anybody else have any regrets about NOT buying a car? long ago in not so Grand Prairie, TX, i hounded this old lady to sell me her stone-stock, 66 GT0. it was rust-free, turquoise with a white vinyl top, 389, 2sp and had only 76K miles. i keep going over the apartment and talking to Gladys Swain to see if she'd changed her mind. she was always nice but just didn't want to sell. one day i drove by and the car was gone! i stopped and talked to a neighbor and she told me that Gladys had died. well, the car is gone and i'll never see it again. oh well...... i lived about 7 miles to the south of Gladys and one day i was jogging around my area and i just happen to glance down a sidestreet THERE'S THE FUCKING CAR sitting out at he curb. the next day i went over there and her relatives said that they wanted $1K for it. i took it for a test drive and it was fine BUT, i passed because i didn't like that 2sp trans. i've been kicking myself ever since....
Hey I was born and raised in GP. Over in Arl by the GM plant, there was an old man who was a truck mechanic and had a Hudson truck AND a 70 Superbird. I knew the 'bird could be bought but was poor at the time. Then one day I drove by, possibly able to make a deal and it was gone. Missed on a 69 Z28 at a tote the note lot for 3500 as well. DZ302 and 4spd. Both off topic
In 1982, I lived in Plano, TX and drove over to Grand Prairie to look at a '57 Safari for $1200. Even then, that was an unbelievable price, but I just couldn't bring myself to part with my money. That's just one of many regrets when it comes to cars I shoulda bought. As the saying goes, you can never pay too much, just buy too early
when I lived in S.C. my next door neighbor had a running Jag 120 under a tarp in his backyard...same deal...came home one day and a tractor trailer had it for next to nothing..with some other nice cars...asked and asked for a price......d32
Back around '85 a neighbor had a sweet shoebox I could have bought for $500. Didn't run but it was all there and the sheet metal was outstanding. I still kick myself over that one to this very day
In the'70's, I drove a the '55 in my avatar. I was looking for a race car and saw an ad for a Vega wagon with a sbc. I went to look but the Vega had stock suspension and rear end so I passed. The guy liked my '55 and wanted to trade a '41 Willys drag truck for it. The Willys had a 400 sbc and a hydro. I passed because my '55 was my daily and the 400 overheated. The guy offered to swap my motor and trans (4 speed) into the Willys but I still said no. Now I regret it........
gasser: that 69 is a heartbreaker. years ago there was a nice 74 GTO (ventura body) at a local dealership for $2K. i should have inquired... i live in GP circa 78-80. this GTO was parked at an apartment complex right off of carrier st south of I30 circa 1979. well, at least i bought the 62 truck that i still own today. hell, i could have bought that GTO and drove it to my old hometown of warren michigan and sold it easily for $4K even if i decided not to keep it....
Your story and you 62 in you avator remindes me of one i kinda regret.About 15 years ago i was looking through the classifieds in the local paper after i got off work.I saw a 62 running Chevy pickup for $800 .It was only a mile or so away so i went to look at it in the dark.Turns out it was a 62 Short wide with the Big Back Window cab.The guy was flat broke and needed $$ right then to pay his rent or get kicked out.It had a good running 350 with a 400 turbo ,new brakes ,rebuilt frontend ,even the cig liter worked ,etc and did have a speck of rust anywhere and was wearing the original white paint.I drove it around the block in the dark and it drove great ,then looked it over with a flash light undernieth as best i could.The guy was desperate and i told him i was interested ,but didnt buy cars in the dark (affraid i wouldnt see something bad like frame damage ,etc).I told him i would be back at day break the next morning.He said if i would buy it now he would take $750 .I pulled the $$ out ,and he started to hand me the title ,but i went with my gutt and said i would be back in the morning.I went back at 6:30 am and it was sold.Kinda felt like a dumbass ,but i have gotten many great deals since on other cars and trucks ...
