Do you wish you never sold your first car?

[auburnseeker]

I still have my first old car.  I bought it when I was 17 with every penny I had.  It's a 56 olds 88 2 door hardtop.

It's turn key.   Could probably use an engine rebuild although it runs really well.  I have had the bumpers all rechromed to show quality.  It's got some cheap but decent looking seat covers over the original seats which are in good shape but really need new covers.  It's a 3 speed stick car.  Solid color.  has radio clock courtesy lights etc,  all added from a loaded parts car I bought years ago,  which I still have the spare engine from and that ran well.  The body is really nice (from California) with a super clean undercarriage,  one small rust spot on a rocker that hasn't changed in the 24 years I have owned it. (it hasn't even seen rain in those years)  I used it in High school my senior year on nice days (there was even a few shots of it in our yearbook) and spuratically after that.  Paint is shiney but is showing it's age although it's not coming off. Basically it's a good driver as is.

  I have been collecting parts as well incase I ever get the urge to restore it including some really nice hard to find chrome parts that are NOS or super nice original pieces. 

  I haven't driven it in a couple of years as it's up at my other house next to my Dad's.  He exercises it a few times a year for me so it stays turn key.

Recently I was approached by someone looking for a 1956 Olds 2 door hardtop about selling it.  I told him make me an offer.  He offered me 18,500 for it.  He agonized for a few days then made the offer.  I figure the car is probably realistically worth 12,500 or so.  

I told him I had to think about it.  I have been saving it as I have heard so many guys say they wish they had their first car.  I consider this my first real car.

I'm wondering if I were to sell it,  do you think I would regret it later?  (I don't need the money right now)  it's more of not using it much,  although that may change if I build my new garage down here which will have enough room for it and a few others.  It is a neat car that I like but I don't think I'm in love with it.

Have you sold your first car and regretted it or do you still have it and think it's one of the best things you ever did was to keep it?

[Guest AlCapone]

At $18,500 bye, bye whether you need the money or not. If you don't love it let it go! Wayne

[dei]

Auburnseeker,

Can't say I regreat selling my first car because I still have my first three cars to this day!

Sorry Wayne but even if the money was rediculous, because my son now wants it for his wedding next year, that alone is worth more than anything, but that's just me OK.

I have a friend who still has a 1970 Mustang Mach 1 with only 43,000 miles which his dad bought new and he would never be able to replace it or the memories so....

To me it is all about what your situation is and how things fit in your life. Money makes the world go round no question but it also is not everything.

[trimacar]

Real simple. Would you miss it, if it weren't yours? Would you regret the instant you sign over the title?

If answers are no, sell it. If yes, keep it. The money can be replaced, the memories can not....

[Matt Harwood]

I've sold several cars where I expected to have seller's remorse... and didn't. I'm as sentimental as anyone and I consider myself a keeper rather than a seller when it comes to my own personal collection, so selling personal cars is very hard for me. Heck, I have a hard time selling my daily drivers when I'm done with them! Even the car I regret selling most, a 1941 Cadillac 60S, I don't really miss. In fact, I just bought another one just like it, which I may or may not keep for myself.

 

You have some memories with this Olds, and they won't be tarnished even if the car isn't around anymore. A price 50% over actual value is tough to ignore. And in my own experience, anyway, seller's remorse is a myth. I should have experienced it with my 1997 Ford Ranger into which I transplanted a supercharged Mustang Cobra V8, but the minute it was out of sight, I was just fine and never thought twice about it again. Sometimes it's even a relief, because you don't have the guilt associated with not using it and not giving it the care that it needs.

 

As my wife often says, "It won't be any less cool/beautiful/memorable if someone else owns it."

[keiser31]

Thanking my lucky stars that I was able to keep my first car. I was 13....the car was 34. It was love at first sight and will always be with me until the very end.

Edited September 23, 2015 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

I will say one thing.  If I was given the 18,500 would I find another car that I liked more for that amount in today's market?  If I had the empty space in the garage from it and the cash to fill it,  would I beable to put another car in their I liked as much for that money?  I'm not entirely sure I could.  

I do know that if I ever got the hankering to replace it with another 1956 Olds 2 door hardtop,  I would be hard pressed to find one in a stripped stick.  I still have all the deletes to put it back to a stripper.

