What cars did you pass on buying in the 60s/70s because they cost too much

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I's 1971. Friend had a 1959 Impala convertible, 348 Tri-Power, factory 4-spd. Was hammered one night and as things go some times lost the water pump, went into the radiator. Kept driving it and overheated the motor locking it up. He asked me if I'd give him $250 for it and to my dying day I'll remember what I told him "what would I do with a Chevy?". My leg still isn't long enough to reach my ***.
 
When I was 17, I had saved up for a car. There was a beautiful 64 Impala SS Convertible with a 409 and a 4 speed on a local lot. I was several hundred dollars short.
 
A very nice 70 GTX in 1980. 440, 4 speed, console, buckets, 4:10 Dana Super Trac-Pac car. Original owner. He even had the original window sticker & kept the original parts he removed to "hop it up some more". Gold with gold interior. To this day I have NEVER seen another one in that gold color. Oh yeah, car had less than 61,000 miles on it. Asking price was a firm $1500! I keep telling myself I probably would have killed myself in it. (My excuse for letting it get away) WAY too muck car for a 19-year-old to handle. From what I was told back in the day, I was a very fast car. A friend of mine ended up buying it, left for college in New Mexico & drove THAT car there, from S.E. Pennsylvania. Never saw it or my friend again. Wonder what happened to both of them.
 
In 1992, I passed on a 1970 Buick GS 4 speed convertible in the colours I wanted, saddle interior, bronze exterior, white top. He wanted $5000 and I couldn't bring myself to pay it, (kids in diapers, family commitments). I decided on my 69 Barracuda convertible, 318 car for $3,500. Although I like my A Body. I still wish, to this day, I bought that Buick.
 
White 1970 383 4 speed Cuda convertible with power windows in 1987. Dude wanted $2500 for it. and a green 68 383 4 speed roadrunner in 1989 with a snapped torsion bar. Guy wanted $800 for it. I was living home with my parents back then. We didnt have a lot of room. Now I have a lot of room at my place, and wife doesnt tell me no, so I drag these sad looking things home now. Matt's home for wayward mopars and other assorted sundries.
 
In 79, I was 16, and living in a trailer park. In the park storage compound was a 69 Mustang Mach 1, 428 automatic, R code. It was red with black interior, had a shaker hood, and looked to be all original. The owner had started to take the engine apart, presumably due to the cracked block, then abandoned it. From what I could see, all the parts were in the car. I kept thinking about it and that I should go to the management office and see if I could find out who owned it. Then after about 2 years of procrastination, I was coming home from school and saw the car on the back of a tow truck heading out of the park. I immediately went to the park office and asked what had happened, park manager told me that he had sold it for unpaid storage fees of $150.00.:eek::BangHead:
Also in 79, I came across a black 70 Challenger 318 column shift automatic base model. Had around 55k miles, asking price was $1700. Car was pretty solid and clean, only modification of note was dual exhaust. Working part time and going to high school, just couldn't afford it. :(
In 85, I was helping a friend pick up an 8.75 differential for his 67 Dart GT at a local Mopar hoarders house. In one garage there was a 1970 triple black, gator grain roof, Challenger R/T SE, 440 4 bbl automatic. Asking price was either $4500. or $5000. Transmission was blown, car had around 70k miles, but I was unemployed and broke. :BangHead:
 
In 1992 I met a local architect that was into Vettes but also had a 1970 Challenger R/T 440 Conv. in really nice condition . I hooked him up with my buddy Jerry and a deal was made for 10,000. Jerry had lots of Mopars and offered to sell me his 70 Challenger 440 R/T SE hardtop with 60k miles for 10k but I didnt have the money . It had P/W , A/C , Houndstooth cloth and was Butterscotch or Turbine Bronze .
Jerry also had a 68 Dart GTS 383 car in great shape which he sold into Canada. Yellow with Black interior.

There was also a 1970 Charger R/T 4sp original owner car in an old storage facility garage . Belonged to an over the road trucker but he wouldnt sell . My buddy Kevin got that car for $2000 sometime around 2005 and flipped it for 10k.
Same town had a 70 300H 1 owner car stuffed in a garage . I got to drool over that one day ... it was the only one I ever saw with a console shift . Not sure what happened to it .
 

Owner had vin and fender tag plus build sheet decoded.

1. Cuda pgk with 383
2.Convertible w/power top
3. rallye dash
4. Burnt orange interior
5. am/fm 8-track with 3 speaker dash
6. 3:91 suregrip
7. power windows
8. Luggage rack (missing in pic as the owner took it off. Didn''t like it)
 
I wasn't alive in the 70s but when I was 20 in 2006, I could have bought a 70 superbee. It was faded orange, bumblebee stripe. Tattered black vynil top, white bucket seats with no console and just a pistol grip protruding out of he floor. Interior was very decent and complete. Ran great but was a non numbers matching 383, car also came with a cast crank 440.

