What is your "one that got away" story?

[Kit Sullivan]

What is your best story about the car you almost had, but for some reason slipped away from you?

For me, it takes place back in '89. I was driving through Mountain Home, Idaho and as is my habit, I am always scanning the side of the road and peoples driveways and such for interesting cars. Who knows...your personal treasure might be hiding in plain sight and no one else has spotted it yet! I know many of you do the same, its just a function of our obsessions.

Anyway, I kinda' spotted in between two house, in a back yard what looked like a red/black ram air hooded car with weeds grown up all around it. No answer at the door, so I went back many times over the next few weeks and finally got the home owner to answer the door. It was a very old retired and widowed woman living alone. Spent a lot of time being cared for by friends so wasn't home much.

I sweet-talked her as much as I could, and told her of my fondness for old Mustangs. She said the car was her daughters, bought new in late 71. Her boyfriend "damaged" the engine less than a year old. The car was moved to the back yard waiting for the boyfriend to get the dough to fix it.

Well, time marches on, that boyfriend and a couple more are soon gone, and dsughter meets her future husband.

Daughter wants to fix up the car "some day" so she won't sell it. She seems to think its kinda rare.

Newly-married daughter moves with fresh hubby to California, tells mom to keep car, she will eventually come back for it.

I finally move around to convincing her to let me go and look at it, in case daughter changes her mind someday.

Well, she lets me in her back yard and I find this lurking in the weeds:

1F03J******

For you normal types, that is a 1971 Mustang convertible with a 429 Ram-Air car.

I look, and I look, and the more I look the more lightheaded I get:

4 speed...factory a/c...power windows ..deluxe whitd interior...rim blow...full gsuges...magnums....original paint ( shot...red)...no body damage, only surface rust, and a little more agresdive rust around rear wheel openings and taillights.

Top is shot, but car covered with tarp.

Best part? 19,000 original miles.

I have no idea what the "engine damage" was, but I did'nt care. I wanted that car. I probably had a boner.

I left my number, visited several times over the next two years to no avail. On my last visit house was empty, car was gone.

Damn it...

 

[caspianwendell]

Well she was a brunette with brown eyes and double d...wait...we are talking about cars aren't we? I had several CARS that I missed. One of which was a 427 corvette. I was working weekends helping my father remodel a house for Tyson daughter Carla. For those of you who don't know, where I live Tyson foods is second only to Wal-mart so money flows like water here. Anyway the boyfriend of Carla finds out I work in auto repair and want me to remove some junk cars off the property and I agree. I walked around the chest high grass looking at several when I saw it...a red corvette...I make my way to it, pop the hood, and DAMN there it is 427. I rapidly make my way to the shop to get my boss and wrecker (way before cell phones) and he said we would get the vette first. We pull down in the field and J.W. is looking at it with a big smile and says you scored boy. We were cleaning out from around the car when the boyfriend comes out and says "go ahead and leave that one, I may do something with it later". Crap! is not a strong enough word to use for my emotional feelings here but it's the one I chose for this forum.

 

[imusa76]

for me it was a 1973 yellow Fastback.

it was spring 1992 I just got my drivers license, the older lady across the street called me and my dad over to talk, she said " my husband passed away 6 years ago, and this car has been sitting the garage for almost 10 years, I start it once in a while so it does run, my daughters don't want it, because its and old piece of junk, and my grandchildren are too young, I'd rather use the garage space for other things, you can have it for $2k if that sounds fair ." (its funny I can remember this conversation word for word, I was so happy that moment)

it was Mint condition, No rust, about 45K miles on it, it was a plane Jane fastback with a 351C, and all stock no modifications at all, it was dealer maintained with all of the maintenance paperwork.

My dad told her he would talk it over with my mother and get back to her.

My mother flipped her lid about a 16 year old driving a Sports car like that!!!. I think my father was more disappointed than I was that day.

So my parents told her thanks for the offer, but its too much car for me to handle

A few months later she gave the car to her nephew, and then I seen the car a year later !!! WTF he made such a mess of it, he cut the hood with a hack saw and put in a huge blower, and jacked up the ass end, and put in the widest wheels the hung out and looked ugly!! and repainted it a strange maroon color.

ever since then I swore I would never hack a car up to look anything like that.

And the funny part is, my mother still thinks the Mustang I have now is too much car for me, and not to give it to my son to use when he gets his license.

 

[CZ-75]

For me it was a 1960's Jaguar E-type coupe that a friend of my grandparents had in Weirton, West Virginia.

He had 3 vintage jags, and the rear end of that coupe called out to me. I was just 15 when he died, and their family sold them... I was too afraid to ask my father to buy one.

A few years ago, my father bought a 1999 XJ8 Vanden Plas, and said he always wanted a jaguar. I asked him why he didn't buy the one from his mather-in-law's friend? He said that, at the time... being a small town doctor, he didn't want his patients to think he was getting rich due to their mis-fortune... and he was driving a mid 70's Plymouth Valiant... rolls eyes... talk about a boring car... I had to drive that thing around town...

