When Is A Purchased Car Really Yours, Thinking out loud

George, I just built the thing............you OWN it! I think that car is already more yours than it ever was mine. You certainly seem to drive it more. The little things you are doing to it are prob more inportant than some of the major fab items. You are taking the time that I didnt to tweak it and fine tune it. Hell, I am really excited to see it with the new wheel combo..........I actually started out with a set of those intended for the car. The color will make the thing look a little more agressive as well!

Of course after 7 years I still refer to the 54 as Zekes quite often!

 

Its all in your head George.
I've built cars for myself that never really felt "mine" at first. Then again, plenty I've built always were "mine" right away.

Even new cars - bought the Saturn new in 97, felt mine right away. Hell, I never sat in that car as much as I did "wear" it like a perfect jacket.
The new HHR still doesn't quite feel mine yet, even though it is. I love it, don't get me wrong, but I get in and drive it, as opposed to "wearing" it.

Its only been November for you, it'll be "yours" as time goes by. Enjoy it and get to know it well.

 

I've only ever had one car that I really felt was MINE. It felt that way because I put tons of work, money and time into restoring it, hot rodding it, and driving it. I owned it from age 17 to 26 or 27. Sold it due to health reasons. The new owner really changed it, and not in a way I liked. It was his to do as he wanted though.

 

Its like the old historic homes in my hometown.
The neighbors always call each home by the previous owner,
The existing owners never have ownership until they move out of them.


I had one car that was actually finished when I got it.
All the others needed extensive work and I always thought of them as mine.
But the finished one could never be improved and I would have been proud to say I built it but the problem was... it was never really mine...
Its history.. and I'd sell it again in a heartbeat.

 

Well it looks like a lot of folks have had the same thoughts run throught thier heads.

Thanks Trent, The wheels and tires are going to change the looks quite a bit I think, and will tone down the blue a bit. Although the color is one of the things I like about the car, lots of cars in the old mags painted light blue, very popular back then, not seen much anymore.

'50 burb- I know what you mean about even new cars not feeling like yours for awhile. Of course when the payment book arrives it starts feeling like yours real quick!lol Glad all five of my vehicles are paid for.

Glad I could stimulate a little disscusion this morning.

GV

 

That is the reason we chose the Blue, it had to be a color that would have been sprayed in 59-62 You said stimulate

 

I think it's whoever makes it famous, no matter how big or small the infamy is. I have a few vehicles that everyone still calls so and so's car or bike. I've gotten over it. I've owned my Camaro longer then any of the previous owners and it's still called someone else's. No problem.

 

I got my chevy from an old lowrider years ago, it had all the goodies ( visor , bumper guards etc.) on it and I immediately shaved it all off and sold the "extra parts" at the swapmeet, much to the chagrin of the previous owner.
I work in the same building as the P.O. and when he sees my car he still gets pissed and tells me I ruined "his car".

I guess to some folks it will never be "your car" but do you really care?
whats important is the name on the pink and who is behind the wheel.

 

When the weather warms up and you start driving the wheels off it, it will feel like your car. Whn you fill out an entry form for the first car show or cruise night it will feel like your car. I have two projects in my shop right now, and neither feel like my car right now and I'm building them.

Jim H

 

Isn't there a black biker t-shirt somewhere that says "If you didn't ride her first, she'll was never really yours?"

That seems kinda strange to me, because I bought a brand new Harley in 02, and never really felt it was mine, and sold it after 18 months.

I've had a beat up '76 CB750 that I've had for just over a year, and it feels like it's mine.

I'm no help whatsoever...

Maybe a new Harley is just not my style. P's.O.S. are.

 

It's a good question. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule to make make the car your own. It depends on a case by case basis. Time does help, and the longer you drive and maintain a car the more it becomes yours. Doing modifications to the car has a lot to do with it, finishing someone's project or changing your car with paint or other mods will help make it your own for the simple fact that the changed car may be visually indistinguishable from it's previous condition. However, this is not always a good thing. What if the car you buy is right the way it is? Changing it might take away from it. If Kirk Hammett sold the '36 Cole built, and the new owner painted it baby blue, it might be "more" his own, but he certainly did the car a disservice in the process. The car's notoriety plays a large role here as well. Well known cars will always be associated with their owner and/or builder. The Green Grenade, Cole's '36, Mike Ness's '54, and even Clark's T will all be associated with those guys no matter who own them.

 

Once you get it far enough away from it's old home that nobody recognizes it then it's yours. In many ways there is good wisdom in both buying and selling cars far from home.

