Cars you DID NOT BUY.

[JRSully]

That's easy, the big 3 that will be with me till the day I die; All early to mid 80's, early 90's or so. All in the mid $3k range

1. 69 RS JL8 Z, triple green, loaded, wanted $3500 for it, missed it by a few hours and heard it's in the Midwest somewhere, still have some pics of it
2. Untouched 440 Sixpack Cuda 4spd, every option including leather interior, Hemi orange, white top/gut, Had argent shaker too. bought by guy who went to Nam, didn't come back. Helped his father push it out of the garage, blow the dust off it and pour some gas down the center carb, fired right up. Maybe had 15k mileage on it, Begged Dad for $3k, told me I was an idiot and enjoy the hammered Escort your driving, Called back 2 days later, gone
3. Last, but not least, 70 Stage 1 4spd Conv, 4 miles from my house. just got my license and the guy let me take it on a half hr cruise! Car could rip a house off its foundation. Back to Dad for another $3k, same answer. next guy who called on it bought it, was at NMCN a few years back and the owner truly enjoyed the story of how he got the car via my misfortune!

Did get lucky on a few though... It was a lot of fun chasing these cars back then, that's for sure!

[camaromb]

Some of the local Chicago Auto Trader and Old Car ads from back in the late '80s early '90s:

1971 Buick Stage 1 Convert, window sticker/docs/loaded $ 7,200 / 1968 Hemi Charger RT 25,000 miles mint $ 10,000
1970 Trans Am RAV motor $ 11,500 (This one went to Al Maynard back then)
1965 Shelby GT 350 $ 14,900 / 1968 Shelby GT 350 blue 4 speed $ 9000 / 1969 Z28 JL8 $ 11,500
1971 Challenger 440-6 original paint $ 5,500 / 1974 SD Trans Am auto 35k miles $ 8,200 / 1969 Trans Am auto $ 12,000
1971 Z28 Mulsane Blue 4 speed 19k miles 4 speed window sticker $ 9,500 / 1970 Z28 4 sp 35k miles $ 9,500 / 1970 Olds 442 W30 4 speed $ 8,500
1969 Z28 61 k miles $ 5,200

The wish list was really long, they always seemed to be too much money.

[nova7579]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: VintageMusclecar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">2005: I'd just sold my Pro Street `67 Chevelle and was on the hunt for a restoration project. I highlighted the details of the full story elsewhere on here, but in a nutshell by sheer happenstance I happened to find the current owner of my first `67 SS396 Chevelle. It was on a car lot here in Ohio. </div></div>



WOW...those pictures were taken at a little lot between Lima and Elida right on ST RT 309.

Brina

[markinnaples]

Looking at a Oct 15, 1992 Muscle and Classic Auto Trader for Ohio and W. New York:

1970 Chevelle SS454, rebuilt engine, 4 spd, red w/black stripes, $6750
1970 AAR Cuda with 61k miles, trophy winner, $11,500
1969 Z/28, 59k miles, Hugger Orange, all numbers match, Protecto Plate, etc. $14,900
1967 Jaguar XKE 2+2, excellent condition, $17,900
1968 Camaro, 4 spd, good condition, $3,000
1969 Chevelle SS396, solid, red w/black, $6200
1968 Z/28 - RS, 350(?), 4spd, VGC, $6900

And so, so many more.

[Jim Ferron]

How about in 1976 when I got out of High School, I saw a 70 Vette and a Superbird [B5 blue with wheelcovers, auto column] Parked in front of a guys shop for sale.

when asked, he said your choice.... $3000 each.

I bought the Vette :O(

[black69]

69 L88 for 68K in 2001-2 in monterey. Back then it was market value. But it was nabors restored (replacement engine).
bill mitchel cherokee camaro. Too much pressure in too little time. Lots of complexities in that decision. Just could not get my big boy pants on and risk a lot of money.
junkyard 65 Z16 (only because it was stupid cheap).

[GearheadSS]

1970 Buick GS Stage 1, Gulfstream Blue, white vinyl roof and white interior. 4 speed with like 35k original miles in 2001. Could have bought it for $10k as the original engine wasn't running right. I couldn't afford it at the time. No idea what ever happened to that car. It was a 2 owner car at the time.

