The one that got away.

[wdrthird]

Im sure everyone has a story about that one car or truck that they sold and always regretted it, so lets hear the stories about the one that got away and see some pics if you got 'em.

[BurnoutNova]

i sold my 69 K20 a few years ago. i kinda wish i still had it, but i sold it for alot more than i had into it so i guess i came out alright. i dont have any pics of it on my current computer

[BurnoutNova]

i sold my 69 K20 a few years ago. i kinda wish i still had it, but i sold it for alot more than i had into it so i guess i came out alright. i dont have any pics of it on my current computer

[wdrthird]

Heres my old '69 Camaro. When I was about 10 years old I saw a movie called "Better Off Dead" and in it the guy fix's up a black '67 RS/SS Camaro. When it showed him pulling the finished car out of his garage real slow, I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen and I swore right then Id have a car like that someday. When I got older and figured out just what kind of car it actually was, I saved my money and started looking. When I was 18 I found this car in the picture post classifieds and I skipped school the next day and drove about 100 miles to buy it. I bought the car for $4,500 during my senior year of high school back in 1994. It was originally a base model 6 cylinder car, but someone had put on a SS hood and spoilers, ralley wheels, and repainted it with the Z/28 stripes. Inside it had dark green interior with high back buckets and a horseshoe console shifter. It was powered by a 325 hp 396 backed by a turbo 350 tranny. I drove this car for a few years, had alot of fun in it and won more than a few races with it. It was my daily driver for a couple years then I bought a truck so I could tear down the car and fix some rust issues it had going on underneath. I stripped the car down to just a rolling chassis and found out the rust was alot worse than I originally thought. The car sat in storage for awhile while I was saving money and over time I lost interest/got into other projects and hobbies. One day a friend at the parts store calls and says a guy came in and was looking for a first generation Camaro to restore, so after a few months of thinking and negotiating I sold the car and all the parts minus the motor. About a year later the guy gets the car back on the road and eventually he hands it down to his 16 year old daughter to drive to school. He never repainted the car so everytime I saw her driving it, Id wanna kick myself. Eventually the car wound up in the classifieds for sale, he threw on some SS emblems and was asking $12,000 ! I laughed because I knew what the car really was and figured he'd never get anywhere close to that amount for it, but after awhile the ad in the paper was gone and I've never seen the car since. I dont know who bought it, where it went, or what happened to it, but Im always keeping my eyes open for it when I go to car shows and cruise ins. I've always loved the 67-69 Camaros, but nowdays their prices have sky rocketed so I doubt I'll ever own another one, but I'll never forget this one and I'll always wish I had hung on to it. This picture was taken in 1995 at the Mid-America Dragway right after The Last Run Car Show in Ark City Kansas.

[Stocker]

I've had a few, but I'm gonna mention one I never bought. I was in high school (40+ years ago) and a guy offered me his '40 (possibly '39?) Ford pickup for $150. Stock, super clean & straight, flathead V8, good paint, ran well... my parents wouldn't let me buy it because it would cost $150/year for insurance.

[C/10 Cruiser]

Mine was my '70 GMC Sierra Grande, factory big block truck. My very first classic truck and I sold it before a cross country move because I thought I wouldn't have room for it.

Well I was wrong and I ended up having 5 acres of room for it but I had to suck it up and start new.

[heavy71chevy]

mines not as cool as some of yours but i do miss it...Almost two years ago i bought a 1980 diplomat two door that was in real nice shape and was only 300 dollars...i was a 318 car with an auto floor shift...i put it on wide ass cragar ss rims with huge poly glass meats in the back with the small skinnys up front...drove the hell out of it and had fun with it and then put an edelbrock carb on the motor and it back fired and had an underhood fire...needed to get it out of the road so i gave it to a salvage yard to tow it....regreted it two days later and went to try and get it back found it stripped smashed in the drivers quarter panel and on blocks....i miss it all the time now and found out later it was rare for the fact there wasnt many two door diplomats built(the look like a slightly longer monte carlo) ive never been back since

[PanelDeland]

I tried to buy a Packard Hearse in HS.It had been sitting in aan empty lot for at least 4 years,The guy would not seel for the $300.00 I offered(1974).I asked a couple years later and he still wouldn't sell for the $500.00 I offered.He did finally offer it to me for $1000.00 in 1986,but by then there was only rust and a ghost of what it had been.

