Odd feeling, letting go of a car

Ok, I'm not one of those guys that gets attached to vehicles, 4 years is my record and the average is more like a year and a half.

But tonite I got a text from someone who heard from a friend of a friend that the Wartburg was on the market. And it felt wrong. It took a long time to come to the decision to let her move on but I'm at peace with it. But somehow I just always envisioned her going to someone within one of the car communities in which I'm involved, GRM, Lemons, something like that.

The thought of her going "outside the family", well it just feels a bit odd.

Maybe this is a common feeling for folks that get attached to cars, but its foreign to me.

No real point to this other than talking through the weirdness. I'll meet with him if his interest holds. I will be kinda picky about who she goes to but I guess if he's a good guy that knows his stuff then why not?

surprisingly, only a few of my many cars have gone to new homes.. most of them get stripped and crushed

mad_machine wrote: surprisingly, only a few of my many cars have gone to new homes.. most of them get stripped and crushed

My buddy Jeff (littleturqoiseb) is like that, it took him 2+ years to get rid of a ratty BABE car (and he still has the other ratty BABE car) I'm not knocking it, I've just never drawn large attachments to cars, when I started out I had a small budget and an even smaller garage so I just developed the mindset that one has to move on so I can start another. For me it's always been about the build, when there's nothing left to build/do then I get bored quick.

I don't get attached to cars, although it is sometimes sad when you part and scrap a car, if it was really good to you. The only one I regret selling was my 55 Chev, so I promised myself that if I ever built a car that I liked that much that I'd just keep it, budget allowing, of course. So my Mk1 turbo 3 has been sitting in my shop, untouched, since 2004.

I have only regretted getting rid of one car, my super clean 1990 TSi AWD that was heavily modified.

I would rather see my car go far away, just so I don't have to see what sort of disrepair the next owner lets it fall into.

I miss exactly 3 cars of the 100+ I've owned.

1. 100% stock Talon TSi AWD Turbo, Black/Black
2. Street-ported S4 RX-7 GXL, Blue Metallic/Blue
3. "Blinky" the 83 RX-7 GSL, Metallic Red/Red.

I don't miss the built 88 Turbo Coupe (SC50R turbo, roller cam, .030 over forged pistons, ARP everything, etc), the P71, or even the Ford EXP (okay, I might miss that one a little bit...)

It's funny, the only vehicle that made me feel emotional in any way as it left, was my B2200, which I never really liked the whole time I had it.

93gsxturbo wrote: I have only regretted getting rid of one car, my super clean 1990 TSi AWD that was heavily modified. I would rather see my car go far away, just so I don't have to see what sort of disrepair the next owner lets it fall into.

My first car I sold.. was my Super beetle with the type4 crammed into the back. Dual carbs, lumpy cam, headers.. it would spit flame on acceleration and overrun and could scratch rubber in three gears...

It was also under braked and under suspensioned for such an engine.. as such, it would bite HARD if provoked. I sold it to an older gentleman as I did not want another kid (I was 18 at the time) to own it as I knew they would wreck it... after I handed over the title, he told me it was gift for his nephew.

The car lasted exactly 3 months before it got backed into something at a high rate of speed

i miss almost all of the cars i have let go. and i've had plenty.

my 78 caddy, 91 caprice wagon, and 90 turbo grand prix have been the hardest though.

In reply to mad_machine:

I had the pleasure of owning a very suspect 350-swapped S10 (2WD, regular cab, short box, TH350, Vortec heads, stock suspension/brakes!) once. I sold it to a couple who were buying it for their 17 year old's first car (even though I tried to talk them out of it). Kid nearly split the truck in two on a tree about a week later.

The one I regret:

'65 Mustang convertible, HS car.

The ones I miss:

'72 Pantera, great car, but the rust was too much for me to take on at the time.

'67 Bronco, was a one owner U15 with bulkhead, sadly had to go.

'87 Saleen, great car, not family friendly.

'94 Lightning, cool truck.

I miss one car, I've owned hundreds. It was a 1991 AMG 5.6SEL. I see pictures of it scattered around in picture threads here and there and it pisses me off. It was confiscated and crushed after I sold it.

In reply to JFX001:

Damn man, that's like a "Ford's Greatest Hits" album list or something!

I only regret one car passing on to someone else, my HS car the 1974 VW Thing. It wasn't really good at anything to speak of but it was fun.

Javelin wrote: In reply to JFX001: Damn man, that's like a "Ford's Greatest Hits" album list or something!

I pale in comparison to some of the guys here, but I did have the Pantera, a cool '85 Ranger,(3) Mustang convertibles, (3) early Bronco's, (2) Mustang Fastbacks,(2) Lightnings, an SVO, and a Fairmont wagon (302 with woodgrain).

I was a Ford guy for a loooong time. Still have an F-150.

