[PHILLYGOAT]

About 1979 a guy I worked with had a red 73SD 4spd with Koni shocks and 50series T/A's. The car was CHERRY! He wanted $3500. That just seemed like SO MUCH $ for a used car.

Man, was I a DOLT!!

Actually I probably still am!

PHILLYGOAT

[Brian D'Amico]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Oh ya, should I tell about the '69 Judge convert I sold in 1983 for a grand, naaa, cause that still makes me sick to think about it.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well once, back in 83, I bought this 69 Judge Convert. for a grand...........

[Thumpin455_GTO]

1986 I had a 67 Cougar, but I wanted a GTO. Preferably a 69. I read in the paper about a 69 Judge, so I go look. He was asking $1200 for it, it was a numbers matching RA IV 4 speed. He was the second owner of it, and just didnt have room for it anymore, plus he needed money.

I was 16 and didnt have $1200. He didnt want a trade so I told my dad about it. He said it would never be worth more than $2500 even if we fixed it up. I tried everything to get that car, it had a little rust but nothing major, a few dents and a decent interior. Carousel red with out hideaways. I missed that one, and a 70 400 convertable for $1500, but scored my 70 455 HO hardtop for $1000 back in 93. I still wish I had that Judge, it pains me to think about it even now almost 20 years later.

[Thumpin455_GTO]

I just remembered I know of a 70 RA III TA 3rd owner who told me last time we talked he would take $5k for it. Needs work but no rust... No I wont tell you either...

[se428bandit]

In 1988 i went to look at a 63 lemans with a 428 in it.I had seen the car a couple of times and knew it was pretty damn fast,i was told it went a 10:96 at commerce with slicks and open headers[street car].When i looked at the car it had a carb problem and the owner wanted to fix the problem before i pick it up.Well 3 weeks went by and i told him i would take the car anyway because i would buy a new carb and he say no the car was leaving untill it was right.Well STUPID me i decide to build a 455 for my T/A and race it and not buy the lemans.About 3 years ago i was talking to the guy who bought the car new in 1963 and put the 428 in the car and he said the car would run a low 11 seconds and was originally a 326 HO car.And i could have boughtit for $3500 so i get the dumba** of the decade award.

[quick67bird]

I have two stories one did not get away and I was a day late and but not a dollar short on the other.

My first story is the car you see in my signature picture. I bought it in 1988 for $500 after a buddy told him the 350 chevy that it had in it was blown up. All that was wrong was the rochester 2 barrels floats were stuck and it wet down the cylinder walls. Raced the car with a 500 cfm 2 barrel and used to run 14.80s at palmdale in So. Cal. The car was great at the street races too. Very unsuspecting people there. Car now has the proper pontiac in its place.

My other story was last week at the Portland OR swapmeet a real PHS documented GTO in need of a resto, but the body looked to be in pretty good condition and it had an engine. I dont know if it was original or not sold for $2900. I was floored when I seen the price and the sold sign.

[Dave Wyatt]

Back in 1974 a local guy shows up with a brand new 1974 Formula 350, in Denver Gold with the Deluxe black interior, orange stripe, and spoiler. It was the most beautiful Firebird we had ever seen. By November of 1975, it was sitting on the used lot of the local Pontiac dealer and we bought it. While it looked great, power was lacking. The low compression 2 barrell 350 was less than exciting, but the dual exhuast did sound good. As time went on, we bought some property in the country and I convinced the wife that we needed a pick up. Yes, you guessed it, we traded the 'bird on a new truck and I have not heard the end of it to this day.

To try and make ammends I found another 74 Formula for sale in the mid 80's. It was a 455 model with standard interior and had not been treated well. I sold the 400 that came with it and loacted a 74 455 out of a Gran Ville. After a couple of false starts over many years, we finally threw in the towel and parted out the rusty beast. Now I see thay are making some of the more "unusual" patch panels we needed on that second car.

Not only did I let the nice one get away, I let it's replacement get away as well. We have decided to find a nice driver quality 74 Formula one of these days. We're not ready to buy just yet, but are getting close. That one will not slip away.

[GoatDr]

This one isn't a Pontiac, but it would have been sweet. When going to school in Houston in 1986 I went and looked at a 1970 Chevelle SS396 convertible. A man had it in his garage along with several very old Cadillacs(20's and 30's). It was his sons who had left it there in pieces and gone to Germany and he wanted it gone. It was a real SS and had two engines, two cowl induction hoods and two complete interiors. It had no rust or damage. He wanted $400, but we didn't have a trailer(lived in an apartment) or garage. Had to say no. Ouch.