1969 Judge, RA3, CR, Auto. 1 owner car. Original engine was blown but still with the car. Heard about the car's location, went to find it and it was gone. Turns out a family friend bought it a week before I heard about the car. Rumor was he got it for $2500 in 2004. 11 years later, he still has it and it's still not restored. I was sick that I missed that one.

[marxjunk]

around 88 Sox and Martin Belvedere...Hemi missing..still Red White and Blue and lettered up...went to look at a 67 GTO convert and got hung up on the Hemi...never could get it done..years later turned up at R&amp;R..bunch more money..never found out the history but Ron said it was real, but a back-up car or something..cant remember the details..Ron got sick and the cars all got sold...it was ruff...but still a Hemi car, with Sox and Martin on the side

71 Hemi Charger r/t..no motor, slate grey..$8500..thought too much missing motor..99ish

71 440 6PAK 4 speed charger r/t auto with orig motor included..red with white top loaded air grabber etc..$6000...thought too much...97-99 i guess

70 Super Bee sublime...rust free texas car..440-6 air grabber 4spd on and on..motor in trunk $6000 thought too much around 2000

70 Trans Am Javelin.real RWB with 2 parts cars..$2000..couldnt get it moved quick enough and was crushed because the guy was being evicted etc..all orig missing the 4 speed trans..very nice car..around 99

71 Judge..$4000..correct...dead broke,, 1986

and on and on..

one i really regretted..65 365 h Corvette Coupe..side pipes, knock offs..white with red guts, made up..slicked over bondo buggy...sitting on a buy here pay here lot...$3000 i was 19 maybe 20 and making $8 and hour prepping cars for paint and was barely making it...mom lent me the money...but i got guilty conscious on it, because i already borrowed a ton to go to trade school..etc, and gave her back the check the next day...$3000 seemed like a million to me back then..i didnt know how i was going to pay her back

the next day i bought my first GTO, a 71 triple black 4 speed for $500..54xxx original mile cream puff..bad clutch..wouldnt move, on a car lot and they wanted to dump it...up on St Charles Rock Road in STL...i loved that car...and have pretty much been a GTO guy since..mom gave me the money...she knew i was suffering over the Vette..lol..

[olredalert]

----OK,,,Ill tell you about one more. I had taken a job offer from Jack Douglas and his partner Richard Buxbaum to go to work at Classic Motors in 1976. Had to move from Ft. Liquerdale to Chicago. Went to work my first day at the old Jack Douglas Chevrolet store just off 294 in Hinsdale (home of the Ferrari dealership today, I think). I went down the stairs into the shop and there was a guy detailing out a GT40 Ford. I was kind of surprised, but Richard told me he found it one town over and bought it. He then informed me that this particular GT40 ran at Lemans until the Coletti transaxle puked. Later Richard told me I could own it for $30,000. I had just bought a house for a couple of bucks more than that and had to finance about 90% of that, so it just wasn't in the cards. Should have hocked everything I had and slept in my car. Whats that car worth today???......Bill S

[Lynn]

I feel for you Bill. I think the biggest heartbreakers are the ones from about 69 to 78 or so. Most of the desirable cars started appreciating around then.

I have some old Road &amp; Track mags, and some of the for sale ads just make me want to cry. Multimillion dollar Ferraris (today anyway) for 5 to 7k. Did you realize that there was one of the 63 Ferrari GTO's GIVEN to a high school vo-tech in the eary 70's because the owner couldn't see any use for such a high strung car? The last one I heard of changing hands brought something like $48 million!!!! Early Corvettes were dirt cheap.

In addition to that 190SL deal I passed on, I also passed on a 56 Corvette, never hit, but poor repaint, missing the hard top. Ran and drove fine. 3 speed. Price was $700 in 1972. About that same time, passed on a 55 Nomad, then a 56. Both under $700.

But, and this one really hurts, in about 1976 or 77 (first gas crisis) I passed on a Hemi Superbird for $1,200, because it had been run a little hard, had a lot of scratches.