[dave2953]

Mine was a '71 Dart Swinger. When I bought it back in 2002 it only had about 71,XXX miles on it. Near perfect factory paint. Only had a slant six but also was factory ordered with an 8 3/4 rear end. Some guy came by my house and offered nearly three times what I paid so I let it go. Used the money to pay bills and by the truck I have now. Sure do miss that thing.

[dan42]

My brother in law (now ex) had a '57 bug, factory black paint, with a sunroof in it (also factory). This was in 1970. He said he was gonna park it and give it to me when I turned 16. The he turns around and sells it for $250 3 monthes before I was 16. Oh well, I ended up with a $200 '55 1st series, so it turned out o.k. - sure would have liked to have that bug, though.

[72BLUZ]

i have no pictures! but when i was 16 years old in the year 1978-1979 my dad found me a 1972 chevelle malibu. it was orange with a 4 speed tranny and 350 eng. the eng was blowed up and the tranny was trash. he bought a 1970 4 door nova with a 307 3 speed. he and i worked together for several weeks swapping it all over. the quarter panels where crashed in. so he and i made those repairs as well as sanding and primering the car. then i took it to earl schieb in chattanooga and had a 69 dollar paint job. the color was suppose to be aqua blue. well part of it was. i kept it untill 1981 and sold it after i married and could not afford to fix it any more. well i actually gave it away. i mean really gave it away. i would love to have it parked next to my 72bluz right now. that time in life with dad showing me and teaching me was awesome. he is now 72 and i am 45. he has a hard time trying to remember to put gas in his truck LOL.


****WE LIVE AND DIE BY THE CHOICES WE MAKE!!!!****

[Fraser Beatty]

I'm only 18 and already have one of these stories. I wish I had my 83 Chevrolet Camaro Berlinetta back that I sold last year. I woulda kept it, but couldn't afford the $6500/year for insurance.

[bhoeger70]

I had a 70 Chevelle SS 396 with the M20 4 speed and 3.31 gears. The engine was not stock (12 to 1 compression ported oval port heads). First and second gears were a rush. I traded it off for a car for me wife (4cyl front wheel drive). Man I would love to have that car back.

[wdrthird]

Cool stories, hope to hear more. Im sure alot of them end with having to get rid of the car/truck because it wasnt "practical".

[va_tlc]

well i was a senior in h/s and was looking for a fastback mustang, well found one at a old gas station , while skipping school one day , all stock 67 fastback with 390 bb auto very nice car after the test drive. wow this thing was fast for a 18yr old, went home and ask my dad to borrow the money and he did loan it to me so i got it and my brother painted it for me, drove it a couple yrs until in 1985 i just had to have a new toyota p/u, well i sold my dad the fastback for the same amount he loaned me for the car 1100 bucks.... well there is a good ending to this story.. dad still has it.

[Boog]

In highschool I already had a vw but one of my teachers had a 67 SS396 Chevelle like new for sale. It was an unusuall medium green with green vinyl top, bench seat, column shift auto and wheel covers. 3 yrs old and like new. I wanted that cream puff bad but dad would not help me buy it. "Too much insurance and gas he said and besides you don't need that big motor." 375 horse if I remember right. If you could see that school teacher you would know he never abused it so it would have been the best used muscle car I could have found. Oh well. I never did get one. I moved on to trucks. That was almost 40 yrs ago and I can still feel how that car drove.

[Lafayette 68K20]

I have two stories - In 1979, I pumped gas at the local Shell station when one of our customers comes strolling in to ask if he can park his all original 69 442 convertible, (hurst dual gate, the works) on our lot to sell. It was dark green with white top and white interior. Of course I offered him the $4K he was asking right on the spot, and the jerk said no. I was only 15 at the time, and he said I was too young and would kill myself with it - he was probably right.

