Best Deal You Ever Got on A Car or Truck!

I was trhinking of all the rides I have had in the past years and trying to come up with the ones I got the best deals on. Two came to mind.

1. 1957 Olds 4 Door Hardtop - Went to an auction in a small town. A ladies husband had died and she was getting ready to move out of State to her daughter's house. After staying all day the Olds came up for sale...long story short..bid it off at $87.50...the lady came down the porch stairs with title and keys and said she had bought it new for her husband's birthday on January 14th 1957. I was born January 14th, 1956. Drove it home.

2. 1957 Pontiac - My brother-in-law's brother was working in the country and called him to tell me the guy he was working for had an old car he was wanting to get out of his front yard. A buddy and I went to check it out. He came out and told us he would take $50.00 for it just to get rid of it. He even offered us a chain to tow it home. Had a battery and some gas with us, so after a little tinkering it fired on the fifth turn...drove it home. He had bought the car brand new. 1957 Star Chief 2 door hardtop.

Both cars are gone now...wish I still had em!!!

So what about it guys ..waht were you r best deals and sorry ...freebies don't count!

48 Poncho

 

$20 79 Ford Fairmont. i drove it for a good year or more and only had to replace the rack and pinion ($140). it was REAL reliable and pretty decent on gas. i gave it to Springer when i got a nicer ride (guess he got a better deal on it than i did).

it sure was an ugly thing though.

 

a guy gave me 50bucks to haul my ol 31 coupe off his land!

 

Funny, I bought a 78 Fairmont at auction for $275, V8 with 89K. 55K later reverse gear goes out, never changed the oil, but had to add 2 quarts....OLDBEET

 

dunno how far back you wanna go on this but i bought a 57 chev 2 door hardtop with a 409 shoehorned into it for 200 bucks. complete car, only rust was in pass side door. course that was 20 years or more ago.

 

HaHa, THAT's gonna be tough to beat!!

I did buy a 74 Granada for $25 because I wanted the magnum 500 wheels that were on it. Drove it home, (smoking all the way) swapped the wheels and sold it to a co-worker for parts for $100.

 

56 Pontaic 2dr ht! Seen it parked up in a driveway close to home and stopped to ask. Nobody living there! Ask next door about it and was told that the guy that owns the house worked for the Boys & Girls club. Called the guy and told me that he had just restored a 57 Pontiac and that he had plans for this one but was out of time and tired of cars for now. Told me he donated the 57 to the club for auction! Went through the how much/what you askin deal for about a week then he tells me'' give me 670.00 for oit and its yours''
Car had 44,000 miles and ran like a top! I got pics, but there Polaroids!

 

I traded 2 26" 4X6 beams that were left at my house during construction for a 34 Ford 3W body. Then bought a perfect 32 chassis for $40.00 from the same guy. I sold the body for $100.00, needing a passanger door and bought it back three years later with a perfect door installed for $175.00. I still had the frame.

 

I bought two model T's from a fellow. He told me they were worth twice what he wanted, but no one seemed interested. I bought them both. After about two years, I sold one of them. The '12 shown here is the one I kept. Deduct the $ for the sold one, and I have $2,000 in this restored, just over 4000 mile car that has ownership history since new! The only problem is, I took the money from the '11 T and bought my '32 Ford woodie, so I guess I'm just getting further behind instead of better off.

 

a guy i work with said he had this old 4 door cadillac out back by the barn. said it was junk. i told him i didnt have any cash to throw away right then, but i might be able to use the motor. he said well just come get it out of my yard you can have it. so i drive down to his house with a trailer and find this coupdeville 65 2 door from arizona rust free and primered with 2 truck loads of spare parts for free. got it home put gas and a battery in and she came to life runs great

 

68 Plymouth Sport Satelliate 318, buckets, floor console. In 1989 I noticed this car sitting in an apartment complex where I knew the manager. I asked him if he knew who owned it. He told me he knew who owned it but it didn't run. Said he had tried to start it but it wouldn't turn over. The car hadn't run in about five years. The owner said he figured he could get 60 bucks for it from the junk yard so if I wanted it for 60 it was mine. Bought it squirted a little tranny fluid down the sparkplug holes. Went back over the next day with a fresh battery. Turned the key....nothing. Had ignition lights but that was it. Looked down at the shifter and it was between reverse and park. Put it up in park primed it and it started right up. Excellent body and the interior wasn't too bad. Must have had a ton of old newspapers in the trunk. Drove it for a month and sold it for $650

 

I bought my 26 Chrysler 2dr Brougham for $300 a couple or 3 years ago. Complete and it ran.

Now that I have the wrecking yard you wouldnt believe what I get for 20 or 50 bucks... or free.
Mostly late model stuff, but a guy gave me a 69 Grand prix for 100 and I got paid $40 to haul off a 65 Corvair stuffed with NOS parts.

