History So, what happens after you part with a car?

If you've been at this any time at all there is probably a string of old rides in your past that have gone down the road. In 50 plus years I've had my share, maybe more some would say. Most of them are lost to my knowledge living on for me only in my memory and, in more recent years when I got better about taking pictures of them, in photo albums. Unlike some I don't miss many of them, they had their time, provided enjoyment and perhaps some frustration, and then made way for the next one on that list that some of us have in our head. It would be nice to have the '51 Merc tudor that started it all, but I never had that sense of preservation to keep it. One (of only two or three) that to this day I still regret letting go, a '64 Savoy SS tribute, got totaled when the next owner got liquored up one night and did really dumb. Another (my bride's favorite) I spotted here on the HAMB by accident one day in a discussion on Tri-5 Chevs, it's doing well in good hands. Others I've heard of but haven't seen, some for a long time.

So last week Ryan posted up a blog on a beautiful black '32 Ardun powered roadster in Japan and it made me wonder. Could I find anything on the net about the '30 hiboy I passed along that found it's way to the land of the rising sun? And what do you know? Turns out it too has ended up in loving hands that showed it in the Yokohama Hot Rod and Custom Show for 2014 (last December) and it won the Best of 30s award. I didn't find any story, just a couple pictures, but it looks mostly the same except for the addition of a hood. Not surprising as that was one of the first questions the buyer asked, if I had a hood for it. Anyway, it looks good with the hood, stretches the look to the eye. I preferred having the engine show, but to each his own. For the show (I'm guessing) they removed the windshield and headlights and buttoned down the full tonneau that it shipped with for that "lakes look".

Passion for traditional styled rods still rides high, and enthusiasm for the genre is world wide. Those guys across the pond(s) really have to have a high level of commitment as they must jump through some serious hoops to play the game. I'm glad the ol' girl is doing well.............and she shows she can still win an award or two. Since she was built in California wine country that may have taught her how to get better with age. Salute!!

What she looked like when she left:

And now:

 

Onwards, and upwards, with no regrets.
Ok, maybe just a few.

Nice Roadster.

 

Yup...I think quite a few of us 'lost' track of a few cars and we could kick ourselves over for not keeping! I know I have....I went through a period of just plain-dumb choices and decisions....and that nagging notion of what happened to them lingers now and then even after 30 years....''shoulda-coulda'' in hindsight hurts when there is a personal history with em'....but, I guess it's all a part of 'experience' gained as my grandfather used to say.....still, I do wonder where the heck they went....hopefully are appreciated and loved just as much....just in 'new' hands with better judgement than I had

 

Almost every car I have sold .. The next owner claims they built it...

 

I've always had a good reason/plan as to why I sold a car/truck and never looked back. Seems like my next project finds me before selling the current one.

 

I only sold one. I giggled all the way to the bank. Then sat in the empty spot where it used to sit, and cried a little. I miss my Desoto. But it went to a sunny, warmer, rustless, environment. And I didn't want to be "That guy" who wouldn't do anything with, or sell, a car.

 

We went to the bank and deposited the check. No regret on the last one.

 

Hi Bob, nice to see you are still kicking.

Don

 

Sometimes joy other times depression.

Pat

 

Yup, know how that goes......
My '35 Slantback has found it's way to Australia.
Miss it......not really.......has been replaced with a '32 pickup and a '29 AV8!

 

That is a nice car. I agree that folks in other countries that import American iron have to really want it badly to go through the hoops to import one. They probably will take excellent care of one. But a lot of times we wish we had kept them.

 

I think we all should be very proud of anything that someone from over seas goes to all the trouble and cost to attain as it is not a small task to undertake to get it across the pond and pay all the fees plus the asking price. These guys and gals have a deep love for American iron and I for one think it is great.
It shows you how good we have it here in the good old USA.

 

Didn't Willie Nelson write a song something like: "For all the rides that shared my life"?

Not that I had a terrific stable I turned around but I did have a couple get away that I would love to have back. I now choose to make those memories help me appreciate what I have now even more.

 

DUMB ASS...Should have kept it...Myself included..

 

My sentiments exactly .

 

I have been very lucky that most mine have moved on to good homes. It makes it easier to focus on the next one (or dozen).

