I am always seeing the Car found in some garage that no one knew was there, thinking it is cool. Then I remembered that ONE car that was in an old garage and it got away! 1977 and a trip to Way Western Kansas to my grandmother's house in a very small town. Been there dozens of times. 17 years old and curious, I look in the old shed on the back lot line to find this old car sitting in there. I thought it was the neighbors shed. Grandma says it is hers! 1942 Buick 2 door sedan with the sloping back. Straight Eight and twin carbs. They bought it new! Light blue and just a dusty dirt floor under the flat tires, zero rust. 60,000 miles. I lobbied for hours and dreamed of getting this car, I took pictures in black and white and developped them and printed them right when I got back home, in my ba*****t darkroom. My older Brother tells his friend who lives across the street about the old car in Western KS and how I am going to get it, as soon as possible. Next Weekend the car is on a trailer in the neighbors driveway! They have taken very good care of the car and still have it all original as can be. The license tag has the Name of the small town from where it came. I almost had a "Car in a Barn" and if they ever sell it, I still could. However, I don't think it will be the same? Others have gotten away, but that Buick was the "One"!
And this guy still has all of his teeth. Number one rule in this hobby is not to cut in on someone elses deal. That really ****s. I hope you eventually get the car. I have a buddy who almost had the same thing happen to him. He's a mopar guy and his favourite car in the world is a '71 Cuda (before all the popularity when they were not worth much). He finds a solid, low mile original '71 Cuda convertible through an ad. He tells a "friend" he's going to look at the car this weekend because he's exited about the car. Well guess what; his "friend" goes there before him and buys the car. It gets better, this guy buys the car, moves up north of the city and lets it sit outside over the dirt under a tarp for 15 years. Now that the car has no floors, trunk floor and rockers, etc. He finally sells it back to my buddy who spends 5 years getting it back on the road with every patch panel they made. Nice.
When I was 12 or so I remember my grandparents neighbor had an old car behind the house under a tarp. It looked like a 30's car, so I ask the guy about it. Turned out to be a 40/41 willys coupe. All stock. I even took a picture of it. He said he would sell it for 3 grand. I remember thinking there is no way I would ever have 3 thousand dollars...ever. He might as well had said he wanted a million for it. The car is long gone now, and the guy moved away. I always wondered what happened to that car....
50 or 51 Hudson two door in my area. All origi**** but just needs a little tlc. The guy told me two years ago he would sell it for $4k. He p***ed away last year and now the price is $9K per his daughter. Technically it's still there, but it got away from me.... Tim
You can blame these bloated prices on Barret Jackson. Everbody thinks there old rust bucket is worth a mint. There are still deals to be had but not nearly as common.
NEVER ... tell another car guy ... about the car you want to go look at or try to buy ... NEVER ... cause it may not be there when you get there .. I know where a few 32's are ... I cannot buy them ( not for sale ) ... but I keep them to myself. Helps keep the price down too when they can be bought ...
In high school , I found a nice '53 Mercury two door with the rare gl*** top,and running flathead with a soft plug that had popped. I told my Dad about it and when we went to look at it , we took my Grandad too. He being a old time time tractor mechanic, he knew his stuff. Besides the soft plug , the only thing he could find wrong was that it was missing a dust cap from one of the front wheels. The older lady who owned it only wanted $150.00. Because of the soft plug problem and the missing dust cap, my mechanicly inclined relatives said positively no. Yep, at the end of the summer when I had the bucks , the car was no where to be found. I lived in that town for another 20 years and never saw that car again. ****! Gone.
The Jalopy Journal
