Letting it go, or keeping it forever?

Last month I was reading the January issue of Road & Track on a plane flight, where Editor-in-Chief Larry Webster was contemplating selling his late father's 1955 Ford Country Squire wagon so he would have partial funds towards buying his dream car, ... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

 

i love me some Ferrari, but if i had a car with family history like his wagon it'd never leave my stables... course i'm like that anyhow, about letting go of a car... even some later non-HAMB friendly rides i've had a hard time letting go...

 

The 40 Ford truck we bought 31 years ago - stays
The rusty 59 Ford Panel 5 years ago - could (could) go
The 50 Chev Ute we bought from the original owner in Aus - we die with it.
The 63 Comet we just got and just got running - we will see
And, and, and the rest we will see.
And for Larry Webster, the next time he goes looking for the family wagon, it might be available for any price.

 

agreed. If I had a car that was my dad's that I grew up in, i'd never get rid of it. not that I'd want any of the cars I grew up in, being a small kid in the 80's. A doo doo brown malibu station wagon is just not that cool.

 

I think it's neat when someone has kept a car for many years. I've never been able to keep them. I've had my GTO for 11 years. That's the longest so far for me. I have a friend that still owns every car since high school. Except for the daily beaters.

 

The Ferrari 355 is not a particularly good car - still an evolution of the 1970s 308. The groundbreaker was the F360. However the Ferrari's are replaceable consumables - the wagon is not. Guarantee you that if he does sell the wagon for 355 he will regret it in a very short time once the novelty of the Ferrari has worn off - about 3 days.

As Mel Blanc once said "When I drive my toys other drivers give me hand signals. When its the Ferrari I get the finger, when its the hot rod I get the thumb".

 

One day I will get the Model A pick-up my dad bought in 1960 from a share-cropper around Waco. It got a flattie, a Merc crank, some Offy heads and intake that JC Penny was blowing out on sale, and put in a barn for 25 years in 1962. I played on it everytime we visited the shed it was stored in, and knew when I was 6 years old that it was cool beyond words. It's one that I will never see go down the road with a new owner.

 

I have to agree, I would not sell a car that my dad owened and I grew up with.

 

Ferraris are cool if its a old race car, Pre 1964.

 

I don't sell any of my cars anymore, regret allways get me later. My 7 yr old always yells at me for selling my big diesel truck that I built, so the regret is already taking effect in my kids.

 

I remember reading about a guy comparing driving his Ferrari and his hot rod. The Ferrari seemed to draw out the worst in the public, it would get keyed when parked, he would get cursed at, and given thumbs down as it drove by. When he drove the hotrod he would get thumbs up and brought smiles to those he passed. It also was never tampered with when parked. I have let lots of cars go that I shouldn't have, but the T tub is now a family heirloom. Started building it in 1980, 33 years now. My daughter is the current caretaker, but she loves it as much as I do. I told her if she didn't have it, I could put it in a rec room and just enjoy looking at it even if I never drove it again. Wouldn't happen though as I love driving it. . Pat

 

My buddy has a Ferrari he only drives 1000 miles a year. Why? Because it costs $5k for servicing so he needs a 5 years to save up the money for the 5000 mile service. As for keeping a car you never use, I never understood that. I only have room for 2 cars and they are both finished drivers. If I were to get another project, one of them would have to go.

 

I am blessed to own several of my late father and late grandfather's cars. The centimental value I have for them is worth far more then market value for each (and 3 of them are Henry 32 Ford's).

 

I have a hard time selling. I sold a car last fall delivered it to the port, one last long ride. Well that it was, during shipping it went over the side. Sad it took a long time to get it almost right. It was an almost forever car. The new owner is sick over it too. I'm still out there looking at post war 40's Plymouth's, one like my father had. I did get a new Plymouth to go along with my other 2 stable mates.

 

I wouldn't sell my fathers car for one but I've owned an F355 and it was an excellent car.

No it wasn't anything like a 50's classic but clicking the shifter through the gates and listening to the epic 9k rpm wail of the little V8 was exhilarating.

 

I think that would be a wrong choice the memories you have will be much more alive if you keep the car . Ya it handles and stops like a brick but that half the fun of it.
My Dad had a 1955 Olds 2 door post which I wish I had now that car had a pile of memories in it but alas it went to the wrecking yard when I was 13 in 1975 .

 

While I fall in love with every car I own I am pretty good at letting them go when the love affair is over. With the exception of two a 1954 Chevy and a 1933 Ford Tudor Sedan. both of these cars are my kids I built for them. They don't leave here. They have had a car since birth both of them and will have grown up in their cars. I don't own anything I grew up in and watched alot of old cars go through my Dad's hands, hating everytime one would leave. In fact I don't have anything from my childhood except my bean doll Buppy, some metal wall hanging airplanes, and a plaster Snoopy and Woodstock. Honestly those will never leave either and my Grandkids can have 'em when someday they get here. If my kids want to sell their cars for a house down payment then I'm ok with that too. I give them freely and my kids are great so it's their call if it makes their life better then I've done my job.

But as for this guy and I realize I am placing my values and mindset on another human being when saying this- NO FUCKING WAY, A cool old family wagon with history for a PISS ANT anybody with money can buy Ferrari. Seriously you must be kidding. This guy needs to check his soul. Sounds like Mid Life crisis, this never ends well and has serious regret in the end for more than just himself.


