The ones that got away!!!

[blu340dart]

70 RoadRunner 383 4 speed convertible-$500 back in the 80's, I guess I didnt need it that bad then- stupid me. Or a brown 70 T/A Challenger with a built 340 in it with the original numbers matching motor included for $6500, doesnt sound like a great deal but the owners said they had a buyer for the motor in it for $1000 to ease the pain, and it was far below market value for the 80's. Or the 70 Lime Lite Six Pac Superbird for $16,000 that my bro Cosgig had agreed to cosign on a loan for me for it, NAH we dont need no stinking future investments here. :sad10:

 

[cannucky]

blue charger daytona wing car that sat at Parliament motors at the corner of Queen st and Parliament ave in Toronto on and off from 1970 till the fall of 1978 ,I was born in dec 62 so you do the math I loved that car my whole childhood I used to watch it go by out the streetcar window and dream about the day I would finally be able to buy it ,it would sell and it would come back once or twice a year { remember the energy crisis } and when I was finally old enough to buy it it came back afu bent and full of bondo it broke my heart

 

[Tarr]

I moved to Detroit in 67. Worked for Ford at night and at a car lot doing odd jobs during the day. Delivered a car one day with another guy. Cut thru some subdivisions on the way back and BAM! In the front yard of a really nice house was a first gen. T-Bird with the opera windows. Big sign in the windshield that said First $500. Even together the other guy and I only had about $300. We drove the 2 miles to the car lot and told Art, our boss we wanted to borrow $200. He wanted to know why and the other guy told him. Then Art wanted the car himself and said he would pay us a finders fee. After about 30 min. we headed out and just got to see the T-Bird drive off. Some woman in the yard standing there with a real sadistic look on her face.
In 1972 a neighbor ran a car lot. I hung out there because I had lost my job and doing odd jobs for him. He had a 67 GTX 426 HEMI with 4 speed. He had sold it three times and all three times they brought it because they could not get any insurance. He offered it to me for $800 cash because he wanted to be rid of it. I didn't have it, I think he knew. Two weeks later he offered it to me for $650 CASH. The owner of the lot told him to get rid of it. I tried to borrow money everywhere but no go.
1976 drove a soft drink truck. Passed this farm every week that had a 39 Chevy truck sitting by the road. About 2 miles away I ask at a country store one day I ask if anyone knew anything about it. A man spoke up and said it was his. He wanted $800 for it and wouldn't go a penny less. Said he would take the batt. out of his tractor to start it and put some alcohol in the master cyc. and let me drive it up the road. My wife threw a fit and said no. After about a month I decide to heck with it and went to get it. Sold 3 days earlier.
Some people that know me tell me I'm stupid to walk around with as much money as I carry. But I won't miss a great deal if I can help it. This is only a few of the many deals I've missed. After a while you start to think someone has a voodoo doll of you.

 

[crashcaptn]

there have been so MANY

latest
61 Corvette
350 4 speed both tops in a nice #3 condtion $32,000.00 I was worryed about my job and thought about it for 2 days and when i called on that Saturday it had sold the day after i looked at it

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View attachment 46253

I have wanted a 61/62 Corvette since about 1972. What a dumba** for not taking the money out of the retirement account, not only would the car been worth more, we would not have lost so much with the drop in market.

Ahhh the 70 Roadrunner convertible

white with burnt orange interior. The car was super clean inside and out, not a number match had a 383 2 barrel in it. The thing that bothered me the most was the heavy undercoating and the sheet metal repair in the trunk with sheet metal screws (this was in 97 car had been done 15 years and at the time no replacement parts available) He wanted $10,000. i really wanted it, but again passed, what a dumb a**

the one I really should have bought

70 Hemi Cuda

1985 it was a blue, my guess B7 darker than B5, black interior, auto he wanted $6,000 but was looking for a Cuda Convertible. I had a 71 Cuda convertible but it needed restored. Hemi Cuda, just had a crack in the dash, I didn't think it was worth that much more than my convertible. And in todays value my Cuda Convertible and the Hemi Cuda are worth about the same. I SHOULD HAVE KEEP THE CONVERTIBLE. but I had bought a new boat and didn't need a convertible since we spent so much time on the water and I loved my 4 speed Challenger

But at the time I didn't ever keep a car too long so it really would not have mattered

there use to be an AAR Cuda sitting by an old girlfriends house and I always thought I should stop and see if they would sell it, years went by and I never stopped, one day i went by and they had cleaned the place up and the cuda was gone

You would hate my dad.. he has a 1958 in that exact same condition he bought in the late 70's/early 80's for $6000 (NO JOKE!) and its ORIGINAL CONDITION! Its still in the garage as we speak.

