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The one I remember was in 1975, a friend of mine had a 1957 Belair 2 door hardtop with the small V-8 and 4 speed. It wasn't stock, but was gorgeous. He'd started prepping it for car shows, and had got to the point of chroming some of the underside. The body and mechanics were great on it, but the interior was pretty ratty. He was picky with the car and really took care of it...wouldn't drive it in the rain, and even before he started chroming it, refused to drive down the dirt road to my house. He joined the military and offered it to me for $1200 (or $900? One of those...it was a long time ago.).
I wanted it, but as a kid right out of school, that seemed like all the money in the world, especially for what was, at the time, just an old car that was one of many around....albeit a nice example.
That's the one I wish I had sucked it up and gotten it and finished the work he'd started.
Back in 2007 I almost managed to bag myself an '86 Toyota AE-86 (HajiRaku) with less than 10k miles on it. Still had all the factory wrapping and labels, perfect paint and stored properly. Guy I was trying to convince got on a different route and stopped picking up stuff at my workplace, and that was that.
I grew with my Dad being a mechanic until he opened a car lot in the 70s so I was used to seeing a lot of great cars all the time.
When I was 17 or 18 which would have been 84 or 85 I had just sold my 78 mustang king cobra and my 73 chevy 4x4 and I was at the auto auction one night looking for my next car I had cash in my pocket and could afford pretty much any car that was there that night.
The first one I was looking at was a 68 firebird big block 4 speed in nice shape I could of had it for 1600
The next one is the one I will always kick my self for not buying 1970 Chevelle SS 454 4 speed black with all the stock SS stripes and wheels. It didnt get enough bid on it through the auction for the owner to sell. I talked to the owner and he offered it to me for 2000 and I told him if I didnt buy something else that night I had cash and I'd take it.
The car that I bought instead was a 67 couger it was in really nice shape and I kept most of my cash in my pocket that night. I only paid 350 for the couger.
To this day I still kick my self for not spending the money for the chevelle and keeping it.
a few years ago, I had an Acura TL that was rear-ended and totalled. As I was waiting for my insurance claim check, I saw an online dealer ad for an Infiniti G35 coupe exactly like I wanted: red with a tan interior, 6-speed manual, satnav system. It was advertised at a reasonable price and had low miles. I decided I was going to go ahead and buy the car, and just pay down the note when I got the insurance check. I called the dealer, and was told that the car was just sold earlier that day
During that round of car shopping, I never saw another G35 coupe like that again. Most were automatics that were more expensive AND had more miles. I ended up with my runner-up choice: a Cadillac CTS that just had a price reduction by the dealer.
I'd been saving up for about six months for an old English car, and found a running, rust-free black Triumph GT6 with a saddle interior. Paint was oxidized, but it had newer electricals. The guy only wanted $1300 for it. Ran just fine, and I talked to my dad, who opined that we could drop a small block in it.
Looked kind of like this, just needed paint, really:
I flipped out and went to the bank to withdraw cash - I had about $1700. The teller told me I didn't have enough money - there was only about $900. Went back home... fiance told me that she had booked a vacation for her and her mom to go to the caribbean (we shared a bank account). I was livid, absolutely livid. She told me I was materialistic for wanting a car, and such a useless one, that cars were just an appliance and besides, she would pay me back...
Never did, and the guy sold the car to someone else three days later.
I'd been saving up for about six months for an old English car, and found a running, rust-free black Triumph GT6 with a saddle interior. Paint was oxidized, but it had newer electricals. The guy only wanted $1300 for it. Ran just fine, and I talked to my dad, who opined that we could drop a small block in it.
Looked kind of like this, just needed paint, really:
I flipped out and went to the bank to withdraw cash - I had about $1700. The teller told me I didn't have enough money - there was only about $900. Went back home... fiance told me that she had booked a vacation for her and her mom to go to the caribbean (we shared a bank account). I was livid, absolutely livid. She told me I was materialistic for wanting a car, and such a useless one, that cars were just an appliance and besides, she would pay me back...
Never did, and the guy sold the car to someone else three days later.
Not that my wife would use my money anyway, but that'd be why we both have separate accounts in addition to the joint account.
When I was a teenager I could have bought a M-151 Mutt for 3K; they were never sold to the public, and the guy got it by sneaking some complete body chassis with a load of parts and rebuilding them, then registering them in WY as Jeeps. Instead I chose to buy a '74 Jeep CJ-5; the frame cracked the 2nd or third time I took it 'wheeling.
Did you atleast keep the Cougar? What drivetrain did it have?
It had the 289 with an automatic
No I didnt keep either
It was a lot of fun for a couple of years.
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