All that superbee greatness had a price tag of 2500. Dollars. I didn't have that kind of money in those days.

So I moved on and bought a 74 duster that I could barely afford at 800 dollars.
 
I bet a lot of members here were st being born n the 70s!!!
In the 60s, $100 was a LOT of money. Everything is relative.
An older kid took me for a quick ride in his '64 409 4 sped Impala SS back about '62 or 3. I was like 14,15. WOW it pinned your *** in that bucket seat. Then couple years later I saw it on the Chevy dealer's used lot. Then it was gone. I wanted that BAD!! I heard a Black guy bought it cheap and blew the motor a week later!!
My initial start in old Mopars was about '84 and I was like 36. They were everywhere and I bought, fixed, drove, parted, restored the sold the chit out of them!!! Fun back then. Not too much anymore!!
 
1970 Dodge Charger SE 383 Magnum
EW1 non vinyl top car would drive by my house after filling up with premium at local gas station in the early 70s. I endsd up working at that station and got to know the owner Travis Jarmin . He had bought the car if Florida while working at NASA as an engineer . It had a mobile telephone and an alarm sytem in it . He decided to sell it around 1978 for 1200 .00 car was like new but I didnt have the money and my mother would not allow me to have a car . So my best friend bought it with a loan from his parents ... I was green with envy ! Harry drove it for a few years then sold it to me for 2000.00 I owned it until 6 years ago .
Still have copies of window sticker, build sheet , original order and bill of sale .

In fact you can see it behind my Barracuda in my Avatar
 
1970 after I had just newly purchased the car in my avatar, a '63 Split window black on black F.I. 4 speed for $1800.
 
eekvonzipper said:
I passed on a '69 383 Charger with a Burnt Valve. It was Brown with a Green Fender and Dry Rotted Tires...
Said No to the $1500 they wanted in 1987... if only I knew.
I was a Dumb 17 yr old and I bought a '72 240z that ran instead.
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Cool. I was going to chime in that I had my eye on a Z when I was 17 in 1986. That was the car i passed on. LOL! I forget what they wanted for it. $1800 seems to ring a bell.
 
In one of the many mistakes of my misspent youth I passed on a REAL ‘70 Superbird in 1978. Back in the day of newsprint ads a guy was selling a Superbird about 10 miles from my house. I called him and agreed on a time to meet and when I got there I decided it must be a POS because it was parked in a detached garage that looked like it was about to fall down any second. Then the guy opened up the garage door and backed out what was one of the most beautiful original Superbirds I’ve ever seen to this day. It was Sublime green with a white split bench interior, pistol grip 4 speed with a 440 4 bbl.
Go ahead,
upload_2022-2-7_11-52-53.jpeg
 
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OldmanRick said:
My personal best was a 1970 Charger R/T in 1976. Older single woman selling in "ritchie" Potomac Md. 40k miles, triple green F4 with F8 int and vinyl top. P/S, PDB, A/C, PW. Body and interior were excellent. Car drove decent, but was tune up worthy. Seemed to have over heated at some point as there was rust residue on the radiator and shroud. She was asking $600 for the car & i passed..... Now my first favorite car was a 69 Charger R/T as a 9 yr old kid. Still shaking my head today that i passed on it.
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In 1976 I passed on a a Hemi Roadrunner because of the Arab gas embargo. $2500 it was **** box brown with a white interior, 4 speed car. Rear main seal was leaking and the kids oldman wanted off his concrete driveway.
 
A friend and I were out driving around and saw a 65 Falcon sitting in a front yard with a for sale sign. Had tires hanging out the side in back and a straight axle. We were fresh out of high school; I was 6' tall and 125 lbs and my friend was 5'6" and 110 lbs. We knock on the front door and this HUGE man answers. We thought we were gonna die! Soft spoken but his body took up the whole door opening and not fat, it was muscle. Found out he was a bouncer at the local disco. Anyway, the car was $1,500, had a 429 SCJ, 4-speed and a 9" rear end. He was selling it because on it's maiden test drive, he hit second gear, jumped the curb and plowed down I don't know how much corn. My friend and I looked at each other, looked at our tooth pick arms and wisely said thank-you for your time but no thank-you.Wonder where it ended up?
 
