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

In about 1977 my brother and I went to Milwaukee Wisconsin to check out a 71 Hemi Cuda convertable 4-speed. It was rusty and leaked oil but he took us for a ride and it ran strong. The guy wanted $5,000 FIRM, we thought it was way to much for the work it needed........STUPID

Found out years later it was like one of 5 built.

 

oh yeah... forgot about this. built in the 60's. steel body. V8 60 axle. traded it away in a moment of weakness a couple of years ago.

 

1975- I was in the ninth grade, we moved to a new town and one day after school I went home with a kid I had made friends with. Sitting behind their house up on blocks was a '64 dual quad, 4-speed 409 Impala. Cragars all around, red with black interior. It belonged to his older brother. Brother said he quit driving it because he couldn't afford the gas for it. Wanted $1,000 for it. Might as well have been a million to me at that time.
1978- Test drove a '67 442. Nice car in really good shape. I don't remember what they wanted for it but it couldn't have been too much because I could have bought it on what I was making working at a gas station after school and on weekends but didn't because I didn't like the color.

 

Early 90's I was deliverying parts to a shop and noticed they stored alot of heavy equipment but there were a few cars in the lot. The owner was gonna store them at his farm in PA if they didn't sell. I was a bit low on funds at the time and even as a manager for a parts company couldn't scrape up the dough. He wanted $2g for each except he was negotiable for the "ugly old pick up". I'm an idiot.

62 Impala Bubble top w/4spd
56 Belair 4/spd
Fiberglass Cobra funny car(minus drivetrain)
51 Ford Convertible
31 Chevy p/u

 

2 amphicars for $5000. one of em ran,and the other one floated

 

The ones that pain me most were in the yard we were trying ot buy out of in 2006 - all of these would have been $200-$300:

'41 Pontiac coupe (crushed)
'55 Ford 4dr - looked like it only needed a wash and wax, perfect interior (crushed)
'46-'48 Ford ragtop, complete body with no nose or frame (someone else got it)
'64 Olds Cutlass ragtop with buckets/console, passed because I knew it had been flooded at least twice (someone else got it)
'63 Tempest convertible, 326, 4-speed, don't know what happened to it, also had been flooded
'48 Pontiac 2dr fastback, complete
'49 Olds six coupe, complete not bad shape
'59 Buick Invicta 2dr hardtop - car was good, had a good frame, the '60 Olds near it came out in pieces, both got crushed
'60 Catalina 2dr hardtop - again solid, but they bent it lifting it off the frozen ground in February
'40 Plymouth coupe - same as the '60 Pontiac, crushed
'38 Buick sedan - complete car, they not only crushed it they ripped it to pieces grabbing it, I found the top of the grille with the hood ornament on the ground later.

There's more, we did get about 40 cars - '53 chevy conv, '59 Chevy conv, 60 Caddy conv, 49 Ford conv, 53 Skylark, 40 Chevy conv in pieces, several Model A's, a '42 Hudson coupe, a '37 Ford coupe stock car, too many more to list - but some of the other hurt. Just ran outta money.

 

This for cheap:

 

5 yrs back 426 hemi, alum heads lying in a front yard on MAIN ST!!

Heard it got scrapped!!!

True Story full motor minus valve covers and intake

 

The list is wayyyyy long a few come to mind.

1974.. 32 5w chopped w/nailhead & crysler wires $2k
1975... 48 Ford Sedan Delivery really cherry $750
1979.. 56 Eldo Convertable nice $2k

And at least 100 Tri 5 chevys in the $100 to $500 range.

A crystal ball would be a handy thing to own

 

1977
427 Cobra 5000 bucks.

 

1967 1941 Willys with a 413, dual 4bbls and 3 spd hydro for $200
1968 1953 Henry J bone stock for $150
1971 1964 GTO for $600
1989 1957 Chevy 1/2 ton for $2500
1996 1955 Cameo Carrier for $800

The list goes on, but it hurts to remember.

 

a couple, a 57 Nomad sitting in a driveway prolly 8 years ago in primer little rot but complete, i was gunna ask if was for sale but the owner moved b4 i could've found him and so did the car. also a 51 ford victoria sittin in a driveway my uncle found, but for some reason he thought it was a dodge or something so he never told me where it was until last minute he did and i went there and the guy ended up moving and sold it to someone earlier that day. i was not happy, my uncle would tell me of any ugly rambler but didnt tell me of that.

 

1989 im getting parts in a volvo dealers and the guy behind the counter see's my 1960 prefect and starts talkin drag racing i didnt know what he was talkin about so he tells me he used to race power boats and hes got 4 crylsler hemi motors hat to pan at home and wants 2000 for the lot im standing there thinkin what is he talkin about whats a hat whats a pan to stupid to ask so i decide hes mental and leave with the volvo parts.
in my defence i was young and had never heard of another car maker that wasnt ford.

 

In 1978 a couple of years out of high school....my dream car....a 1970 Boss 302 missing engine $1000. Could have scraped up the cash, but let it go. Can't walk by one today without wanting to punch myself in the mouth.



Bill

 

I never had these, didn't think I'd be able to do anything with them, the same space, time, $ thing.
They were in a barn, the barn got blown over about 3-4 yrs ago, the barn-wood got taken and these were left.
The Chevy went first, then the Dodge, the 32 is under a canopy nearby. It's been there for several years now. Complete too, flatty V-8 mech. brakes etc.

