[69nova]

One always hears of opportunity knocking when it comes to picking up a good deal on a used car. I reflected on those deals throughout the years that I didn't pursue and can now kick myself for it.

1971 Opel GT for $2000. A pop re-furbished it for his grand daughter who later bought another car to go to college. So, he had it on his hands. I talked with him over the phone but couldn't make it to settle the deal since I had to go out of town.

A Ford Falcon. Non-descript except that it had a 428 CJ motor under the hood. Guy wanted $1500. Since this was in the 70's, Hemis and other big blocks were going to the junk yards. Just go married and didn't have the money. Man, that was a nice machine.

A 37 Olds that had been hot rodded. Even though the car was in great shape and the price low, I opted out when I was told that the title holder was in prison-in prison for a loonnng time. I figured that I didn't need the hassle.

A 74 Corvette that went for $4000. I really cannot blame myself for this one. My wife was driven home from a Tupperware party (or whatever) by a girlfriend who was buying a condo and needed the money. Called the next day but somebody had already beat me to it. Yellow with black interior- my favorite colors for the vette.

Oh well. Will there be other chances? Hope so although nobody's going to abandon their muscle cars the next time OPEC tightens the gas supply.

 

[Rex Raider]

You've had at least 4 chances already. I'm sure there will be more.

 

[69nova]

Here is another one but didn't happen to me (but a happy story for a friend).
This was in the 70's. An older couple had a garage full of stuff (I mean crammed) and the garage was in very poor shape, leaning to one side, and the city cited them with a warning that it would be condemned (or some such thing). The old man was one of these types that if he couldn't fix it, then it sat.
My buddy (the guy's nephew) got the job of cleaning out the garage. In the middle was a mid-30's oldsmobile just sitting there all dusty. The tires were flat and the mohair was musty but, other than that, it was sitting there. Sitting there with maps in the glove compartment and old wrenches in the trunk.
The maps were funny since they had only 2 roads leading out of Chicago.
Well, my buddy got the car-2 piece spark plugs and all. Another friend helped him drain the motor and re-fill the fluids, poured oil down the cylinders and turned it over by hand. In the week, we were in it running around town.
The car had one broken tail light. No problem since the replacement was sitting there still in a wrapper. The friend eventually had it restored.
I still think of that car.

 

[GroundedZ]

Had a shot at a 1984 Pontiac Fiero 2M4. Would have loved to dropped a S/C 3.8 in there. But then the issue of Fiero parts and service took hold and i turned it down.


Then there was this 1983 Corvette.....

 

[69nova]

The 76 Caddie convertible is probably at its peak value. I never know about those cars with RARE appointments-if the car sucks, it has no value otherwise with a rare option.
One of the car mags wrote an article based upon the fact that the standard 60's cars have become high priced and hard to get as did the 40's and 50's mobiles. Rodders have now turned to trucks and 70's vehicles are being eyed as desireables. In this sense, the large GM convertibles would be prime (70's Bonnevilles, Caprices, etc). They can still be purchased at a relatively low cost.

 

[coolcaddy]

* A 1985 Corvette--FOR FREE. Actually, I'm glad I didn't take it. An acquaintance I knew at the time (late 80's) had the car and I always complimented him on it. One day, he handed me the keys and let me drive it by myself. When I got back, he told me it would be in front of his house with the keys in it if I wanted it. "Just come by and take it", he said.

Well, that obviously smelled a little funny, so I thanked him but declined his offer. I found out later that he had just bought a new Porsche and wasn't happy with what he could get for selling his Corvette, so he concocted a scheme to claim it was stolen and get insurance money for it.

Otherwise...

* A 1973 VW Beetle in absolutely perfect condition with low mileage. This was around 1990ish and I had just bought my awesome new 1991 Camaro RS, so I was squeamish about spending more money. The gentleman who was selling it wanted next to nothing for it--it belonged to a recently deceased family member and he just wanted it off his driveway.

In retrospect, it wouldn't have killed me to buy it, and I would have loved to have it and would have been able to sell it for three times what I paid for it once I got tired of it.

* A 1959 Chevy Impala, also in perfect shape. My wife and I had just bought a house at the time, so we weren't in a spending mood. Wish I woulda' done it, though. It was a gorgeous car.

I could probably think of three or four others, but it's been a long time since I let one go that I could have and looked really good.

 

[paul8488]

same as several of you, there was one that i wished at the time i could get, but in the end it's best it got away. came across a volvo P1800 in a shop years ago... i think it was early '70's, but i forget now. it was for sale, and pretty damn cheap. i inquired, and coulda bought it, but the mechanic working on it warned me against it. he said "unless you have lotsa money to dump into a toy, don't bother". he was trying to fix the brakes, and was going to have to totally fabricate a buncha new components. he just couldn't find them. he said it'd be fun but very costly, and would only get more expensive as time went on. i was in college and woulda loved the car, but i bet it'd be sitting unused right now if i'd bought it.

 

[doh]

69 Camaro SS redone but not show just a driver $4000

51 Ford F-100 ready for paint and powertrain $150.00

47 GMC 1/2 ton older restoration but driving daily $2000.00