 

Bought a Renault Caravelle for $10.
Drove it home.
Sold it 6 days later for $80.


Traded a "chrome" .22 pistol for an 11 year old '69 Sedan Deville.

 

Thats a GREAT deal!!

39

 

not really old, but a couple years ago I paid $350 for a clean but high miles 93 ford crown vic...last fall I got in a slight wreck with it, ins company paid me $1400 to get it fixed, so essentially I've been paid a grand to keep driving this car.

 

Bought a 74? Saab (everyone is ascared of them) at auction for $100 after tax and licence was $138......Wife won $100 as we were leaving! She drove it over 50K with just gas!! Called it the .38 special...........OLDBEET

 

bought my 40 for 1000.00 with the running flattie..

sold the flattie and trans for 1200, the brakes, steering box, one extra fender, the roof, front and rear seats, and the 35 ford wires that were on it.. and still ended up with a bunch of bucks in it..

but worth every penny..

 

I lived with a guy that bought a 81 Buick for $800 bucks. It blew a brake line but he continued to drive it anyways. Well one day it snapped the alternator belt and he just drove it during the day and charged the battery at the house at night. I offered to fix it for him if he would buy the parts. He declined said it was working out fine as is.

Well one day he was coming home and it died. The battery had given up the ghost and then it started raining. Well he had also not licensed it and there it was sitting on the side of a narrow road with bad tags and a dead battery. He tried to sell it to me for $50 bucks. I said no deal I will give ya $20. He told me to go F*&K myself. I told him the deal stands for 15 minutes. Well he came back a few hours later and said give me enough cash to buy a pack of smokes and she is yours. I said no deal I don't need a junker. He goes well what will you give me I said one dollar and the last three smokes in my pack. He said deal I got my ex to give me a ride down the road swapped the battery and drove it back to the house.

Ever since it has been my beat on rig. I have got it stuck in a tree, pulled a few stumps, still counting how many bullets it takes to remove the roof, I shot it with a automatic weapon (which made it look meaner), I drove it into a huge hole in a gravel pit to the point were the rear wheels were all the way in the air and it reversed rght out, and I left the hood open for a winter with no air cleaner came back the next spring put a battery in it and sprayed some ether down the carb and it popped right of it did steam a bunch when it got warmed up as it boiled all the water out of the block. The damn thing still holds good oil pressure and still will get a 3rd gear scratch on pavement. Best dollar I ever spent for entertainment purposes.

 

Took a 67 Camaro coupe with 6/stick in on trade for a 68 I had built up from a bare gutted bodyshell.
Although I had put 4 1/2 months of labor in addition to another totalled 68, the kid that bought it was only a couple of hundred bucks shy of my asking price (150.00 if I remember right) and hadn't been able to drive it because of some crossed wires and begged me to take it for the difference. He was a little bit in shock when I spent less than 10 minutes sorting it out and drove it off.
In the three years I used it for an everyday driver it averaged over 18 1/2 miles per gallon and my total expenses for insurance, fuel, upkeep, and the money I allowed the kid in trade averaged out to less than 5 cents per mile including the water pump I had to put on it. I figure it was the cheapest car to drive I ever owned after everything was added up.
Oh, the car I sold him? We won't talk about how sick I felt a few months later after seeing how trashed the car was, especially the paint job I had spent three days just rubbing out. Always kinda wished I had kept the Keystones I put on it too, and used something else.

 

gave $50 for my 84 buick a year ago....drove it for a year and now its getting stripped of its drivetrain for a low buck project.

 

Deal 1: I traded a wrecked 70 Sport Satellite that I paid $75 for this sedan delivery. The guy I traded to had a GTX he was restoring and needed doors and rear 1/4's and that's all that was left on this Satellite. The delivery had a munched front fender and grille, which I have since replaced. I also got most of the documentation on the car right back to 1956, when it was sold new to a bakery in Swift Current Sask. GM of Canada had a service that you could get history on your vehicle for a $40 fee. This is one of 1583 ever made, Canadian Pontiac only, came stock with a 261, 3 speed. Now has a 350/350 in it, but I have since bought a rebuilt 261........