The second was a 1981 BMW 323i - Euro edition, gold with tan leather interior. I actually got to buy this one in 1988, and off a cheap used car lot. Turned out, it was perfect - factory straight 6 with dual exhaust, lowered, huge Alpina 17" wheels (came stock with 13"s! and yes, it rubbed in very hard turns) and all guages and markings were in German. The guy had no idea what he had. The car was super fast, and handled great. Ended up selling it 3 years later for more than I paid. My wife still gives me grief for selling it (we met about a 2 years after I bought it, and got married several years later - I think the car helped close the deal.)

[rstewart09]

There was a couple that I never ended up with but sure wanted. In 1975, while in high school another kid had a 69 Roadrunner with a 383 and 4 speed for sale for $1800. I talked him down to $1500 but mom and dad wouldn't let me get it because of insurance and probably thought I would kill myself. Then later around 1977 my uncle worked on road construction and told me about a guy he worked with that had a 1959 Cadillac convertible that he drove to work and wanted to sell for $800. This was on a Friday and on Monday when I went to buy it he had already sold it. One more was in high school and found a 1963 Falcon Sprint convertible with 260 V8 and 4 speed for $500. Went straight to bank and got money. Came back and he said his nephew decided he wanted it after we had already agreed on sale. All well, have been plenty along the way I did get.

[mrein3]

What?!? I didn't know you sold a Chevelle. I thought when you bought one it was yours forever. The yellow one I bought between my sophomore and junior years of high school (July 1984 to be exact). $650 cash money. It was my daily driver through 1992 and got part time duty until 1994. The blue one I bought after a couple of years of college (1989 or so - college was a blur). $1150 cash money. I hear too many sob stories about the car you sold and wish you didn't so I just keep them all.
The truck is a relative new comer. I didn't get that until March of 1994. That one set me back $1200.

Lets see. 650 + 1150 + 1200 = $3000. Would you pay $3k for that fleet today? My buddy sold his 67, 2wd, 2nd owner truck for $3500 cash yesterday. I know mutual funds and stocks do better but they ain't as fun to drive.

[wdrthird]

Originally Posted by rstewart09

There was a couple that I never ended up with but sure wanted. In 1975, while in high school another kid had a 69 Roadrunner with a 383 and 4 speed for sale for $1800. I talked him down to $1500 but mom and dad wouldn't let me get it because of insurance and probably thought I would kill myself. Then later around 1977 my uncle worked on road construction and told me about a guy he worked with that had a 1959 Cadillac convertible that he drove to work and wanted to sell for $800. This was on a Friday and on Monday when I went to buy it he had already sold it. One more was in high school and found a 1963 Falcon Sprint convertible with 260 V8 and 4 speed for $500. Went straight to bank and got money. Came back and he said his nephew decided he wanted it after we had already agreed on sale. All well, have been plenty along the way I did get.

That really sucks about the Caddy, a '59 convertible is one of my dream cars and they're goin for a whole lot more than 800 bucks nowdays!

[72BLUZ]

****we Live And Die By The Choices We Make!!!!****

[retselgerg]

65 c/10 283 3 speed, get ready for this 14K orginal miles for 250 dollars, a 65 SS impala 350 horse 327 perfect body no rust all orginal 900 dollars,

[odog]

Mine was when I was 20, just back rom college for the summer, on my way home from work one day and spotted a big black caddy in a field. Pivot would come by and spray it twice a day. Stopped and asked the guy about it. Turned out to be a 1958 custom limo. Not to stretched, but about the length of an extended cab longbed truck. Rear sucide doors, 500 cu motor, said it ran when he parked it 8 years earlier. Got to looking through it, mice had made a home in the carborator, interior had rotted to nothing and smelled like skunks. I thought it would be too much for me to tackle and said thank you for your time and went home. I saw that same car in a parade 2 years ago, looked beautiful, I asked the new owner about it and he told me where he got it and how much. Guy gave it to him just to take off the place. I could've had it for nothing, but chickened out on the project.