You can NEVER go home again !,... or can you ?

With that kind of history, it's a no-brainer. Go buy the car and post pictures please. done

 

Absolutely get it, and get to work on it, its an opportunity not everyone gets. If I ever find my car from my high school days..I'll buy it no matter what shape its in, if I have to do without to get it....I find this car in my sleep all the time. The car really wouldn't mean much to anyone else, just a semi-muscle car from the 70s, but to a sixteen year old kid, it was my identity, I dated my wife in it, and drove it all through college. Then I got my first job making real money and decided I needed a brand new car, and sold it. I have had and still have much better cars now, but they don't have the memories attached...hope mine survived somewhere....so, yes...you should get it and make it right.

 

make a deal

 

Just don't do a comb over

 

When you walk out and get into your current ride, you'll remember what got you there. And you'll smile.

This too shall pass. I say let it go, hang onto the memories. They are what's important. I went throught the exact situation last summer, except I bought mine back. Exactly as I left it, and for the same price I sold it for. I didn't want or need it, but bought it on principle.
The guy I sold it to (after the Mrs. found I bought it, she was less than happy. ) has it on the Detroit area craigslist right now. For 6 TIMES what I sold it to him for!

Memories are what make cars "ours". Not the steel or oil. Sometimes, memories are stronger than steel, and vastly more important.

JK

 

Here is my take. Money in the bank in todays's economy isn't drawing interest, it is losing money. What the hell, buy the thing and let it set in your new garage. Enjoy walking around it and then someday down the line make up your mind whether to keep it.
If you run out of room, consider selling me the 36.
I know you will think my answer is brilliant.

 

I'm in the middle of that with my first car. lot of family history. went through a house fire when I was a baby then I bought her back and built her as my first car. against all good sense I bought her back two years ago and am starting over. New ASC rails etc. when I'm done there won't be much more than the beltline that's original--but she's MINE. sentiment goes a long way in my book. hopefully I'll still be able to get my fat ass in her. (chopped, channeled and shortend 33 ford PU and I'm pushing 6 feet and 275).

 

If you can swing it, get it.


I did...

I sold my old Falcon, and years later I was able to get it back.

I drove it a lot when I owned the first time, but I sold it to a buddy without the engine.

In the time he owned it, it just sat.

After I bought it back, it just sat some more.

And at some point I realised I'd rather build something else.

So I sold it again, and I lost track of it.


I'm glad I bought it back, though.
Because I was able to figure out it wasn't "right" anymore, in my own time..

 

so its a vette?

 

My 2 cents:

If it moved me, and the price was right, and I had a place to put it, Hell yeah I'd buy it and let it sit.

Old cars don't look like junk to my eyes so I'd be pleased just to see it in the back 40.

Decisions on restoring or not don't have to be made today, but I know I'd kick myself for letting a special car get away, even if I just ended up selling it for less than I paid a few years later.

 

my 3 cents is that you should probably buy it if it's not outragously overpriced.

glad i read this thread as i was thinking about selling my first hotrod and knew i would regret it tell myself for the last 6yrs that "i will never sell it".

if the car still makes ya smile i say "go for it"!!!

 

get it. put it in shed. then think about it!

 

I am taking this back to the top because I want to know how it turns out. Kinda like a soap opera. Maybe a rust opera.

 

Personal history like that is something you cant just buy. I think if you didnt get it youd be filled with a lifetime wondering what youd have done with it if you had.

 

Well guys,.... I know this is a very old thread,.... BUT !

There has been a interesting turn of events recently,... The current owner of the O/T car in question had to move, so something had to be done with the car. I am still on the fence because of the condition of the car is pretty darn bad,..and the cost to buy it back I feel is much higher than the actual value.

So,.. I offered to store the car in my "Barn" for a year or so,.. this way I can talk myself out of it,.. and provide secure storage for it and slow down any deterioration.
Giving myself a chance to look at it without the rose colored glasses.

I drove down with the Truck & trailer, gently loaded up the ol' girl (that took 3 hours),... and she was following me for about four miles until I was sick of looking at her dirty face.... So I find a "Quarter Car Wash" And after about $6.00 worth of clean high pressure warm water, She had a little smile for me.

I look back quite often on our way back up I-75, hoping the trip isn't to much on it,.. And watching as we hit bumps as rusty frame bits shake loose and fall on the trailer. If it were any other car on earth,.. there is no way it would be worth restoring,... But she was whispering to me all the way back home,.... And the feeling of having it with me again felt right,.. regardless of her current condition.

What was she whispering to me ?....... "Fix me,.. and lets play again",... I have had the opportunity to take a good hard look at her over the last 48 hours,.. and it really makes me sick to see what has happened to it sense it's been gone. And I know a Car is a Car,... and they don't have feelings or emotions, or souls ( Well not actual souls). But it keeps looking at me like,.... "Your my only chance,.... Nobody else would care to save me,.... remember all the fun we had together? And what a wonderful time of our lives we shared?"...........

Well,... this all might have backfired on me as two things are happening,... Realistically I see what a monumental task restoring it would be and it really isn't worth it financially,.. In fact, financially it would be counterproductive. But then the soft headed part of me makes me feel like I owe it one more chance...... Cause I just cant stand to see it in the condition it is currently in.

Maybe I just need a good slap up side the head !,..... So there you have it guys,.... My new, self inflected Conundrum ! (But it do feel good to know shes just a few yards away from me as I type this)

 

May be an old thread but timely,,,,

You actually can go back home,,I found myself in a similar situation having sold a car I dearly loved but let slip through my hands,,we could call the original sale sensible but it wasn't.

I saw something else I could be driving and this was a time when I felt like the world was against me,,my mom had just a few months to live and they had just diagnosed my dad with cancer and he was going downhill fast.

