The one [car] that got away...

Fortunately for me I have my Grandpa's truck. The one that got away for was my first truck, a '69 D100 shortbed. Bought it when I was 17 with a /6 3 speed. I screwed up the trans so it sat awhile until I pulled the engine and trans out of another shouldn't have sold it (78 dodge magnum XE), and swapped in the 318/727. Put a hot cam and double roller chain on an otherwise stock '78 318 (ahh the folly of youth) along with a set of A body headers I had laying around. It sounded good but the combo of high rpm cam and smog era heads meant it wasn't as fast as I thought it was. By then I had another truck (79 dodge stepside) that the trans started dying in, so I pulled the engine and trans out and scrapped the body. Everytime I think about it I get a sinking feeling of regret.

88 325is owned by a friend of mine who's a bmw mechanic. had 200k something miles on it but it was in really really really nice shape and of course maintained very well.

I had JUST bought another car a couple days prior and was about to move and was really not in a position to buy the BMW. I should have figured something out and got the car. I talked to him a few weeks ago actually, he said he sold it for $2k.

Thanks for bringing this up. Now excuse me while i go bang my head against the wall.

Actually, THE One that got away wasn't a car, but a plane. $25,000 asking price, twin-radial engine Beech... I still think about what might have been. Of course it was years ago and I had no money, no pilots license, no hanger... and so on. But. Still.

JohnInKansas wrote: I passed on a '69 Firebird in daily-driver shape for $5k. That's the only car I still kick myself about.

I passed on a '68 in show shape at Carlisle back in '87... for $4.5k. It was the last day and the guy seemed desperate. I had $5k in cash with me. I offered him 4k, he balked... it was probably worth 6 at the time but I thought I was a clever negotiator and I tried the hardball route.

I spend the next couple hours fantasizing over the car while walking around and finally came back to give him the 4.5k. He was gone.

I bought this dark blue 1966 Datsun 1600 Roadster, California rust free car in 1990. It had 3 layers of thick paint on it but had no rot - the frame still had flakes of paint on it from the factory original paint. In 1996 I sold it to a guy who wanted to restore for his wife to drive (factory original white/red). ($2800). I sold it because it was a low financial point in my life and having an extra car wasn't in the cards.

It was offered to me in 2011 for $5,000 as shown in white. The guy sunk close to $10,000 (including purchase price) into it and ended up buying a newer Mustang 'vert for his wife instead. The engine and trans were never touched by him and wasn't turned over since 1996. I find that money is still tight and I really can't take $5,000 out of any accounts.

So I let this car go twice.........

No sad stories here, but I'll share.

My dad wasn't a car guy, he was a family man, so when his boss at 3M offered him a gift of a car, my dad looked at the insurance rates and politely declined. It could have been anything from a Corvette to who knows what. Just that it was a sports car and expensive. Not that it would have ended up in my hands anyway.

Was given a free 87? RX7 gxl. Missing fenders, unknown mechanical condition, no keys or paperwork. Towed it home, sat in my parent's courtyard for a few years and had it towed off. Never did a thing to it, no money, skills, knowledge. Kinda bummed, that was to be my first project car.

I'm still a little sore about the 1st gen MX-6 GT for sale on craigs by the original owner a few months ago, when I called he had a change of heart and decided to try fixing it himself. Never even got to look at it, who knows, might have been a basket case. I bought an automatic Saturn instead.

Here is a better story - my Aunt married a car guy that was crazy into sports cars starting in the 1950's. (1958 Corvette) He and my Aunt spent years working timing and traveling to Road America.

In 1965 he bought a new Shelby Mustang out in California and drove it back on his honeymoon with his bride. He and my Aunt split up in the 1980's and I would run into him in 1980's/1990's wandering around the paddock at Road America. Still got the Shelby? Yes.

In 2004 at my mother's funeral my Aunt shows up to pay her respects and the first thing she says to me is that; yes, Bud still has the Shelby.

In 2010 I decide to call his house to see how he is doing and let him know the how my father is doing and I ask him to tell me about all the cars he owned. Still got the Shelby? Yes.

After we talk about the Shelby he makes a comment - "the car I wish I would have hung on to all these years instead is the SS Impala 409 convertible ('62? '63? '64?) I owned - I never should have sold that car" (Not sure of year)

My grandfather bought a new 1967 Plymouth Belvedere II hardtop that I pretty much spent my entire childhood in. I inherited it in high school and drive it for two years but all I cared about was Mustangs. I sold the Plymouth for $300 when I couldn't find a replacement for the leaky gas tank. I didn't even know that there were Mopar magazines out there.

I spent ten years searching for it before I finally found the guy who cut it up and used "everything" to restore his rusty GTX.

It still hurts. That car was in my life for over 18 years and I don't even have a decent picture of it.

Dad had a Datsun 510 about 30 years ago. Not sure what the story was on the fate of that car, but I'd love to have that in the stable today.

1995 bmw 318ti in boston green. Ran over a pothole disguised as a puddle. Bent rim, damaged suspension, etc. totaled by the insurance company.

1998 bmw m3 in arctic silver. Sold it to my dad to get my family friendly forester xt. I can by it back at anytime, but with two young kids and a house in need of fixing up it wont be happening anytime soon.

Nova SS. I was 16, working a summer job with my uncle to raise money for a car. I had about $1200 saved up so far when my Father stopped by the job site (aluminum siding on houses). He struck up a conversation with a neighbor, and it comes out that I am working to buy a car. By coincidence, she is selling a car for $1800. He thinks that Nova's are good, solid 'Merican cars and is willing to chip in to seal the deal...until we go look in the garage.

