Neatest old car you got for FREE?

a 75 cutlass with perfect reversible black swivel bucketts, With over 200,000 miles on it , and it still ran great!!!! Cant beat those rocket motors!!!!
A 78 lincoln continental that needed an alternator, last of the big ones!!!
A week later I got rearended by a mustang at high speed and it broke my tailight. The insurance paid me $1600.... Whoo hoo!!!!!!!!!
A hamb unfriendly 83 accord.....

 

She doesn't look like much, but she is the first car I ever bought(ten years before she was given back to me). She is getting a new lease on life(as a full kustom) and I won't ever sell her again.

 

A guy gave me a complete 29 Model A rolling chassis that runs , with 4 front and 4 rear fenders , 2 radiators , grille shell , hood , cowl gas tank , and the title for the car. His wife wanted it out of the garage so he told me to come and get it.

 

My Father was working at local JI Case dealer, that was under same ownership as local Chev/Olds Dealer. He came home one day & said he just bought a Chev Panel Truck that came in on trade at Chev/Olds store.
When he brought it home & I looked out the window, there was sitting an absolute mint 56 Sedan Delivery. He didn't really know what a score it was. Needless to say. that piece was in my posession in a hurry. Kept it through High Scool & for a couple of years out in the world working. Car is long gone. One of those, "Shoulda Kept"!!!!

 

I was home on leave from the Air Force, July 1972. Parents' neighbor asked if I wanted an old car, it had been sitting in his backyard for a few years. It had '64 Cali tags on it. I towed it home, it sat under pine trees till July '07 when my son and I pulled it out to use for parts to restore my high school car - also a '56 Vicky that I bought in '68.

The free parts car, picture is from about 1990. Car in the foreground is a '54 Fordor Crestlne, also given to me in '71:

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32 ford roadster body, 26 ford roadster body, 24 ford truck, 24 ford c cab body, 48 ford 2 door, 50 plymouth 4 door,55 oldsmobile 4 door, and many more since 1966

 

In 1963 I was 13 years old and already very car crazy. I built and collected all kinds of model cars. AMT, JOHAN, REVELL, didn't make any difference. All my buddies knew of my love for cars. One guy in particular gave me a 1954 Olds 88! It was 2 tone green and the engine was in the trunk. I had it towed to my house and parked it up in the driveway. (Tow bill was $15.00, had saved $40.00 from my paper route). When my Dad came home from work that night he had to park in back of the Olds. We had just lived in our new house less than a month in a very nice neighborhood. Needless to say, the Olds was not very nice looking, missing wheel covers, different colored wheels and rust/primer spots. (it looked good to me)
Dad got so mad he didn't speak to me for a week. (I didn't get his permission to get a car, much less this old clunker.) We he did speak to me about the 7th day, he just simply said, "get rid of that @*&$%#&@& car today!" Well, I knew that it was no use to ask for more time. Besides, I wanted to see that I got to live to be 14.
I called a local wrecking/junk yard and told them they could have the car for free if they came and hauled it away. When Dad came home that night, all was well and I lived to see many more birthdays. A few years back I ran into the brother that had given me the car. We talked about old times and the Olds came up in the conversation. He said I was lucky to have gotten rid of the car. I asked him why? He told me his brother had stolen that car! Very shocked, I asked him where he had stolen the car from. When he told me where the car was stolen from, I realized it came from the very same wrecking/junk yard that I called to come and pick it from me! Oh Lord! If my Dad had found that out, I would not be here now and never would have been able to own and collect the cars I have now. (see cars in profile) I don't want anymore "free" cars.
Tim

 

60 merc from my step dad.
60 chevy from my ungle Bill.
58 bug from my freind James.

 

that's a great story. and the bug looks hot.

 

the car in my sig. my grandpa gave it to me 7 years ago

 

I got a 61 Stude Champ p/u from my grandpa. Just had to tow it home. Needs brakes rebuilt but runs smooth.

 

13 years old (mid-late 60s), I hauled a free late-20's Briggs 4-door body out of a Pauma Valley orchard. Unfortunately, I let a "friend" talk me out of it - he never paid, and his dad junked it...

Turned DOWN a free 1936 Chevy sedan about 1973 from a hippy in Pacific Beach. Just had a bad starter, but a good body and OK interior...no place to put it....

