Most interesting vehicle that found YOU

[Restorer32]

Thought it might be fun to start a new thread on what vehicle found YOU? I mean that vehicle that just showed up out of the blue when you wern't looking for another one. Chance discoveries that you ended up with. Cars that someone GAVE you or you inherited by surprise? I'll start....I was at a non-automotive farm auction minding my own business when an older gentleman who I had never met came up to me and said "I hear you buy old vehicles". I allowed as how I sometimes did depending on price and if it excited me. He proceeded to offer me a 1923 Harley with a sidecar that his brother had bought new and that had been partially disassembled and in his barn since his brother decided to "fix 'er up" in 1937. Now, I know virtually nothing about motorcycles but I immediately realized that the price he wanted was an absolute steal. Picked it up the same day. It still had the 1937 PA License plate on it.

[R W Burgess]

Jeff, is that how BIG collections start?

As I read your post, I was thinking that there is no way I'd want to buy anything else. I don't even have room for what I do have. I now have one car outside and need to deperately sell something.

Wayne

[R Walling]

I was visiting a friend and we went to his brothers 100 year house to see the beautiful job he did restoring it.

As he showed me the barn, he waltzed me behind the barn and there was a 55 F100 sitting there that his wife wanted no part of.

After declining inetrest in it three times, he begged me to take it free!

Well I coulden't refuse Free, so I restorded it and was happily driving it when a guy in front of me at a stop light got out of his car to admire it.

He said that he had a trailer that matched the pick up bed and wanted to know if I wanted it, Free!.

Well you know what happened next!

That's what happens when people know that you like old cars.

(I also was given a 32 Ford chassis, A 71 Impala convertable and a 38 Buick coupe. all of that I was forced into rebuilding)

[Restorer32]

I was asked to retrieve a 1937 high quality European car from another restoration shop that had taken a good bit of the owner's money without actually completing very much work. We brought the car back and evaluated it and had the owner visit so we could discuss what the car needed (everything including extensive wood replacement and sheetmetal work) and what the restoration could possibly cost. The owner decided that he could not possibly spend what it would take to complete the car and ask if I were interested in purchasing the project. Fresh from a divorce I was in no position to buy anything, even if he financed the car, and told him so but offered to try to find a buyer. He said he was just tired of fooling with the thing and asked his wife what she thought. She said she thought they should do what they had discussed on the trip to our shop. He smiles and says OK and proceeds to pull the title out of his pocket and toss it onto my desk. "There you go" he says. "You misunderstand" says I. "I can't afford to buy your car". Says he "I am giving you the car, no strings attached, do with it what you will, sell it, restore it, junk it, just don't contact me about the car ever again". I eventually sold the car and lost track of it. I am now waiting for someone to give me a Duesenberg. Hey, it could happen!

[West Peterson]

I went to a friend's neighbor to buy his pop-up camper. With the deal done, I noticed the unmistakeable shape of a 356 series Porsche underneath a car cover in his garage. I jokingly told him that I now needed a car with which to tow the camper, and pointed to his Porsch (I say "porsh" to irritate those who hate it).

He then revealed that he had cancer and that everything, including the house, was for sale. I seriously thought about the whole package, folding the cost of the camper and Porsch (which was a Super 90 cabriolet with factory hardtop) into the house loan, but that didn't happen.

Not knowing a lot about 356 Porsches, the fact that it was a Super 90 meant very little to me. The fact that it was unrestored did appeal to me, and the price was VERY affordable. I bought the car and drove it 20,000 miles during my first 3 years of ownership. I found some extremely interesting history about the car after I bought it, which I plan to reveal in a future editorial.

This photo is after I restored it.

Edited July 19, 2011 by West Peterson (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

I wasn't really looking for a car when my '29 Cadillac showed up on my radar. As a collector car broker, I was called to help liquidate the estate of a collector. The collector's son was not really interested in cars and offered us 5 or 6 cars to try to sell. Among them was the '29 Cadillac, sitting in an unheated garage for the past 8 or 9 years since his father's passing. He didn't know if it ran, admitted that the transmission popped out of second gear, and it was truly filthy.

Our initial plan was to haul it to our shop, get it running, and see what happened. Instead, I found myself saying, "I'll take it," without even knowing if it ran. A new battery, a rebuilt carburetor, and some clean spark plugs and it fired right up. A massive transmission rebuild was also required, but now it runs beautifully and has cleaned up extremely well. It doesn't look like a 35-year-old restoration, but maybe 8-10. And I am proud when people call it "Wayne's car" because he was such a well-liked guy here in NE Ohio.

I wasn't actively looking, but the right car at the right price came along and I decided I was tired of sitting on the sidelines in a hobby that also provides me with my income. To be honest, buying this particular old car was one of the best decisions I've ever made--I couldn't be happier with it and look forward to many happy years behind the wheel.