I miss my 88 M5 with a Fayhe motor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ezZWXTSvBY

BigD wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ezZWXTSvBY

Even Leno kinda said what I was getting at, the fun is building the car, when its done you move on to the next project. If I had Leno money then I could be like him and keep all the finished ones too :)

But I dont so I have to thin the herd every once in awhile. The wife offered to let her VW go to save the Wartburg but she loves that VW and its something we can enjoy together. The Crown sold tonite so that's one more gone from the stable. I don't expect the Wartburg will sell quickly, maybe not even at all. We'll see where she goes I guess.

I felt pretty sad when the wreckers drove away with my 240SX on the flatbed. Even though it was an autotragic, dirty, barely-running rustbucket, I still miss it sometimes. Maybe it's because it was my first car, it still handled well, and that it developed my taste for RWD. Didn't bat an eye when I sold my old Saab GM900 to the wreckers or traded the Impreza towards the Mazdaspeed3. I'm thinking of trading the Speed3 this year and I have been trying to sell my non-turbo RX-7 for a while. I have a feeling I will miss both, though I'll still have my turbo to sate my FC fix.

I get really attached to most of my cars, and dont want to sell. But then when I do it doesnt bother me much. I wish we still had our Saturn SL2, but mostly cause of the mileage. I miss our 1999 TJ, but thats cause the the roof came off and you could take four or five people out on a top down ride. Ill miss our truck for its usefulness but I dont need it and the Cherokee.

Joey

Yeah I hear you. Although he held on to his Roadmaster even when he wasn't filthy rich. My wife gets more attached to our cars than me. I come from a mindset of always dreaming of what to get next, like a bimbo who hops from crush to crush - once the novelty wears off, time to move on.

I bought my 4Runner new in 05 and it's a uniquely useful car in that while I'm still getting distracted by other possibilities (more luxurious, larger, whatever), nothing would suit my needs for it better and it's mine... so unless it starts dying or I get filthy rich and can afford to buy a new nicer truck outright, it's staying (which probably means till death do us part).

My E30 started its existence with me out of a need to wrench on a car, and it's gone through so much with me and my wife, been so many places, cost so many emotions and dollars, that it's like the ultimate family heirloom. Plus I've dumped more money into it than I care to remember (the turbo engine alone has probably cost me an easy 15 grand), so at this point, beyond the emotional attachment which would veto anything anyway, it would simply make no economic sense to sell it - it would be barely more fiscally intelligent than setting it on fire.

My wife has a hard time letting go any of our cars. Well, with the E30 she flat out said no. She lets me do anything I want in life but this was pretty much the only time she's told me no (she didn't initially but when I changed my mind she told me she would have never let it happen...). But we've had other cars and she was so sad to see them go, I initially thought maybe this was her most favorite car on earth??? But then the next one is the same thing. I had a beater DA teg that she smacked into a guard rail on an icy ramp, and it cost me little, to buy or maintain, so I told the towtruck guy to keep it. She was very sad to let it go. I reminded her that it's a lame car with more dog hair embedded in the carpet than I have hair on my body, and she just said yeah but I'm going to miss it anyway. She currently has a Smart and while very excited to get the BRZ, every time we come home and she sees her Smart, it's like saying goodbye to a baby you can't keep... I still fall for it sometimes, asking if she really wants to keep it cause we can, and she says no it's alright.

So I think this is totally normal, and it's geometrically compounded by the fact that you do the work. I had an E34 M5 that I put tons of money into in university, it was the fastest naturally aspirated M5 I've ever seen (would drag with tuned E39 M5s dead even) and I was relieved to sell it to close to what I paid (forgetting all the other money spent). It was just money and a cool car. It wasn't effort and emotional investment. Leno mentions this in the movie - that if Bana had done the work on this stage like he had all along before, he wouldn't have hit the tree. Once someone else built the car, it became their car, not his. So his emotional investment and respect for it went away.

Was this the car you've done the most work on yourself?

I would say my '74 Beetle that I had in high school, '79 MB 300SD, '84 GTI, and 2004 F150. If I could have one back it would be the Beetle hands down though.

I dont miss all of them, but there are a few that I want back.

My Mustang GT

86 Pontiac Firebird V8, t-top car

79 Malibu, given to me by my grandpa

Most recently, my 2000 Dakota. It wasnt anything special, but It was my first new car, and I kept it in great shape for 11 years. We had some really good times! The guy that bought it called me a month ago, after owning it for 6 months and said that the truck was still a champ, and that I should just know.

http://youtu.be/9KANfwMYBA0

I miss my 2002. Mostly because I sold it as an unfinished project. I lost out money-wise on it, but it's more that I didn't finish it that bothers me.

I've only owned about 20 cars through the years (I owned the same truck 3 times, just counting it as one). Which is funny because I've owned up to 5 at any one time. Down to 4 at the present.

56 cars in the last 16 years. Only three stand out.

I really missed my 65 Shelby, I cried when it was impounded and reportedly destroyed by the state.

I cried when they took my 28' but family needed the money more then I needed a fun car.

When I sold my GT3 I got misty when the new owner called me four hours later after wrapping it around a hydrant.