In the mid 80's I found a Turquoise and white 56 Chevy Belair hardtop. EXACTLY what I wanted but I was new to the hobby and didn't know what the values were. I went over at night and he had the valve covers off and didn't have a battery, but everything else was in cherry condition. He wanted $1700 and said come back in a few days and he would have it running. I didn't want to bug him so I waiting 3 days... and of course when I called it was gone. If I could go back in time, I'd tie a rope to the bumper and drag it out on the spot.
October 1970 I turned down a '69 Yenko Chevelle, automatic trans car for $1000. because it was Fathom green...I just got out of the Army and I hated green. There have been others, but this one still irks me. cav
67 thunderbird 2dr with the 428 new paint, no rust at all perfect original interior and all it needed was a battery- 500 bucks with title, I let my brother in law buy it cause when your in high school 500 bucks is alot, he still has it sitting, super bummed. also 2 hardtailed, running 79' yam xs650's for 150 bucks, I couldnt get them because my mom didnt want me havin a bike till I was 18, still dream of these bikes... still bummed
The only true regret I have in life is I wish I would have left my first wife sooner. Cars and money come and go
Waaaaay too many. 1955 - running/driving stock model "A" pickup for $15. My dad wouldn't let me buy it because I didn't have my license yet. 1970 - Running/driving 1957 Corvette 4Spd 230 HP (duals quads/juice lifters) from California for $1100. My wife would let me buy it because We didn't have that much "spare" money yet. (I divorced her in 1972). Many others, but if I keep listing them I'll have to cry myself to sleep tonight.
On the hunt to track this guy down again. I heard he still has these and is trying to sell them again. Fingers crossed I can find his info. If not, I have a 250 mile drive ahead of me!
In about 1988 I was deep into muscle cars and wanted a GTO very badly but was dead broke. Of course, one shows up on a car lot in town - an ultra rare '71 Judge (one of 357) with a 455 HO/auto. I spent more time at the lot looking at that car and trying to authenticate it (knew those cars inside out back then and I'm POSITIVE it was the real deal). I think it was on for $3999. Sigh... Steve
I had a chance to buy a 58 apache, bagged, freshly painted, 350/350 combo for $1,500. Me, being genius I am, offered $ 1000. for an added $ 500, I would be driving that thing everywhere now. "Pendejo" (Dumbass) was my nickname for a while after that.
In what turned out to be a bad move, I turned down a '57 Chevy convertible in 1975 for $495. I had my heart set on a 2 door sedan. At that time convertibles were parts cars. No one would be caught dead hot rodding one. It sat at the Hancock station (now Orlandi Trailer sales) at Winchester and Moorpark in San Jose for months before someone finally bought it. This car was a 283 4brl, converted to a 3 speed stick. It had those goofy Chevelle mag wheel hub caps on it. I remember walking around it, and looking at the back bumper, thinking "that is the ugliest looking thing I've ever seen" It had a continental kit on it. Who new?
About 1976-Fresno-there was a gas station at Chestnut and Olive and there was always a car or two for sale. Went by one day and saw a really nice 57 210 with a hot 283 and a 4 spd-it was $1300 and I bought it for a friend. Later there was an annivery gold 62 Impala sitting there-had no interest in Impalas-should have bought it--it was a low mileage 409 4spd car and was $1000 or so. About 1980 passed on a steel stock 40 Willys coupe in Ukiah with no eng and trans for $800-bought a 59 El Camino that had a transplanted 409 4 spd instead for $300 and parted it out--Oh well.
1978 - I was 18 and travelling with a buddy on a side road western Colorado. Off in the distance I spot an old pickup so we turned down a dirt road and drove up to the house. It turned out to be a 1929 Chevrolet pickup. Bone stock original and complete and not a dent or bit of rust in it. The fellow we talked to said that his father had bought it new. It even had the factory paint and original pinstriping! The 6 cylinder ran like a top and all the wood was solid and the doors fit great. The price? $1000! At the time I didn't have the money or a way to get it back to California. I've never forgotten that one.
1982 passed on a 64 fairlane, 289 auto. Complete car with only a small rust hole in rear fender. I think about that one a lot. I was holding out for the only 64 fairlane "sport" I had ever seen. Owner wouldn't sell. Sat in the drive for years and never moved. I should have gotten the other fairlane.
In 1972 the well optioned 57 Bel Air in perfect shape with 35000 miles on it that we proceeded to hack up and go roundy round racing...it didn't last the season!
in the late 70s and early 80s i was buying 55 chevy 210s for 1500 to 1800. i turned down alot of them because i already had 6 so i had no place to park them hell they all ran all had 327s or 350s and all but one hD 4 SPEEDS.i sold my favorite one in 91 for 2500. had almost 10,000 in it. but mty foot slipped of the clutch and pounded a tree backwards. nothing a new quarter couldnt fix.id also had moved and had no garage or shop to keep it in so i felt awful about it sittin outside so i let her go.now im trying to find another and they are out of sight even for junk.anyone got a decent 2dr 210 body they want to sell or trade lol.hell im serious.!!!
yea i did a deal on a 1962 CORVETTE,wrote the check 6,000 gave it to the man ,walked to my truck and thought what do i need another car for, went back and asked if i could back out. been kicking myshelf for yrs was a 327 4 speed just painted looked great
Missed out on a near perfect '66 Riviera, all stock, garage kept, 30,000 miles: $6,000. Excuse me while I go kick myself. Again.