[Matt Harwood]

Restorer32, that's an awesome story! What was the car?!?

[Restorer32]

It was a small 1937 Mercedes Sedan custom built for the President of Bolivia with full documentation including original purchase order in Spanish.

[DAVE A]

Several years ago, I went up to Long island to help a Crosley owner I knew up there to get rid of a lot of sheet metal "scrap" he had laying around his home. I filled my trailer and the bed of my pickup up with Crosley body panels in various states of rust. As I was getting ready to leave, he told me he also had to get rid of a couple of cars he had laying around. I jokingly told him he could drop them off at my house any time. A couple of months later, I was at a show when my phone rang. My wife told me there was some guy unloading Crosleys in our driveway. I asked her to find out who it was, but by the time she got out to the driveway, he was gone. When I returned home there was a CC and a CD wagon sitting in my drive. Both have been given away to others. One has been restored and the other is in process.

[Barry Wolk]

My '77 Town Car found me in '02 with under 13,000 miles on it. It stalled in front of my house. It was nearly flawless and 25 years old. I gave the owner the "Roll your window down" sign. I said, "Nice car!". He said, "Wanna buy it?" I said, "Sure!".

$129 in parts for intake manifold gaskets and a carb kit and a weekend of my labor got it running perfectly. The car now has 21,000 miles on it.

[Restorer32]

Now that's funny!

[TexRiv_63]

Many years ago my wife's great uncle had to stop driving due to age. He had always owned Oaklands and Pontiacs and at that time he had a 1965 Bonneville 4-door hardtop. He knew I was always working on cars so he "sold" me the car for $1.00 with the proviso that if I ever sold it the money was to be used for my son's education. I used it as a driver for a couple of years, fixed it up and painted it, and eventually sold it - the proceeds went to buy savings bonds which my older son put to good use in college.

Most recently my 32 Cadillac "found" me in that I had just bought a 28 Pierce Arrow and was not looking but when I saw that car I just could not pass up the opportunity to cross off another bucket list line!

[Joe Cocuzza]

I am ALWAYS on the prowl for cars because I enjoy the "hunt" more than the actual ownership aspect.

That said, about 10-12 years ago I was looking for a Sears car-top carrier.

I found one in a local magazine called "Treasure Hunt" which comes out every Friday. So that night I called the # and after talking about the carrier the guy says to me, "You want to buy my car in the garage?" I said it depended on what it was and how much he wanted. He says "It's a 1965 Mustang". I really was not, and I am still not, that much into the Mustang thing, so I said I really wasn't interested. But then I asked if it was a coupe or convertible. (Big Mistake # 1). He says, "Convertible". I ask, "Is it red?" He says, "You know my car?" Of course I said no. The next question I asked, (Big Mistake # 2) "How much you want for it?" He says $2000.00

Now, I told him as long as I was coming to look at the car-top carrier I would look at the Mustang.

I go, spend and hour or more looking at the car and I leave telling him that I would mull it over and get back to him after the weekend.

Monday rolls around and me and the wife are sitting around and I ask her if she wanted to take a ride to look at the Mustang. (Big Mistake # 3) Okay she says.

We drive to the car and park in front of the garage. As the owners wife is raising the door my wife punches me in the leg and says' "Are you crazy? Buy the car"!!! I was still hesitant (Big Mistake # 4) but succumbed to the pressure and bought the car for $1900.00.

Put tires, carb, water pump, fuel pump and a few other odds and ends to get it running and now it is a nice car to putt around in.

I still got that one, only because I get intense pushback from the entire family when I suggest selling it.

I've got other stories but I'll let someone else takeover from here.

Joe

[RU22]

I've spentmy life chasing down stuff. Doesn't matter ''what it's worth'' or if I can buy it ....... It's just the chase

Last car I found was a 1935 Simca/Fiat 3 window coupe. It was a Christmas present for my wife last year..... Car arrived a bit apart. Got the bits out of the inside to find only a little surface rust...... and good tight woodwork. It actually has 16,000 mlles from new. These little 6CV coupes are very rare and cute like a baby 34 Ford. I c alled the previous owner he said he'd gotten it from the widow of the original owner in Paris in the 70's

Sometimes you get lucky.

Edited July 20, 2011 by RU22 (see edit history)

[Guest longman]

I went to visit a guy about some parts for a Whippet tourer I'm restoring. He said his mate around the corner also had some Whippet parts so took me to see him. In a container out back he had a complete tourer in bits and a complete 1930 Whippet coupe, rumble seat model still together. The coupe had been restored about 30 years ago and needed painting and a cleanup. The price was ridiculous and though I didn't really have the room, I found the room to fit in what is, in Australia, a super rare car. he was an older gentleman who accrued it all over his life and now no longer had the steam or time to do anything with it all. I hear stories like this all the time.

