Whats the one car that GOT AWAY ? The car you almost owned but by dumb luck could'nt afford at the time or did not trying hard enough you lost out on and will regret as long as you live ?
That's easy. a 40 willys drag car. I don't know how long it sat in Brawley Ca. but for years I just couldn't get them to shake it loose. then I see it on Gasser madness. someone else got it. yellow... called just a little trip.
Very easy, a 34 ford sedan that was sitting behind a vacant house when I was dating this girl in High school. She took me over to the house to check it out and in the back yard was a 1939 ford sedan, crushed by a tree and a 34 ford sedan, still had the green paint on it. I tried to find the owners of the land and kept coming up empty, life got in the way and time passed. I then went to look at it again, after about a 5 year hiatus and the house was fully restored, had a swing set sitting where the 34 was. They were sent to the junkyard when they bought the house at an auction. About knocked me down when I heard that. P.S. it is not in the local junkyards, I looked
Probably the 39 Willys coupe gasser with the 41 tilt glass nose that right beside my house growing up in the late 70s... it was orage with green tinted windows and some sort of RB Chrysler shortblock in it... that car and several others including a 70 R/T Coronet conv, a 70 340 Cuda , a 71 Roadrunner and a 71 Charger were all hauled off for scrap because my grandfather was sick of looking at them as they belonged to my Uncle....... prior to that in the early 70s Grandpa had a friend come over with a Bulldozer and backfill over a Black/white 57 Ford victoria, a 57 Chevy conv, a 55 olds conv, and a 55 Nomad Yep when Gramps got pissed my Uncle Joe was sure to lose cars.... Gramp is now 93 and still as miserable as ever.... unfortunately uncle Joe passed 2 years ago but the cars (especially that Willys) he had while I grew up will forever remind me of a better time...... I sure wish I knew where that car ended up as I highly doubt it actually ended up in a crusher.....
Mine was nice early 60s built 29 Ford roadster on deuce rails early Hemi broken early Ford trans car parked forever. Guy said we could buy it his kid had no interest in it. My dad tells his kid we are gonna buy it if you dont want it. Kid takes it out of storage cuts up nice deuce frame removed all cross members to box it sells off parts guts it for big block Chevy race car . Traded off nice 32 insert out of grille for a billet one . Last I heard its still in pieces in a barn.
Well this is not one I had, but it got away nonetheless. My parents, to insure I finished my senior year in high school, said they would put $500.00 towards a car. So I promptly started scouring the for sale ads, and wound up at a Ford dealership in the used car section, where I found a 1950 Studebaker P.U. that was super clean. It was refrigerator white with a black tuck&roll interior,chrome deep dish rims, and wide tires on the back. The guy must have had a connection at the local chrome shop, because the grill, bumpers, and most of the dash and window trim were chromed. Along with alot under the hood. Not stock stuff. It was lowered with a nice rake to the front. I went home all excited and told my parents about it,only $1200.00, they said it sounded like a good deal, and would go look at it. Then being young and stupid, I opened up my mouth and told them it had a Hemi engine with a four barrel carb. and a Hydramatic trans. Well that was the end of that. My mother said I would kill myself in it, and to go find a car they considered safe. I wound up with a 1957 Volkswagon bug.... Huh!
Saturday afternoon, '54 Merc hardtop, power everything, wanted $2500.00, went back on Monday and they sold it on Sunday for $1500.00 after refusing $1800.00 on Saturday because they did not want to ruin a 2nd chance to sell, a-hole refused to take deposit for a 48 hr. hold. I still want one.
46 ford coupe when I was 16 years old. Didnt have any money and my dad was out of town so I couldnt get a loan from him. Its not a car i would die for but it was a car that peaked my intrest in old cars.
One i had was a 51 merc i had to let go do to family responsability, it went to a much bettet home than i ever could have givin it....flamedabone got it! The one i missed by a day (because i didnt want to make a 3 hour drive in the snow) was a 55 pontiac 2 door wagon! I dont hesitate now, no matter what the weather is like!!! -LUKEY-
1947 Mercury truck just across the border in Manitoba, for $300. My driving record prevented me from entering Canada. (this was about 5 years ago)
I passed on a 64 Vette fastback for $800 from a co worker. I passed on a 57 E-Bird for $1800 because a battery overturned in the trunk and rusted a hole in it.I passed on a 29 Model a Tudor for $250 because I just got married and was afraid to spend any money.But the ONE that still bugs me is I passed on a 65 GT350 from a buddy in service when he offered it to me for 1000 bucks. I want a do-over!
A pair of roller, 41 Willys gasser P/u's. New job, didn't know anyone. A month later, a guy with a 37 ford says,", I wish I knew you were looking, a buddy just sold em two weeks ago".
Well mine is I was buying a 52 Chevy panel truck looked at it and made a offer and when I go to pick it up the guy told me come here I have something else to show you under a tarp he uncovers A 30 MODEL A COUPE body no doors no trunk lid he says you want it I said I dont have any more money no he says I am giving in to you. What!!! No room in the pick-up truck I was using to tow the 52 panel and the panel was full of stuff for the truck. I told him I will pick it up on Sunday. I called Sunday he tells me dont bother my sister called the junk yard to have all the junk haulled off. I even went out there to see for myself the grass was all torn up from the tow truck haulling 4 other trucks he had in the back of the garage and well no MODEL A FORD COUPE BODY. Now when someone tells me its free I take it even if its a piece of shit in a napkin. KNUCK FROM INDIANA.
Well mine is a bit newer original low mileage blue 1969 426 HEMI Dodge Charger it was 1973 the oil imbargo was under way the owner has it for sale in the local news paper $1500.00. When I knock on the apartment door his wife opens the door holding their new born baby. I test drive this monster of course I dont have a penny to my name but heck I did drive an original HEMI car. To this day I wonder what happened to that car!