 

[OLE PONY]

The one that got away for me was an "E" type Jaguar too. It was a white Jag with a black convertible top and black leather interior, I seem to recall it was a 67. I have a Polaroid picture stashed away somewhere.

I was working in the parts department of a car dealer that sold and serviced British cars back in the early 80's. This "E" type came in and needed a lot of engine work. The shop estimate was about as much as the car Blue Booked back then. I spoke to the owner and he agreed to sell it to me at a great price. Just before we were supposed to complete the transaction his sentimentality kicked in and he decided to keep the Jag. Bummer!

I could have repaired fairly cheap with my employee discount on parts and labor!

 

[Paul of MO]

Mid 90's in the Tampa newspaper. "54 Chevy $500.00". I saw the add but did not call. Later that morning a guy that worked with me said he was going to call on it and did.

I saw him get visually excited but kept his voice calm and tell the lady that he would bring cash and to tell anyone else that called that she had sold it because he would be upset if he drove all the way out there for nothing. He then thanked and thanked her and thanked her and basically flirted with her a little bit.

He hung up and I asked what the deal was and he said he wasn't sure but she said that the car was a "corv....you now the corvnell, um..... you know that damn plastic car chevy sells" and it had been setting in a field for many many years behind her house and it had to go.

He went out and winched it up on a trailer and brought a basket case 54 Corvette home for 500.00 bucks.

He was going to restore it but had no funds for a project that big so he traded it to a Chevy dealer even up for a decent low mileage pickup.

The dealer did a nice job restoring the car and we saw it a several local car shows over the next few years promoting the dealership and the charities he supported.

I also missed out on a rust free ram air hood for free once - dude let it go with a bunch of metal junk when he was cleaning out a shed. I think it got sold for scrap. Made me sad.

Paul of Mo

 

[nosdelacruz]

Before I had my mach 1, I was about 11 years old looking for an old muscle car to build so I could drive it around to high school. Anyways the new neighbors were bracket racers and had cool cars. One day I noticed this rough but in my eyes it was beutiful 67 GTA fairlane. 4 speed, cage, 427, cragars and more!! I never saw it run or move for years. Being 11 I went and asked if he would sell it and simply he laughed. It wasn't for sale. A few months later they came knocking on my door saying they were getting a divorce and need to sell it. He wanted 2000 bucks but being 11 yrs old I had a yearly income of 100$ if that! After that day I never saw that car again. ........ She slipped away from me one year later I got my 73!

 

[hyena429]

Mine...Was a 1970 charger 440 R/T...Was a local flood victum...Was stored not far from me..Had no rust or anything yet...Water line only got up too the door bottom....They could not get it out of a shed before the flood "plus no one expected it that bad" Car was in great shape...We went down to make a deal on it..And some one swooped in and gave him his full price...he seen my mustang mach 1 and said...Wow i would of traded you strait across for this car...Which at the time..It would of been a hard choice.....I only owned my red stang for a year at the time..but still...i dont know if i would of traded..lol

 

[johnwanzel]

For me it was a numbers matching 1970 boss 302.

I was a private first class in the united states army stationed at Carlisle barracks, pa. While working guard duty at the main gate, I befriended quite a few officers and enlisted soldiers. One in particular was a lt. Colonel who religiously drove his pristine 66 mustang convertible to work everyday. I used to stop him on his way in to work and compliment him on his car. He would drop off coffee and donuts once in a while and we would chit chat about the 70 Mach 1 I drove at the time and his mustang. Since we were both mustang addicts, we would tell each other about cars we've seen around in the area. One day he tells me about a guy who has this 70 boss 302 who needs to sell it quick for a down payment on a house. A couple days later I see the colonel come through the front gate and I stop him to inquire about any more news on the boss. He hands me a piece of paper with a phone number on it and tells me it's the guy with the boss. I couldn't wait to get off shift that day! The anticipation was killing me. So at the the end of the day, I call the number. No answer. So I call the next day and this guy answered the phone. I told him who I was and how I got his number. We made a time for me to see the car. I get to this guys house and in the back is this old run down shed big enough to fit a car in. He opens the shed doors and sure enough, a numbers matching 70 boss 302. The car was complete but the rear frame rails were coming through the floorpans and the car was extremely dusty. Like it was in there for a while. The car was painted black but I could still see the original grabber orange in some places. Black standard interior was all there but the vin plate was missing at the windshield. I questioned the guy about that and he claimed the windshield was replaced and the installer knocked it loose and it fell down the defrost duct. At this point I was a little leary so I asked to see the title. The title showed that it was definitely a boss. Still a little cautious, I asked him how much for the car. He said $6000 you can have it. Well boys and girls, this was in 1993 and a brand new private in the army doesn't make much and at the time, 6 grand was a lot of money for me. So I passed. The one that got away. Boy was I dumb haha

 

[Widowmaker00]

The summer I was shopping for a muscle car I found a '73 mercury comet, 302, 3 speed. It had a couple bolt on's, full interior, faded original paint, a tach on the steering column and Cragars. A week later I went back to give him the $2k he wanted for it, but it had been sold earlier that day.

