The One That Got Away

Pictures a big plus.  I must have some somewhere, but don't know where. Will look.

Honestly every time I have moved on I have also moved up, although my '96 BMW 318ti was a lot of fun.  If I had it now I'd have to supercharge it as I have gotten used to a bit more than 138hp.  It could be made into a fun track toy.  Sadly I don't believe that I have any pictures of it.

1st car: 1968 Firebird, 400. I'm sentimental.

1975 Monza, 350 with Marvin Miller spray-bar NO2, 4-Sp, 4.11-- I turned every last screw, nut, and bolt on that car.

1984 Yamaha YZ350 (Kenny Roberts Edition), 2-stroke madness. Banshee carb conversion, aftermarket expansion chambers. The little bike that could-- an absolute giant-slayer that struggled to keep it's front wheel on the ground.

^ (not mine. I have pictures somewhere, but not handy)

Having had about 70 cars in the last 52 years these are some of my favorites.  I always regret the sale of a toy. But something always gets my attention that I can't live without.   I,m left with great memories and experiences.

Let's see...

There's the '65 Jeep CJ5 with a fiberglass body and 225 Buick V6 that was my 16th birthday present. Took two years for Dad and I to complete the body-off, frame-up restoration. Irreparably bent the frame in an off-road accident after a couple of years of driving. That Jeep gave me a solid understanding of automotive repair and restoration that's served me well over the years, which was Dad's intent.

Then there was my '66 Cadillac Calais. 19 feet long, 2-1/2 tons of personal luxury car. Total opposite of a Speedster. I had a great time on the local cruise and party scene with that car. It could haul 18 people and a keg of beer to carload night at the local drive-in. It had 80k miles and a fresh paint job, in factory Cascade Green, when I bought it in 1982. Never did anything to the body, but I rebuilt the engine and the transmission and dropped in a killer audio system. Life and career got in the way, and I sold it in 1998, when we bought a house with a garage three feet shorter than the car. I posted it on this relatively new auction site (eBay). The winning buyer was from Sweden, and paid me extra to arrange to flatbed it to Baltimore. He sent mail after he received it, but we lost touch. I hope it lives on. 

Last but not least was my trusty '72 GMC 2500 Camper Special. 350, 4-bolt mains, turbo 400, 2wd posi. Used it to pull my travel trailer when I worked on the road. Just a solid, stout, dependable vehicle. Sold it after I got married because my wife didn't like to drive it, and I had a different road job, with a company vehicle and expense account, so no need for a travel trailer or tow vehicle.

1961 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite with a Lotus 7A engine built by Hollywood Sports Cars.

1955 small rear window VW with semaphores

1964 VW Transporter with two military mattresses stacked on top of each other where the middle seat was removed. Bright hippy curtains all around.

1967 Triumph TR250 with 8 spoke minilites

1957 Jeep Wagoneer with rattan headliner.

1969 911S

1974 912E

1995 BMW 325i convertible

I'm in pain just writing them all down.

1968 Simca 1200... Great little car that VW copied to make the first Rabbits! 5 door, sunroof, fantastic seats and dash layout.  No power and worst of all, Positive grounded electrical system that was quite a PITA!!!! 

VW beetles and super beetles, too many to count!

1974 Porsche 914....  severe rust....enough said.  I would like to have it back anyway.

2 VW buses. 

And, my all time favorites.  82 Alfa that was flipping amazing and a 86 BMW 535i that was comfortable and quite fast!  

The experience of building the Speedster is still one of my best automotive accomplishments.  

Of course, a could right a book about all the motorcycles I have owned, and restored and ridden countless miles on.  

Great thread guys! 

Let's see...

1959 Mercedes 190SL($1300), 1958 Mercedes 190SL ($2000), 1954 Triumph TR-2 long door ($600), 1958 MGA ($400), 1958 MGA Couple ($1800), 1954 MGTD ($2500, 1956 Jaguar XK140 Roadster ($2000), 1955 Jaguar XK140 Coupe ($4000), 1949 Bentley R Type Salon ($4000 includes shipping from UK), 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite ($315), Sunbeam Tiger (forgot the year $900), 1964 Pontiac GTO convertable ($400), 1934 Rolls Royce 2025 ($6000), 1964 XKE Roadster ($7500, most I ever paid for a toy car until the speedster), 1958 Mercedes 190SL ($4000), 1964 Porsche SC ($3000), 1968 Porsche 912($3000), 1974 Porsche 914 (traded  the AH Bugeye and got $3000), 1969 MG Midget ($600), 1974 MG Midget ($2700) and a whole bunch of others.

