it to his nephew for $5,000!!!

He told me to ask his nephew if he would sell it to me since I've had interest in it for many years and his nephew could profit a couple thousand dollars based on what he promised it to me and what he sold it to his nephew for!

So I called his nephew up later the next day and he said that he'd sell it for $45,000 and I said that it was a far cry from the Ten grand area that I was quoted 7 years ago and certainly much higher than the $8,000 price tag he gave me this November.

Basically he told me "too bad" and that I'll see it for sale nationally soon.

Needless to say "Blood is thicker than water" and we may soon see this car Gracing the pages of ebay.

Hopefully he has the decency to wait until after my friend James p***es away... or I'm afraid that if he finds out this would put him in cardiac arrest!

I wanted this car for many years and it has eluded me one more time... Just for once I want to pound on a Cabriolet like this...!

 

that ****s , sorry to hear that. nephew sounds like a *****

 

imo... of course the nephew is a *****, his uncle is not a man of his word, what else would you expect from the kid

 

The old dude couldnt call you to see if you still wanted it? Lame.

 

Sorry to hear that Mark. Keep your chin up my friend. Jim

 

Wow, being a ***** runs in the family I guess! James gives nephew a smokin deal so he can flip the car!?! WTF!?!

 

Hindsight is 20/20, should have given him a deposit. I'd have made the same mistake though.

 

stupid. reminds me of the office episode where dwight buys that other dudes nissan xterra for cheap and flips it.

 

25 years of friendship and a stab in the back. Thats what friends are for. Oh yea and to run off with your wife.

 

I know the feeling, I had an old family friend that had his best friends 41 ford convertible for 40 years, I sought after that car to the point I gave him 3 full Flathead motors I came across just to get him to work on it, he died a year ago left the car to his kid, his kid destroyed the car tearing it apart and let it sit out side then sold it to a person well known for flipping cars. I contacted him as soon as I found out and he had already doubled him 2k on it. I was sick.

 

Such a good episode.


Man that absolutely ****s though. There is really nothing you can do about it so hopefully the world will spew another cabriolet out from the depths of it's belly so you can drive recklessly. Good luck!!!



PS maybe this is all a joke and the "Jesse" is going to give it to you and is playing you from top to bottom. Maybe not though.

 

Bummer... hopefully the guy who bought your roadster won't mess it up!

 

That freeway drive down the interstate at 125mph in 30 degree weather felt better from my enclosed car than how your face felt in the roadster...haha sad to see her go

 

Well the car is gone and the **** *** nephew has it but know this , people in this world like that make their own special kind of luck and it will take time. There will come a day when all the greed will catch up with him , and its name will be Big George looking for his next *****. Take care ,Rob.

 

Whenever something like that happens to me... I just try to say "Maybe that thing wouldve killed me and the universe is looking out for me...."
Corny, I know... but whatever makes me feel better!

 

Nephew is a *****, I would keep the car.
However even 10K for that car is a steal.
He wont sell it for 45K, maybe 25-30 depending
on condition.

A buddy of mine, his dad has a 36 roadster that was
built in the 50's, he bought it from his brother in law
in CA who used it daily for $1000.00 when he was going
to Nam. He drove the car till 78 and parked it. Then in
the Mid 90's he pulled out put a 327 in it and painted it
Purple with Pink undercariage (Saturn Colors). prior to that
it was stock with a chopped Windshield, prymer gray and had
a 2 inch dropped axle with stock Flathead and stock running gear.
Interior was done in Mexico. Basically the car is ruined and now sits
in a garage and needs brake work and Spark plugs on the 327
he put in it. The car has a top that fits and needs door panels.
The brakes would be easy...
About 6 years ago the dad was in trouble in jail and the son was having
financial issues, ready to lose his home and was out of town. I proposed
to the mom a price of 15K and she declined quoting that there were too many
of these cars for 50K and more. I tried explaining that she was seeing them with
Mustang II front suspensions, with updated frames and running gear and well done
paint jobs with full interior. And not some ugly purple with gay pink undercarriage.
Didnt matter, so there the car sits in its cave for over 30 yrs.
Now that is also GAY. Get the damn car out and get it to someone who hotrods and keep driving your Honda to Church...

 

I agree with Allengator, things happen for a reason, it wasn't meant to be.

 

Well, it's clear the guy is jerk, but... No deposit, no follow up call, no vist to stay in touch, no contact for several weeks? Seems if somebody offered you a '36 Cab for 8K, you shoulda put a couple hundred down in good faith to make sure it was yours. How long should he have held it for you with no deposit and no contract? As Yogi Berra said, "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on." I'm not say'n, I'm just say'n...

Brian

 

Does the old guy know the nephew is going to flip it? Maybe give the old guy a call and let him know and he might change his mind. I can't believe what a jack*** the nephew is for screwing the old guy over like that.

 

That's cool. Like someone else said, it wasn't meant to be.

Brian

 

maybe due to me being below the average age here, i would forget that friendship and call it quits. Ya gotta figure your buddy should have called you one last time before he went to his Nephews house and asked if you were capable of buying it.....Screw that dude.

 

Sold your roadster! ****! Where am I gonna sit and drink beer now? ****s about the sour deal, but 36's look funny without fenders anyways......

 

Object lesson #1.
When they tell you no deposit nescessary (leaving their options open) get them a deposit imediately.
Been there done that more than once.

 

douchebaggery has no limits!

 

If a friend offered me that kind of a ridiculous bargain, and I didn't IMMEDIATELY jump on it, I would not be surprised AT ALL if he turned around and sold it to someone else. And the fact that he basically gave it to his nephew, well, how can anyone be upset about that? How can anyone slam him for keeping it in the family? If the kid decides to sell it for what it's REALLY worth, and gives the cash to his uncle, what's wrong with that? Maybe the kid is just looking out for his uncle?

If the car was yours, and your friend didn't jump all over that deal, what would YOU have done?

 

I know you dont need this, but there's another lesson here. Be liquid enough to jump on a deal when it presents itself. If you'd have taken it up at the time of the offer it'd have been yours.

 

Saw two '36 Ford roadsters for sale in the local show here...both "stockers" and both priced at $79,000 EACH...so the kid's "$45,000" is literally half price of what someone around here wants...however, it ****s you missed out on the deal and the only thing you can do is shrug it off and move on...karma will eventually win out...

R-

 

I'm not getting the idea that the nephew did anything wrong....seems to me he ripped the old guy just like you were trying to do. As in under pay for the car.

Seems to me that the old guy screwed you. I wouldn't take it out of the nephew. In fact, if I was the nephew I might be pissed at you for trying to take advantage of James!

I am sorry you missed out on the car though.

 

That blows ... Where in Mn is the car now ?

Doug

 

Not exactly, I don't think wingnutz was going to flip it for a huge profit right away like the nephew. The nephew is a ****!