The one car that I looked at but didn't buy that sticks out in my mind was a 1970 GTX with a hemi and a four speed (super track pack package). It was on a car lot and they wanted $1200 for it! I was driving a 440 GTX at the time and should have done whatever it took to come up with the money. I have memories of parts that would be pure gold now as well! ~Alden
An OT multi-carbed 4-speed 71 gTx. They made 62 of those that year. This one had all the options too. Passed on it because I had a grand, not $1200. I was young and stupid so I probably would've run it into the ground anyway. (EDIT) didn't notice the post above mine when I replied. I guess $1200 was the going price for gTxes back in the day.
1971 - bought a 50,000 mile '69 427 Corvette for $2700 1978 - sold the vette with 125,000 miles for $3000 - down payment on a house 1986 - house gone, wife gone 2011 - I still have the owners manual and protect-o-plate....
My dad passed on a vintage Mercedes Gull Wing Coupe in the late 1970's for $2500 In 1994 I passed on a numbers matching '69 RA IV GTO for $7500. I didn't like the original colors, brown with green interior and a green vinyl top.
Between insurance company BS and gas prices the dealer used car lots in the early 70's were loaded with HEMI cars and anything else we would crawl thru broken glass for today, Hindsight is always 20/20.
Although this story's car did not have a real owner, it is still one I regret. I grew up in Mackinaw City, Mich. and in the town next door there was an abandoned house next to my girlfriends house. One day I walked over there and in the back yard, covered in the bush was a 1940 ford standard tudor and a 1933 tudor. The 33 really sparked my interest but there was no way for me to get it other than just taking it, which I could not do because I was only 17 and had no trailer. I went over there from time to time and looked at it. It still had factory green paint on it. I ended up moving to Detroit and about 3 years ago I went up there and checked on it. The house is fully restored and all the cars are gone. I stopped and asked the owner of the house and they said they bought it auction style and all the cars were junked. Damn.
hmm. lets see... 63 VW bug -$300 needed fuel pump 63 Chevy long bed 2 wheel drive $300 - ran. needed tune up, body work, interior 67 chevy pk. 2 wheel drive long bed. 350/350. basically all done except the brakes needed gone through $4000. 67 chevy pk. ran. needed work. $800 79 chevy 4x4 long bed lift kit - $1000 Cj2 jeep - dont rember the year. stock. orginal. garage kept. 45,000 orginal miles. - $2500. There was a few willys sittin about 1 mile from my grandma house. i could never find who owned them. then they where gone. there is more but i should stop im gettin kinda sad. i need another beer...or 12.
My regret is about a 1958 model that I "bought" in 1978 that cost $13,000 to get rid of 3 years later.
this regret is not about missing a good buy its about selling one...found this really clean rust free 40 tudor standard up in connecticut a few years ago, nicely restored some years ago and still looked great..had a 60 hp flatty, sold it for what i paid for it to finance a rebuild on my pickup..i think i @#$% up..still kickin myself in the ass, dont think i'll ever find one this clean again
I reget at least not having pictures from back in the day when Dad owned a used car lot. (1962 - 1974). We would go to car auctions and buy like 10 Cadi's at a time.
when I was a senior in high school ("68-"69) there was this channelled model A coupe with a tri-power 348 and a 4 speed. ($400!) just didn't have the money... now I'm building a similar car and I don't even want to think where it will end up
Opel Rekord A ('63-'65) 2-door sedan, many years ago. It's a sort of miniature '64-'67 Chevelle, and it would have been really cool with a decent sbc in it. My dad thought it was a bad idea, and that was the determining factor at that stage of my life ... Roughly the same time I kept walking past a bike dealership that had a red Morini 3½ for what would have been a decent price if I'd had it. Much more recently there was a VW-based MG TD replica on a lot for a silly price. It'd have been great for a de-faking exercise (ladder frame, water-cooled banger in the front, etc.) but I wasn't willing to pay their price. It sold, eventually, to someone with more money than automotive sense.
I have a mind to stop reading this thread at page 1!!!... It's like the pain within thread is channeling thru me like that chunky NJ Blond channels with "those departed". AND no, I do not watch that crap TV. My story, Little old lady down the street with a cherry light blue metallic 70 Nova. Dad wanted to think on it AND my buddy ended up with it and didn't treat it right. Ended up with a 77 Cougar XR7, 16,000 orig miles, chocolate metallic, white pin stripeing and a white vinal 1/2 top. PIMPin! My 15 year old girlfriend made me matching pillows for the "backseat" We had our 23 year weddding annivasary last June!
The Jalopy Journal