 

I did not get to this one fast enough two weeks ago. It was advertised for $5500 and, evidently, the guy that bought it just wants to flip it. He's advertising it for $10k now. It is a nice 53 Buick...just needs a color change.

 

about 6 years ago I found a guy with a 54 ford 4dr car. The body was good and it would even run. The guy wanted $300 for it. I was about 12 then and had bought a 75 pinto that ran good for $200 and he wanted to trade the 54 for it. My dad wouldn't let me and I was so pissed off. The pinto later got scrapped and the 54 got a paintjob and looked nice.

 

1969 Pntiac LeMans, GTO drivetrain abd hood, $400. Long time ago.

 

'65 Malibu SS with the original 327 in a barn under raps since new and the factory option350 horse 327 motor in it. All for $2500

 

1967 Corvette L88. Dude had no idea what he had wanted like $8K. I did not know what it was at the time either.

 

Back in about 99 I found an all original 48 Chevy fleetline with a little over 40k on the odometer(unless you saw the fan spinning, you couldn't tell it was running). 100% rust free, perfect chrome, glass, and interior. Only thing it needed, was to have the original laquer paint rubbed out. Guy was asking $2,500, but I was just a broke ass high school student and I couldn't come up with the money. I still dream about that car sometimes.

 

2005- 69 Olds 442, 4spd, Red on red. Came out of Yuma, AZ and had no rust. The owner said something about "big heads" $2500. Haven't really regretted it but it was a decent find.

2002- 39ish Cadillac hearse-runs and drives for $5500. Decent shape-came out of Mexico. Didn't have the cash

2001- This one I can still shed a tear over. 1970 Buick GS Stage 1 with the original 455, automatic. Green on green. He wanted $4k for it, and at 16 yrs old I didn't have the cash. Went back when I did have the cash and it was gone.

But I put that money towards my next find. 69 Chevelle SS396, 4spd, factory air, console-delete, Fremont built car. Fathom green with a dark green interior. This car was built the second week of June 1969; I was born 6/14/1985. Kinda weird sharing a birthday with your car. This is my dream car due to an episode of Tales from the Crypt; season 4 titled 'King of the Road'

 

58 impala convertible...it was a driver and it was cheap but needed a new piece of equipment for my business...my buddy got it and held onto it for about 7 years.

 

On Craigslist right now there's a 70 429 Super cobrajet(motor only) for $2200, complete carb to flywheel. I've got no room or money for it.

Not really one that got away, 58-62ish Corvette white and red, full of pack rats and cactus. I was 13 when I saw it and didn't realize what it was until years later. According to satellite photos it's still there and I'm gonna ask him by the end of the year if he's willing to part with it.

Words of wisdom: When it comes to parts and swap meets; if you even remotely think you may be able to use it; GET IT!!!

 

in '99 I was 18 and I had a fair amount of money in the bank. I was working at a resto shop and they had a '63 Impala SS with a dual quad 409/4 speed in it. Red on red, a done car. There was some question about whether it was an original 409 car or not. Could have bought it for $18K and I had the money but I decided a house was a better investment so that's where the money went.

I also found a '64 Continental convertible inside an auto parts store, in real decent shape, had been parked for years. Price was $2500, just didn't have the money so I passed the deal on to another HAMBer who came out real good on it.

When I was about 16 or 17 I was at an auction and they sold a '32 2 door sedan for 8K, the thing had perfect sheetmetal on it, V8, parked in the early 60's. All the paint was still on it. There was no way I could have swung the deal but damn that was a nice clean car.

 

2002- 64 GTO for $1k. The guy couldn't give me a straight answer if it was an actual GTO or just had the motor.

2001- 62 Chevy panel truck for $200. Lots of rust.

2 weeks ago. There was a front bumper and grill, both chrome on CL for $35. I recognized the phone number as a customer at my work, called him and told him if he runs across any more parts to let me know.

 

A friend was the first guy to get into the parts room of a Ford Dealership that closed in 1933. I wish I'd asked to tag along just to see the place. I did buy a fair amount of stuff from him, but know he left A LOT of stuff behind. Wish I'd said I wanted a 1912 Harley BEFORE I cane up with the deposit, second guy to see it bought it. There were others but life is full of could have - should have opportunities.

 

Algon injectors for 371 Olds, 90 degree distributor angle drive and pump for same, at the Belvedere, Ill spring swap in 1983, all for $45.00. i was a dumb and poor high school kid.

Relic Stew passed on a whole big box o' v8-60 speed goodies, including multiple sets of heads and intakes for $100.00 or so, a few years later....

i seem to remember a Weiand Drag-Star 6x2 for nailhead with carbs, linkage and Stellings-style air cleaners for $125.00 at the Elkhorn swap around '91

 

'41 Willys pickup. It was an old drag truck with a shortened bed, straight axle, title front end. It was around '75, the owner wanted to trade for my '55 210 Chevy. The Willys was street driven but it had a sbc 400 that overheated. They guy offered to swap my engine into the Willys. I turned it down because the '55 was my dd.

 

1928 model A 2 door sedan. Unmolested original for $1800. Isn't it funny you only regret the ones you didn't buy???