I grew up a block from Harrys HR shop. He had Rupp minibikes and a Hurst 4spd shifter display. And he never ran me off when I would go in to bang gears. I was about 9 or 10. He still remembers me today, 40 years later. And he is really the main reason I love the kinds of cars I do.
if you want to come kick me in the ass, i'll give you my address. but you can't kick me any harder than i've already kicked myself. it was a stone, stock, DRIVEN AND OWNED BY A BONAFIDE LITTLE OLD LADY, gem... and the freaky thing was after she died, her relatives inherited the car and they lived just a few blocks from me which was about 7 or 8 miles from where she lived. i found it while jogging in the neighborhood. it was like a the genie had granted me a wish and i turned it down. lol.... wear steal-toe boots please....
my mailman was selling his 59 chev, 350, 4WD truck about 10 years ago for $1,500. i went to go look at it. it was kind of rough and sitting way back in a pasture. he wasn't there though so i couldn't talk to him. i keep looking and the gas tank was bad but it ran with an auxiliary, make-shift tank. he was throwing in a bed that he had in a barn somewhere. had he been there, i'd have probably made him an offer. i snoozed and when i re-inquired, it was gone.
size 12 WWW steel toes do the trick? Couldn't resist bustin your balls but I mean , really. They were pretty sluggish but still a great car. Don't take it personal but I would have been real hard pressed not to grab it and run like hell before they could change their minds
In 1970 someone I knew from the LI oval track scene had a 1965 pearl white Shelby GT 350 you know the one...factory roll bar, Detroit locker, no rear seat, the best 289. My father & I had just put together a 1962 MGA which I had someone interested to buy that for $1,000 which was enough to buy the Shelby. For $1,000. Yeah I was 18 and probably would have either killed myself or the car in the very foreseeable future. But...a frigging first generation Shelby!!! I sometimes wonder how the guy who owned it feels about it now especially when he sees one roll through Barrett Jackson.
Yeah, a 1962 Chevy Impala wagon for 600 bucks and it was SUPER CLEAN, but it still needed about 500-1000 to make it killer by fixing little things here and there. The deal was to be struck with a friend of my dad's , but he ended up to sell it to someone else for the same price since we didn't see him for a while. My plans was to put a sweet 327 in her over time, but that is a regret and I'm a Mopar guy at heart. I was looking for a cheap go getter to go back to school at the time and this thing would of been a perfect start... Not really a tradtional like the masses like, but it was def. a regret of mine...
I had a chance to trade a really nice V-8 Pinto & $5000 for two Boss 429 Mustangs back in 1979... Man what an idiot I was! Sad thing is I kne I made a mistake then
Ya, a 1950 chevy pickup, complete, all original, needed some work, but everything was there....500 bucks 10 years ago....and it still sits in the same spot, and now the guy wants 2000!!!!
1963 Cobra in 1966 $3,600 1963 Dodge 426 wedge motor and 4 speed $1,800 1931 Ford coupe $1,200 in 1993 327 motor and on and on and on
a lot of regrets in life.....many. not buying a car is not one. there is always a better deal around the corner.
.......just one when it comes with cars.....a 33 Ford 3 window coupe in a farmers shed for 75 bucks,,,,,I just did'nt have the money back in 1963...
I had a chance to buy a '62 bubbletop for $300. Black with red interior, 327 and 4 speed. I didn't buy it because it had a dent in the dash.
Now that is funny, but very typical of how it was. A friend offered me his black, 348 cu.in., 350hp '61 Impala "bubbletop" in 1965 for $300.00. I didn't buy it because I knew he hadn't changed the oil in the last two years!!! Also passed on a near mint '63 Ford 427 Galaxie, factory lightweight for $7,500. in the late '70s , early '80s and a low mileage '62 Biscayne 409/409, 4 speed for $2,400 in 1980!
'69 GTX convertible, 440/4-speed with a pistol grip shifter - $400. This was in '79 and I was leaving for Air Force basic training in a couple of weeks and planned on seeing the world. I didn't know if or when I'd come home. Still think about that car 30 years later. furyus
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