That's partially because I had the running 1936 Chevy PU with 327 and 4-spd my gandfather gave me while I was in high school...
.

 

i got this one from my wifes grandfather he dosent like it like this but o well i love it

 

(2) 64 ford failanes about 5 monthes ago. I got one running within a couple days with a new battery and fuel line(2DR HT). And the other one was a 2 DR post car with no engine. I gave that one to my long time friend (it was his dream car) and he is currently making a full out gasser out of it, it is in good hands.

 

got three in my life first was a 60's something Vw notchback ,never got it running , next was a 78 datson 280z no floor boards but ran great but had to pay 20 dollars for the title for it , next was a 72 dodge charge no motor or trans and even got a free snake living inside the hood

 

20 years ago I got a 66 mustang convert for free. I took out the 289 and threw the rest away... that was really stupid .......

 

2 Years ago I was told ,If you can get it from around the tree you can have it ,That was a '37 ford pu in a pile, Just a few weeks ago I was eating at a diner when someone asked me how my '37 pu was comming along .The man sitting next to me said he had a old truck that I can have. It turned out to be a '34 ford 1.5 ton ,

 

64 Comet Caliente....and it was a K code to boot....

 

It is not about the car but the story, My youngest daughters daily driver is quickly dying, so Thanksgiving my brother gave her his old 2001 Sabarau that the dealers said needed about $5000 worth of repair. It has only 91,000 miles on it.
Well about 5 weekends of work and about $2000 later she will have a rebuilt daily driver, and she did a fair amount of the work. I was amazed I had the patience to explain and teach her.
This week end we will finish rebuilding the front suspension and then teach her how to drive a stick shift.
By the way she will someday inherit my Falcon.

jim h

 

1949 Ford Woodie... Rough but restorable. I had to make a pact to never sell it, and let the previous owner, who owned it since the early 50's drive it when it is done.

 

!963 ss 409 340 horse 4 speed back in 72 immaculate, friend of mine had joined the marines told me to take the car, if he came back to Long Island I would let him borrow the car, car was at his brothers house in Huntington his brother kept calling me to come get, it at the time I was 18 already had a 62 nova with a 350 in it and I really was a simple 1 car guy. look at me now anyway it needed a clutch I kept telling his brother I would be there one day I said to a friend of mine we really need to go pick it up Jack is getting stale as we are driving down the block I can see his brothers driveway and the car is gone his brother had sold it for 175 oh well I might have still had it today as I bought my 68 elcamino a couple of years later and I still have that

 

My boyfriend just got a running, 59 Studebaker Lark, the day after Christmas from a customer on his route...The guy just wants him to bring it by after he's done fixing it up...pretty cool stuff...this little car runs like a top!!! I told him we need to pay it forward somehow...

 

Never got a car for free. Somebody here want to give me a neat one so I'll have a story to tell?!

 

SLAMIT and I got this one a few years ago. Burned up in the San Diego Cedar fires. We sold off the parts and ended up buyiong some other cars to flip and finance our projects.
That's when my daughter was vaugely interested in cars or smacking things with a hammer might be more like it.........

 

My 30 Roadster body (shell) dumped under a railroad trestle.
'62 Chevy II 4 cyl 3spd 43K miles in 1973. Broken block where the starter mounted. Combined with free '55 Chevy 4 dr an elderly neighbor had driven into a parked car. Used the '55 bellhousing and starter to get the Chevy II running. Junked the stripped '55 and sold the Chevy II for $500 in '76.
A second cousin's 81 Malibu wagon in 1986 or so. Fixed the broken electric drivers window and sold it as a "Station Car" to a Long Island commuter.
'74 Gremlin in '80. Windshield loose, water up to the rockers on the inside, 4 flats. Wife drove it after it was fixed and I sold it for $500 in '82.

I paid the tow fee for my first car ($37.50) a '60 Renault Dauphine in '67. Blown head gasket. Milled the head and drove it to college for a year or so. Junked it when the frame didn't survive a pothole.

Other cheap cars:
De-chromed '57 Belair HT for $55 from police auction, in 1969. Came with a Hurst shifter, no interior, crushed rr fender and a cracked block. What a deal! Installed a new Sears interior for $15 from the junk yard $25 fender and a free smokey '61 283 Vette engine. Put 20k on it in two years and sold it for $250.