Real Nova SS, high-rise manifold on a beautiful 396, metal-flake paint, white leather interior, chrome chain-link steering wheel, Hurst 4-Speed, traction bars...the whole late 70's package!

"No way, you'll wrap it around a tree inside of a week".

I hated him for it...but he was 100% correct.

Someday...

pinchvalve wrote: "No way, you'll wrap it around a tree inside of a week". I hated him for it...but he was 100% correct. Someday...

I had a 71 Nova 4 door as a first car. Same color blue as in the picture. It had the anemic 307 2 barrel.

Funny thing is: I wrapped it around a tree!

1979 Volvo 242GT (in 1979) Asleep at the wheel, I buffed the passenger side down on a guard rail, and sold the car. Had the factory gauge dash, (oil pressure, water temp, equal sized tach and speedo) and pretty much every factory option we could find in the parts catalog. Last time I saw it, it had 100k on it, and looked every bit of it. Still have a soft spot in my head for those cars

A few:

'84 or 85 Mazda RX-7. In the Navy around '87, only been driving a short time, and the manual trans and manual choke scared me.

'79 Dodge Lil Red Express that I owned for years, sold to the ex-in-law's when I got desperate for $$$, and when I went to buy it back they had sold it on me without telling me.

'74 Opel Manta that my dad bought for the stepmom & she was scared of it. I was hoping he'd give it to me when I turned 16, instead he disappointed me as usual.

During the great economic meltdown of 2009, I had a chance to buy a nearly new Exige S for $22,000.

It was smurf blue, the wife and I were on the verge of buying our first house, and rumors were swirling that every industry (including my company) was on the verge of collapse.

I still believe it was the right car at the wrong time, but man, hindsight...

Worst I can come up with was Grandpa selling his truck to scrappers for $100, it was an early 60s I+ ton International camper special with a PTO winch and Granny 4 speed, big school bus spec V8, etc. Rusty but could have been put back into service without much effort.

My father once muttered something about a cheap, clean, original 440 powered Mopar something or other and running his mouth about ballast resistors.

1973 Sahara Tan BMW 2002 with a full Korman suspension. I made the mistake of driving my 1983 320i to the meeting (at the track entrance to Lime Rock) to check it out and test drive it. It cemented forever my love of '02s. Unfortunately, my 320i was my current toy car, and I had to sell it before I could snag the '02. Literally, on my way home, the 320i suffered multiple simultaneous failures, specifically because it was jealous and didn't want me to sell it for the 2002. So I had to fix the 320i instead, which I sold to a friend once it was drivable again, but I missed the opportunity on the 2002. And '73 is even my favorite year The only thing that would've been more perfect is if it was a Polaris Blue tii.

Mine was an Aston Martin DB4 GT. It was at an upscale used car lot in mid the '80's, with an asking price of $5k. Of course I didn't have $5k, so I spend $3k on a TR4 instead. The Aston was a bit tired of course, but it was aluminum and red, and sounded freakin' awesome!

On the same lot they also had a Daytona Ferrari coupe for between 10 and 15k.

Oh, and I also passed an Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale in the late '90's for around $7,500 if I remember correctly. And it was a seriously nice car. Instead I opted for a '73 GTV for around half that. I'd take either of these now, and should never have sold the GTV.

I came very close to buying an Opel GT for my first car. Dad talked me out of it because the cost of insurance (and parts, stateside) would have been horrible.

1988, I was 20. I was offered, for $3800, a car that had been sitting in someone's back yard for the past fifteen or so years. It had a cracked block, but was otherwise original, complete, and in need of a lot of TLC.

The car: 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona.

My fathers 1969 429 Boss Mustang.

Of course he was just as car nuts as I am and had everything from a V16 Cadillac to SS Nova's and beyond.

Personally I want my 67 K code mustang back or the glass/carb'd 308 that I stupidly sold for far to little profit when an ex has some trouble.

I've had 3 such cars....

"merican - 1970 AAR Cuda for $2400 @ a used car dealer along route 3 in NJ

Eurotrash - 1963 Aston Martin Superleggera - $2500 sitting in a Gulf gas station in North Caldwell NJ

eurotrash2 - 1967 Jaguar XKE with the triple SU's - $1000 - I was 15 minutes late

About 15 years ago I went and looked at a Sunbeam Tiger that the owner was asking $4995 for. It was a good solid car but I passed on it as my wife (now ex) would have killed me if I brought home another car. I still think about that from time to time. Like now.

Double posted from the CC board:

My mother's 1970 240Z

Bought new in Puerto Rico, came to Canada in 1973 when we moved, left for the UK in 1980 when my parents moved there, and provided summer transportation around the continent when I would visit during summer. The car had a poorly done restoration in the UK and returned to the USA to live in Florida.

I had one final drive in the car while visiting my parents, and my girlfriend at the time happened to mention that this car seemed to make me a happy person. I agreed.

About 6 months later my parents sold it without even mentioning it to me. Broke my heart. Also pissed me off. I hope it is still alive somewhere and continuing what was a kick-ass history.

To add to this thread, today I will be returning "The one that got away" to an original original owner.

The Bugeye that I have been beating on is finished. I obtained the car from the original owners who sold it to me with great regret knowing that they would never have the time, money or skills to restore the car.

I made a deal with them that when done, they could buy the car back for what I had invested in parts. Nine and a half years later, the car goes back to the person who received it new as a present from her husband in 1961.

NOHOME wrote: I made a deal with them that when done, they could buy the car back for what I had invested in parts. Nine and a half years later, the car goes back to the person who received it new as a present from her husband in 1961.

Wow, that's cool of you to do