History Longtimers....what has made you keep that one special not for sale car?

My 36 was my first full build, was a fire truck, built with a 51 ford p/u frame, wescott frame plans for measurements while I tracked down parts, $2500 paint job from a local school, built my own box and everything else, tons of sweat equity, twenty years later still got her, her name is mary. Ten or more hot rods been built in my shop, all gone, but mary stays. I didn't even like the looks of a 36 pickup when I got her, but I'll die with her. I built her to go long distances, she's very comfortable, gets pulled into the garage, not looked at, rolled out for another 300 miles and has done that since I built her, all those years ago, has never let me down, ever. She has become a family heirloom.

 

Truthfully from personal experience there is no car that is absolutely not for sale if circumstances are right or sometimes wrong.
I sold my "Never will sell it" 51 Merc coupe that I bought when I was 16 drove for a little over a year blew up the engine and sold and then bought back two years later and stuck behind the barn here on my grandparents place for about 12 years until I could pull it out and put an engine in it. Drove it for years worked on it, Had it torn down in a rebuild and got in a financial bind and at the same time a guy made a cash green offer that was far more than I thought it was worth. More than similar condition cars are being sold for now 25 years later. I had big plans for it and it ranked above the 48 in the keeper priority list.
I never intend to sell the 48 when it is done as my daughter has laid claim to it. Hopefully it takes a long time before I have to worry about what happens with it.

 

I respectfully have to disagree ~

I have owned my '32 sedan for 31 years and have turned down a couple of extremely good offers and to be truthfully at the time more than the car was worth but it was my dream car, I had wanted a tudor sedan since I was in my 20's.

Believe me when I say selling the car could have helped out financially in the short term but the car and the money would have been gone and we were able to make things work out.


The old sedan IS a member of the family and NOT for sale. HRP

 

I have had many "I'll never sell it" rods. Many reasons why.........

 

I bought my car forty years ago when I was a teenager going to high school. Me and my friends drove the wheels off it every summer. I've taken it to over two hundred car shows and more cruise nights than I can count. I drove it to my high school prom and drove my daughter and her friends to their prom in it. It's driven people to their weddings and has been in funeral processions. When you have a car with that much history it's hard to imagine it not sitting in your garage and you become identified with it. Almost every guy who has I know who has been around cars any length of time has a story about the car they regretfully sent down the road but thankfully I'm not one of them.

 

Have owned my 40 for past 56 years.
It's a "never sell" because of the memories.

 

Have owned my first car since I was 15. I am now 66 and will keep it for the kids.

 

Hey Trolls T,
I understand why,,,Mary is very clean,,,,has good looks and good lines.
I like the side profile pic the best,,,it shows off her body really well.
The wheels really suit her,,,,and I especially like the ghost flames coming from behind her hood,,,,Excellent job!!!

Stock engine and drivetrain I assume?

Tommy

 

My 1954 Ford wagon has been a member of our family since Mamma Jessie drove it of the lot 65 years ago.

As long as I am alive the car will remain in the family, our oldest granddaughter will be the next caretaker.

 

Bought my 34 in 1968 and my 40 in 1974. The 34 is in the middle of a rebuild and the 40 I have been driving for 35 years. Neither one is leaving my possession as long as I breathe.

 

I got both my '51 Ford Club Coupe and my '67 Corvette coupe in 1987. The first car I ever owned was a clapped out'51 Ford fordor and the first new car I ever bought was a '67 Corvette coupe. They have both become "keepers".

Who says "You can't go home again".

 

What made me keep it? I guess I'm just an idiot.

 

Your words should be emblazoned on a T-Shirt, It describes my past transgressions to a T. HRP

 

That is a nice looking 36, and it is easily understandable why you would have kept it.
I have had my Cameo since 1968, and I sold off a really nice, partially done, 53 Mercury pickup to buy it. I have used it as my daily driver for too many years to count, and it has hauled everything from engines, a camper, and firewood, to concrete blocks, and other building products.
Over the years, I have had too many offers to count, but it is staying with me.
Bob

 

My Nomad is not for sale. I grew up in it, learned to drive in it and remember seeing AG at the drive-in when it came out, sitting on the tailgate. Of course, dad owned it then. I found it about 22 yrs. ago and bought it back. My kids grew up riding in it,as I did. They'll fight over it some day.

 

Right there with you Danny.
Considered modern by HAMB standards but I bought our 67 Nova for my wife in 1983, the year we were married so there is a lot of sentiment surrounding it.
She was SLIGHTLY enthused about it, at least for the first year when it was together and running, now not so much, rightly so, considering it has been a perpetual project ever since.
It's been driven less than 100 miles and that was in 1983, it actually has gone through two very different iterations as far as drive train, and the suspension would be considered taboo here and I'm not allowed to talk about it on the HAMB.

 

I agree with most. Having my coupe for 20 years it would be very difficult to let go. Snowman

 

I have several friends that own off topic cars and they feel the same way as a lot of us,Be it a long history, the memories or sentimental value, there are cars that are difficult to put a monetary value on. HRP

 

On the other side of the coin, I have issues with my wife, regarding a 64 Corvette coupe that I sold in 1970. Anytime the topic comes up, I catch hell as if I just sold it yesterday.
Bob

 

That and the fact that nobody in their right mind would pay what I have in this thing.
And it's still not finished.

 

I agree with a lot of the comments. I’ve owned my F-100 for 32 years and there’s not a chance in hell I’d ever sell it. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had a few notable offers ( the last being 35k back in ‘05) all of which I turned down.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I bought my 1947 Mercury in 1967 and every time I stopped for gas, someone would say "I had one like that. Wish I had not sold it." I took their advice and still have it ---with a 392 in it.

I have my grandfathers 1937 Ford pickup and his 1940 Farmall tractor and the 1954 Ford he bought new. And the 1966 Chrysler Convertible my mother got in 1971.

I've only had my avatar for about 25 years

 

Tommy, ummm no, 327, 30 over, flat top pistons, 300 horse cam, camel hump heads, turbo 350, 8.8 ford rear end with 273 gears. Not a drag racer, but let her loose on the hiway, like a race horse, loosen the reins and let her go.....

 

TrollsT,
Awesome,,,it even makes me like her better!
A 327 seems to just make a lot of things harder to part with!
Good cam selection and excellent heads combo.
Drive her in good health!!!

Tommy

 

My father gave me my first car for graduation back in '84. A '55 Chevy 2dr sedan. Just an old car then, but the older guys would recall their firsts and wish they still had them. that stuck with me and so did the car.

 

Two of my keepers, I bought my 66 when I was 12. My dad bought the 36 chevy as a basketcase in 1981. Last year I did a bunch of horse trading with my dad and ended up with the 36. I made 2 trips with my 66 hauling parts back to my garage. A couple months ago I finally started building the 36. Neither truck will ever be a show winner, and neither truck has much cash value, but to me they are irreplaceable.

 

The "told you so" never ends , hey?

 

As Mr. Moriarty said " future regrets". I have a few regrets but I would have had a big barn and never moved around , so it is what it is. On the other hand, my Dad has kept his 1936 Ford Cabriolet with the rumble seat since 1959. That will be the one I will hang onto and keep the " in the family " tradition.

 

I know were you guys are coming from.
The car in my Avatar has been with me 51 years and will be with me to the end, no amount of cash can buy it until my possessions are auctioned off after my demise.