Biggest Regret: The One that Got Away

[RVAnderson]

OK, everyone: What's your biggest automotive regret? What did you let get away that was later lost for good? For me, the article on the '39 Plymouth in the latest AA evoked memories of the '39 Plymouth woodie parked on a swampy hill on property we had just bought, in the mid-70s. We let it sit there and slowly rot into the ground. It could have been saved, when we first came on it. Sob!

[Restorer32]

A driveable '51 Ford convertible in about 1970. Tried to sell it for $125, no takers. Finally gave it to the local junk man. He towed her away. I finally sold the title on e-bay a year or so ago.

[Myron Williams]

Hi guys,

When I was living in California in 1976, I had a chance to buy the 1934 Ford fire engine that had been in the movie "The Birds"... It was owned by a farmer who had rebuilt the motor, pump, and the rest of the drivetrain and used it to spray fruit trees. It had a terrible paint job and needed upholstery; but I could have had it for $600. It was about a one ton chassis size... perfect for parades, and I've kicked myself a million times for not buying it. I even had the money to spare at the time!

Keep smiling,

Myron

[1937hd45]

Great topic! Lost for Good, will take me a while to think of a vehicle. Lost opportunities is another story, so is seller regrets. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[Shop Rat]

Our first antique car that we bought. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> A one-owner 1958 Chevy Biscayne 2-Door that we had only had to put a paint job on for it to look nice. Bill advertised it and a 1966 Alfa Romeo Julietta Spyder that was just short of being a basket case. He said we would keep which ever one that did not sell first. A guy from Fla. saw the ad for the Alfa and came up to see it. A local person called on the Chevy. I made the huge mistake to walking out to tell Bill that there was a phone call about the Chevy. The guy from Fla. bought both cars. I signed the back of the title to let the Alpha go but refused to sign the title for the Chevy.

Whenever someone asks what happened to the Chevy we used to have, Bill gets this look on his face. He knows I'm still upset about him selling it. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

[West Peterson]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I signed the back of the title to let the Alpha go... </div></div>

It would be perphectly phine to spell the phun little sports car that way iph it were named aphter the phirst letter of the alphabet, but it's not. Phor phuture repherence, it should be Alfa (and I know you know that, I just couldn't resist). <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[kuhner]

I have had two that I really regret. The first one was a two owner '61 Porsche. It was pale yellow with red interior. I was working at National Cash Register in 1980 as a apprentice draftsman. A software engineer had the car, I would always park my beetle next to the Porsche when he drove it in nice weather. He knew how much I liked the car and when he decided to move back to Arizona he offered it to me for $1500. The car was perfect, no rust low miles. Just bought my first house and was making an $88 a month payment on a 1975 Super Beetle, just couldnt swing it.

The second, one day a friend asked me to look at a car his grandmother was trying to sell. His grandfather had just passed away and she was trying to divide up things between the grandchildren.We drove up to Wooster Ohio after work. It was a Bently. I believe it was an aluminum body, two door and on the smaller side. I think she said it was a 1934? I didnt know what it was worth butI think she would have taken what ever I wanted to give her. Didnt have the heart to do that. I found the address to the Bently club and told them to call. Stupid me I could have at least maybe got a finders fee.

[trimacar]

Hi- for me, it happened like this: I bought a 1939 Chevrolet coupe from a fellow in my hometown, this was in the early 80's. I had seen him in town, liked the car, made a deal, and went to his house to take delivery. While there, he stated that if I really liked old cars, I should buy the one under the carport behind his neighbor's house, a 1933 V-12 Packard convertible coupe. WHAT? I had lived my whole life in this little town in Louisiana, and never heard of the car! A meeting was arranged with owner, and sure enough, a beautiful original car sat there (except grill and front bumper, which where rusty from sitting at front edge of carport). I came back, literally with piles of $100 bills, but could not make a deal, he wanted to let a bunch of people know about it and then "auction" to highest offer. Mine was not the high offer. He sold it to a dealer in Arkansas, who immediately sold it to a collector for a good profit, but a fraction of what it would be worth today. Man, I miss that car! Happy motoring to all, David Coco

[R W Burgess]

Hey West, leave the "bottle" home tomorrow. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Most regretable, trading in the '68 375hp SS 396. Gas milage-10-12, should explain the decision at the time. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

[novaman]

the car I regret selling is the Jeep CJ7 I had. Other than the aftermarket rear seat and storage compartments, I believe it was completely stock (I was 2nd onwer). I miss it on sunny days. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I would like to find a Jeep CJ8 Scrambler to replace it.

