How many of you now have a car you have seen for years just sitting in someones yard and all of a sudden it was yours just through timing and luck? If you have a pic of how you found it and where it sat, let see them.
I got a '40 chevy truck from a yard 6-7 yrs after I saw it, I had tried to buy it from the owner who was 80+ yrs old, he was in bad shape and we didn't get a deal struck. I had not forgotten about it and when i heard that the place was being sold off a few years after because he had passed away, i called and asked about it. I went 2 days later and brought it home a little worse off than i remembered but still well worth the money. no pics of when i first saw it.
I only watched this one for a little over a year after being told it wasn't for sale; persistence. It is not a car lot but a family of hoarders that must like people asking "is that for sale?"
I watched mine sit under a tree with a for sale sign for 3 yrs untill the price came down to where I felt it was worth it to me. He kept lowering the price every 3 months and about every six months he replaced the sign. I was the 2nd person to ask about it too * it was an OT ride thats gone through 3 versions
I do it all the time. People say "Thats strange I was just thinking about selling that." If ya keep an eye on the state of the house or area around the car it will tell you alot. Key into small changes. that is the key
Growing up, there was a John Deere green and white car sitting in a carport that I always wondered about. Eighteen years later it was sitting out for sale! Turned out to be a 1960 Rambler Custom and was pure as the wind driven snow (except the orig. body color was an aqua metallic). Interior was clean and untouched. The original radio warranty card, all ppwrk, an Am. Motors touch up bottle, a short wood handled squeege, a box of tire chains and a brochure for the 1962 tour of the St. Lawrence Seaway were all there.... Of course I bought it on principal....!
I got this 1928 Model A a while back.....you gotta look close....I had to. The photos...where I spotted it in the carport, what was piled up around it and after I got it home. It was originally a dual sidemount pickup and someone revised it to a stake bed.
Rode past a "sportscar" under a badly torn canvass while on a bike ride with my wife number of years ago. Knocked on the door and older woman was dying to get the car moved.Belonged to a friend of her son. Turns out the car was a 65 Griffith (cobra wanna be) with a high perf. 289 shelby engine,headers and top loader. All glass car with four wheel disc ,i.r.s and knock off wire wheels. Paid $150.00 for it and towed it home. Drained and filled all fluids and it fired up. Love the sound of solid lifters! Ran like a raped ape as it was only about 1800 lbs. Missed out on a real deal Z-28 Camaro 1967 ish. Drove past it every day and it needed love badly but never stopped. Finally gone one day...bought by a guy that worked in a buddies body shop. Had to donate money to the owner's favorite charity to pry the car from her.
Found a place about an hour from me here that sits a 1930 Ford roadster body and frame ,several 40 Ford four doors and several mid fifty pick-ups.....all sitting in the grass. Has a 30 Ford complete roadster in his shed. Still working on the body and frame.
Bought an OT car that way. Drove passed it for 6 years trying to figure out what was under the cover (narrowed rear, short, trunk model car). One day on the way to work I caught the guy taking the cover off and putting a sign on it. Came back with the trailer after work and it was mine. Funny thing is I stored it for a year, sold off all the extra parts for it then sold it to a buddy of mine.
Bought a 68 Bronco that was completely unmolested back in the early 90's. Had been looking at it for a while and one day drove by and there was a for sale sign in it. I knocked on the door and the lady said she had just put that sign in 5 minuets before I stopped. Sold it 6 months later for more than I paid for it and I regret it to this day.
The truck in my avatar used to sit outside Auburn,Ia for years. Drove by it many times. My dad ends up substitute teaching with the daughter of the original owner. A deal was struck and I got my truck. I can still hear her saying, "I didn't think anyone would want such a thing."
Here's my contribution, or, my father's actually. When I was around 6 or 7, we had a 1951 Lincoln Cosmo. Car was in great shape. My father told me the story of how he got it. He would drive by this one house and the Lincoln would always be in the garage with the overhead door open. He stopped one day and spoke with the lady and found out it was her late husband's car. He asked her about selling it and she thought about it for a minute and told him she would sell it to him for $75.00 on one condition, she never wanted to see it again. He sold it because my mom was always complaining that she didn't like the smell of the hydraulic oil in the power windows. The paint was beautiful, interior looked new, ran nice. Sold it to another guy he worked with.
Bought many an early Mustang by just knocking on the door. Made tons of money selling off parts. Bought a 65 fastback with my son with a trailer load of extra parts. Sold the extras and built a Shelby spinoff car with my son. Great father son project. He drove it for a year after completion,asked his girlfriend to marry him. Think he sold the car for an engagement ring. Should have bought it from him!
Found this 32 by luck. In very rough shape though, but just the same a phone call and 2 days later and it was all mine!
Was after this 32 for 25 years. The owner passed away, and a friend that knew I was interested called me ant told me of his passing. I bought it through the family thanks to my friend.
And this 34 that I was after for several years. Not really a luck type thing as more of a constant bothering by me type of thing. Haha
1955 Dodge 1/2 ton sitting in my neighbors back yard when I moved here 7 years ago. Made friends with him, told him I was interested in the truck if he ever wanted to sell it. He had let it sit for 8 years. Finally last year he relented and sold it to me. Didn't run, and basically all the parts were there, just disassembled. Bed had been removed, the gas tank was sitting in what was left of the interior. My wife thought I had lost my mind. Bought it in June of last year and by August had it on the road. Been driving it for a year now. A work in progress. Planning a drop axle and maybe some wide whites, bodywork and some shiny black paint.
The Jalopy Journal