Deal 2: A local kid's dad sold the family farm and was moving. He wanted the kid's junk off the place (you know the story....) To make a long story short, about 10 years ago, the young fellow started restoration on his grandfather's 56 Pontiac. He took the body off the frame and rebuilt it completely - new brakes complete from the m/c to the drums, new bearings, tie rods, drag link, etc. Rear end is completely done, bearings, seals, drums, shoes, etc....The original 261 was redone at a machine shop here locally, head redone, new carb still in the box, new clutch, pressure plate, release bearing, etc. The tranny is a newer full synchro three speed with new synchros, seals etc., and new U-joints. Bear in mind, this is a Canadian Pontiac, so these are essentially 5-6-7 Chevy parts. Here's the kicker - I asked him if he had any other Pontiac stuff to go with it. I got a 6 and a v-8 rad cradle with all the splash aprons, two windshield washer setups, four headlight rings and two completely RUST-FREE front fenders. If you know anything about these Pontiacs, the headlights usually rusted right off these things. These fenders might as well be NOS. And will save me hours of body work. The price $225.00 Canadian.

There have been a few others - $75 33 Chevy 5 window, I drove my 51 Merc home for $800, my 57 Chevy truck I bought from the original owner for $750 and drove it home, and a $30 51 Stude Starlight. I still have 2 1/2 26-7 T touring bodies in the barn I have a grand total of $225 invested in and the shell of a 57 150 two door wagon for $75.

Damn, I love Saskatchewan........

I intend to start a threat here soon as the snow goes on the best car you ever got for FREE. This you one you will have to see to believe.

 

Bought my 50 Stude truck (cab and frontend) off E.bay last yr for $400.00 The thing was sitting on an old 4 w dr. chassis, turns out it was a 37 Marmon Herrington chassis, put it on e bay and had a guy give me $1500.00 to stop the auction

 

Has to be one of the funniest posts I have ever read lol...

 

bought 5 corvairs for 100.00. 2 65's, 2 68's, and a 69. All ran, and 3 had that goofy spider 4 carb option. I blessed Nader all thru my college days. Used one set of plates for the bunch, and come to think about it, the same insurance too. Only problem was they didn't like sitting for long periods, (lifters would drain dry). Old guy told me to start em each day and the problem was solved. Turned out the 69 was worth something, and pulled 650.00 out of that one when I graduated.

 

31 4door murry body (free) ford nine inch(free) 34 ford truck frone end(free) running 62 electra 4 door hard top for the 401 nailhead and the find drums ($350) hey look a hot rod (priceless)

 

1959. Guy owed my dad $75 in back rent, gave him a car to settle up. Dad said it was just a piece of junk, I could have it if I would go tow it off the place. Tires were flat, battery was dead, low on oil, but that was it. I drove that 52 ford convertible all summer and still kick myself for trading it in.
1960. Saw a 1932 ford pickup, no engine or trans in a junk yard, nice body no rust - $75.00 Asking around for ideas to power it, the local garage guy has the perfect answer. 1954 Oldsmobile, strong running V8/ good trans, etc.
Some guy stiffed him on a repair job and he kept the car. He let me strip everything I wanted out of it, including the radio, for $15. That Deuce would fly. (I sold it for $200 when I left for the service). Best money deal. 1972, Bought a 1960 Jaguar XK150 Drop Head Coupe (a convertible, as opposed to a Roadster which had a removable top). Left at an upholstry shop for 3 years, sitting in back under a cover. Being nosy I lifted the cover. Most beautiful car I had ever seen in my life. $1500 paid the upholstery tab and paper work. Drove it 2 wonderfull years and sold it to a doctor for $9,000. He was smarter than me. It's worth over $100 K today. But "the best deals" are relative. 1969 - In the service, no money, no car, married and a buddy offers me his car cause it's not worth shipping cross country for $25.00. 1952 ford sedan, I drove it 18 months withoust spending $10 bucks on it. When I left that base I sold it to an FNG, for $25.00.

 

$50 is the going rate for '84 Buicks, I drove a Park Ave home, stripped out everything I could, sold a few things and scrapped the rest for $50.

 

I bought a 61 olds f85 coupe with 47000 miles on it for $700.00. This car was garaged for 26 years at a brake depot, for failure to pay the bill. I paid the bill and drove it home. Or, how about the 33 willys coupe and extra 4door parts car for 500 bucks. These are both within the last 10 years. i also bought 2 29 ford roadster pick ups for $1000 in southern california, and just last week I bought 2 31 roadsters for $1300.00 missing the doors and fenders, but they came with a 32 frame, and a 34 frame.

 

Oh, heres one. My friend paid a kids rent for him and the kid gave him his 2000 satrurn coupe, which he had just had built by saturn motorsports for a total of $31000.00. Oh yea his rent was $1500.00

 

First I Got a 68 Triumph motor for free from a friend uncle.

Then A buddy owed me money for giving him a 350 motor I pulled out of a crashed car for free and rebuilt the Trump motor.

Then I traded the Trump motor for a set of PS engineering knockoff wheels with new Firestones.

I then Traded the wheels for a 1930 ford Tudor Sedan

Ended up Selling the Sedan untouched by me for $4500