[Guest imported_PWN]

My grandfather was an avid car collector. I bet the one he would miss the most was his Adams Farwell. Put the kids through college with the money.

I had a friend in high school with a nice Metro. I could have had it for 500$, before he trashed it.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

The '39 Lincoln Zephyr 4-dr that my uncle Mike offered to me for $150 when I was about 12... the old-man wouldn't go for it, mostly because it had a flatty-Ford V-8 under the hood instead the V-12.

The other one was a '54 Chevy 3/4-ton Five-Window De Luxe pick-up: two-tone cab, chrome grille, factory radio, Hydramatic, LOADED. Could've had it for $500 around 1991. I was a little leary of buying something with the early Hydro at that time... still kicking myself over this one...

I really hope it found a good, responsible owner...

Oh well...

[1937hd45]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My grandfather was an avid car collector. I bet the one he would miss the most was his Adams Farwell. Put the kids through college with the money. </div></div>

That's a great automobile, did he own the Frayer-Miller as well?

[Centurion]

I've stumbled across a few "finds" along the way, but here are my greatest regrets:

1955 Packard Patrician: My 8th grade math teacher wanted to sell me this car for $50 in 1972. Complete, running, beautiful, and original, he had seen this car new on the showroom floor at the Packard dealership in Los Angeles. He had succeeded in acquiring the car in 1959. I was still living at home and my folks wouldn't let me pursue this "impractical" choice. Ultimately, this beauty went to a collector who simply parked it in a pasture. All the glass was subsequently shot out and the car is long gone -- a complete waste.

1958 Buick Limited convertible: I was a first-year graduate student in the fall of 1975, but I couldn't resist the chance to check out a '58 Buick offered for sale locally. Wow, here was a straight, rust-free, complete original in excellent condition, requiring only some transmission work to get back on the road. This one was silver with the silver leather upholstery -- a stunning color combo for these rare and gargantuan cars (production of 839 units). The $3,000 asking price might as well have been $300,000 given my "poor student" status at the time. When I think about this one, I want to cry.

[Guest JDHolmes]

I did a frame off resto on a 59 Chevy pickup, replacing every bolt, redid the wood in the bed, had it painted (poorly). Bought it for $400 in 77 and sold it for $500 in 93or94 after the resto because it was unused and need master cylinder rebuilt.

72 Nova 350, all original, let my wife trade it in for a camaro in 77.

64 Chevy Impala, I sold for $50 because of a flat, rounded lug and it needed a tune up.

69 Grand Prix I sold for $500.

70 Monte Carlo I sold for $500.

68ish Cougar I sold for $300.

All were running, driving, inspected tagged and rust free. If I only knew then.....

[Steve Moskowitz]

West, I am really getting to worry about you! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I think our jobs proof reading the magazine may just have gotten tougher!

[John_S_in_Penna]

Here's an account that may make us modern-day car collectors envious:

I was interviewing one of our Region's long-time members who has been with the A.A.C.A. since 1952. He is still very active in the hobby. In the 1950's, he bought a 1931 Cadillac V-16 four-door convertible, with parts car. It was a decent original car that came from Washington, D.C. and was probably used in the diplomatic ranks. He got the car running, but, being such a large car with no power assists, it wasn't especially fun to drive. He said it handled like a one-and-a-half-ton truck. He SOLD it--with the V-16 sedan parts car--for $600 in 1955!

In 1968, this same man bought a 1932 Duesenberg Model J Murphy-bodied convertible coupe. It was a nice ORIGINAL car. He paid $17,000, and his friends thought he was crazy to pay so much for a car! He sold it a few years later for $25,000.

Money certainly isn't everything, but wouldn't we all wish we had kept those <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />?

[Shop Rat]

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> OOPS!!! Eye do no that, I jus phorgot.

[Bill Stoneberg]

I lost out on a Mercedes 190 SL that was sitting in a barn. I took too long to make up my mind and when I went back to discuss it more, it was already sold. $250 comes to mind.

I also passed on a Mercedes Sedan that had Fuel injection troubles. It was one of the early ones and I didn't know FI.

How about a 71 Riviera Boattail with the Stage 1 Motor and the numbers to match. This one was a bit more expensive at $1500 durning the first gas crisis.