If I could have kept them I'd be a rich man, but alas they were just old cars...way back then. All were drivers. Some needed a little work. The Bugeye got a complete show restoration in about 6 months. The GTO got paint. THe Rolls got lots of body work and paint. English car almost always had batteries in backward. Porsche's had rust. They didn't undercoat then. XK140 got a restoration. One of the 190SL's got a restoration. One was near perfect.

There were lots more. Much much fun.

1991 Porsche 944s2,

1969 Mercedes 280se.

In 2011, I was looking at a beautiful 1969 912 (green, go figure) or a 2006 BMW Z4 3.0si.  They were both the same price.  I picked the one that I later sold for a massive loss.......oops.

The One''s that got away..... B' Econo dragster, '53 Corvette, two -  '23 T' Bucket roadsters, '56 VWBeetle,  three '57 Chevy's ,  '63 Chevy SS,  '64 Pontiac baby blue convertible,  '59 TR-3,   '56 MGA....   custom IM Speedster w/ mild flares and leather interior ( owned this one twice and still,  let it go )

74 914 2.0 Everything original except for front spoiler and paint. It was still fuel injected.

1967 Nova SS. Bought it for $750 in 1982, sold it for $3,000 in 2003. In between I crashed it, replaced the nose with a '66 because that was what we had in the driveway, swapped out the 125,000-mile 194 and powerglide for a cammed 230 and three speed. Swapped those out for the 4-bolt 350 and four-speed right around 1986. 

The floor was some galvanized stuff and self-tapping screws my uncle gave me. The headliner had, at the very back, some black duct tape hand-sewn in to extend the material (and you'd never notice if I didn't tell you). Home-made door cards. The console was from a '65 Chevelle, which was better because it had a compartment the Novas did not. 

The clutch cross shaft (AKA Z-bar) would break often enough that I carried a spare in the trunk. 

10-bolt 3.08 one-legger, 205/14-70 Goodyear Eagle GTs. Feather the gas in first and second or just waste tires. Third gear though! Disc brakes on the front, stock sway bar, cut springs, and still no way possible to make it handle. Marina blue originally, resprayed by Maaco circa 1991 in a slightly deeper color. 

Some nights I still have that car, in my dreams. 

Based on the saying "Hindsight is 20/20", there have been many opportunities missed. But every car that I've owned had served their purpose and I have never experienced seller's remorse.

Except for that 1970 911T that my ex-wife sold without my knowledge or consent...

I have a certain genius for knowing exactly when a car has reached the lowest market value it will ever have and for selling it at that moment.

Bought a year-old 1974 BMW 2002 with 15K miles and drove it off and on for 23 years. Had it back east the first few years, but mostly drove company cars in the winters, so the 2002 never saw salt before I drove it out to sunny California in '82. Rebuilt the engine with quality parts at 100,000 miles and drove it gently, but by 1999 it needed paint and an interior freshening - which would have been around $7K.

Back then, they were just slow, old, boxy, outdated cars that nobody cared about. With some effort and bucks, you could make them go faster, but then you'd have a quicker old, boxy, outdated car that nobody cared about.

So, I put an ad in the local paper (it was 1999), waited two weeks, and sold it to the first guy who called, for $1500. Straight, rust-free body. Even stuff that always rusts hadn't on this car - rocker panels, battery tray, spare tire well, rear shock towers. 100 % complete and original, inside and out (except for the Weber carb that everyone added to replace the awful smogified Solex). Daily driver reliability. Smooth synchros. Zero leaks - engine, gearbox, rear end. And, no cracks in the dash.

Fifteen hundred bucks.

I saw the car on Craigslist about two years ago for $8000 (still had my license plate), and then again this summer for $15,000.

I wonder what it will be going for five years from now.

It is at least nice to know that the car will now probably be preserved long after I'm gone and that I had something to do with saving a classic.