[Paul Dobbin]

I'll send my story later, but first you have to hear this one!

A friend and member of our local club was sitting with his car at a Car Show/Display at our counties historical park. Along came an elderly

gentleman with the typical conversation starter: "I had one like this".

The guy was invited to sit and talk. The afternoon went on and the

elderly gentleman starting talking about his current collection and the

difficulty in maintaining them and the thought of selling them.

Following the show, the man invited the member to come see his cars.

He had a 1932 Ford 3 window coupe that he built in 1953, a 1935 Plymouth,

a 1960 Studebaker and one other.

Long story short, he sold them all to the member who had been so nice to him at the car show.

Moral of the story: It pays to be nice!

[rocketraider]

In 1996, I had just bought the Hurst/Olds, but as is my habit I look thru the classifieds every morning to see what's there.

March 1997: 1976 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight for sale, with a phone number.

I knew there were still three of those cars running in the area, so on a whim I called- not thinking about buying another car, but maybe flipping it or putting another Olds guy on to it.

I get there, way out in the country on a dead-end county road, and there was the blue one. Talked with the 60-something owner about this and that, and found that they were both retired and wanted to travel, and had bought a motor home. They needed a car they could pull behind the RV and a 1976 Ninety Eight wasn't it, so they had bought a Mercury Tracer and were selling the Olds.

I'm thinking, this is a nice old car and he's gonna want some change for it, and right now I don't need another old car, don't have anywhere to keep another old car, don't have any business buying another old car.

I finally said, Mr. Robinson, what money are we talking about here?

He says, $800 firm, won't take any less. Somebody had already tried to buy it for a demo derby car and he ran them off- "Does that look like a demo derby car to you?"

No sir, it doesn't. Let me think about it, because I already have too many old cars...

And I'm thinking, what do I do? I don't need another old car, don't have anywhere to keep another old car...

Called a few Olds friends that night, and like Joe's wife they all said "Are you crazy? Buy the car!"

So I bought my big Oldsmobile, again intending to maybe flip it, but after a couple months I was in love with it. It had just been driven to St. Louis the previous October, so I knew the car was roadworthy. I cleaned it up good and took care of a few odds and ends, and drove it to Michigan in Aug 97 for the Oldsmobile Centennial. I had a couple of serious offers on it there, but realised I'd just have to buy an overpriced plane or bus ticket back home so I decided to keep it.

Mrs Robinson died several years back and I made a donation to the AACA Library in memory and in honor of the lady who drove and loved my big Oldsmobile the first 20 years of its life.

[Bushwack]

Most of the cars that have found their way to me came via my accountant (whose clientele largely consists of well-to-do professionals).

In 1982 my accountant called to see if I was interested in a 1969 1/2 Firebird Trans Am (4,000 miles) that was sitting in a garage since 1973. The car belonged to his client's son who was serving in the army and unfortunately never returned home.

My CPA's clients were retiring and relocating from Los Angeles to London and selling most of their holdings. I bought the car (in as new a condition a used car can be in) for $12,000.

For the past 28+ years I only put about 600 hundred miles on the car each year (driven mostly in the summer months) and recently sold the car to a gentleman in Canada.

[Joe Cocuzza]

Here's another one. (I told you guys before, I got lots)

Many moons ago, around 1982 or so, I owned a 47 DeSoto Suburban (another one I wish I kept).

I went to a local flea market because I was told there was a guy that sold old car parts.

He did not have what I was looking for but gave me the # of someone that lived in the area. Said he had a lot of NOS Chrysler stuff.

Soooooo, I called this guy, got directions and went to his house.

He took me into the garage to show me the NOS chrome he had but the second I set foot in the garage I didn't give a rats a** about the chrome.

There sits in front of me a 50's Caddy and a 47 Town and Country Sedan.

Again, long story short, after "harassing" for almost 20 years, I was FINALLY able to buy the T & C from him in 2000.

I am still working on the Caddy, though.

Joe

[cobravii]

Interesting enough...... I read this thread and it got me to reminiscing about a 1964 Olds Starfire that I bought from my dad. It was a customer of his that couldn't pay the repair bill, so I bought it for the outstanding balance.

I was about 18 at the time. i enjoyed my teenage years in that car. Drive-in's, bush party's etc.

I did a freshen up resto on it for my wedding in 1988. And sold it in 1994 when I was going through my divorce. (waaaaay too cheap)

Because I was reminiscing (because of this thread) I decided to google 1964 Starfire for Regina (my home town) and what do you know...... my old car is for sale!!!

Aaaaaaand it turns out that the seller is an old room mage of mine!

