History Cars that you regret owning

Often see threads asking about favorite cars, or cars you regret getting rid of and so on… what about cars you regret getting in the first place?

Does or did anyone have a (HAMB friendly) car/project that caused you so much grief and frustration that you wish you had never bothered? Thought this might yield some fun or interesting anecdotes.

 

'62 Pontiac Tempest, Slant 4/three speed. Biggest POS I ever owned. Bought during the first gas crunch to save money, it was broke down more than it ran. The 4-banger parts weren't cheap or easy to get either.

 

I think you might find similar threads if you search for...
"buyer remorse"
or maybe...
"mission creep".
Carry on.

 

Some days I regret ever getting involved with cars, so I guess all of them.

 

I could name a handful, however they all are later than six five.

 

In '85, I totaled my 77 Corvette. A co-worker sold me a worn out Plymouth Duster for basic transportation. It had a worn out front suspension and I had to continually correct the steering going down the road to keep it straight. One night a few beers destroyed my ability to perform that task and I got a well-deserved DUI.

 

Nothing period correct, but I've owned a 1989 Ford mustang that was junk and a 2003 Ford mustang that was about the same.

 

1953 Ford Customline 2dr and 1950 Lincoln 4dr. I thought they were great cars and great custom car choices. Only problem was when it came time to sell; nothing but a few lowball offers and extreme nitpicking. That’s a shame, but it was a bad investment for me.

 

They all served a purpose

 

My biggest regret was buying a 63 Corvair convertible on impulse at a swap meet a few years back. Although it looked decent, it had all kinds of hidden problems the more I worked on it. I thought it might make a fun car for my wife to bum around town in, but it fought me all the way until I sold it for a pretty decent loss after a couple years... Pretty sure that is the only pre-73 car I have lost money on in the past almost 40 years.

 

I must love to hate VW's. They get me every time.

 

I had a 1960 Chevrolet sedan in 1968 with the six and an automatic. I was in the Army at the time and it was falling apart at the seams. Every week it was something new. It had 90,000 miles on the odometer.

 

71 MGB and a 81 Fiat Spider Turbo. Good looking cars but they weren't built to be driven in the "spirited" style that I subjected them to. They convinced me to buy my first or several Porsches, which could take anything I dished out....on the street or the track. Besides that, the first car I owned was a first generation Olds F85 station wagon (used). It was a POS, for sure.

 

Never regretted anything I’ve driven or bought to “fix up” even if the fixer got sold off before it was done. Even the drivers that had to be babied served a purpose for the price.

 

When I was a teen I bought a V-8 Vega. It was the definition of a DEATH TRAP. My parents convinced me to sell it off before I died in it.

 

1971 Opal. No, they were NOT Buicks!
Crappy!

 

Yeah, a 1928 Chevrolet 4 door sedan. I was young and dumb and thought that all that wood that needed to be replaced would not be too hard......boy was I wrong!

 

I had an off topic FWD three year old Ford that a 1/2 inch of snow on the road would stop it dead in it's tracks, literally. It would also shred its tires parked in the driveway, one year and thirty K two sets of tires. I should have known the car was yellow.

 

1950 "bathtub" Nash. That thing was so worn out it used a gallon of oil to get a few miles to work and back. Had to park it on a steep hill to get the thing to start. No compression. I always thought I should have gotten more for my 15 bucks. I had a Opel, too. I won't even go into how bad that thing was. At least that one was free.

 

Off-topic, but a 1978 Chevrolet "LUV" (without sex) pickup. It died after about 70K miles.

 

All Mustangs were/are junk. That ought to rile up a few people!

 

I bought a 39 Plymouth business coupe, that thing fought me on everything I did, or tried to do to it. When I got the chance to get my money back out of it, it was gone! I warned the next guy, but he bought it anyway. It fought him too, so I didn't feel too bad, it wasn't just me it hated.
I had a few off topic rides that were troublesome, but at least they mostly provided transportation (with more intermittent problems then I liked), until I was able to replace them.

 

Not with old rides. But I’m simple.
Stop, go, lights and at least one wiper and I’m good to go

 

The '66 GTO I wrapped around a tree.

 

I had a 61 T Bird that I named the Pushmobile. It left me stranded many times. One time at 2 AM in an Embers parking lot I was parked next to a police car. When we went out to leave, the car wouldn't start. I opened the cops car hood and used it's battery to jump the Pushmobile. They never knew, too busy eating.

 

I had a 1972 F-100 that I foolishly traded my 1966 Bronco for. At 17 I was seduced by the 302 it had in it. The automatic transmission never worked right, even after the “rebuild” given to it by my “Buddy” who traded for my Bronco. This thing was such a total piece of Shit. I still hate 1972 Ford trucks to this day, I swear that fucker was possessed.

 

Hah, and look what cha got now!

 

Cars I regret owning, 1962 Sprite. Women I regret knowing, 1956 Barbara, 1963 Dorothy, 1969 Kimberly...

 

There have been a lot of projects that I shouldn’t have bought, shouldn’t have spent money on, and lost a lot on when I decided I needed to get rid of. But I’ve only ever had one car that I actually regretted, it was O/T and I think I learned my lesson.

I did have a ‘63 C10 a long time ago that I intended to make a daily driver but ended up being a lot more of a project than I could handle so I sold it…having it was a short term regret, but now my only regret is getting rid of it.