'71 Vega wagon for $10 in '78. No engine, cracked windshield. Combined with free '69 327, $15 trans and $5 bellhousing to get a running car. Sold it for $500 in 1988.

 

In my late teens I was given a 59 Ranchero. The guy had ran the left front into a guardrail, he pulled the engine and gave me the car. I fixed it and drove it for several years before blowing the engine...I sold it for $400 and a case of beer.


I bought this car for $175. Got it running, drove it for several years before selling it for $600 and a 1949 F1 truck...so basically I got the truck for free

Here's the truck now


A few years ago I was given a 1959 Dodge D100 with a 318 poly if I would go pick it up. Here it is (its currently up for sale)


Bobby

 

This thread needs revival.... There's some cool stuff shown so far.

I don't have anything to show, but a short story.

I worked with a guy back in 1985/6 that was shootin the breeze with me at break time, and I was tlking about my first car (1964 Valiant) when he says he has a '64 Dart convetible in his back yeard. I popped off and asked him how much he wanted for it, and he told me I could have it if I hauled it off.

I was out at his place the next evening after work, and found a 1965 Dodge Dart GT CONVERTIBLE. The top was gone and a tree had fallen and broken one of the top bows, and there was grass growing in the cracks on the 1968 Montgomery wards tires....

I aired up the tires and came back the next evening after work, and brought a cap and rotor and condensor, and some gas and Started that mother up in about 20 minutes. I told him I'd be back to get it that weekend. SO he said OK,... but the deal is (Because of his wife, it was her car when they married many years before-Original owner) You can't have the title until the car is out of my property. So I drove that car, it had been sitting 12 years in the place I found it, Drove it about 2 miles from his house (signed title in hand) when the fuel pump diaphragm gave up. went and got a trailer and hauled it the rest of the way home.

I drove the car with no top for over a year (Rain or shine, snow or sleet). IN 1987 I put a new top on the car, that cost me over 2 grand by the time I got all the necessary repairs done. And had to sell on short notice the next year.... got 850 bucks for it..... A Huge loss, but one of the coolest old cars I've ever used as a daily driver. I'd do it again next week.

 

Many moons ago, my cousin and I were passing thru a small town when we spotted a clean 57 Chevy two door with a for sale sign in the window. We stopped to check it out and some teens were playing ball and one told me it was his car. He told me he wanted $4800.00 for it. I made my way to the credit union and borrowed some money and returned a few days later. Car was still there when I knocked on the door. A very nice and attractive lady let me in and sat me down at her kitchen table. I explained that the young man said it was his car and that he said he wanted $4800.00 for it. I told her that I had gone to the credit union and could only get $2800.00 on a loan (true). She shook her head and said the car was not her sons but hers and that she was asking $7500.00. I can remember exhaling with disappointment when she said, "but we are moving to Florida in a week so I guess the car is yours"! I hopped in and made the trip back to town but when a car in front of me suddenly stopped to turn, I discovered the brakes were gone! By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ I power slid into a driveway with no cars in it and no garage! I finally stopped in the back yard. I knocked on the door and explained to the older man what happened and he got a kick out of it. I had it towed home, fixed the brakes, and made up my mind that this was not the car for me. I parked it in front of my house and sold it quickly for $4000.00. I returned the money to the credit union and told them "I don't have the car". No interest loan and $1200.00 profit made it a more than free car! Closest to a free car I’ve ever had. Thanks for the thread!

 

Back in 1955 at age 13, I was given a running 1937 Oldsmobile black four door sedan with a six cylinder engine. I had it for about six months and the block got cracked (my fault). I sure wish I had kept that car. It was just a used 18 year old car but to me it was a real gem and I still think about it all the time.
John

 

Thats my first ride, a 100E Ford!!! My Dad used to do some painting and fixing up. One of his customers had a 57 in the garage and wanted rid of it. One owner, mint inside with 2" of dust on it. Quick trip to the scrapyard for tires, an hour on the motor and he drove it home with a spare motor and trans hanging out the boot. Spent a week cleaning it, servicing it and rattle bombing the rust. Drove that car for 3 years through my late teens, flew through inspections, blew the motor little flathead motor twice. Had 7 people in one of those cars, well until i drowned it in the local stream. Ah memories, 7 up in a 100E. Great days.

have to laugh, Dan