I have been very lucky over the years of finding and building my share of Hot Rods. I seem to build them, sell them and move on to a new project. Most of us don't regret selling some of our builds but one that I sold in 1974 came back to haunt me when the fellow I sold it to sent me some recents photos of the now finished 3-window. He did 90% of the work in his ba*****t and the car came out better than I ever expected. I have owned several 3-windows over the years from traditional to a Boyd built smoothy but always wished I had kept this one. We had just had our second child and needed a sedan so the coupe needed to find a new home. I kept the ch***is for a roadster project and used to money to purchase a nice cherry 34 tudor sedan. Gary worked 43 years to complete the project as shown below. Over the years, I often wondered what happened to the coupe as I moved all over the country with my job at General Motors and lost track of the owner. I guess we all can look back at look at some our old projects and think, " I should have kept that one." My third 3-window with a full race flat head and Zephyr gear box. Circa 1970. Fast forward to 2017 and this is how it looks today. He added the SBC with very traditional dress up features.
yep - woulda, coulda, shoulda - I sure have those kind of regrets - but, at the time ya had to do what ya had to do - some do find their long gone rides back in their garage
My first Deuce was a 5-window coupe for $500 in 1967. This is my progress in 3 years. I bought this one in Atlanta just like you see it and then moved to Chicago. This one was $10K in 1978.
The deuce I want back or to replace was a Chevy II actually a Nova...a factory 64 SS with the 283....the cops knew it all ready...so letting go wasn't so hard....****s it was flipped by the buyer to another guy....then I get a notice of a ticket in the mail....then a lesson learned in transferring ***les......
Looking back, I have a teenage nostalgic regret! I was 16 at the time and every Tuesday evening a friend and I would make a pilgrimage to Car Burnett ' s Antique Automotive in San Diego. My friend was buying a '27 roadster roller sitting on a deuce frame. He bought it on time for $180 and Carl was letting him pay it off at $10 a week or whatever he could scrounge up that week. I walked in one Tuesday and sitting near the back door was a full fendered deuce 3 window, yellow, black Tijuana tuck and roll interior, tinted gl***, big and little wide whites with black '50 Merc wheels and caps. It had an Offy adapter and Hurst mount for Chevy, but no engine. I luster over that car every Tuesday we visited until one night it was gone. The entire car, less engine was for sale for the princely sum of (hang onto your wallet) $300! At that point in my life if it took 10 cents to go around the world, I couldn't afford to make it to the corner. I had a '48 Ford coupe at the time and it was barely worth $125 at best. I saw the car a few times after that. It got painted black and went to Oceanside, then left my life forever. But man I thought if I DID come up with $300, I would have ruled the world. Ninety cars later and enjoying my deuce roadster in my retirement, I still have visions of the yellow 3 window wistfully p***ing by in my memory. Carl has p***ed away, Antique Automotive is long closed, and who knows were the coupe is. Alas, if only I could turn back the clock and have a big wad of cash, alas.
Yeah a few cars I should have kept but I see the joy and happiness they have brought to others is priceless. One of my wife's favorite cars is in a friends hands , they drive the snot out of it and have thousand of miles on a 85 year old car, I tell my wife that and she smiles let build another one
My Dad had a beautiful Deuce roadster in 1941. He was a matiqulace builder like you Lynn. My Grandfather had to sell it while Dad was away during WW2, we never could locate the car or the gentalman who purchased it. Dad never stopped talking about his roadster....
The Jalopy Journal