[Ivan Saxton]

My father was not quite as interested in old cars as I have always been, and he never worked on transport unless it was imperative; but he did persue what he liked. He once arranged to buy a near-new Lincoln Zephyr, but somehow he never got delivery. Then he bought a brand new early Rolls Royce which had never had a body built on it. This was before the War also, and from what he said it was a pre WW1 Silver Ghost that had been sent out to a "Remittance Man" by his family in England. If you are not familiar with the term, wealthy families might send a son who was a bit too odd or embarrassing out to the colonies; and regularly send living expenses by ship. It seems that this may often have been due to Asperger's Syndrome or Autism. In past centuries Asperger's (which is inherited) was possibly an advantage im the British upper classes. You may ponder, knowing the characteristics of high plane of cognitive function but with gaps in social areas, with obsessional interests and extraordinary memory; just who and how many of the early greats of the motor industry were advantaged by being Asperger's. If something went wrong, you had a person who was Autistic. I have an autistic son. Well the original owner of the Rolls never had a use for it. Floods and Martin and King could still build bodies on cars up into the 1950's in Melbourne. However the dealer my father bought the Rolls from rang him to convey an offer from someone else which was much more than he had paid, so he let it go. Some years later he bought a very secondhand RR 20-25hp 7 passeger sedan as our family car. Four things I particularly remember.

1)Often breaking down and being towed home. 2) The folding jump-seats. 3) My mother refusing to use it to do her shopping because she felt pressured to buy more from church stalls. 4) Everyone used to get car-sick in it. Then there was a 1914 Silver Ghost which was cut up at the engineers shop of the family sawmill. The engine, front axle, and half the chassis were used for a fire pump at the mill up the bush. The gearbox lay round for years and I wanted it: but noone thought I had reason or right to have it. I still have the CAV Type G generator.

The man I bought my first car from (a 1927 314B Cadillac 4 passenger Phaeton which I restored under the wattle tree in the back yard) had a 1924 Mercedes K with a most beautiful Berline body. He had fitted a brake booster, but the mounting bent and he ran into the back of a stationary truck just as the lights turned green and the truck took off, towing a Mercedes by the radiator. When he moved house the Mercedes was sold for 100pounds, which I could not afford. Later it fell into the ownership of a similar one several years newer, and I believe it was canabalised for parts and the rest scrapped. About the same time I went with a friend to see a man who had a number of good cars through his hands, including 3 or 4 Isota Fraschini. He had a Mercedes 28/95 without body, asking 100 pounds which I did not have again. Fortunately that one is restored. Years later the same man offered me a complete running V12 Packard roadster of the 30's. The ask was an unrestored A model Ford tourer that would run, because that was what his son wanted to restore. Of course a friend and I had to aquire such an item, and we took too long to get one and the V12 was sold. I actually wasn't upset about that because it really was much more modern than the cars that interest me most, and it has been restored by someone who liked that sort of thing better. I still gave Ray his A model, but I got a heap of good stuff for my Isotta and the rest of the surviving parts from what his father and he salvaged from a 1922 Packard Twin Six runabout with RW 100 wire wheels. We bought the engine and gearbox in 1961, and it was 44 years before I got enough extra to make it a restoreable project. There were a couple of different Benz of the early 1920's I wanted, large and smaller. Problems again were 50 and 25 pounds respectively. Then a friend of a friend offered me a registered 30/98 Vauxhall without a top for 350 Pounds. Naturally I couldn't buy that either. I think though my father helped me and was pleased to when I needed it,(eg he paid the bill of 80 pounds for a new set of bronze and babbitt big end bearings for the Cadillac fork/blade rods), he thought I was wasting my money just gathering cars and not selling them. For everything there is a season ----- . If he had said to me "Here is 1000 pounds to spend wisely" those cars would be worth a great deal, and of course I wopuld still have them because cars are my obsessioal interest. I have never even sat in a 30/98, but a friend who has one has promised to bring the grandson of the man who bought my Roamer-Duesenberg new to visit. I will enjoy frightening them with the Roamer, which can really shift the scenery.