1948 Buick Roadmaster

1948 Mercury "Flat Head" Convertible

1952 Buick "2 door Fastback"

1950 "Split Window" VW Beetle

1960 VW "Cabriolet" Convertible

1958 Austin Healey 100-6

1958 Triumph TR-2, forerunner to TR-3s

1964 Triumph TR-4 

1969 Javelin

1986 Toyota MR-2

I don't even want to know what they might be worth today.

Carlos G posted:

74 914 2.0 Everything original except for front spoiler and paint. It was still fuel injected.

i had a black one.    Lasted about 3 months before the engine caught fire while being worked on at a shop.   Idiots threw water on an oil fire.

1970 VW Double Cab Pick-up, sold it at Bug O Rama for $3500 to a guy who exported it to the UK, saw it for sale 6 years later for £12,000 (about $18000) and about 2 years after that for £20,000 ( about $28,000)....wish my 401k had performed that well!

Any car that I ever restored - resulted in about 50 cents per hour "profit".  This was late college days (1970).  Restored 2 '59 Bugeye AH Sprites and '65 TR Spitfire.  In '81 I bought a '63 Karman Knotch Back 356 for $300 - it ran but didn't stop and had rust (Hampton, VA near Chesapeake). Did rehab work on it - brake cylinders, interior and paint and sold on Panorama for $1700.  Looking back, I should have parted it out and made double. 

The '66 911 was bought by a roommate in '78 for $3500.  He added the now rare 4.5" Fuchs, stripped and painted it and "rebuilt" the engine (1 piston was burned).  I bought it for $2500 and a 60 hp ski boat.  Sold in '80 for $4500 - to get a downpayment for a DC area TH (had no storage for it)!  Worth $90-100k now?

The '72 914 was bought new for $4300 (gulp - big bucks in '72).  It was a stripper other than appearance group option - 5 1/2" steel wheels, dog dish hub caps and no radio. Over years I added AC, center console w/gauges, Fuchs 2L wheels w/Michelin XAS tires (shown are Dan Gurney wheels), Blaupunkt recording cassette radio,  Koni shocks and anti-sway bars, dagmars and Bursch exhaust w/ dual Weber carbs.  Repainted it a 924 Copper color and sold in '83 for $4500. Worth $14-16k now?

Full disclosure wrt "ex-wife sold without my knowledge or consent"  -- I thought I was the only one and was too embarrassed to mention it.  This is how my '61 S90 got away.  Did not immediately create the ex- part of ex-wife (although I figure no judge anywhere would think this not reason enough) , but it may have contributed later.  Obviously, both (car and wife) sad history now, but some fun early on.  

Wolfy: the 911 in picture is GORGEOUS.  Love that color.

I think it was Guards Red

67 VW Camper is the one I miss the most. Restored it and owned it for 20 years, left in the care of my alcoholic father who just left it to rust away while I was living in the mainland...when I moved back, I discovered he sold it without me knowing about it. I was so pissed off!!  

Strange as it may seem, I really miss my late brother’s 1965 Ford Bronco (I believe it was the first year for the Bronco) which, through absolute inexperience and stupidity I managed to roll over on its’ roof, in my parent’s driveway, around 11am on Christmas morning, 1965.  Some of you more astute readers may read a bit more into that enlightenment, but I think the statute of limitations has lapsed.

Anyway, just about every body panel was crinkled, but it was really new and the drive train was fine (the frame was not bent at all and we managed to shut the engine off quickly when it was running upside down) so the insurance company wouldn’t total it.  Instead, it took over a year to get it back from the Ford dealer’s body shop because, again, it was so new that body parts were not yet available for it.

So why do I miss it?  Well, we live in New England where it snows.....a lot.  It had the rompin, stompin 140 CI in-line six and 3-on-the-tree, BUT it was 4-wheel drive with 4-wheel positraction AND locking front hubs and a lever-engaged, super-rugged, 4-wheel drive transfer case made for the F-150.  Aim it into a parking lot or field with 24”+ of powder snow and give it moderate throttle and it would just, simply, go through it - like a Snowmobile - Like the snow wasn’t even there.

