Ok, I felt the same way you do about my GTX. It was a nice car, a great cruiser, plenty of power, and I had owned it for 25 years. However, even tho I loved the car, when it came time to start restoring it because it was getting a little shabby, I was just not enthused enough about the car to spend the time and $$ on it. I decided about 2 years ago that I would start looking for a trade for a car I really wanted, a 70 Roadrunner. My dad had one when I was a kid, and it shaped our entire family into the Mopar crazy bunch that we are today. Ok, finally a spark of motivation!....
I was picky, and wanted to trade even up for a car of similar quality, a nice driver I could fix up as I drove it. Looked at 100’s of ads, far and wide, even found a trade for a similar car, but it was in Texas (I’m in Michigan) All the while, patience ruled the process, but the excitement of owning a car I really wanted was building. Fast forward to this spring and I find a car less than 8 miles away, I can trade my GTX through a 3rd party and he will buy the car and give it to me....
When the car pulled up in my driveway, I was so damn excited that I didn’t care about whether I was trading my running car for something that hadn’t been on the road since 1976. It was the car I had been searching for, and instantly sparked my enthusiasm level into places it’s not been in 25 years. I’m 55, and figure this to be my last classic endeavor. I feel that it’s the only car I want to spend my time and $$ on, but instead of just doing another complete restore, I want to go somewhere I haven’t been yet, a “preservation”. I want to change as little as possible, it is completely original and I want to make it as close to the way it left the road in 1976. My goal?? To go pick up the original owner and take him for a ride, and to pick up the nephew I got it through, and take him on that same ride. He’s seen this car since he was a kid, and never seen it move under it’s own power.
I urge you to consider your enthusiasm level for any car you trade for. Make sure you love it enough to want to make the switch, and enough to be happy working on it and keeping it throughout the next 25 years. The hobby should be a source of excitement, make sure you can be excited about whatever car you end up with, even if it’s the one you already have.
The car the day it showed up, and the way it looks so far.
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