When I rebuilt the 1927 Cadillac I had very little eqipment. The woodworking tools I had to repair the body frame were: a handsaw (10tpi), claw hammer, 2" chisel, brace and 1/2" auger, 1/4" hand drill for scew holes, a rasp, and an axe. I swapped this car and a 1923 Cadillac for a 1918 Mercer. In the early 1960's a man sold three early 20's 6 cylinder 6 litre cuff-valve Peugeots for 25 pounds the lot. Someone tried to fit the best engine into a Voisin, and the rest was scrapped. We got the Voisin acouple of years later. It took me over 40 years to get enough parts to be able to restore a Peugeot, and by copying a few missing bits I can restore two. Nobody today has heard of these big Peugeots. They only made about 180. A man I know owned one as an everyday car in the mid 1940's when he also had an Hispano Suiza H6B, and a Tipo 8 Isotta Fraschini.

It seems that the Peugeot does not suffer by comparisson.

Ivan Saxton (I prefer not to list my cars.)

[R W Burgess]

<span style="font-weight: bold">I will enjoy frightening them with the Roamer, which can <span style="text-decoration: underline">really shift </span> the scenery.</span> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mr. Saxton, you really have a way with words. I enjoy reading your commentaries.

Thanks from a miscrept from Virginia.

Wayne

[Rusty_OToole]

1948 Jaguar Mark V Drophead coupe. White with a black top. $250 at a local gas station in 1968. Very good condition for a 20 year old car, good tires, top, body etc. I remember it had a problem with the steering and possibly a couple of other small problems. My dad said "where will you get parts for it?" and wouldn't let me buy it. Oh well, wonder where it is now?

[Guest windjamer]

I have a couple, but the bigest regret is my first real car. 1942 ford. I let my older brouther talk me into swaping with him for his beat up 41 chev.and grand dads watch. The chev was a real jewel if you know what I mean and the son of a gun never did give me gramps watch. The second was a 37 dodge busness coupe with seats in back that folded into the side. Some people called it a salesman special. Swaped a record player and 20 bucks for it in 1958. Sure wish I had it now. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[Guest Dave Mills]

I have two: A 1971 Plymouth Duster 340 that was the first car I bought new. I sold it in 1975 and finally tracked it down again last summer in a bone yard.....there was nothing left of it. Frame was rotted and the drive train was missing. The second was a 1956 Plymouth Savoy Sport Coupe that I restored in 1980. I never should have sold that one either. The Savoy went to northeastern PA but I have not seen it since.

[JMAV8FORD]

1961, '32 Ford three window coupe, the seller was asking $65. I couldn't get my father interested. He had tunnel vision for only Model T's

[Joe Block]

The 1942 Packard ambulance about 200 miles from home, I didn't have the heart to haul home another wreck. I sure wanted that 160 inch chassis. it make a great custom limo.

[DizzyDale]

Dear RV,This one STILL bothers me.1966 Ford Fairlane <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />FACTORY 427,A REAL ,LEGIT car <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />,fiberglass hood with the opening across the front.A guy i knew in a nearby town use to park this on the <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />street overnite <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />,factory 2 4s and had those headers that snaked around the oil pan.A number of years later i saw it advertised in the local paper with NO engine and trans.YES it was the same car, bought it and dragged it home,was going to FIND the old 427 and Toploader,at the time i had enough cash for only the car.Soon after i got divorced and cashed the car out for what i paid for it 1500.00,NO the decimal point is not in the wrong place.WHAT do you think that car woulda gone for at THAT auction???diz <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[Clipper47]

A surplus North American (Harvard} T6 Texan trainer the Royal Canadian Airforce was selling for $600 in the early 1960's! Close second a 1947 Lincoln Coupe from the garage of Henry Ford himself for $75 in 1955 !

[Oxnard Montalvo]

Spring 1983, on my way to pick up some concrete blocks in a company truck, driving past local Chevy dealer, spot gold on gold 1968 Camaro SS/RS 396 out front.

Pull in and ask, "what's the deal?"

"The deal is a fellow just traded it in because he just had to have one of the all new 1984 Corvettes"

"What's the price?"

"It's not on the line yet."

"Ok, but what's the price?"

"$4000.00 or so."

I should have skipped bringing the block back because the Camaro was gone by lunch. I looked.

My Boss would have yelled but so what. He yelled all the time anyway.

2007 NADA

1984 Corvette -------- $11,000.00

1968 Camaro RS/SS - $48,000.00

I regret going back to work, But...

HOW DO YOU THINK THE GUY WHO TRADED IT IN FEELS?

I let it GET away, that guy GAVE it away. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Paul Dobbin]

Two in One that Got Away

In 1987 I had a client who died and left his 1948 Chrysler

Town and Country Convertible and a 1959 Cadillac Convertible

to his wife.