I told the guy if I decided to keep mine I would find him one like it.  I look at alot of sites/ books but honestly haven't seen many like it for the same money.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Auburn Seeker, I would keep your first car.

Sometime, somewhere, you could get another

1956 Oldsmobile 88 two-door hardtop, but

it won't be THE car you drove to high school.

It won't be THE car your friends rode in,

that your parents may have commented on,

that you made memories in.  It's not just a 

dollar-valued assembly of metal, chrome, and

rubber--it's part of your life.

 

It can never be replaced with another--and

no amount of premium price is big 

enough to replace all the memories.

Would you sell your yearbook as a $5 used book?

 

Once it's gone, it's gone.  Don't make the mistake!

 

Our AACA region is printing the story of a man

who still has his first car, 80 years after first

getting it in 1935!  Suppose he had sold it years ago?

Edited September 23, 2015 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Taylormade]

I made the colossal mistake of selling my first car, a1932 Dodge, after owning it a scant two years. It was my very good fortune to have sold it to a fraternity brother who kept it in his grandmother's garage for forty three years. Phil sold it back to me two years ago. Hardly a day went by that I didn't think about that old car and finding her again was one of the most memorable moments in my life. I would never let her go again no matter what the price.

[cahartley]

I don't regret selling anything I ever sold.

If I sold something it was for a reason, usually being to get something "better".

If I had kept my first car, a '59 Chevy Biscayne, it would probably wouldn't have survived as well as the other '59 (Bel Air) I bought 2 years ago.

I didn't miss "the car" per se.......I missed that model of car. 

It rode like a boat because it was a boat.

I have 5 cars, all drivers, but the last in the shed WILL be the '59 because I love driving it so much....... 

Edited September 23, 2015 by cahartley (see edit history)

[Restorer32]

My first car was a faded blue '60 Corvair 4 door with bench seats, torn Pep Boys seat covers and the usual constant oil leaks. I say a little prayer every day that I never see that thing again.

[alsancle]

Matt made the same point I was going to make.  I have sold a few cars that I was bracing for sellers remorse and it never happened. 

 

Everybody is different,  you need to ask yourself this.  Do you get a warm feeling every time you see that car, sit in it or walk buy it?  Does it bring back great memories?  If yes, then keep it otherwise take the 18k and run like the wind.

 

Btw, my first car was a 49 Plymouth 2 door special deluxe with 11k original miles that my dad bought for me when I was 12 years old.  Ridiculous condition.  Many great memorable HS experiences with it.   Sold it when I was in college and have never once regretted it.   My second car was a 69 GTO Conv which I got my junior year of HS.  Some good experiences with that too, but no regrets about sending it down the road.

[Ivan Saxton]

No. In 1966 I made a level trade of my first car, a 1927 314B Cadillac 4p phaeton, with a 1923 Cadillac 2 door 5 passenger coupe closed car. In return I got a 1918 Series 4 Mercer Sporting. I got what I wanted most, and I am still happy.

[auburnseeker]

Maybe I should rephrase it.  Your first old car. Or a  a special car you saved up for.  Not just a tired old used car you couldn't wait to get rid of because it was a piece of crap.  

[Guest Skyking]

My first running car was a brand new 1964 Chevelle 300 2dr post. There was one featured in Hemmings a while back. The color was Azure Aqua just like the feature car. I paid $2100 for it. That's one car I wish I kept. The second car I wish I kept was a 1964 Chevelle SS convertible I bought for my wife in 1970 off a car lot for $650.00. Who knew????

[8E45E]

I still have mine, which I posted here: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?340-Where-is-your-FIRST-Studebaker

 

Craig

[capngrog]

I don't regret selling my first car at all.  I had just finished basic training and tech school in the USAF and needed some wheels.  I bought the most car I could afford, which happened to be a 1958 Chevrolet convertible with a tri-power 348, 3 on-the-floor and a 4.56 posi rear end.  It had a 6 ft. deep black lacquer paint job and was beautiful.  I sold it two years later (1964) when I was sent overseas.  I dislike convertibles to this day ... maybe Great Falls, Montana was not the best place for a convertible experience.  On blizzard-days, it seemed like there was more snow inside the car than outside of it.  Now, if I'd been stationed in California or Florida ...