Buy the Ferrari outright and when you find out you hate it then you can sell it and still have the cool old wagon to pass along to your kids.


Tim

 

This thread could have been written for anyone but it has a lot in common as far as family history is concerned with the wagon I recently completed.

My wife's grandmother purchased a Ford Ranch Wagon off the Blue Ridge Motors dealership sales floor in 1954 for her Flower Shop.

My wife grew up riding in that car,,learned how to drive in that car and we even borrowed that car to haul band equipment in the late 60's in that car.

when Mama Jessie decided it was time for a newer van my wife's dad took possession of the old wagon and used it for going fishing/camping/hunting and used it as a truck.

He decided to sell the old wagon and when my wife heard someone was coming to buy it she pleaded with her dad to sell it to us,he was unawae she was even interested in the old car,,so when the gentleman arrived to purchase the car he explained his daughter wanted the car so he gave it to her,,my father in law being the good man he was offered to pay for the gentleman's time and gas.

The car was a daily driver for a while and then a front spindle self destroyed itself and I just parked it in the barn and that's where the car stayed for over 20 years,,just sitting and rotting.

As many of you already know,,when I joined the Hamb I decided I needed a project and I felt the old wagon would be the ideal candidate.

I have posted many times over the last 9 years about the trials and tribulations of bringing the wagon back to life,,so I won't go into that but having finally finished the car last spring there is no car out there that we would sacrifice the wagon to obtain,,there are a lot of cars I lust for but to exchange all the family history,all the memories for anything else would never be a consideration. HRP

 

Keep the Wag, fly or drive to LA and rent a hairdryer for the day to get it out of your system once a year. Cheaper in the long run and you get to keep the Wag.

 

I was lucky enought to find and buy back my Grandfathers 57 chevy 4 years ago. It left our famliy in 1974 when he passed. Everything I did as a kid that was guy related like fishing,hunting and going to the local dirt track was in this car. Plus it was the first car I ever drove. I could never part with it for a Ferrari or any other dream car. I would have to find some other way to finance that dream.

 

I have a 1979 ford F250 supercab camper special. My grandpa bought it new. I will NEVER sell it.

 

My 3 yr old son gets so excited when I pick him up from day care in the 55. They went their first lonestar trip in it. Its just a lowly 210 4dr but I bet they will feel same about the memories made in it when they are older. cant replace them

 

Due to my work I know several people that own late-model Ferraris... every one of them is a douche.

This conversation might be different if we were talking about a '32 Ford.

 

Im keeping mine to the end,i have had my 37 Willys since 1977,35 Willys since 81 and my 26 RPU for two years. I had a thin out two years back selling four that i just wasnt going to get round to,29 Whippit 2 door,66 Falcon,39 willys i had since 76 and Hotrod pickup made up of pre 1930 parts that i started in 78.My one car i should have not sold back in 1983 was a steel 32 roadster project. JW

 

A family heirloom is one thing and a Ferrari is something else. I don't think that they can be compared in any way.

If you really want the Ferrari, find another way to finance it.

 

KEEP THE WAGON !!!!!!
I've done the Ferrari (s) thing , fun for a while ......till you hit a speed bump , do a major service for 5-10 K , or try to park it anywhere and wait for a dent .
Wagons are fun , safe , nostalgic , cool ... and the family and dogs can go , too .

 

When we get to the point we can no longer drive and take care of our wagon it will be passed on to our oldest granddaughter Hannah,,many of the guys that live in this area knows her and she loves that car and will make a perfect caretaker to carry on the legacy. HRP

 

I just dunno? as of now we are " having my cake and am eating it too" ....
I won a new MERCEDES C63 AMG on my birthday fall of 2010 ... a 451 hp high tech rocketship ...
Did I give up any of the 20 +old cars or projects to make room and help cover costs ... nope
Do we DRIVE any of these cars all that much? .. not as much as we would like ... current family obligations , winter weather etc. seem to get in the way for most of the preferred driving time .....
Should we sell the 70 grand Mercedes and most of the other old cars/trucks and focus on say 1-2 finished hot rods-trucks ...???
Should we sell off the tools ,shop,automotive literature and use the empty storage now being used for something else ..???

Would I have ever bought a supercar like this one new?... nope
Will I ever find the group of older cars for the prices I aquired them? ... nope
Should I save all these for the grandkids? ... saying YES as of now...

The idea of overall cost per day is not going to go back down ...
None of my older cars have a previous family history.

Recently as the grandkids are getting bit older (6 of em aged 2-10)some are seeing the collection and parts, tools..for the first time asking questions and getting rides in the drivers..I can only hope they will enjoy what I have done to keep this "hobby" around and tactile for them and we will get to spend more time enjoying it with them..

 

I helped my Dad build his Roadster which He bought from a Nebraska Farmer while He was passing through in 1975,the farmer had been keeping Salt Blocks in the Rumble seat section,needless to say the bottom of the car was rotted off,He towed it back to Nevada and was not sure if he wanted to sell it or build it,after a few months we started working on it and he was driving it daily up until his passing in 2009 @ 87 yrs of age.it was his pride and now it is staying in the family till I go, then ?? who knows what will happen to it.it is the Red 31 in this pic.

 

I've yet to own a car that couldn't be bought. Everything I own is always for sale...
I guess I live on possibilities. "Think of what would be possible if I got really good money for that ! "