 

[waggin]

Wow this could take a few dozen pages,I'll keep it to one car,I had bought a 70 gran coupe barracuda,red, black leather interior, buckets with slapstick & console 318 with air and 8 3/4 rallys and duals,factory am/fm and factory alarm system or maybe dealer installed?had a key switch under the gran coupe emblem on the fender...weird but kewl.car had been sitting and needed some tlc,took it to my work and tinkered with it during slow times had it all running and looking good and was almost ready for the road again.worked on it one friday night till late and it was ready,went home and that was the last time I saw the car..........whole.I reported the car stolen and nothing ever seemed to become of it till one day I was sweeping the shop...and you know those pieces of sheet metal that kinda roll around like a curled up spring from using air sheers on sheetmetal..there it was torr red...about the color of my neck when I knew what the piece of metal was I presented it to my boss who tryed to play "dumb"and decided to slam me thru the shop door and fire me,I never got a penny back for the car.that was the only e body I ever owned.His partner who was supposed to be my friend tryed to apoligize over the deal but I was mad as hell that they cut up a good car,the title to the car came in the mail saturday morning and it was gonna be on the road that monday of it's dissapearance,I drove my 69 valiant for another 5 years and thus here I am....Happily at for forabodiesonly.com So that's my fishin story Lol

 

[ramcharger]

I could have had this in 2002 for 14K. This was for sale here in Colorado at a specialty dealer in Greely. Note the superbird and jaguar in the background. At the time things could not have been worse for me and I could barely afford food, rent and internet service (job hunting, had to have it). Yes, it was a 440 six pack......

 

[cosgig]

70 RoadRunner 383 4 speed convertible-$500 back in the 80's, I guess I didnt need it that bad then- stupid me. Or a brown 70 T/A Challenger with a built 340 in it with the original numbers matching motor included for $6500, doesnt sound like a great deal but the owners said they had a buyer for the motor in it for $1000 to ease the pain, and it was far below market value for the 80's. Or the 70 Lime Lite Six Pac Superbird for $16,000 that my bro Cosgig had agreed to cosign on a loan for me for it, NAH we dont need no stinking future investments here. :sad10:

Somehow Broman, I don't remember that superbird, and even if I did, I didn't have nearly enough equipment back then to dump for the sporty and the 'bird. Boy, would we be a menacing duo, though!!!! Geof

 

[2 Darts]

Yep, this does exhume a few memories. 1975, travelling through rural VA enroute to DC. Premium was running over 75¢ per gallon and people were dumping big blocks. A number of places didn't even sell leaded premium.

I stopped for gas at a station and noted a Superbird with a For Sale sign propped up in the windshield. The car was orange with a black vinyl top, bench seat, 440 auto, and not a scratch or dimple on it. The guy was asking $2500 for it. I said I'd think about it, but didn't get a phone number. Went back next weekend....gone.

 

[68383GTS]

My Buddy moved from Illinois to Ohio around 1989.He found a unrestored 20,000 mile, silver 1969 1/2 440 6 bbl 4 speed Road Runner.The still drove the car a bit and wanted $1500.00.My Buddy was 18 at the time and lived with his Aunt and Uncle.He begged and begged to barrow the money from his Aunt and Uncle.They said no that car is not worth that much and it never will be valuable anyway.Well a few years ago we showed his Aunt and Uncle how much 69 1/2's were selling for.They almost had a stroke they just could not beliveve they were selling for 30K plus.
And remember this was a 20,000 mile,unrestored,440 6bbl,4 speed,Road Runner that could possibly bring 80-100k now.

Jim

 

[Badawg]

Man, you guys are tearin' me up

Ill 2nd that!! For me there hasnt been that "one" Probably more like 50. The 2 nicest cars I have owned were sold 1) When my ex and I found out we were going to be parents and wanted her to be able to be a stay at home mom. 2) After getting to the point financially where I could get a toy again, I make my buy and work on it for 2 years and then divorce forces me to sell. So since I couldnt rationalise buying another, I helped my friends, and their friends work on their cars for fun. So many of them were amazing vehicles that seemed were always up for sale. I really try and not think "man if I could go back in time" but its hard not to at times. GREAT stories everyone!!

 

[cosgig]

OK folks, I got one more. When I was 15 years old and not even driving yet, me and a friend both got a summer job at a local horse farm, doing basically whatever was needed to keep it up and running. There in the weeds sat a 69 1/2 Superbee A12 car, either very faded red or orange, with a 4 speed. Jackpot in the mind of young cosgig's early developmental stage. I asked the owner of the farm if it could be bought and he says yes, for $450.00, and better yet, I can work it off until it's paid for. Well, they had a big horse show coming up that weekend, so they put us to task digging pits for porta-johns, postholes, shoveling stalls, etc... all in the HOT july heat. We busted our buns all week and we were getting very, very tired all the slave labor. Well, friday comes and my buddy gets paid for the week, but I didn't!!! We met up town that night and I asked Ron how much he got paid and he says $20.00!!! For the week!!! It didn't take ol' cosgig long to add up that we were making about $0.50 an hour, and that it would take me about 2 years hard labor to get that car home. The horse show was the next day and we both looked at each other and said, "you going"??? You can guess the answer!!! Neither of us ever went back, I lost out on my $20.00 and the car, and couldn't go back to buy it!!! I watched it for a couple years and then one day it was gone. Seems they sold the farm and the new owner had it hauled off to scrap!!! Still cryin' over that one!!! Keep the stories coming, I love to read them all!!! Geof

 

[FISHBREATH]

My youngest brother offered to sell me his 1970 440+6 'Cuda for $2k in 1980. I needed the money at the time to pay for my last year of college. $2k was worth a lot more back then. My *** is constantly black and blue from kicking myself every so often when I am reminded of it.