 

My old moor door 32 sedan ended up in Tokyo with a gentleman named Akira but this is the last two photos I have seen. HRP

 

Easter Weekend 2006

December 2014 That´s a very nice roadster...For every project I ´ve finished and sold, I usually bought 2 new projects and a parts car..... plus I was missing the car I sold.... I know that´s insane, but god, it feels so right.. My problem is, I love to build as much as I like to drive old cars... and that simple fact makes it necessary to sell a car or ta least some parts once in a while to make room and money for the next one...
and let´s face it, we all can enjoy our rides for a certain amount of time before we let them go or we pass away.... nothing lasts forever.
I ´ve had my 34 Plymouth for about 10 years when I thought I´d had to sell it to finance some work on the house.... a year later I saw that I didn´t need all of the money and asked the new owner if he´d sell the car back to me. He said no, it was the best car he ever had and that´he had so much fun with it he´d never let it go again.... oh well...I was a bit disappointed but also happy he had fun and my car was at a good home. Anyway, I´d bit the bullet and build another 34...cruising the HAMB classifieds I found a 34 Ford sedan for sale that looked quite familiar to me.... I was sure that I had seen that car in person sometime but that was very unlikely because I´m here in Germany and the 34 was in Fort Worth.... then I remembered were I had seen this car, it was VLV 2006, the 34 was in yellow primer, the chrome was not done yet,and it was parked next to Tom Branch´s 32 roadster , his wife´s 32 sedan and the Bean Bandit LSR if I remember correctly , right next to Gene Winfields booth on the top park deck at the gold coast hotel...I checked my holiday photos and sure enough found that car that made me all fuzzy back than..... when I came back from the trip to Las Vegas in ´06 I was thinking about how I could transform my full fendered 34 Plymouth into a mean chopped Bonneville inspired car. The yellow 34 had that look nailed and that was what I wanted....all my friends talked me out of starting over again and cutting up my good body, and I had to admit the Plymouth frame with factory IFS wouldn´t have looked good fenderless and the Plymouth sedan body was just too big and bulky for what I had in mind.... and I really liked my fullfendered Plymouth as it was.... you can´t have everything...
Long story short, a beautiful yellow 34 Ford sedan I met on the Easter weekend 9 years ago in Vegas is in a container somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and I still can´t believe I´m getting this car.... my dream is coming true and I´ll never let that one go again!

 

Some you miss way more than others. If you HAVE to sell it, make it go far away so you don't have to see it again - ever.

 

I always wondered what happened to the ones I sold. Never saw any of them again except for one even though they were all sold locally.

 

Postcartum depression

 

I built a nice 389 for my 56 Pontiac and did a white leather interior for it..was getting ready to pick out a paint color when my wife and I bought a house. I sold the car to pay closing costs and watched as the new owner painted the car Porsche red and re-did the interior in gray gunny sack material...YUCK! He sold it off to a guy in Missouri who did nothing to it and he sold it to some Japanese guy..it went to the land of the rising sun. I always look for it in photo coverage of Japanese car events but have never seen it.
No, the one I really want back is my old 57 Pontiac...also swapped a 389 into it with a muncie 4 speed before I got a super job and decided I needed a 'vette to celebrate my good fortune........duh

 

So, what happens after you part with a car?
I buy another one.
No regrets thus far on the ones I did sell and have been smart/fortunate enough to keep the ones that really mean something to me.

 

As much as I would like to keep them all, there is always a time and a few hard times to let them go. Most of my builds were a family affair that we all enjoyed. There have been a few that came back for a second act including my Chopped 37 Chevy Sedan originally built in the 80's and the first one both kids were old enough to drive. The 3 Grandsons have had to pleasure of taking over the back seat where their Mom once rode. I had lost track of this one and after a few years of searching, I finally got a lead and was able to connect with the owner.
I sometimes do like to keep in touch with the people I sell to. Many have become great friends. It is always nice when you meet them at an event and they still have the vehicle. Our old 37 Chevy Panel truck has been around for years all freshened up with new paint and interior and still running the old 307 small block that I had laying around back when I built the truck in the 70's.
My son has recently been in contact with the current owner of a 37 Chevy custom Kingcab Pickup I designed and built many years ago and sold a few years ago. The owner says he may be moving and might sell the truck. My son always loved that truck and has expressed his interest to possibly make a deal.
I do keep a lot of picture memories of our rides. Another way I do keep some of my favorites is by building diecast or plastic models. It helps with my design ideas and when I do sell them, I can still see them on the shelf each day.

 

many restored cars ( o/t cars) I have done in my past have the present owner take claim to it and the moron can't screw in a light bulb without cross threading them .

 

I've owned and sold so many I'm almost immune to regret. I may wax nostalgic about some now n then but the truth is the $$$$$ either made more or fulfilled a need of that time. Now I have so little time to play I tend to hold on a bit longer than in days past.

 

Hindsite/Perfect ! Foresite/Not So Much ! My signature covers it for me

 

My 55 Mercury Monterey "woodie" I found in a vacant lot [ the car ] and spent the late 70s - early 80s building -- went away w my second wife in 84 I miss the CAR!

 

Back atcha pops

 

Can't afford to keep them all. The sale of one is usually to finance the next one. There are several I would like to have back but I enjoyed them while I had em. No regrets.