[3tas4me]

Back in the '90's, a friend told me about a newspaper ad he saw in the Minneapolis classified for a 1974 Super Duty Trans Am. I tracked down the ad and called the owner. The car was located on the very western side of the state, almost into South Dakota. Took an overnight trip to go look at the car with the intention of driving it home. Brought tools, anti-freeze, oil and everything else I could think of. Got there and the car was easily worth the $4000 asking price. Only problem, it wouldn't run so it would have to be trailered home. I had no trailer, no truck or anyway to get it home so I had to walk away. Owner kept the car and eventually restored it. Saw it for sale again about 7 years ago by the same owner post restoration. If only...……..

[71GP76TA]

Back in 2005 I had a chance to buy a '63 split window Vette for $22,000. It was a 327/250 4 speed 1 repaint survivor CA car.4

Around 1994 could've bought a beat to sh** '70 Malibu 2 door for $75. Problem was the ear on the block where the starter mounted was broke off. I couldn't afford to have it towed home so I passed..

[brians]

The one car that to this day I regret is not a Pontiac.

Friend of my fathers bought a 70 LS5 4sp Chevelle new. Red, black int.
1976, he grenades the engine and replaces it with a complete LS6
1978, he gets hit in the driver’s quarter. Ins. pays him, he bought a GM quarter and inner
But never fixed it. It sat in his garage under a cover.

I asked (begged) him for years to sell me that car.
1996, he calls me and tells me that they decided to sell the house and the realtor felt the car would not look good to buyers so he tells me 5K and I can have everything but have to tell him right away as he has a waiting list to purchase it.

Well I had just bought a 68 GTO RAII car the weekend before and was broke. I spent the next few days calling everyone I knew to see if they wanted to buy the GTO or borrow money from with no luck. I ended up telling him I could not buy it. (atleast I still have the 68 GTO but that car was cool)

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by Heybuck

Not a car but a Kenworth truck.

I went to a clearing sale about 20 years ago. BIG Kenworth was sitting in the corner of the yard. It had started life as a road train, 8VGM, 15 speed road ranger box, twin diffs on Hendrikson suspension etc. It looked like it had had a hard life. Because it was an air start and the tanks were empty, it could not be started. Auctioneer could not get any bids on it but I threw in a $5k bid. They laughed but took the bid. Another guy pushed it it to $8K and I pulled out. Got home that night and my mate called me to say the winning bidder had walked away and I should call the auctioneer. Chewed on it for a day, called him and he said he had just sold it to a truck dealer. In those days it was a $40k truck painted and running. But still worth $10k if it was a non runner. I still think about it.....

8VGM ?

[geeteeohguy]

1982: looked at a '65 GTO convertible for sale locally. Black plate CA car. Burgundy, red interior, white top. Original documented tripower, gauges, console, 4 speed, posi. Power brakes, steering, windows, and rear antenna. AM-FM radio. The ask was $3100.....I offered $2700, which is about all I had. Offer was declined, and about a week later I bought a Blue Charcoal/blue '65 documented tripower 4 speed hardtop. Rally gauges, console, posi. Paid $1200 for it. Shortly after I bought the hardtop, the owner of the ragtop called me and said he'd take my $2700, as he had gotten transferred out of state. I no longer had the money to buy it. It was the most highly optioned '65 ragtop I had seen then or now. The one that got away. The '65 hardtop that I bought for $1200? I still have that car today. No regrets.....well, not really....

[Ed Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by 455Grandville

8VGM ?

8V71-AKA 318 Detriot.

[pknopp]

If you are old enough there are likely 20 stories one can tell. 440 1970 Charger. White with a green interior. This was around 1979. Gas had just hit around $1.00 a gallon. It was sitting in their backyard because it was so expensive to drive. $400. I passed.

1957 Chevy. Black with buckets. I don't recall what was transplanted in it but it had a 4 speed on the floor. Driver quality. They wanted $800 I think. I went home and called to offer $750. They just sold it. 1969 Z/28. It needed work on both quarters. He wanted $2500. I thought he was crazy.

I could go on. Ended up buying a 67 GTO convertible. $1100. Been a Pontiac fan ever since.

[nas t eh]

In 1982, my friend had a 1968 Selby GT500 in very very good original condition, rather low miles, very small rust spot starting down low in a rear quarter and on the power steering bracket attached to the strut tower. After he got married and having children the car had to go, I didn't have the $13,000CAD for it so I passed. We both kick ourselves a little for letting that one get away.

[mgarblik]

I have 2 misses that were both pretty brutal in different ways. 1st one 1980. 1969 Trans Am listed in the "Tradin Post", basically a paper version of Craigslist. I had a special mom and pop carryout that got the paper about 3-4 hours sooner than most outlets. I saw the ad, Ram Air III 4-speed, $700.00, "drive it home" Immediately drove to the house where it was listed and as I pulled into the driveway, the transaction was being made by someone else. I was probably 20 minutes to 1/2 hour late. He drove it away. 2nd one: 1981 An orange Superbird, 440 6 barrel, automatic on the column. My friends and I had seen this car for over a year sitting on concrete blocks in an apartment parking lot. The car never moved. Then one day it had wheels on it, was on the ground and a For Sale Sign on it. We found the owner, started it up and test drove it. It was rust free, but ran terrible, rattled, squeaky, terrible handling and brakes. We drove it back looked at each other and said, "Who in their right mind would pay $1500.00 for this P#S". Well, we now know the rest of that story!!.