 

My coupe will always be my Dad's car. Always.

Here's a twist. I have a Sportster that I helped build about 8 years ago. I've had it a couple years. The first thing I did was change the paint on the tank. That helped. A few months later I painted the oil tank to match and gave it a name. That helped me feel like it was starting to become mine. It's a cool bike. The real bitch though is I would not build one like that today and even though I helped alot with the initial build it bugs me.

 

Kinda hard to do when the buyer and seller are both members of a worldwide community!

 

And the same carclub?

 

It's yours the day you pay and cart it off. However, if you didn't build it you are not the creator (unless the work is so bad you have to completely strip it down and do it over), just the curator.

You wouldn't worry about "whos" a restored to original spec car was. If someone did a 100 point restoration to a car then you bought it it's yours, not the other guys (Are all old model As Henry Ford's because he built them?).

Certain famous cars get to carry the builder with them forever. Likewise certain celebrity owned cars will always be associated with that person (John Lennon's Rolls will always be John Lennons Rolls, The "Graffiti Coupe" will always be the graffiti coupe, Nicholas Cage owns a Lambroghini Muira that belonged to the Shah of Iran, it's referred to as the "ex shah" car).

But being the caretaker of a famous car doesn't make it any less yours, it's just not "your creation".

 

Your right. Just another example, but the Jim Busby coupe(the car im modeling my deuce after) is still called the jim busby coupe although he no longer owns it.

 

Other interesting points brought up here. I suppose you reach a point when someone else built a car that their name rides along with it more out of respect or an identifier, rather than an ownership moniker.
Kind of like the Tardel/Cochran coupe? Or other well known cars builder/owner?
Whats your thoughts Ryan?

 

I've only bought one that was done. Fortunately it's 3000 mile from home so I don't get the...is that Charlie's old truck?...comments. It's funny but I feel obligated to tell everyone that compliments me on the truck that I didn't build it. I feel guilty accepting any praise. I've changed the engine and trans among some other minor details but I like it so much the way it is that I don't want to change it just to make it mine. I always said I'd never do it but I'm glad I did. If I live long enough people around here will refer to it as Tommy's old truck.

 

When the car makes a noise and you don't say, "What the hell was that!?!?" it's yours.

 

*The McMullen Roadster, built by Don Hudson

*The Doane Spencer Roadster , originally hot rodded by Jack Dorn ( but not same configuration)

*The Doyle Gammel Coupe, built by Dick Bergren

*The California Kid, Built as a Hot Rod before Pete ever laid eyes on it, builder unknown

* Frank Mack Roadster, Built by Frank Mack

* Gray Baskerville's roadster, Can't remember the name of the builder

* Millners Coupe,... again original builder unknowen

The list is just about endless, It seems when a car reaches a level of national notoriety the owners name is forever etched into the DNA of that car,... and it will be there car forever no matter who currently owns it, or who actually built it.....

just to make my point,... how many people's names that have owned these cars listed above since they became famous does anyone remember ?

 

As soon as u get it over 100 mph.

 

I knew my wife wasn`t a virgin when I married her and I knew it wasn`t my cars first time out when I bought her. but i have bent both to my will so they are mine...(followed by evil laugh bwhahahah)

 

I think about this all the time. I reciently purchased Big Dirtys Green 31 ford.
He did such an unreal build on this car that I honestly feel like a care-taker rather than an owner.

 

I started to think of my car as "mine" whenever I fixed a big laundry list of things I hated about the car when i got it.... both mechanical stuff, and things that simply changed its appearance.. Will it ever be as much "mine" as the Camaro parked beside it in which I turned every bolt on myself? No, but I think once you make a car the way you want it, even if that doesn't mean changing every last detail, it gives you a sense of it being "yours", rather than the person you bought it from. The more you fix it, change it, and drive it, and the longer you own it, the more it becomes yours. JMO.

 

The 40 Ford sedan that I brought my kids home from the hospital after they were born and drove thousands of miles is now in the hands of the 3 owner since I had the car,,,

It is in another state,,,and from what I was told it is still refered to as Danny's old sedan,,,,HRP

 

Oh but yes, this man just summed it up!!

 

You never really own anything. Everything in life is a rental. You just pay to mantain it for the time it's in your posession. Cars, close, whatever. Makes you think, huh? I guess if your burried with it, then you can both turn to dust togather. But, then it will own you. Rent not own, it's cheaper.

 

"The moment at hand is the only thing we really own"

 

after you bust a knuckle and draw the first blood working on it.