The day I watched the '32 sedan going up on the roll back my heart sank and knew I had made a mistake.

I stayed after Roger the new owner for years about getting the car back,,,he had his own affair with the car but sadly last year he passed away.

With the help of fellow Hamber (Ralph)in North Carolina I was able to get in touch with his wife,,,long story short I paid her what she wanted and reclaimed the car I let go so many years ago,,not near as pristine as I remembered,,the chrome is dull and peeling on some suspension parts and I've had to rebuild the transmission,,but you know what?

I couldn't be any happier,,,I love this car.

MY .02 cents worth,,,if it makes you happy and rekindles a spark that you once had I say go for it! HRP

 

Hell with gettin your money out of it, the kids would just splurge it away anyways. Life is too damn short so enjoy it and do what you feel is right...... love the idea of an old flame getting reborn again!!!!

 

If it's a Vette and you decide to go for it I might be of some assistance with parts and maybe a donor parts car.

 

Yeah, ot or not I'm curious. What the he'll is it?

 

Wow, wish I could get a couple of my cars back. I know how you feel and I think if I were you, I wouldn't even think twice. Go for it. But, we need to see pictures!
Tom

 

I would like to blurt it out,... But I really need the feedback from all you guys on this thread and don't want to see it locked down,.... Because a number of guys have been through this with "On Topic" cars,..I do beleive it is relative.

However,.. rightfully so,. I can't help but believe some of the Mods are waiting with a twitching trigger finger to lock this thread if I divulge the car in question....

I am really interested in all your input on this subject,... so unfortunately I am going to have to keep the specifics of the car to myself for the time being until I come up with a final decision.

Sorry guys,.. I really don't mean to be evasive,.. hope you understand.

 

I never look back.

 

I know what it is. It's a 3rd generation Camaro. I drove one of those POS's in HS. The sentimental part of me wants to own my old yellow rocket again. The rational part of me wants to track it down and set it on fire so no one else has to.

Truth be told, I really did see it on a trailer heading out of town for Oklahoma a couple of years after I sold it to a another kid that went to my old HS. I flagged the guy down and asked him what he was going to do with it. He said he was going to cut it up and make a race car out of it. I think he made the right choice.

What was said about old cars being like old girlfriends is largely true. (Rose colored glasses anyone???) If you dumped her because she had issues...you'll quickly remember why you did it on the first date...or possibly the first round in the sack. Whatever....you'll end up going down the same path and regret the second go-around.

But if she was the genuine beauty you let slip between your fingers due to your own stupidity and this is your shot at redemption....you gotta grab her with both hands.

One of these days I will get my second chance with my '57 Chevy.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=20778

 

Funny this old thread came back to the top....


A couple of months ago I was looking on Craigslist, and there she was.

My old Falcon.

( now with 'glass front fenders & hood, because it ran into something afer I sold it)

Nope...I didnt call.

( pretty good for a horder, right )

 

Don't do it. I have been down that road. Memories are far more satifying than the harsh reality you will be faced with.

 

enjoy your memories with her and let her go.

 

Ahhhhhhh,....... Nooo

 

I also have a car that I sold back in 1980 so we could have a down payment to buy our first house as we wanted to start a familly and this is the only down payment I had at the time. My son was to be born in a few months and I felt that this was more important at the time and I do not regret selling it. Now 32 years later I was interested to see if the car was till around. I am now making a decent wages I had tried to find the car after 10 years of looking I found out that the car was in Japan. I am still trying to locate the owner through friends I have in the magazine that are covering these events and see if perhaps they can locate the owner. I am not allowed here to mention the perticular car( foreign ) but some of you know what it is. This car was also featured on a magazine cover back in the late 70's. So if this is a dream for you to redo this car because it as sentimental value I would go for it and not hesitate.

Take care good luck
Frenchy

 

A few years ago, a good friend came across my first car, bought it, and gave it back to me. It was in pretty bad shape. It had changed hands several times and the last owner abandoned it and let it sit under a tree next to his barn with half the paint stripped off and all the windows down for about 10 years. I have been slowly bringing it back to life as a Kustom. I own a 51 Belair ht, a 53 Belair ht, and a 49 two door Fleetline, yet I get so much more pleasure working on my junky old four door! I say if it is remotely restorable, go for it!

 

Just read most of this thread. Okay, skipped the middle. Now I'm dreaming of my first car. It was a 1949 Dodge Coronet coupe. That's the one with a back seat but doesn't look like room for one. Believe me, room for lots of things to happen in that back seat.
Hated the flathead six and fluid drive. But loved the way the car looked and the mods I'd done. First ever car I shaved door handles, hood, trunk, etc. But never did finish it. Never did drop the SBC in. Now I see it with a late Hemi. Again painted deep maroon with wide whites and skirts.
Apparently much like you, I already have too many unfinished projects, too little money, too little ambition, too little energy or time left. Yes, I'd love to have that little Dodge back. But if it wandered up my drive way right now I'd turn my back on it and keep those old memories.
We both have more than we can handle. Don't expect those old memories to become your new dreams.
We can't go back no matter how hard we try. Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction!
In a few days I'm actually going back home to visit the kid who was a product of that Dodge backseat, with the gal I took to those drive-inn movies in that Dodge. No, I can't go back. But in a way, I never left.
Forget those old memories and get back in the garage and make some new ones with the junk you already have. You've admitted that old car is too far gone and will only cause heartaches and make you forget those great old memories.


Okay I lied. Trying to save Harms Way from getting into harms way. Yes, if my old Dodge wasn't too far gone and the price was fair I'd buy the damned thing back and try to build the car I'd dreamed of back in the late 50's! Actually I never did see it after trading on a 54 Ford. It was most likely turned into can openers or something long ago.