 

The car I regret selling to this day, was my 4th car, a 1964 Corvette Coupe.  I bought it soon after I got my first 'real' job after college and had too much fun with it.

 

One BIG thing I don't regret is getting old,

Grog

[Paul Dobbin]

Regets for selling my first car?  HELL NO!  It was fun at the time, but not a keeper (The Moon Machine that I've written about before on this Forum)  Had a chance to buy it back for half price two hours later, not interested.

The second one, a 56 Ford Fairlane that my brother & I, and two other kids drove from Florida the the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1962. Great memories, but no regrets.  Then a bunch of interesting but no regret cars until my 1957 Porsche Speedster that  we drove all over Europe and the USA.  Even though I doubled my money after 4 years, I sold it for $1400 and still miss it.

After the Porsche there were about 100 cars that came an went with good memories.  Then we sold our 1965 Ford Mustang Deluxe Convertible after 24 years, by accident.  BIG REGRETS.  Like your 56 Oldsmobile I was offered more than it was worth at the time and sold it because I had set the price and thought I would be happy.  I WAS NOT.

Some vehicles just become part of the family and buying something else just does not make up for the long term love affair with a special car.  There will still be other buyers if and when you want to divorce it.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Well, an offer 50% over the value you put on it may not be life changing but might be worth some thought, Seeker after all, Hershey is looming...

Didn't keep mine, and miss some of the 15 odd collector cars that have come and gone over the years more than others. I might look at my cars if I were you and ask which ones you like best now, rather than base it on how long you have had it. Since your asking the question I would guess you're attached, but not like Keiser or my friend who still has his 39 chevy 35 years later, which he uses on occasion still. My point is, if it's integral to your collection or really an emotional thing then by all means hold onto it. But if not, and you can get a nice premium while seeing it go to someone else who might really enjoy it, you might think about being $18k closer to that convertible sedan..

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Of course if it's $18k you want, how's about I give you that for that old cord, you can't possibly be attached to it yet!! :-)

[John_S_in_Penna]

Auburn Seeker, this may be an answer to you:

On another thread, a member is rejoicing that he

finally found his Oldsmobile Jetfire and reacquired it.

 

http://forums.aaca.org/topic/139630-my-original-olds-jetfire-found/

 

Of course, you don't have to go through all that waiting

and persisting and hoping:  You already have your car!

Edited September 23, 2015 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[JACK M]

My first car was a 53 Studebaker Champion coupe.

I drove it ten thousand miles and put many gallons of oil thru it.

As I walked away leaving it beside the road with a blown clutch I was broken hearted.

I saw it in a wrecking yard a couple of years later.

I would buy another one if a nice one came along.

But that was about the best twelve bucks I ever spent. It was 1964 or so.

 

Auburn, with all that talk of seeking your dream car and discussion about your house and shop debts as well as your business I would think that this sale would be a no brainer.

 

I see the two thoughts here, the memory factor and the no remorse thoughts. I guess I am in the no remorse category. I have gone thru hundreds of cars over my life time and sure there are a few that I think I should have never let go. But I have a nice collection now and figure to go thru another bunch of cars by the time I am done.

The kids are more interested in the hot rods that I have built over the years. I have never sold any of those as they are all spoken for.

 

Bottom line is I am still having fun. I like the memories too, but that's all they are is memories, I guess I don't need the iron to have those.

Edited September 23, 2015 by JACK M (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

John Wayne used to say "You got your two kinds of remorse, buyer's remorse and seller's remorse. One is a hell of a lot easier to get over." You fold 180 C notes over and stash them in a coffee can in the secret place; and the smiles just keep rolling each time you visit. I recently did it with 120 of 'em. I'm smiling now!

 

As to the first car thing, I am pretty sure my first (licensed) car came up on Craigslist about 100 miles away. I think it was still wearing the four Firestone Deluxe Champion 7.60 X 15 recaps I put on it in 1965. The car was $3,000 and a 1950 Buick Series 40 fastback two door. The sentimental part is there, but it is not really a car that would interest me today and I would prefer my time and money went into a better model. I still have the car I bought when I was 30 so I guess I'm good..... and the car I bought when I was 50.

 

As I aged I bought better stuff and kept it longer, funny how that works.