[majorxlr8n1]

There are two for me, both GTO's...

The first (1981): a GORGEOUS '67 GTO with its original four speed, but had a '71 400 engine. Needed interior work & had major oil/trans leaks. Passed on it at $1500 because "it had the wrong motor" & my mechanical skills needed honing. UGH!

The second & most painful (April 1982): a BONA-FIDE '72 GTO with a 455 HO & automatic (both original) for $650!! I bought a '69 GTO from the same owner INSTEAD because I just had to have a stick car.

[poncho-mike]

I've had a couple of cars I let get away.

Around 1987, I found a gold 72 GTO 455HO 4-spd car with a/c. It had only 33K original miles and was still owned by the original owner. The guy lived in a small house in Concord NC. The car was stored in a little wood frame garage with a clay floor. Other than a little surface rust on hte bottom, it was cherry. At the time, he wanted a rediculous price for it ($10K). Right after a major hurricane swept through NC, he bought a new car and decided to sell it for $6K. The car was undamaged, but our yard was a wreck. My wife was a social worker, and the local office had to provide support to FEMA. Anyway, she was overworked and stressed, and said "no". A few months later, she reconsidered, but it was already gone.

Another was a 69 Judge convertible I ran across. The car was halfway solid, but the original drivetrain was missing. It was originally light green, but the owners had added dark green over portions of it, giving it a camoflage paint job. It was $1500. Storage issues were the main reason I passed, plus I my wife would have a heart attack if I parked that thing in the driveway.

I also passed on a 73 SD455 Formula for $5K in nice shape for $5500 because I had just bought my 74 SD455 4-spd a month earlier.

Mike

[LeMans70Sport]

I guy I knew at college drove a 69' Chevelle as his daily driver. I believe it was at one time a 396 SS car. It had a 350/350 in it at the time he was driving it. I ran into him a few years later and I asked if he still had the Chevelle. He said he did but didn't drive it. He also said he had a 70' GTO in pieces that had a 455 in it. He wanted $2000.00 for both. At the time I was about to buy a house and I was strapped for cash so I passed. I told a friend about that deal who told his Dad who was looking for a new project. He got both for $750. I haven't talked to either of them since.

[slowgto]

In 1983 I was 16 and saw a '67 Firebird convertible at a Vermont flea market. It was maifare maize, and black, with a 4spd 326. I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen, but I couldn't figure out how to buy it. I wanted to beg my parents for it, but they had just bought me grandma's '72 LTD (2dr 429 car) so I didn't want to seem ungrateful.

After circling classifieds for years, when I got out of college, I figured I could finally own a Firebird convertible. I called on this '69 six times and the phone just rang and rang. Nobody ever answered.

[uneasyrider]

I hope you don't mind a non Poncho one. My brother and I went down the street to look at this nice little 1967 Comet. It was this ugly bage color with about the same color interior. I looked all original and it had some old aluminium slotted mags on it and was in VERY good condition. It was a four speed top loader with a 9" posi unit too. We got to talking to the guy and he popped the hood and it was an original 390 car (original block etc.) and someone had put a set of headers, a NICE soild lifter cam and a single plane manifold with a 800cfm double pumper on it. The car was sweet! It looked like some old early '70's hot rod that had been set away for years in storage... and that's what it was. We talked to the guy and he had found it at an estate sale in a garage here local and he had just had a kid and needed the money. This car was GREAT. He wanted $1,500 for it! We were sick! Neither of us had the cash to put together to buy it! my brother had just bought my Desert Eagle .44 Mag a couple months before from me and I had spent the money on SCHOOL . My brother offered him the gun and we had about $600 cash between us and he couldn't do it he had to have all the cash.

[RayK]

I came into work one day and one of the guys I worked with said he saw a car I might be interested in. It was some sort of white GTO with a funny looking wing on the back. Those were his words not mine. I went and looked at it and I was instantly affixed with the car. It was a 1970 Judge Ram Air 3 4-speed car and the guy knew what he had and removed all the components from it, even the steering wheel as he knew the neighborhood it was in was bad. He had everything to complete the car though right down to the original matching numbers engine and transmission. Anyways, I talked to the guy on the phone about a week later and I had my 74 up for sale so i could buy this thing. He wanted about $2500.00 for it if I remember correctly. I didn't have the cash so I waited until my 74 was gone and then gave him a call about a month after I went and looked at the car. He told me he got tired of it sitting there and sold it to one of his buddies for $800.00 and he was going to cut the car up and make a drag car out of it powered by a BBC. I about died!!!