I expressed an interst and she promised to call me when she

decided what to do with the cars.

The Town & Country was unrestored and was kept in a garden

shed along with lumber he had saved. All of it had termites

but the sheetmetal was straight and rust free and the wood was

still good for patterns.

The 59 Caddy was an amature restoration project of his that

had agrivated her most of the time he owned it.

Anyway she planned to call me when the time came, maybe when

she added onto the house.

She called at noon and left a message that she "needs to get

rid of that Chrysler TODAY".

I called her a 4 PM only to hear, "It's OK, it's been hauled

away". Turns out that the demolition crew for the garden shed

was another car collector who said he'd take $800 off his bill

if he could have it.

The next week he sold it for $5000 to somebody else.

When I asked about the 59 Caddy, she said, "Oh, I gave it to

the kid down the street, he always liked it". I think the "Kid"

was 45 years old!

[Guest 57wagon]

in 1989 I was searching for my first full time car with my dad...after he had turned me down on buying a '67 Camaro Convertible 327 RS car...needed work and dad would not go for it...so cruising the lots I find in the back row on the Main Line near Radnor, PA a 1970 Buick GSX coupe with a 4 speed and hood tach. It was all there and not in bad shape. White with black stripe, wing and buckets. I was in love. Sure the car was filthy and a tire was flat, and was probably only running on 6 cylinders...but come on dad! it was only $4500! Damnit! Ended up with an '82 Honda...ugh.

My dad holds the record though...he was co-owner with a guy who bought a 1957 Testarosa TR250 with an Offy 4 cylinder in it...sold his share for $2000. What is that car worth today? There are photos of it in his college year book. Sure the 12 cylinder motor was missing, but the rest of the car was great...I guess we will never be rich through cars.

[imported_buick5563]

66 Ford Fairlane convertible.

My wife's uncle was going to sell it to me for a grand. I had just moved down to Austin from DC and my dad said no way. My 55 was in his driveway at the time. Later I found out that the man paid to take it away. Maybe four years ago. OUCH.

Mike

[Guest Silverghost]

Father Devine's Model " J " Duesenberg...My Father 90Y/O and still today enjoying his Antiques and classics. His biggest regret? He tells me in the early 60s he went to see Father Divine's special Model "J" Duesenberg at his Phila. area Mansion...His wife Mother Devine wanted well under $10K for this massive car...(I believe it had a special long chassis...)

Dad thought about it... and passed on it!

He thought it was too long to fit in his garage!

Who owns this car today???

Any photos of it out there???

Edited October 11, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[ex98thdrill]

I know one of the things that gets my dad upset was back when he was a kid my grandfather had a 1937 Ford woodie wagon that he sold for $50 because it needed a muffler.

My father said that aside from the muffler, the car was spotless.

[Dynaflash8]

I think that Duesenberg also had a built in commode inside it, didn't it? I saw it written up in a magazine somewhere a long time ago.

My biggest regret is that in 1998 I had the opportunity to buy a really good restorable, all original 1939 Buick Special convertible coupe outside of Baltimore from a street rodder for $12,000 or $12,500. I thought I knew every convertible ever around Baltimore, but I'd missed this one, and it was even advertised in the Baltimore Sun. It was up and running with an original engine. I passed on it....because I was chasing another one which I never did get. In 2006 I paid much more (decline to say how much more to avoid being called super stupid) for a lesser car. It was as good in some ways, but had the wrong engine. I wanted one all my life, and I'm glad I finally got one, but I'll always regret being timid on the the one I backed off of in 1998. It sits in a garage near Baltimore still today, unrestored, but mine is on the way to a championship (I hope). But, the time wasn't really right for me. A friend once said, "a good deal isn't a good deal unless you're ready for the good deal", and I wasn't ready. Still, how much better could mine have been if I'd had $15K more to spend on it? Oh well, work with the cards you've been dealt, and as old Satchel Paige once said, "never look back, because something might be catching up with you."

[ex98thdrill]

From the time I was old enough to drive I had always wanted an old Ford Bronco. Back in the day those trucks were beyond my financial means. Then it got to the point where the ones that I could find were either too far gone, or still out of my price range. Needless to say back in 2005 when we were out to the AGNM in Northglenn, we found one. We found one in very good shape, and a deal that we couldn't walk away from. My dad and I took a lot of heat from our wives, but we got it, it's done, and we're not kicking ourselves.

