Features How do you do it long time owners???

I was reading with much envy a thread on here about guys having cars for for 10, 20, 30, 40 plus years of ownership...how do you keep the candles lit for all that time with one car??

Once I get them up and running....I am bored with them....so they get sold to finance the next money pit....never had one more than a year after I finished them...some of them 1/2 that time....

Just wondering what I am doing wrong...

Thanks in advance.

MikeC

 

Some people love the build, some love the drive-no big deal. If that is what you are into then fine. Me... dad restored my car in 68 so she is part of the family. When I buy my next car that will probably be it for me as well. I just don't have the time, money ore space to buy and sell. but who knows.

Mike

 

I never stop tinkering with it.

 

I posted on the other thread, having a 30yr. truck. I, too, love the build and see my project come to life.
When I was younger and on a tighter budget, I did have to sell my current project to move on to the next one.
One difference is that as I have gotten older and been lucky to save a little bit, so I don't have to sell to buy.
That goes for parts, too. I still have projects that I sell after a couple of years and never look back. For my truck, it just feels like me and we've kind of aged together, so it will be sticking around for a while longer. Like an old sweatshirt, it just makes you feel good. Bob

 

Easy. I have both. I have a keeper or 2 and then I build others to entertain myself and they usually are sold at about 95% complete.

 

Have had my first car for over 35 years. Been married for 26 years. Lived in the same town my entire life. Still have a land line phone. I don`t like change.

 

My Shoebox Ford has been on the road for 9 years now...Ppl ask when I'm gonna finish it. That involves taking it apart which means I can't drive it. That's not fun. I enjoy driving an old car. I plan on keeping it for a while longer.

 

I my case, the first car I ever bought was a 1932 Ford 5 window coupe at 12 years of age, my dad made me take it back, so for many years that desire to have another '32 Ford rolled around in the back of my mind while I was content to build all kinds of cars, but Model A's and '40 Fords were my favorites.

Eventually I traded my 1939 Ford Convertible for the Deuce sedan project in '88 that I have to this day, I have had no less than 10 1932 Fords but this one I have had the longest and it's a keeper.

The Wagon is Brenda's car and her grandmother purchased it new off the show room floor of Blue Ridge Motor's here in Anderson,S.C. in 1954, it's also a keeper. HRP

 

My T since '68 , wife since '75 house since '76 , same town since 1948 , lots of other hobbies/ activities too keep me interested , ( some) variety is important .

 

As a young kid I always wanted this car and when I found one I knew I would have it for awhile...Had a couple others along the way but never got really attached to them....Then moving to the desert southwest I didn't have to fight with the rust issues...

 

Just one word { Sentimental } ! You are, or your not! Either way is cool! I just am, and the longer I have something, the more I like it. Like the Wife, kids, cars, tools, toys ect. I still have the Vette that I had in High school. The more memories I make with them, the more I like'm. But that's just me. 40 plus years for these two. Ron.......

 

Well, always wanted a chopped 49 Merc and a 33-34 Hotrod. So, those are keepers. Then, I usually have something I keep long enough to change and flip or trade. I've been offered good money for my Merc, meaning, sell for a great profit, but, never gonna happen. It was always intended to be a driver, not a Trophy Whore, so I 've driven the shit out of it. Same with the Hotrod...it's a driver. Can't tell you how many times i've read on here, "The one that got away!".

 

I had one for 35 years, and I turn 60 next month. Currently the longest term is the 59 Vette, going on 16 years.
42 years same job, 40 years same wife, always lived in the same area. Things are changing though, more cars will be sold, retirement coming, relocating as well. I don't like change, but it's time.

 

Like Roothawg, I have a few keepers. Any projects I get are sold before full completion. I’ve only sold one nice vehicle after paint. It was hard. Not everyone likes the color(s) you chose.

 

I sell or trade every couple of years. Always looking for something different and only have room for one.

