What was the biggest 'find' you let get away?

In 1966 (right before I was going into the Army and getting married) I had a chance to buy a 40 Ford with a Pontiac hooked to the org drivetrain for $150, no money so I didn't get it, Someone else bought it and in a few weeks it was rolled, totaled and in a salvage yard. Several years later the same guy that had the 40 Ford had a 34 five window coupe (with the firewall cut out) but an otherwise nice body and a 34 2 door sedan that had been hit it the back (it was repairable) all for $500. I p***ed. He also had a 39 Lincoln Zephyr coupe for $500 but I didn't think it was cool. Well there are three of the many mistakes I have made.

 

I had to p*** on 1935 Cord 812 in 1957,all there but ****** didn't shift[so dad refused to sign,said I could not get parts to fix it @ $150.

 

Another one of mine was in the 70s, a 57 chevy for sale in so cal for 750 bucks I could not come up with the cash but unknown to me my cousin went and bought it, him not being a car guy drove it around for a couple hours and the clutch went out so he calls me up and asks if I want to buy it "well yes I do" so what I thought got away I ended up gettting on payments of 50 bucks a month but it really was on its last legs and being 17 I was not able to do much with it, I did find some ET slips in it from OCIR were it ran 12:47

 

I had an epic fail trying to reach a deal on a 34 ford RPU in NJ. I know where it's at, STILL. It's in pretty darn good condition, but the owner won't budge XP

 

my dad let a guy have a box hood ornaments for 25 bucks at an auction once. the guy sold half of one (later found the other half in the bottom of the box) to a guy at the auction for 25 bucks, took the rest home, and sold a hupmobile ornament on ebay to a guy for 2k!! dad still can't let that one go.

 

Summer of 1978.Found a '57 Chevy ex-drag car in a backyard of a sleepy little town south of where I lived.White with blue/yellow/gold flames.Straight axle and fibregl*** flip front fenders and hood.No engine or trans but for $100.00 I loaded it on the trailer.
Stopped at a local bar for a few barley pops and after a few hours some guy walks in and wants to buy it.
$200 and a bottle of Wild Turkey got it delivered to his house.

 

I was looking at the Craigslist "free" section when I saw an ad that said "Free car-GONE" I clicked on it and the ad said "sorry, this car was taken in only 20 minutes. I was told it was a '60s Pontiac".

The picture was of a rusty '69 GTO Judge. It was right in my neighborhood too.

 

an o/t 69 superbee 383 4 speed b5 with b5 interrior black vynil top and bumbble bee stripe

whatched my friend paint it sublime and put a black interrior in it and flip it for some cash

 

An original,unrestored,cherry,64 Fairlane,Hi-Po 289,4-speed,black,mostly unmolested,special ordered from our local Ford dealer,two owners since new!! ROY.

 

THe lost 40 ford coupe from Maine and Nh we are looking for now. I could have purchased it for less then $500 about 1968 or so. I was a dumb 18 yr old kid then.

 

The OTHER 1966 Shelby GT-350 !!!! >>>>.

 

In the mid-70s, my dad was working at a car crushing outfit in Abilene. His boss said, "Give me ten bucks." So my dad gave it to him. His boss slapped down a car ***le, pointed outside, and said, "You just bought that Chevy."

Outside was a nice baby blue '57 Bel Air convertible with white top and interior, and continental kit. It had some minor crash damage to the back bumper and quarter panel.

A couple of hours later one of the other guys at the yard crushed it. Oh well, ten bucks down the drain....

 

That would be grounds for a serious beat down!

 

Sold a 56 Chev 2 door wagon for $400.. all there. Turned over, would have run with a little effort

Missed out on an early Falcon Wagon.. sat in a neighbours back yard. I lusted after it it was solid and looked complete.. figured I'd save up and make an offer. Then it was gone. she called the wrecker and had it towed for s**** because it was in the way.

D'oh!

 

1968 gto convertible. Number matching car. Complete but needed full resto. In trade for my running driving 1968 lemans parts car. I thought the guy was joking. He had to many project. week later he traded for a 69 tempest 4 door

 

A little bruette named Julie, great at***ude,lot of fun. but I was looking for a faster ride,with a little more patina.

 

I found a beautiful 55 belair 4 door sedan that was a 265 powerglide car from Kansas that sat on the side of a little old ladies house. I bugged and bugged and bugged her for a year straight to sell me the car and after that 1 year I decided she wasn't going to budge so I layed off of it for 2 months and then I was driving by her house, creeping on the car it was being loaded on a tow truck! I stopped and asked the truck driver what the deal was and he said she called to have it hauled off! I was pissed, I asked him if he'd sell it and he quickly shot me down, that was the last time I ever saw it. I shouldn't have stopped bugging her, it could have been mine

 

Gullwing Mercades in 1970 for $1800.

 

I don't know about the biggest, but when I was a kid of about 12 the widow who lived at the end of our street had a light green/aqua 53 Studebaker Commander Coupe parked on the street in front of her house. I'm sure I still have a b/w snapshot of it in a shoebox somewhere. That had to be around 1967. I remember the car was real solid - I think a good detailing/waxing would have made it look real nice. It was a V8. I was already in love with all cars and I fell hard for this one. I wanted that thing bad! She offered to sell it to me for... $50. But my dad said no.

A few months later my maternal grandpa gave me a 40 Chevy 4-door. It was harder for Dad to say no to that... I had it for about 2 1/2 years; boy I learned a lot about cars with that thing. (I still love a 216 Chevy 6.)