Bernie

Edited September 23, 2015 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[PONTIAC1953]

my first car in high school, my dad found it and paid $100.00 for it, a ten year old 1962 chevy impala sport sedan with the 235 six and powerglide trans, when the head gasket blew six months later, my dad sold the car to a local mechanic for $10.00, car was in my dad's name. dad said "i bought you the first one, you'll gonna buy the rest of them", so i never really considered the chevy "my first car". i went searching for my first car, found it advertised on a grocery store bulletin board, 1953 pontiac for sale and gave a local phone number to call, so i took the notice off the board, got home, and called the number, the car was still for sale, now my dad had a rule for me to follow, "no V8 engine", he was remembering what a lead foot he still was, lol, so he was ok with me having a pontiac straight eight, we went together to see the car and to look it over, one look from me at the car, and i was sold, two door hardtop, two tone paint colors, spotlight on the driver's door, olds fiesta spinner hubcaps, original continental kit, dad said the car was ok, so i bought the car for $150.00, my own hard earned money. i still have the car today, 42 1/2 years later. you know, two weeks after buying the car, i was offered $750.00 for it, a 400% profit, i turned the offer down, i don't regret it, but i know i would have regretted selling my first car if i had taken the offer. 

 

charles l. coker

1953 pontiac tech advisor

tech advisor coordinator

poci

[39BuickEight]

My first car was a 1988 S-10 Blazer.  After 10 years and 275,000 miles it was extremely rusted out.  It served it's purpose for 10 years, but in the condition it was in, I was and am still happy I sold it. 

Edited September 23, 2015 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[smithbrother]

My first car that I could drive was a 36 Caddy V-16.

Dad took it in on trade, gave it to me the next day, then a couple days later the father of the son that traded it in advised dad that the son wasn't the actual owner, both had the same name,

Dad did't fight the deal, so took the car back from me, and made a deal with the father.

That was in 1952.

Dad or me had no clue to what the car was.

Dale in Indy

[Buffalowed Bill]

My first car no remorse, 1953 Studebaker htp, it was not a very good car! Even though I came from a Studebaker family, had I not been able to by a good friends 1955 Speedster in 1964, the 53 might have been my last Studebaker. Restored the car during the 70's and still have it today, 51 years later! Now that car I would really miss!

Do you need the money, if not keep the car. We work our entire lives to be able to have the things that we want, you already have it.

[kings32]

My first car was a 1965 Dodge dart  Gt  V8 auto . I bought that with the money I brought home from Vietman.  Ti was anew one off the floor .  I traded it for a 4 dr Mercury  in 1970 . Had a growing family.  I wish I had it back..Had some great times in that car, dated my wife in that brought my daughter home ,   But at the did not have the money or place to keep  it  . Yes I would love to have it back...

[K8096]

My first car was a red 1955 Cadillac convertible my dad bought for me when I was 16 in 1989.   We found it locally and it was owned by a lifelong bachelor who bought it as a one year old used car in 1956.  It was totally original except for a horrible 1960's Earl Scheib paint job.  We did a lot of mechanical work on it the next couple years including rebuilding the engine, redoing the gas tank, and a complete brake job.   I drove it as an everyday car to high school for 2 years (stored inside winters of course).   Then I went off to college and I only drove it in the summer.   After I graduated college we decided it needed too much bodywork for us to go any further with it.  It needed a trunk floor, rockers, quarter panels, and a couple of the body supports replaced.  It really needed the body taken off the frame and we did not want to do that.  We ended up selling it and the car is now restored.   Maybe when I'm an old fart if I find a red 1955 Cadillac convertible with a red & white interior I'll break down & buy it to relive my youth.  But I don't regret selling the one I had because the body required so much patch work.  Owning that car taught me a lifelong lesson of it's better to buy a car with a good body but that needs mechanical work rather than buying a car that runs good but is rusty.  

Edited September 23, 2015 by K8096 (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

 I bought that with the money I brought home from Vietman.

 I came back to the states in '70. went to the Chevy dealer in Charleston SC, and asked for a new black Biscayne two door with a red interior, 327, 4 speed, and AM/FM radio. He said "Son, you can't get a Biscayne two door any more, how about an Impala hardtop?" I left mumbling "He just don't get it."