[1965gp]

Senior year in high school-1994. Local paper had a 69 GTO parts car for sale $250. I go to look at it as we hadn’t ever had a real GTO at that point. It was more than a parts car- it was really just missing the hood and a carburetor/air cleaner. Car was solid with very little rust. The guy just wanted the car gone- he said I could have it for $100. I went home and looked up what I knew to look at and it had Ram Air IV heads on it. I asked my mom and at this point I had a 57 Chieftain, 63 Grand Prix, 65 Grand Prix and 70 LeMans.

My dad was off at school and my mom said there was no way in hell I was bringing home another car. Never figured out if it was a real ram air car.

[455HOGT37]

1985: a super clean, low milage 1970 Challenger RT survivor pops up on the market. 440 six pack, shaker, 4 speed, numbers matching, great original limelight green paint and white interior. $3800. As a teen, it might as well have been a million bucks.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by 455HOGT37

1985: a super clean, low milage 1970 Challenger RT survivor pops up on the market. 440 six pack, shaker, 4 speed, numbers matching, great original limelight green paint and white interior. $3800. As a teen, it might as well have been a million bucks.

That's a factor we often forget to remember when traveling down memory lane. I had a chance to buy a Super Duty Aluminum nose Catalina when I was 17 years old. $15,000. Just like you, it might as well been 5 million dollars. I was making something like $1.10 an hour at the time pumping gas at a Gulf station.

[455HOGT37]

Yep. The other thing we forget is that though some of these lost treasures are worth a ton of money now, they pale in comparison to other investments. If I could go back in time with the 3800 bucks to buy that Challenger, you can bet I'd buy Microsoft instead!

[Lightfoot]

In 1980 I checked out an ad I saw in the weekly trade paper.
The ad was short & simple for a '63 Impala w/409. I think the guy had it listed for $175. It was just outside of South Bend Indiana, about a mile south of the (MI) state line.
Palomar Red coupe with red leather, 409/340 with a glide and center console. Not running but a pretty solid and complete car.
When I got there and looked it over, he said he'd take $125 for it.
Since I 'd have to have it towed home, 30 miles into Mich, I was hesitant to pull the trigger. A couple weeks later, my 409 jones had escalated enough to send me back down there. Of course when I showed up, he had sold it a few days earlier for $100 but he gave me the the buyer's phone number.
Before driving home, I called the buyer from a phone booth and talked to him for a bit. He was going to "just go through the engine" with Jahns pistons, etc. but since he didn't really need the project, he'd let me have the car for $125. He sounded really sincere and genuine. I told him it was a deal, and I'd have to go home to iron out the details of getting it towed.
Later that day I got cold feet after reality hit me about having a car that didn't run being dropped off into my folk's driveway. Soooo, I called the guy back and called off the deal.

Looking back at it (with what I know now), if I were to go back in time, I'm sure I could have that 409 running with nothing more major than a carb rebuild or timing chain replacement. If it smoked a little (or a lot), so be it. It isn't about how much the car's value increased but more my desire to have an '09 to play around with. I had been itching to own a W-motor car for at least three years.

[Drag Star Le Mans]

When I was 14 or 15 (about 83-84?) there was a three 69 Judges for sale without engines cheap, $800 to $1,000? My brother drove me down to look at them. They were all Carousel Red, couple with parchment int. few 4spds and one was possibly a RA-IV? Been a long time so details are slipping my mind. I was dreaming big time back them and still now. I didn't have no where near enough lawn mowing money to buy anything not to mention the know how, lack of tools and a place to work? Scott Thelander might chime in about this and fill in the gaps?

[TAKerry]

Originally Posted by 455HOGT37

Yep. The other thing we forget is that though some of these lost treasures are worth a ton of money now, they pale in comparison to other investments. If I could go back in time with the 3800 bucks to buy that Challenger, you can bet I'd buy Microsoft instead!

This. Every time I see a car for sale with less than 100 miles on the odom. my first thought is, if that person would have bought the same amount of gold at the time what would the return have been?

[johnta1]

Thing for me is that I never bought them with the idea to 'make money' on them?
I bought all mine because I wanted them to drive and have basically.


Later I told my wife I could have retired rich if I kept them though.

[TAKerry]

Originally Posted by johnta1

Thing for me is that I never bought them with the idea to 'make money' on them?
I bought all mine because I wanted them to drive and have basically.


Later I told my wife I could have retired rich if I kept them though.

And that's how someone should buy a car. Again, I look at a car for sale with low miles and think, That certainly couldn't have been any fun. With the exception of a select few, not many cars make good investments.

[johnta1]

Should have started with the 'one that got away'.



After I sold my 70 Judge, I saw the best looking 71 Judge at a car lot.
Lucerne Blue, 4 speed, hood tach, black interior. Fantastic shape!
I told the salesman I would buy it, but had to go to the bank. (they were closed, late in day) I asked if he needed a deposit. No, we'll keep it here for you.
(I think it was $1500 for it, around 1976)

Next day I go to buy it, and it was gone! A salesman said a guy just bought it and left with it. I asked about my supposedly buying it. The other salesman didn't write anything down about it.

Come to find out a guy I worked with bought it. And he wrecked/totaled it 3 or 4 days later on a drunken binge.

But luckily for Dr. Doug, I gave him the contact info and he bought another one the guy had sitting in a barn and some of that car for parts.

[post toastie]

This was a couple weeks ago on craigslist it was 73 sd formula a couple of miles from me. I have the pics left from the ad and the asking price was 29k