Have you ever bought a car just for one part?

[60FlatTop]

I bought a car to promote the sale of parts/literature I had for sale. Around 2005 I had bought a collection of sales literature and showroom presentation items from the sales manager of a Chevy dealership. I was quite active on Ebay at the time and there was a large selection of Camaro items. Cars for sale were getting a lot of views but not so much for parts. I bought a shabby Camaro and listed it concurrently with the parts and literature. The car description directed viewers to look at all the related items. Over 1,000 people got exposed to the pitch. I only had to clear a couple hundred bucks on the car. I might have a poster or two left. All the rest is gone.

[JACK M]

I had a mechanic working for me at the boat yard that was a VW geek.

He drug in an old square back and took something from it and put it up for sale.

A guy from a couple of towns over came and bought it.

The buyer showed up a few times after hours and stripped it of pretty much everything only to leave the basic non rolling hulk.

Then never came back.

I pulled that hulk up onto a trailer and went to his house and knocked on the door. He was not home (or so she said).

I told her that I was delivering a car that he had bought and shoved it off in his driveway.

She wasn't very happy, and I never saw the buyer again.

 

[TTR]

Yes, over the years/decades I’ve bought several cars, either for client projects or my own, for a single component or part.

Leftovers were usually re-sold or donated to a local (vintage car) junkyard, while some were salvaged for other useful stuff and rest just cut up for scrap metal.

 

OTOH, my PB Roadster had been someone else’s parts car leftovers, but it had enough for me to do what I wanted.
Only alternatives at the time were complete and mostly restored examples, so I’m glad I didn’t have to resort to using one of them to satisfy my childhood desires for a vintage hot rod.

 

P.S. One of my clients long ago bought a quite nice and rare ‘50s car for nearly six figures, just to get its original, NLA and impossible to find (rubber) trunk mat for another similar car he already owned.

Edited December 1, 2022 by TTR (see edit history)

[TTR]

21 hours ago, edinmass said:

In the “Duesenberg” collectors circle………putting multiple cars in the same shop at the same time is called “unscrambling the eggs”. It was exceptionally common when there were multiple Duesenberg‘s in the same shop the parts were swapped amongst them. Often times low mileage sedan chassis were swapped out with an open car. It was all factory Duesenberg and no  one cared 60 years ago. Today it’s common to spend a million dollars getting a car all back to original. On a Model J that includes body,engine, bell housing, crankshaft, fire wall, frame. Transmission and rear ends were not marked. Numbers matching unmolested Model J’s will bring two to three times more than a “scramble” or floor sweepings car. The market sets the price…….

Most of this ^^ applies to vintage Ferraris, including millions spent on “unscrambling”, whereas supposedly in pre-war Bentley circle’s “scrambled” cars are still quite acceptable and common.

[edinmass]

52 minutes ago, TTR said:

Most of this ^^ applies to vintage Ferraris, including millions spent on “unscrambling”, whereas supposedly in pre-war Bentley circle’s “scrambled” cars are still quite acceptable and common.

Bentley's are now getting unscrambled also........there were four in George"s shop up in Massachusetts a few years ago.......it was quite the "pig pile". After it was over they all needed total restorations. Hell, some guys are taking off the modern blowers that were added in the 80's. Today it's all about purity. If you have the money. 

[DonMicheletti]

In my experience, the older Ferraris had the serial  numbers on every single part.. every part. The words "matching numbers" really means $omething  $$$

[Buffalowed Bill]

I just remembered a story worthy of the thread, although it's a little off topic. Some thirty years ago I bought a 1937 Studebaker President coupe. While it was kind of a running it had suffered at the hands of a armature restoration, and proved to be undriveable and cosmetically needy. I proceeded to blow it apart for restoration. What was supposed to take six months stretched into years. Sound familiar? I began to question my memory regarding reassembly. So when an original 1937 President State came available I bought it so I could refer to it as I reassembled the coupe. That was really my impetus behind the purchase. The side benefit is that it turned out to be a pretty good tour car. But whenever that car is discussed I let people know the rest of the story!  

[zipdang]

Bought a 1935 Hupmobile 518D derelict for the headlight lenses. Surprisingly perfect lenses on a car that couldn't be moved because the frame had completely disintegrated into the ground! A lot of brush cutting just to find this car.

[jensenracing77]

I have done this a few times. I found a set of NOS grills and tail light bezels for a 1962 Cutlass but they come with a car. I went thinking I would offer him a large amount for just the NOS parts. I did not want the car. I offered much more than I thought the parts were worth because I did not want the work of dealing with the car. He made me buy all of it. Lucky for me, I got it home and found it had the super rare anti spin rear end in the car. I ended up selling the rear end for nearly as much as I bought the entire car and parts for, lol.