 

Too many in my early years, now they don't come along so easily.
!972, a neighbor was going to give me his '49 Chevy coupe. We had pulled the engine and rear (with plans of a 327 and '57 rear) before he was caught for being A.W.O.L. I was 15, Dad said only if the 6 goes back in. I p***ed.
Late 1978, A broke married friend with kid wanted my '73 Pinto. Was willing to trade his automatic '69 GTO convertible for it if I would kick in another $300. Said gas was killing him. He worked at a Union 76. My new wife wanted it, but we did not have an extra $300 to spare.
Late 1979, a '29 Model A two door sedan, complete body on rolling ch***is, $250. My father-in-law would not let me put it at his house, had my untagged '67 GTO in my yard with the city on my ***.
Again, 1979. One night I stopped at a Pontiac dealership (with wife and a baby in tow) and looked over a 1971 Grand Prix SJ. Silver/black and absolutely loaded, with a 455 and turbo 400. Before I knew it, the baby seat was in the back and we were taking a night time test drive. With gas prices at a high and a few weeks before the exploding Pinto news coverage, my little 1600 c.c. Pinto was worth enough to get another offer of $300 to trade. The G.P. slipped going into 2nd gear, so I wisely p***ed and drove away in my green Pinto Runabout.
I've made up for these losses in other ways, so no regrets. Other cars have come and gone. I do own a '72 Grand Prix and I still have the '67 GTO after 39 years.

 

When I was 16, my next door neighbour brought home a '34 Ford 3 window coupe. Olive green with a deuce rad shell. His dad freaked at him when he saw it so he offered it to me for $15.00. I was heavy into '55 - '57 Chevys at the time and after turning him down, I remember asking "why would I want an old thing like that"

 

'58 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday convertible with 371 J2, power everything (and I mean everything). The car had been in a shed for 30 years and there was almost an entire extra car in parts plus another 371 on a pallet. Struck a deal with the Owner and his wife hadn't approved it yet, after driving 5 hours with a trailer and a trade in tow she killed the deal

Did I mention is was pink on pink?

 

My brother and I s****ped a '40 Ford coupe that someone gave us because no one seemed to want it.

 

I guess the BIGGEST would be a 1960 Pierce Hook & Ladder truck with the steerable trailer for $4500. I don't know what I would've done with it but.......I would've done whatever I wanted with it, that thing was awesome!

 

loaded 69 big block rs ss camaro every possible option....all original motor was with it but out of car..probably 100k car today? in one of the big auctions

 

There are a few that come to mind.

One was a complete, running driving 1940 Ford pickup with a swapped in 327/4speed. $2,500 in about 1990. Couldn't s****e the funds together.

Same era, 1956 Lincoln Premiere. Totally complete, had a swapped in Mercury 410FE and C6. $1,500 and I couldn't pull that together either.

One I'll never forget was an altered wheelbase 1957 Ford sedan. Looked like the Gunfighter that shows up in posts here on the HAMB from time to time. It was kinda rough, no drivetrain. If I remember correctly, it was like $250. Didn't have anywhere to keep it.

As for parts, saw a complete tunnel port 302 set up with two pairs of heads, one dual quad intake, complete valve train at a swap meet in the early 90's. I think it was about $1,500 for everything. Walked past it at least 3 times over the course of the day, drooling. Guy packed it all up at the end of the day. Haven't seen any of those parts, together or separate, since.

Early 90's, complete NOS Boss 302 crate engine. $1,200.00. Complete 427 Cammer engine, $2,500.00.

Granted, the dollar went farther back then, but in retrospect, those were still great prices.

Then Al Gore created the internet, the local market went global, Speedvision started broadcasting auctions for millionaires, and prices sky rocketed.

<sigh>

 

Maybe ot but a 71 GS. 455 stage 1 convertible with a 4 speed. Insanely rare and fast. It belonged to my friend and I let it go. Still kicking myself........

 

When I was 13, I seen an ad in a private used auto publication for a '71 Cuda Convertible for $18,500. Numbers matching 440 six pack, 4 speed, rotisserie restoration. Just an ultra ultra rare car. They made 88 cuda convert's in grand total, and that was one of them. No idea how many are left today, probably under 50.

Even back then at that age I knew how much that car was worth, and I remember crying myself to sleep, begging and begging my dad to buy it.

But no, it was yellow and thats "not a mans color" (so he said) so he p***ed on it.

A few years ago I seen (pretty much the *EXACT* car but in grabber green) go across for the Barrett Jackson auction block for $2,300,000.

Yeah, I felt about 1 inch tall at that point, that would have been a surreal return on investment.
Or even to just hold onto, man what a car, leave alone for $18,500. It was two blocks from our house back then too.

That was at least a 90point/100 car. Concourse restoration, just like the one at Barrett Jackson.

To this day its hard to live that one down.

 

Around 9 years ago I was getting ready for my first deployment, newly married and only an E3 in the Army. My wife was going to school at the the time so we didn't have very much money. I found a 63 corvette split window in nice shape, daily driven by a dentist in MN. He bought the car during medical school. The car had nice paint, non original 327 and 4 spd, nice interior and do I dare say flared fenders. I am good with carbon fiber and fibergl*** so the flares did not intimidate me. He wanted to sell it since his daughter was turning 16 and they needed the garage space for her car. He was asking 18k, which for that car in 2004 is a smoking deal, try to touch a total project even close to that price today. This was a very decent driver. I know because he took me for a spin in the middle of winter. I understand why the wife said no and i feel it will probably always be one of those cars I will never be able to afford.

 

Ouch!