 

When ya got a good one drive the snot out of it...mine is right around 180,000 miles and 41-1/2 years as we talk. I've had and built a lot of cars before and after I got this one but it's been good to me. At 77 years old I'd consider selling it...if I could could find what one might call a caretaker.

 

For me it was road trips.

My OT Impala in my avatar was not "The One" when I bought it 33 years ago but it was close enough at the the that it was able to grow on me.

As the road trip memories kept accumulating I became more and more attached. I haven't always given at the best care but it has stayed with me through thick and thin.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

X2. Snowman

 

My 51 Pontiac was parked in the farmyard of a close family friend and neighbour and I just kept thinking about it (I was 12 or 13). I told my dad how much I liked it and he surprised me with it, trading an old stationary engine for it. I have never had the money and time ...at the same time ... to do it exactly how I want but now that I am retired I have time and my plan is much simpler than before. I had several diversions...vans, 4x4, muscle cars, bikes etc... but my 51 has always been the keeper.

 

I've owned and built more cars over the years than I can remember but my 32 Chevy has been with me throughout it all and has created many good memories and has been built and rebuilt many times over. It's been stock,I totally restored it to concourse condition and now it's been upgraded to compete with today's traffic.As an example of the memories here's something that my daughter wrote and sent into Hemmings Motor News after I restored it the first time and they actually published it...How could I ever get rid of it now????

 

I think the key is never finish it. I just sold a car I had for about 25 years. It finally got to where I considered it finished, so I sold it. So if you want to keep one, always have something left to do on it before you can let it go..
As for my 'Vette and my 32 Ford, thats love. You don't get rid of things you love.

 

I love your car. If I ever am able, I want to build one similar. My first racer got me wanting a street version.

 

Some people are "collectors", some are "builders". I happen to be in both categories. I enjoy making parts, building engines, and driving the fruits of my labor. I have had one car since 1976. I always regret selling any of my collection. Also, hot rods are never finished.....I am always making changes/improvements.......keeps my interest up. But, like most seniors, I will soon need to decide to downsize or leave it to my kids to figure out when I'm no longer able to enjoy them.

 

My 29 cabriolet, I have had since 1958-59, and a couple years ago finished a six year rebuild. My 1951 club coupe has been mine since about 1996, and is near completion of its third significant rebuild. The 29 closed cab Pu was built around 1993-4, has had one major rebuild and needs another to get it back on the road.

The key to keeping a car for years is to carefully select a car you really like initially, and then keep building and rebuilding it to improve it, and correct what you don’t love about it. There is always something needed.

 

How does longtime owner do it? That is the question. In my case it’s taken a lot of patience ( relaxing that is), that and knowing that I’ve got too many memories in my F-100. As someone once said you always regret selling the first one cause you won’t get it back.


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My 50+ year old $$$ pit belonged to my son. His first car. We made a deal I would 'keep-it-in-the-family'. + I have always been a Ford guy and understand a lot about them.....which makes me comfortable owning one.
I also belong to a "group" of vintage Mustang /old Ford Owners and we get together yearly in our Mustangs.
6sally6

 

Up bringing in part's. "Value what you have".

 

I always end up with seller's remorse after parting with something. My solution is just to keep it all. Problem is, I'm running out of storage space.

 

I'm just a sentimental fool, so I keep stuff. As some have said, I too don't finish them, so they're never "good enough to sell" so I wind up keeping them. Lost my first car ('65 mustang) in a wreck on the highway after 11+ years, but now I've had my '35 almost that long.

For me, it's the idea that I know the car, since I built it. Anything that's been hot-rodded or needs to be has its own gremlins, and I already know the ones I have, so why switch? Some stuff I buy just to build and sell to have had the experience with that car and learn something new since all the manufacturers did it different. That's how I got into the HAMB and the pre-war cars, really - there were so many manufacturers that there's an almost infinite amount of different solutions that they found for the same problems, and to me, that's amazingly interesting.