Bernie

[Guest Plumber]

I have two. First car was a 58 El Rancho. The 2nd was the 66 impala ss 327 that's in my profile picture. Had an oil man stop by every two weeks wanting. I finally gave in. But did make a nice profit on it. Worked 2 years on a 59 gmc truck. Same thing, guy stopped by wanting it.

[erichill]

Nope it was a baby poop brown four door Subaru with an eight track player. Now my first motorcycle is a different story...

[caddyshack]

I'd love to have my first car. Purchased in early '65 for $1200, the '56 Corvette t-boned a station wagon in '66 just before I had to join the service. Great memories and at least I lived through it.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Thanking my lucky stars that I was able to keep my first car. I was 13....the car was 34. It was love at first sight and will always be with me until the very end.

 

 

  John, you are one of a kind.

 

  Ben

[LINC400]

1975 Buick Century 2 door. Silver with a navy blue top and navy blue vinyl interior. I thought it was an ugly color combo. And the paint was peeling so bad it looked like it had Leprosy. It had a/c, and an AM/FM radio. Those were its only options. No rear window defroster on that huge sloping back window for Chicago winters. Never missed it for a minute after I got rid of it, and I certainly don't want another one.

[auburnseeker]

It's funny.  Last year I couldn't sell any of my cars no matter what I tried.  This year I have people knocking on my door asking if I will sell cars I didn't know people knew I had just by word of mouth.  Now if I could do that with the real estate we can't move,  that would be awesome.

Now if my luck with real estate follows my car sales pattern That would work out perfect because I have been thinking of selling the house I bought before I met my wife but haven't gotten around to it.  Next year  I'll have people beating the door down for it.   (then maybe I'll get that Auburn) 

[padgett]

Dunno what my first car was, were two and am not sure which was first. Now that I go back through the photos I realize that the XK-150s was before the XK-140MC and almost simultaneously acquired a RHD MGA. Think I paid about $700 for the Jag and less for the MG. What I really wanted was a TR3...

 

Do remember that my current system of having everything on my cell phone (over 300 CDs) started back then: I had one radio that switched between the two cars.

 

Boy howdy those tires were skinny, even thought so back then. There followed the 140MC (red head), a 2.5 sedan, coulpla E-types, & some I've forgotton entirely (once lost a Renault Caravelle... somewhere in north Carolina I think.. it had a cracked block so didn't look very hard) before taking the cure & can now live without knowing what the oil pressure is.

 

Today all of my cars are American (well, American badged). Do like DOHC 6s though. One of my cars pictured below has one.

[Alex D.]

I bought my first car in 1968 from a local salvage yard for $600.  Drove the car for a year until it lost oil pressure and water in the oil. Not being able to afford an engine rebuild the car was sold for $700.  I didn't regret selling it but I wish I still had that 58 Jaguar XK150 Drophead today when I have to Write those college tuition checks for my son and daughter. 

[28 Chrysler]

My 1954 For wagon cost me $5 in 1969, sold it 3 months later for $35. Never missed it.

My first bike was a Honda 160 (to get in trouble with after the Ford), I think back and the "160" must have stood for it would do 60 MPH once. 

[Marty Roth]

After the '32 Chevy Five Window Coupe:

The 1st every-day driver was a

Red '49 Pontiac convertible - Straight-8 and 3 on the tree. I paid $75 in October, 1959, and within a month it had a new top, clutch, and 2 recapped tires - until I left for college

 

Then the next spring came the black '54 Mercury convertible, but only until again leaving for school

The '52 Jaguar XK-120MC was a keeper, and stayed around for years.

 

Things got better after the Sophomore year when I went to Langhorne, PA to Reedman Chevrolet's used car lot for the '54 Lincoln baby blue convertible,

but came home with the

Crocus & Onyx (Yellow & Black) '56 Chevy Bel-Air convertible with the 265 and Power-Pak. A year or so later, came the 

White '58 Impala convertible - which was very nice, but a couple of years later, was replaced by the first of several Triumph TR-2 and TR-3 models.

 

An eventual stream of Valiants and a '69 Tempest Custom"S" were later replaced by a variety of virtually every series of Citroen (DS-21 Pallas, 2-CV, SM, Break, Ami-6, Mehari, etc.).

 

I would gladly have any of them back, but would not give up our current collection.