Now to determine a price........ and a place to put it!!!:eek:

[Restorer32]

Dad was in the tire business. In 1968 or so a young lady came into the shop looking to have air put into a tire with a slow leak. She was driving a Jaguar XK 150S Roadster. Dad pointed out that here tires were very badly worn. She said she didn't care, she was selling the car because of its poor gas mileage. Dad did a deal right there on the spot.

[Dandy Dave]

They all found me, and begged to be adopted. Least they befallith thy junkmans torch.:eek: Dandy Dave!

[superior1980]

I'm up to nine cars myself, and six of those were cars that I just happened to come across and liked enough to purchase. But one of those I consider to be a car that found me story.

Several years ago, I attended the Packard Museum's annual show in Warren, Ohio with my Packard hearse. I've become very used to people saying things like "I had a hearse, know someone who had a hearse, etc", and when I ask what it is they have or had, it usually turns out to be something very plain Jane and uninteresting.

So anyway, this older gentleman is looking over my car as I walk up to it, and I get the "I like hearses and have a couple" line, so naturally I ask what he had, expecting them to be nothing interesting. I was very shocked to hear him reply that he had 1972 Cadillac, 1973 Cadillac, and 1977 Lincoln hearses. That last one really opened my eyes, because I already owned the only 1977 Lincoln hearse that anyone knew of. So naturally I start questioning him about the car, and there was just something in how he was talking that made me think he was a local. So I asked if he lived around here, and he replied that he lived about ten miles away. I said that I didn't want to sound like I was inviting myself over, but I would love to see his cars. He replied with "No problem. Do you mind riding in my Packard Hawk?". Oh yes, I minded horribly!!

So we get to his house and he opens the garage, and I could tell instantly that what he had was not actually a Lincoln, but was a Mercury wagon that had been converted into a hearse and then customized to look like a Lincoln. I pointed out various things to him (he seemed like he genuinely thought he had a Lincoln) about how I could tell, and he replied with "Oh, I guess that's possible." Anyway, I took a few photographs with no thoughts other than it being an unusual car, and he drove us back to the show.

On the drive back, he said that he'd be willing to sell all three hearses, and did I know anyone who might be interested. I had no thoughts at that time about any of his cars for myself, but told him I would spread the word.

When I got home from the Packard Museum meet, I did some looking into what exactly that Mercury/Lincoln hybrid was, and it turned out that it was actually built that way by a small hearse and ambulance conversion shop when it was a new car. They built two of them only. One was built on order for a funeral home, and the other was built as a prototype show vehicle to guage interest in actually going into production with it. The one sitting in this guy's garage was the prototype show vehicle.

I found this very interesting, but still wasn't really thinking about it for myself. But nonetheless, I just couldn't get it out of my mind. About a year passed, when I received a phone call from him saying that he still had all three hearses, and he wanted to place an ad for them in my club's magazine. Well considering that that car was still in my mind a year later, I couldn't help myself but tell him that I'd place an ad for the two Cadillacs, but I'd take the "Lincoln" for myself!

So I think that's very much a car that found me, and it found me thru one of my other cars!

Edited August 29, 2011 by superior1980 (see edit history)

[Guest Xprefix28truck]

I only have one story to tell. But it's not about a car. It's about a motorcycle. I used to be very big into full size farm tractors. I have had 204 of them. I went to look at a John Deere that a friend told me about. After arriving at his home I realized the tractor wasn't worth dragging home. So I asked if I could look in his junk piles at old form implements. I saw what I at first believed was an old bicycle. The gentleman said to me "you better look again". After digging a few things off of it I realized it was a very old motorcycle. The engine wasn't on it at the time. I asked what it was and he replied that it was a 1916 Indian, easy ride Scout. I asked what he would take for it, and he replied $50 bucks. I said I would take it. After digging it out, I said "too bad the engine isn't still there". His reply was "it's in the chicken coop, you get it also". I loaded it all up and kept it for a few years and eventually sold it to a guy in Oregon. Now several years later, I should have kept it.........

[Neil G]

Years ago I was in the underground storage tank business and I told the guy that pumped tanks out for me to look for old pumps and call me if he found any. He called and said to get to this farm, that the owner was removing the tank and had tons of old stuff. Didn't expect much but ended up buying, 49 Lincoln Cosmo, 65k original, 65 and 64 Honda Dreams, 1500 and 2000 original, Chev trucks, 29, 35, 48, 54 and tons of farm stuff, wagons, sprayers, Cat 10 crawler etc. Turned out the guy had a 300 acre prune orchard in Newberg OR, was never married and never sold anything, it was his bro in law selling stuff for his estate. I missed a bunch of other stuff too but after about 10 trips with my truck and trailer I was getting tired.

[RU22]

I went to pick-up a antique counter display cabinet

The fellow sold me two more. Then he saws ''Anyone you know like co-karts?''

Takes me into his garage and shows me this: An NOS 1/4 midget!