My senior prom in high school got cancelled on Dec. 30’th, 1967, because of a blizzard.  Four couples made it to that prom that night, through 2’+ of snow, in that Bronco, after picking my three friends up and then all of our dates, all stuffed into the Bronco’s seats.  We drove to the front door of the high school cafeteria (where we had Proms back in those days) which, of course, was closed due to the storm, then turned around and rode to a friend’s house (he’s now a retired Navy C.P.O.) for the dinner we were going to have there anyway.  That ride comes up at every reunion I’ve attended.  Got our 50’th coming up this month and 2 of my friends will be there (but none of our dates....they were all a year behind us).  The other guy lives out near MUSBJIM and can’t make it.

We also used to tow “Hot Rod Charlie’s” 409 Chevy Impala to the drags behind that Bronco.  That little beast had a lotta ‘Gnads for a small six.

My brother returned fromthe Service in late 1967 and traded it in for a ‘67 Mustang clone of McQueen’s car from “Bullit”.  I miss the Bronco more.

"Strange as it may seem, I really miss my late brother’s 1965 Ford Bronco"

Did you watch it rust right before your eyes .... I did watch a friend's do that. 

Wolfy, that ain't no Kodachrome then, cause it sure does not look Guards Red in the picture, Has some sort of orange-brown-I-dunno, tint to it.  Kinda groovy, man. And also far out.

I used Fuji film (more vivid colors) back then in a 35mm Minolta SRT.  Not sure if that was from a slide or a print.

Still have my Minnie SRT. Doesn't work, tho.  I have Turned into a digital point and shoot guy, embarrassed to say. And you should see the box of old slides I have, Still needing sorting.  Kodachrome, Extachrome, Agfa.  Was the cheapest way to take and process a picture back then, and cheap mattered.  I can scan, and have scanned, them to .jpg, but what a dreary and time consuming process that is.  One of these days . . .

PS: what pictures I may have of the one that got away are somewhere in that box.  as i said, one of these days.

The cars on this list I really wish I still had are the 1960 Porsche 356B, 1964 VW Camper, 1970 VW PopTop Camper, & the two 1971 VW Buses. I still have the ‘56 Porsche Speedster replica and the almost restored 1973 VW Bus, however, a guy came to look at it Wednesday willing to buy it as is and will let me know this weekend. I’ll probably regret selling that one too, so if he doesn’t, my wife wants me to keep it & complete the restoration. I’m getting too old for this! 

67 Corvette roadster 427/390, both tops, sunfire yellow with black leather interior, teak wheel, sidepipes and the optinal wheels, friggin torque monster,PO had put solids in it..

I sold these two Porsches in the past 5-6 years. I terribly miss them both. Both were detailed to the nines top and bottom. The 914-6 had all sorts of really cool GT parts that I either sourced or made over the span of my 25 year ownership.

But the one car that truly got away was when at 25 years old. $4500. A factory white, grey market, Audi Quattro Coupe. The owner was having issues locating parts (ball joints as I recall - as the a-arms were supposedly different than the US and non Quattro GT's). My dream car at the time. Even had the 8" Ronals (in white). Ugh - still hurts. To this day building a gruppe B replica is still floating around my little brain....

My first new car fresh out of College. Purchased from Weatherford BMW in Berkeley. Band spanking new bright orange 1972 BMW 2002tii. I had the car for a few months and was rear ended in the intersection of Shattuck  and University. After repair the paint faded and it was obvious the car had been wrecked. There was a shortage of BMWs as the cars were selling well. I was offered more than I paid for it by the BMW Dealer in Sacramento so I sold it. Regret it to this day. 

Also an 83 Porsche Cabriolet that I bought In 88. This was the first roadster since the 356. I had it for 15 years and sold to fund College Educations. 

INDIANBOB must be a dealer.  

I need to get a sump pump, as this thread is filling up with tears too fast. 

Not a dealer nor have I ever been one, just don’t get attached to a piece of tin 😊

Kelly you may want to check your sump pump op with Florence on the way...….

Nah, live up on a hill a bit, no sump pump needed, I have proper grading, and never had a water-from-outside issue.  Now, water from inside?? That's a different story.

Flo weather system may just about miss DC area altogether.  We will be looking for Flo-rain early next week, but so what, it's rained almost every week all summer long.

and so it has come to pass. Raining pretty much all day today, sometimes heavy.  Nothing like NC.  Pray for those folks down South, and hope their creeks don't rise quite so much.