All three happened in 1985. First was a 70 Lime green 4spd aar cuda. Car was missing the 6bbl and had a single 4bbl on it. Guy wanted 3g for it. He was living in an apartment. Went back a week later with the cash and he had moved. No idea what happened to the car
second was a 66 triple black 396 4spd Chevelle convertible. Guy wanted 5g for it. Just couldn't pull together the cash for it
third was a 1969 302 Camaro. Neighbor had it and also wanted 5g for it. Sold it to his nephew before I could scrape up the cash
 
barbee6043 said:
I bet a lot of members here were st being born n the 70s!!!
In the 60s, $100 was a LOT of money. Everything is relative.
An older kid took me for a quick ride in his '64 409 4 sped Impala SS back about '62 or 3. I was like 14,15. WOW it pinned your *** in that bucket seat. Then couple years later I saw it on the Chevy dealer's used lot. Then it was gone. I wanted that BAD!! I heard a Black guy bought it cheap and blew the motor a week later!!
My initial start in old Mopars was about '84 and I was like 36. They were everywhere and I bought, fixed, drove, parted, restored the sold the chit out of them!!! Fun back then. Not too much anymore!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm 22 and the local Buick dealer has a '69 'Cuda fastback with a 383 and a 4-spd that has had the dogshit run out of it. Wanted $900, I was stuck on $600. I lost, car was sold, went up to Billings MT and the last I heard the 383 lasted one more run and then puked its guts out.
 
In 72 I was 17. A guy I knew had a 71 Hemi Cuda. It was Hemi Orange with black vinyl top. His parents house burned down and he needed money to help them. He told me if I brought him $2000 cash the car was mine. My father told me are you nuts you'll kill yourself with that car. He wouldn't let me get it. It's in Michigan now in someones collection. Glad it's still around.
 
70 Challenger T/A 340-6 $1600 in 1985. Passed on a 67 GTO with a 400/4sp (dad didn't like the heavy clutch) for $1500, and a 68 442 for $800. All in 1985..settled on a $600 65 Barracuda with a 68 340, 727 and the original 7.25 SG that lasted about 8 months.
 
About 1967 my Dad and I happened to be in Spokane for some reason. This was rare, because at that time we did not get along well most of the time. We came across a 59 Vette that had a new engine and new paint. Needed a grille. They wanted 1200 and my Dad encouraged me to buy it, but I decided I could not afford it.

While in the Navy in San Diego I came across a guy with a 289 AC Cobra, and I could have afforded it. But I decided the small size, lack of trunk, and rag top would just not be that practical.

In 74/76 after I got out of the Navy, the Chev dealer had taken in trade a 70 hemi Cuda 4 speed with a blown up engine. "Windowed" block. I could have had it for less than a grand, and stupdly passed. This was of course in the middle of the 'gas crunch'

I also stupidly not long after "gave away" my 70 RR 440-6 car which by then had had a 340 swapped in, I sold it with a 360!!!!
 
I was 16 in 2007 and my dad said he'd buy me my first car but the budget was $3,000. My dad isn't a car enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination but I've been an obsessed gearhead since I could walk and by 15 I had become infatuated with classic Mopars. Started searching eBay and other classified sites for my general area but all that was in my budget for running, driving cars were A-bodies. I then saw a 1968 Satellite with a 383 and 4-speed get listed on eBay locally for $2500; got really excited but within a day or 2 it was up at $5500. So we ended up checking out a gold 1970 Duster that had some rough edges but was overall super solid, ran and drive but needed some work... thought about it for a day or 2 then grabbed it and it's the car I now still have and is my main project car (it's the one in my avatar).

Even only(?) 15 years later I think I'd have a hard time finding a 2-door late-60s Plymouth B-body running and driving with a big block and 4-speed for less than $7-8k, probably more like $10k. Oh well I'll just keep praying some day I make enough money to afford cars like that. Honestly my main bucket-list Mopar right now is actually a Gen 5 Viper but I probably won't be able to afford one of those until I'm closer to retiring lol. Idk who knows, it helps to stay positive maybe something good will happen sooner. But I'm not counting on it lol
 
In 1972 I was 18 years old and holding two jobs, so money was no problem. I went to a local Chrysler dealership (Raynal brothers on Chalmers and Harper in Detroit) I ordered a brand new 1972 CUDA 340 4bbl 4 speed Yellow with a black vinyl top and a black interior. The salesman told me about 4 weeks and I should have it. He was right, in 4 week I received a phone call from him and I was told my CUDA was in. I was very excited and shot down to the dealership to pick it up, but after looking around I could not find it. When the salesman came out from the office I asked him where the car was at and he told me it's right there in front of me. There was a blue one sitting there in front of me and when I told him I ordered a yellow one he said "look you have to take what you can get" I told him to cancel the order that I did not want a blue one and I went out and bought a brand new 1972 Monte Carlo. To this day I am still kicking myself in the *** for not taking that blue 340 4 speed CUDA.
 
Back in 1998, 1973 Barracuda with a running 383 in it. Guy wanted $6,000. Probably the only time an E body was within my financial reach!!
 
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