Fire side Chat. Cars we traded and things we traded for cars

[Paul from PA]

Getting chilly in PA and dark way to soon. I decided to start a discussion on what we have traded. Car for car or ? for car. Buick or otherwise. Two trades I can recall. 1972 Riviera for a 1972 Pontiac Lemans Sport Convertible. Riviera was a good driver but the Pontiac was a convertible. I also traded a 1969 Chevelle SS for a 1969 El Camino. Bothe orange with black stripes and vinyl tops. I remember the Chevelle being in my brothers shop on a Friday and by Monday when he returned the El Camino was in it's place. We even changed the wheels. My brother wasn't sure if he was seeing things as the car "looked" different. I 'm sure there a few trade stories out there. Some good and some not so good.

[JohnD1956]

Cool story Paul.  Back when I was under my dad's rules , he got mad at me when I brought home a running and drivable 57 Buick Special convertible, with no mufflers, torn interior and top but 55K ( I bought this car in 1972 for $30.00).  He did not want any of his six kids to buy their own cars.  So one day he calls me in and asks,  What would I think of a 69 Cutlass Convertible, with bucket seats, and am/fm stereo radio.  He would buy it and it would be essentially mine to use.  This by the way meant no cost for insurance and or fuel or repairs.  All I had to do was sell the Buick.     Choices and pressure!!!!  But he had someone who would buy the Buick for $100.00. 

 

Well, okay then... out with the old and in with the newer Olds!!!  Wasn't but a few months later I was pining for that 57!!!   And two years later when the neighbor gave me his 56 Roadmaster,  I left the Olds for my siblings...never looked back!

[lrlforfun]

OK Buick People: A guy comes In to my place after noticing several old Bu's in the back. Hey, want some old cars? Gotta get them off my property. Three old Mo pars. A 55 DeSoto sedan in the barn since 75 so dirty I couldn't tell what color it was. A 56 Windsor sedan delegated to the open field and not so great. A  cherry 56  DeSoto coupe with the engine out in pieces getting ready for the machine shop when the owner died.

I LOVE TRADING. SO.................

 

 

The 55 DeSoto was sale proof. Rockabilly guys wanted the heads and grille and I wasn't about to bust it up so I traded it four a 65 Le Sabre 4 door ht rough and a 66 Le Sabre 4 door post sedan which ran a long time ago. I solid the 65 for  $300 and still have the 66 which I got running and driving.

 

The 56 Windsor sedan? Traded for a 66 Le Sabre convert. I got it running and it turned out to be 98% rust free. Still got it.

 

The 56 DeSoto coupe? Traded four a running, driving 55 Savoy sedan. I loved the Plym but had to send it down the road being a 6-stick. I traded the Plym straight across for a good running 64 Riv needing paint and interior. I still got the Riv.

 

 

So I started out with 3 MoPars and wound up with a trio of Buicks that I'm still very happy to still have.

 

Mitch

Edited November 14, 2017 by lrlforfun (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Traded off a 1968 Dodge Charger for a new 1973 Buick  Century Luxus.*  Guess which one I would still want if I were going to sell it at a Mecum auction.  Traded off a 1964 Buick Wildcat 2dr hardtop for the Charger.  

 

Ed

 

* I'm no longer married to the voice behind that decision.?  I wanted to trade for a  440 six-pak 4 speed Dodge Challenger. But "No, that's not a car you'd want your boss to see you in." ? When i sold the 63 Dodge ex-highway patrol  car to buy the Wildcat, I had to turn down a 66 Widcat four speed car because the "little lady" couldn't hold the clutch in. ☹ Why didn't we part much earlier? Where were you guys when I needed you?

Edited November 15, 2017 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Thriller]

Closest to a trade is that my first car was a 1974 AMC Javelin AMX with a 401 and T10 4 speed. I'd had it a few years and was getting tired of it. Helping a friend haul parts out of a wrecker, I saw a 1966 Wildcat and really liked it. It had been driven into the yard but the brakes were poor. The AMX was sold so I could purchase the Wildcat...then I met a woman and the car waited about ten years to get some loving. Some of you have met Elly, my Oshawa build Wildcat Custom two door hardtop. My first Buick and still one of the ones I have a soft spot for...of course that was before I needed a spreadsheet just to keep track of what I've got ?

 

Other than a chassis with engine that I purchased to save from the crusher, I haven't let go of a Buick. That chassis went to aid the restoration of a 1920. 

 

Edited November 14, 2017 by Thriller
Typo (see edit history)

[dship]

Once, I traded in a '68 Triumph Spitfire for a '68 Delta 88...what a mistake that was!  Back in '74, I traded in a '68 Cougar XR-7 302-4brl 4 speed for a '73 Mustang 302-2brl automatic...stupid, stupid, stupid!

[Pilgrim65]

Author said good or bad 

good :- 

1978,traded a tatty ford cortina that I'd had patch up to a Rover dealer for a gorgeous rover P6 , v8 , year old bright red , magic , gave me twice what I'd paid for the cortina 2 mounts before.

Bad :-

1990 traded a v12 Jaguar XJS convertible , following a engine fire which damaged bonnet , reluctant to drive again at the time , scary experience, for an expensive year old BMW 735 se , bad price for xjs . BMW lovely car but lost half its value in 18 months. V12 XJS , I'd love now.☹️

Edited November 14, 2017 by Pilgrim65 (see edit history)

[Bill Stoneberg]

Had a choice of cars to take when I moved from Illinois to Texas.  My choices were a 1967 Firebird 400 or a new Datsun Station Wagon.

I took the Station Wagon as it held more stuff.

Edited November 14, 2017 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history)

[NC1968Riviera]

In 1988 I traded a good condition 1963 Chevrolet Impala four door post sedan for a 1988 Chrysler LeBaron. I was in the Army and being reassigned from Fort Bragg, NC to Fort Lewis, WA. I didn't want to put 3k miles on the Impala so I opted for a new LeBaron. I soon discovered the LaBaron had been vandalised on the lot then rebuilt. The damage was not revealed to me by the dealership until I found windshield glass falling from behind the dash and took it back to find out what was happening. By then I had to depart for my new assignment and did not have time to deal with what I thought was a fraudulent sale. 

The Chrysler was a pretty good car but it had been repainted by the dealership and the paint began fading after 18 months. I ended up trading the LaBaron in on a new Chevrolet Silverado pick up in 1990. 

[old-tank]

On 11/14/2017 at 7:07 AM, DShip said:

.stupid, stupid, stupid!

That's nothing:

Driving to work after a few weeks at my first job out of school, my original 55 (46R, customized by crunch all 4 sides, huge mud/snow tires on back for hunting...) started knocking, backfiring and losing oil pressure.  I limped around back, parked and went to work.  The boss was OK with me leaving it there until I dealt with it on my day off.  Externally there was an outward dent in the valve cover; removed it to find a broken rocker arm and digging deeper the valve lifter had flipped out of the block.  Replacement rocker assembly from junk yard and all was well.  In the meantime the boss was impressed with my skill and told me about a car he had that the dealer wanted $800 to fix (this was 1971) and offered to give it to me.  At the time I was being paid only $750 a month and had no interest in a 'furrin' car with goofy doors, bad miss with evidence of water in the oil and even at 26 years old it was hard to get in and out of.  The car:  1955 Mercedes gullwing .  Last I saw it, it was used  to haul hay and feed for horses on his ranch after removing the passenger seat.

After that the 80 LeSabre diesel was minor stupidity!

[JohnD1956]

10 hours ago, old-tank said:

1955 Mercedes gullwing 

 Ouch!