My first car... '50 Plymouth DeLuxe sedan in very dull Shore Green. In 1976 when I was 15, I went searching in Kentucky for an old car to fix up since there were a lot of rust-free machines there (as opposed to my home in Chicago). Found it parked along the road in West Paducah - green with 72K on it, ran good but had a little rod noise, and an older black gentleman named Lapoleon Bridgett was asking $360. I held out two $100.00 bills and got it. My uncle and I drove it home and stored it in my grandmother's garage until I could afford to get it fixed up enough to safely drive the 400 miles home. Unfortunately that day never came; four years later my grandma's house got taken by eminent domain and my mother sold the car to a restorer in Kevil for what I paid (and the clutch was seized by then). Hope it did survive... BTW those wheel covers were rare: '56 Hudson Rambler (like regular Rambler but with an H instead of an R in the center). I sold them to a Hudson collector about ten years ago.
#1 The '70 440 6pak 4 speed Road runner that I drove in high school. Raised so much hell in that car that the cops zebra tagged it and made me sell it. I still miss that car 31 years later! #2 When I was in high school about 1980, I worked for rental yard and delivered equipment. One day I delivered a trencher to a guy and he asked if I would drive it into the backyard. In the corner of the yard was a car under an old tarp. I asked what was under the tarp and he said an old Chevy that his kid had given him for some money he owed him. He said I could have it for the $300 dollars that he had loaned his son. Curious, I looked under the tarp and found a '63 Chev 2 door post with a 409 tripower and a 4 speed. I don't think they were original to the car and I passed because I was Mopar guy. #3 1985 and I was working 2 jobs, one delivering apples to grocery stores for my ex-wifes dad. While delivering on a Tuesday, I drove past a dealership called Zoom Motors in Albany, OR. In the building was my dream car, a '70 Superbird for $6500. I had been saving money and talked them down to $5500. I gave the salesman a check for $1000 to hold the car and made arrangements to come on Saturday to pick it up. Went back with my ex on Saturday and she threw such a yelling screaming fit in the showroom about me spending that kind of money on a f*&#$%g ugly car that the salesman gave me my check back and apologized to me! I should have divorced that bitch right then and bought the car!
I had a chance to trade my 69 datsun pickup for a 58 corvette if I threw in a hundred dollars in the mix. Like a dumbass, I turned it down and drove away. sigh........
Real similar story,.. Around the same time during the embargo, I was working at Gratiot Auto Supply,.. During lunch hour in the spring I would cruise the neighborhood,.. and look as I went by a open garage to see if there was any interesting cars tucked away. ( I found 2 old hot rods like that). I drove past this one place, and I could see what looked like a 68 Shelby front end poking out from under a mountain of deflated pools cardboard boxes & bicycles,.... The guy was cutting the grass, so I stop to ask about it. He said he was going to keep it,... but he would show it to me,.. It was a 1968 Shelby GT-500 KR convertible,.... 428-CJ, 2-4V, we start uncovering it and he keeps saying how it's going to need paint, a tune up, tires, exhaust,... and you could see with every new discovery, he kept feeling worse about it,.. Then he seen the tear in the top. So I asked him if he would be willing to sell it,... He said $750.00,... I said $600.00,... he just stuck his hand out and said OK !, That was one that didn't get away at that moment,.... But after I had it back on the road, painted cleaned up with a new top, I would drive it from time to time to work at Gratiot. A young guy comes in, and asks who's Shelby that was,... He asks how much,.. (Because I didn't want to sell it) I said $3,500.00 ( close to the cost of a newer used car at the time ),.... And the kid gave me a pretty close counter offer. That's when it got away !,... I got a whopping $3,200. for a 1968 Shelby GT-500 KR Convertible,.... Man !,... 32 hundred,... Did I cut a smoking deal or what ???
I owned a Corvette shop in the 70's and 80's before the gold chainers drove the prices crazy in the late 80's. I had a guy offer me a freshly restored, zero-mile 427 SC Cobra. Yeah, it was an honest-to-goodness 427 SC Cobra. Couldn't scratch up the coin. They went for over a $million by the late 80's.
Was a Soph in high school....had been in a wreck with my 64 Chevy truck (not my fault).....When I got on my feet Dad and I went to town where there was a 65 or 66 GTO.... small block and his/hers shifter with origional interior...beautiful. Dad kept trying to guide me over to it but all I had ever drove was a truck on the farm.....truck got bought and I have kicked myself now that I am older......Dad was just was itching for me to have a GTO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
early 70's... early 289 real cobra, 67 charger (black, perfect, bb,4speed), 70 440 cuda, 55 chevy (flip front, tunnel rammed sb, 4 speed, candy paint) 70 GTX (440, 4speed) passed on a 32 ford delivery hotrod(didn't like the color) 40 ford tudor sedan (371 olds tri-power, auto of somekind). That was the early 70's. By the middle 70's I had learned my lesson. From then till now, there hasn't been a car that I wanted I haven't got. I did whatever it took, even if I only kept it 3 months. License plates were on magnets. Bought'em, drove 'em, beat 'em, moved 'em and never looked back.
Well I was in a pretty good mood until I started reading this thread. Made me think of 25 or 30 cars I missed out on or sold. I'm gonna go set in the garage and idle the car for awhile..............
Yep, it was an orange Mopar with the big wing and a 440-6 pk, $1,300 WTF i was in the USAF making $326 a month before taXes. They're a tad higher now. Oh yeah and the 67 Vette with a 427 tri power and 4 spd for $7,500 a couiple yrs later.
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