Best deal you missed out on

[734406pk]

Back in '77 when I was 16 I bought a '70 Gran Coupe for $1100. 318, automatic.  after a few years I decided to drop in a 440 and a hemi 4speed. Drove that awhile then sold it for $2500. I have regretted selling it ever since. It has taken me until now to come back around. I purchased a roller `74 about three months ago for $5,000 . Am planning to make a '70 clone as that has always been my favorite. Planning on a gen lll hemi unless I get lucky and come up with a wrecked Hellcat or something. Not likely.

I feel your pain. I did a similar thing. I've bought and sold a few personal cars and for some reason it is only the MOPARS that I miss...

[leg440]

not me but a friend of mine do you see the 70 coronet rt 426 4 speed convert brown tan inside  from graveyard carz . in 1974 my friend working in dodge dealer in quebec montreal the guy change the coronet for chrysler imperial . the coronet at this time sale for 1800.00 my friend not buy because it need car for 4 saison and 4 speed convert 426 it not the best car for  :canada:winter  :crying:thats my friend now

[4406v]

Back around 1980 I saw a 1971 'Cuda convertible sitting along the road with a for sale sign on it. The $900 asking price didn't seem out of line for the day but I popped the trunk open and there was a quarter sized hole in the trunk floor. I passed thinking it was too "rusty" to mess with!!!

A friend of mine was looking at a 1970 Challenger RT/SE 440 Six Pack Pistol grip Dana rear end car for sale that was $4,500 a few years later. He passed on the car because it wasn't "real" NOBODY knew what a "clone" was back then. It was all there and for the standards of the day it was a really nice car.

[HP2]

1994 at a regional swap meet I spied a 1970 Road Runner, 383, 4spd, air grabber. It was a new restoration that was mostly complete but not quite done. Asking price was $14,000. At the time, the company I was working for was in the middle of a sale to another entity. I was part of the shut down team and had just received a $15,000 completion bonus for the second stage of the shut down. I had the cash, had the desire, but he uncertainty of my future and the lay offs spreading through the area made me really think about whether it was the right thing to do.

I chose not to buy the car and instead bought an anti-freeze recycling system hoping to go into business for myself and congratulating myself on making a mature decision for once. Once the shut down of the business was completed, I got my final bonus check and of all surprises, employment offer from the new company we had sold everything to. So the anti-freeze business never took off and all the start up equipment, chemicals, can, phone, etc went unused.

Right around 2005, I finally drug out all the anti-freeze stuff and took it to a swap meet. A $14k investment from 1994 netted me a straight across swap for a rebuilt A833 and shifter. Conversely 1970 Air Grabber Road Runners were selling  around $30,000.

So much for trying to make mature decisions...

[Chryco Psycho]

no matter what descision you make with the info you have at the time life still often bites you in the butt 

[ShelbyDogg]

I think we all have missed a car here and there but we also have also run into some great deals that we didn't pass up. I still have my 70 that I bought for $1000 in 1980 and my $400 Cuda, that I traded a laptop for. If we bought a car in the 70s and sold it for double what we paid, we were happy. If we couldn't afford a car, the stars weren't aligned at the time and something came up later.  We can all look back and wish we chose a different path. That car you almost bought might have had a lot of hidden problems, or a divorce or something causing you to lose it.

Look ahead and get what you want. You will be dead someday and you don't know when it's coming! I remember seeing Hemi cars in our local "trading times" papers for less that $4k. I couldn't afford them then, I can't afford them now.

[onebadfish]

Before I bought mine I passed up an opportunity to buy a AAR - dark bronze metallic - 4 spd - rear window louvers - all #'s matching for 59 k Canadian dollars. The car was mint and I thought I wouldn't drive it so I bought my 71 clone which I drive the hell out of! I should have bought that AAR!

I sold my 1979 SE Y84 Trans Am 400 Pontiac 4spd car (which I owned since 1990) with 41 thousand original miles on it to buy my Cuda - I sold the car for 30 grand in 2007- now I see these cars for 50 and 60 grand - maybe should have kept that one as well? LOL!

[RzeroB]

We can all look back and wish we chose a different path. Look ahead and get what you want. You will be dead someday and you don't know when it's coming!

Rob, you kill me! If that isn't a reality check to get out of the woulda-coulda-shoulda look back I don't know what is!

[ShelbyDogg]

Rob, you kill me! If that isn't a reality check to get out of the woulda-coulda-shoulda look back I don't know what is!

LOL,  People are suddenly gone. Most recently my younger brother 6 months ago, others before that.   I decided to enjoy stuff and stop putting things off. Been doing the power tour since 06. Kept putting it off before then. I drive to Carlisle and the Power Tour by myself, just to hang out with car guys.   My wife says, "what will you do if you break down?"  I answer- That is part of the adventure for the day. If I can't fix it, I'll get towed to a U-Haul, rent a truck and dolly, then drive myself home.

I remember looking at a Plum TA parked outside some apartments around '84 it had the usual sheets of paint missing and bare primer spots all over it. Plum never stayed on the cars due to the UV rays. It had rear louvers, 4 speed, 6 pack all intact. Left a note with a phone number. Got a call and the owner wanted $4500. Too high for me, so it just disappeared like everything else that I wish that I bought but didn't have any money.
 I'm happy with what I have now. Nothing was given to me. Things seem to have worked out without me buying all of those cars anyway.

[4406v]

Guys I couldn't agree more with some of the above comments. I got my wake up call to stop waiting for tomorrow and live today when my best friend was paralyzed from the neck down in a sled riding accident with his kids. He was 42 at the time and so was I.

My other hobby is hunting and since his accident I have been elk hunting out west, moose hunting twice, to South Dakota on a pheasant hunt. All things I was going to do "someday". His "someday" will never come, his only dream now is to somehow regain ANY movement in his hands or legs.

I thought I wanted a new Challenger SRT a few years back. So like a lot of other things I've done since his accident I MADE IT HAPPEN. Then I realized it wasn't what I wanted so I sent it down the road. I am thankful to have an understanding wife and the financial means to live my life the way I want to.

You only get once chance at this make the most of it.

"LIVE FOR TODAY, TOMORROW NEVER COMES"

[Brillo1974]

I have to agree with doing what you want as along as you have the money to do it, I do anything I can afford to do and never wait anymore, you only live once! I have lost my youngest brother years ago at 15 and youngest sister at 50 last year. Don't wait for that someday chances are it will never happen before the grim reaper comes for you.

[tommyg29]

 
But, I have LOTS of regrets about incredible deals Ive passed on, like the shares of Microsoft a friend tried talking me into in 1986 (had just purchased my first PC), or so many real estate opportunities I cant count. To this day I pass on opportunities all the time. I can only take on so much, but as far as cars, Ive owned probably 50 over the years, and I cant say any of them would be high dollar cars today, but there are quite a few I wish I still owned.
Lots of great stories in here though 

[734406pk]

I'm happy to be alive and driving Mopar Muscle!

[AARCuda340+6]

I know this is an old thread but I found someone on flickr that posted some old pictures of the 71 Cuda that Neil had mentioned at the beginning of this topic.
A few years back I talked to John Vanka about sending me a few pictures of the car but he never did.
The guy that posted all the photo's I think posted on here once.  His user name is "redlinemuscle" and he only posted 2 times.
Also in these photo's are a few old shots of my AAR.  I'm saving a few for my archives.

Here is the link... https://www.flickr.com/photos/redlinemuscle

[brads70]

Nice car!