[Jeff Walker]

I had a chance to buy a 74 Firebird Formula back in 88. The car had about 60,000 miles on it with a beutiful body. He had put a 400 built for it with RAIV heads, solid lifter cam, 455 pistons with longer aluminum rods. Also had a M22 muncie and 4.56 posi in it. I could have picked it up for $2500.

I rode in it once, went pretty good but had a heck of a vibration. I found out from the guy that bought it that it had a couple spun main bearings. Oh and he sold the motor for just about what he paid for the whole car.

And why didn't I buy it? It was a choice between that or a H McCormick tractor with a loader that has came in REAL handy for snow removal around the yard and pushing vehicles in the shop.

[pontorquer]

Way back when I fell in love with Pontiac GTOs especially 66's, I bought my first and only GTO in 1988 which was a 1966 post coupe. I was only 24 years old and didn't know anything about cars. I just had to buy that 66 because I love the look of it WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CAR THAT IS ! After I bought the car for 5500$ cad with a new cheap paint job all over bondo I then looked under the car and realised the floors and frame were very rusty ! What a dummy I was! The car came from salty NY state. Anyway here are the cars I shoulda,coulda and woulda bought if only... Remember that is back in 88 and early 90's : 1974 SD TA for 2500$ good shape too! 1971 GTO JUDGE 455HO for 7500$,1968 GTO RA Solar red with 31 heads in need of total restoration for 1500$ but what a rare car ! 1972 TA 455HO for 3500$ good shape too!
1966 GTO convertible tripower with a dented in fender (accidented) 3000$...
If only I had a time machine !!! Somebody hit me with a 455 crank on the back of the head !!! By the way the seller of my 66 GTO told me the car had a 400 in it , later I found out it was an anemic and very tired 75 350 but three years later I acquired more knowledge and found a 66 gto 4 barrel WT 389 for 400$ needed rebuild of course. I no longer have the car but still am looking for another GTO or Transam project.

[TMAC396]

The ones that got away...Man, oh man...

Jr. high school 1971. We had a 1938 Chevy five-window coupe sitting in a shed behind our house since before I was born. Dad's car and my folks went on their honeymoon in it. Anyway, the head cracked on it around 1954 and it got parked in the shed to get "fixed one of these days." Don't have to tell some of you how it is with a family...things that aren't necessary get put on the back burner. All this time I had big plans for that car...gonna be done up nose-up gasser style like the ones in Hot Rod magazine at the time. Anyway, Dad dies in 1970. I'm riding my bike home from school one year later and meet the coupe coming down the road on a trailer! What the...! Mom says she had no idea that I would want "that old thing".

High school 1975. Two blocks from my house there's this BEAUTIFUL '29 Model A roadster with a full-house flathead that never moves. I mean, this thing was nice. Full-fendered, tuck & roll interior, Evans heads, 3 deuces, hydraulic brakes and chrome reverse wheels. I used to stand around and drool a lot. Anyway, a for sale sign appears one day. Asking price...$1500.00. Might as well have been a million to a kid working in a supermarket after school. Approached Mom about a loan and got "What do you want THAT old thig for? You've got my old Dodge Dart." End of story. It sold a few weeks later and apparantly dropped off the face of the earth, along with the old '38 Chevy.

High school 1976. My buddy's dad was a machine shop owner and a Pontiac guy. Bought a new 1965 Catalina 2+2 convertible and drove it everywhere. Bought a new '72 GTO and parked the 2+2 in the back of the shop. My buddy got his drivers license and that beauty was his! We had a ball in that thing until the motorcycle bug bit him. Car went up for sale to finance a new bike "because chicks dig 'em". Same story...no bread. So the car was sold to some bozo who used and abused the poor thing until he finally blew the 421. Last time I heard it was being used for a dog house and was not for sale, thank you.

There are more, but that's enough for now. They're too painful to think about!

[cvs]

About 5 years ago.........

Estate sale, rotted out, matching numbers 74 SD 455 auto Trans Am that went for $300

[oldblueponcho]

Back in 77, I didn't know anything about Pontiacs yet. Turned down a 73 SD T/A 4spd car. Bought a 71 GTX 440-6 pack car instead. If only I knew.

[Geeto Tiger]

I was looking through an old Hot Rod mag, this guy must be kicking himself for this, look for the Judge one...