Everyone Has A Story About A Car They Regret Selling.. Whats Yours?

[Grumpy]

back in the early 1970s I had a part time job working nights in a local gas station,
mostly doing oil changes, fixing flat tires and doing occasional brake jobs.
one day a guy pulls in in a truck with his girl friend in a 1965 tempest, being towed behind the truck,

that looked very similar to this picture off the internet
he says the engine runs fine, but has a bad miss,
but I think the transmissions trashed the car won,t move.
and it made bad grinding noises if you started the engine,
so I asked him what he wanted to do with the car, he says he was quoted more than $600 on the phone ,
at the local Pontiac dealer to replace the transmission, ... could I do it cheaper?
I asked him what he wanted for the car (I had a muncie transmission at home) he said $400 AS IS,
it took me a couple days to raise the cash, but he was thrilled to get the money for a car that did not run with a busted transmission.
as soon as I had the title I put the car up on the gas station lift, I was going to pull the trans and replace it..
.I think he was convinced the engine was about to self destruct also,
I then found his problems.. all three flex plate to torque converter bolts were either missing or sheared off,
and one rocker arm had come loose, once the rocker arm and converter bolts were replaced the car ran ok.
once I got the car running I was offered $1500 , for it by the gas station owner,
I never should have sold the car, he was still driving it in 2006 the last time I saw him.
I really regretted selling that car,
shortly after that I found one that I kept for a couple of years,
and its the one I miss the most, I posted that story years ago
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-resulting-from-an-engine-swap.898/#post-3239

 

[Grumpy]

back in the late 1960s I had purchased a 1964 tempest, for $1200,
the engine was shot as the previous owner had thrown a rod on the original 326 v8.
my intention was to replace the engine and make a few bucks in the process,
I found a wrecked 1966 Bonneville , in a local salvage yard and struck a deal for its engine (389)
I spent a couple of weeks doing the engine swap, and getting the car completely functional,
I really liked that car and should have kept it but I needed cash as I was getting married and as a result,
I let it go for a couple of hundred dollars more than I had into the project in parts
the guy that bought it was at the time a good friend in college, he managed to total the car,
on a vacation, he took in texas within a few months of its purchase,
yeah I was into building pontiac and chevy engines and at that time it was a semi profitable ,
and fun hobby if you did not count the time and effort it required and did not mind getting covered in dirt,
oil , rust stains, bondo dust and a wide selection of primer and paint,
or having burnt a few holes in your clothes with weld splater and stains from grease occasionally,
at the time I really enjoyed learning and refurbishing cars...
my then girl friend was less than enthusiastic about my character flaws..
she must have got over it as we got married in 1969

picture off the internet but its darn close to what the car looked like at that time.

here,s a picture of me in 1970 (50 years ago) with a 1969 camaro I installed a BBC-496 with a tunnel ram into, then later CROWER FUEL INJECTION

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...you-regret-selling-the-most.13116/#post-68384

 

[Loves302Chevy]

How many tickets did you get with that giant hood scoop? Or was the law somewhat "cool" back then?

 

[Grumpy]

the local cops only gave me a hard time about the car very rarely back in those days,
but I certainly had multiple occasions where the local cops followed me around, for blocks,
hoping and expecting, Id do something stupid like a burn-out from a stop light, or speeding.
I got pulled over on a couple of occasions by cops that just wanted to look the car over,
and B.S. about racing.... something modern day cops are very unlikely to do.

 

[hotrod coupe]

Nice cars always seem to leave you with only memories. The one I wish I had never let go of was a 1969 charger. Somewhere along the way before I got it the front had been replaced with 68 fenders and grill. had the round side lights instead of the rectangle and flat grill with hide away headlights. I loved that car and every cop hated it. lime green so it stood out, cost me my license for a year so I sold it and have regretted it ever since. With prices today I have slim hope of ever finding another that I can afford.

 

[rlphvac]

The first would be my 70 Mach! 428CJ #2 my 70 Vette LT1 and #3 my 72 Z28 I would gladly take any of the 3 back and be real happy

 

[chromebumpers]

I‘ve had so many. They all came and went as I needed money for some other ventur or need. What I really regretted over ther years are the cars I DIDN’T BUY!
The od thing is those I missed I never bought when I did have the money. Lately I’m having this itch for a big block 1967 Impala.
I have so much on my list and never enough money. I need a backhoe w/front loader, a 2 car garage built and some needed maintenance/improvements to my home. Adding up everything I figure I need $140,000 to do what I want and while I’m still fit for duty.

 

[chromebumpers]

The first would be my 70 Mach! 428CJ #2 my 70 Vette LT1 and #3 my 72 Z28 I would gladly take any of the 3 back and be real happy

Oh man! A ‘72 Z/28! How could you? I don’t know if I could forgive you for that wrong move!

 

[rlphvac]

Mine was black with white stripes mint condition I got it in 1975 for 1500.00 off a junkyard it was never wrecked the original owner had it stolen then set it up for drag racing it was all stock except for motor and suspension it would pull the wheels about 6 inches with slicks without slicks I couldnt keep it on the road I don't know how many times going into 2nd gear that I should have been dead

 

[chromebumpers]

These cars were cheap - relatively speaking. In 1977 I was completely and uterly trying to scheme ways to raise money for one of those cars. I told the story several times about the prestine ‘68 SS Camaro w/327 at a Chevy dealer for $1,600. A neighbor across the street had a ‘67 GTO for $1,500 and one of his friends had a ‘69 Charger R/T 383 for the same money. I was on my own even at that age and just found it impossible to save up over $2,000 (covering all costs) while making a hot $8/hr.

 

[rlphvac]

If we only knew. M y buddy bought in 1975 a 68 Charger R/T all original with less than 10,000 miles on the clock it spent its life on the 1/4 mile strip the original owner pulled the factory Hemi 727 Trans and the rear end and replaced with a Keith Black motor a Dana quick change rear and a beefed up trans. He sold my buddy the car and all the parts for 2500.00 my buddy raced it for a couple years then rebuilt a totaled 70 Hemi Cuda to race to this day the Charger looks like it just come off the showroom floor and the Cuda could race tomorrow but the best one he had was a 68 Dart factory A body Hemi he didn't actually own it he drove and wrenched it for around 5 years all over the place while getting paid. I'm not sure where I went wrong but I wish I knew plus the Charger and Cuda are less than a mile from me I can hear them when he fires them up