We took cash advances on our credit cards, cashed every check that we could to come up with the money, and then it took us almost three months to get the truck home after we paid for it. Now that the truck is finally in the garage, my wife has gone as far as to refer to it as 'her truck' and claims total ownership of it. I guess that's what happens when you go 1,700 miles to a car show and to buy a vehicle on your wedding anniversary <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />. Last fall the very first day we were in Hershey, my cell phone rings, it's my wife and on the other end she's yelling at me "DON'T YOU DARE COME HOME WITH ANOTHER CAR!!"

As things turned out my dad and I were football fans and never knew it.....

WE BOUGHT A DENVER BRONCO!!!! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I guess the one that I wish I hadn't walked away from was a '69 Mustang dragster that was completely built, with a spare engine and barely street legal that I could've had for $5,500. The guy that had it, bought it brand new after he came home from Vietnam, the car has never seen snow, he was a close friend of my dad's and went on to offer me the chance to make payments on the car to him. I hesitated because I wasn't sure if I could strip the racing stuff off of the car, sell them, and buy parts to put the car back to original.

[Guest BJM]

1941 Cadillac Series 60 Special. I usually only buy project cars. 8 years ago, there was an advertisement in the Des Moines Register to sell 2 1941 Cadillacs in southeast Iowa. I called and spoke to the seller, whose dad had them tucked away fro years in apole barn, he had passed and the son knew he would not get to them. I was 35 years old at the time.

We had a nice 1 1/2 hour drive down, the son was a very nice man and let me walk around these two Cadillacs thoroughly. Both were four doors in deplorable, rusted shape - but straight and complete. As I walked around the one car, it finally dawned on me "This is a Sixty Special".

The other four door I had no idea. It later turned out to be a series 63 I believe, a new four door fastback style for 1941 that was supposed to be a LaSalle. Cadillac made 5050 of them in 1941. I knew when I saw the 60 Special I had to be honest with the fellow. I said I can't make a reasonable offer and told him why. He said, I just want them to go to a good home and I'd like to see them restored.

I made him a $750 offer for both cars and I think it cost me $300 to have a local guy bring them to Des Moines one at a time. I barely stuffed them into my two car garage. They had been used by salesmen back in the day they were stuffed with sales catalogs and suitcases and maps of Iowa circa 1950.

They had been driven on salty roads then put away so they were major restorations but I loved those cars, the near perfect proportions and Cadillac pizzazz. I could have chewed on them (restored as available time/funds became available) for years and never gotten tired - and should have. That's the regret part. I actually sold the Series 60 Special 1st, because I like the 63 styling much better. It sold for $1500. I remember getting a ball park quote on full interior restoration from Jenkins for around $5500 per car. Partially based on these estimates, I decided to sell them.

Later I made little headway on the series 63 and sold it for $500.

I was still only35-36 years old and my buddies were into muscle cars. My interests are widely varied but I wanted cars I could eventually drive in rotation - that was my thinking at the time. I have gone back and forth on that one topic and it has led me to distraction, accomplishing nothing really.

So if I could do it all over again, at age 43, I would be 8 years in on restoring 2 fine Cadillacs. I wouldn't be done even yet but the corner probably would have been turned. I have never approached owning such a significant car as a 1941 Cadillac 60 Special, even though I don't collect based on that reason. But to have it fall inot my lap for what amounted to roughly $550, I doubt I'll ever see that opportunity again.

[ex98thdrill]

Yeah my dad had a deposit on a red Amphicar (for $500) that needed a paint job, new interior, and one of the windshields replaced. The car ran, my mom didn't like it, so he backed out of the deal.

We both wished we'd have ignored her.

[Paul Dobbin]

The show her your email, next time you will both know who's the boss.

[keiser31]

Yep...I really miss the 1929 Franklin six wire wheel series 135 sedan I bought from a farmer north of Detroit for $100.00. It was a complete original car which would have taken very little to get running. There was a small rust hole in the lower passenger side cowl and the rest was a very solid car. That was 1970...I was 16...I had to keep the Franklin or my first car (1931 Dodge business coupe). I still have the coupe. I saw the Frankiln years ago at the big three swap meet at the stadium in San Diego. The car went from Detroit to Texas to Los Angeles to San Diego and I then lost track of it. Anyone know of a car with this history? John