It worked out though, I got the mustang later that summer.

 

[Kit Sullivan]

For me it was a numbers matching 1970 boss 302.

I was a private first class in the united states army....car was complete but the rear frame rails were coming through the floorpans...car was painted black but I could still see the original grabber orange in some places

Was there actually a "Grabber Orange"? I don't remember....I do remember "Calypso Corral", an orange-y 1970 color.....

memory fades.....

 

[imusa76]

For me it was a numbers matching 1970 boss 302.

I was a private first class in the united states army....car was complete but the rear frame rails were coming through the floorpans...car was painted black but I could still see the original grabber orange in some places

Was there actually a "Grabber Orange"? I don't remember....I do remember "Calypso Corral", an orange-y 1970 color.....

memory fades.....

there was a Grabber orange for 1970 Fords.

 

[johnwanzel]

Hahaha calypso coral seems to be the appropriate color terminology for what I was trying to describe. This happened back in 93 so I'm relying on my memory and my memory isnt like it used to be haha

 

[luxstang]

Mine was only a week ago. My monthly German US car magazine came in the mail and in the classifieds I found:"

1971 Roadrunner, mint condition, original air grabber hood, runs and shifts perfectly smooth, new interior upholstery and dash". And the price was more than fair.

I call and the guy told me he had sold the car the day before. I almost wept. :-(

 

[Kit Sullivan]

Well, it appears there was a "Grabber Orange", and when seen next to a sample of "Calypso Coral", the "CC" certainly does not look even the slightest bit "orange-y"!

I like that Grabber Orange, and my now-refreshed memory can see a particular "GO" Mach 1 from my neighborheed when I was but a teenager...I loved that car!

 

[droptop73]

Back in 1977 or 78 a guy who had a space in a storage unit across from me bought a car for the engine and transmission. He was trying to sell the rolling shell for $500.00. I went over to check it out and noticed a tag on the radiator support that read "not intended for highway use, competition use only" It was a factory super stock Hemi Cuda... if I knew then...

 

[Mister 4x4]

I have three:

1973 Satellite Sebring, which was my cousin's (whom I was raised with). She bought it from a friend for $600, didn't even have a driver's license and I got to drive it occasionally when I finally got mine. She had nothing but problems with it (but it ran great for me), and it was parked more than driven. A few months after she moved out, I heard one of her friends had wrecked it goofing off. If I had been smarter with the money I'd earned at my first job the summer prior to my senior year, I would've bought the car from her and had something to drive... but no - I was a dumb-ass and did the typical teenager 'spend my money on useless 'cool' stuff.'

1971 AMC Javelin (360) when I was stationed at Holloman AFB, NM. The local salvage yard had it... just sitting there... and I had already bought my 1982 Mustang GL hatch (with zero credit or co-signers... the bank took a chance on me because of my stable military job). It taunted me for almost 2 years, and when I finally made up my mind to try to buy it - it was gone... just like that.

1985 1/2 Mustang SVO when I was stationed at Holloman. I had the opportunity to trade-in my now paid-off '82 for an awesome silver SVO, and balked because it was so expensive. I would've had around $45 each pay-day after car payment and insurance - not even enough for gas money. Dumb-ass me, decided against it - not knowing that I would soon be getting orders to Izmir, Turkey and wind up storing my car the whole time I was there (and paid like a King with all of the overseas allowances I raked in).

I decided from that point on, I would not have any more 'ones that got away,' and haven't.

 

[mach71351c]

For me it was a numbers matching 1970 boss 302.

I was a private first class in the united states army....car was complete but the rear frame rails were coming through the floorpans...car was painted black but I could still see the original grabber orange in some places

Was there actually a "Grabber Orange"? I don't remember....I do remember "Calypso Corral", an orange-y 1970 color.....

memory fades.....

My brothers Grabber Orange 70 Boss 302 he bought back in 79 for 3K. 4.30 Drag Pack car. The motor is being sent out in 2 weeks for rebuild. I'm pushing him to get it done for the 50th at Vegas. It's been off the road since 2001.

For me it was a red with black 65 Falcon Sprint 289 factory 4 speed car.You know the one with the chrome "Rotonda" tach on the dash. I was 16 and had no money.:-/ My brothers friend was selling it for 2k. I bagged my dad to buy it. Then one day another friend of my brothers showed up at the house with it. I said to my dad " this is the Falcon I was telling you about" My dad looks at me and "say why didn't you tell me it was this nice":huh: Then Bobby tells us he got it for 1.600 bucks. I was SO pissed off.

 

[kcmash]

Three of them.

1) 1983 a friend had the neighborhood known "Sundowner" Mach 1 given to him for his 16th birthday. (Kansas City Missouri, Gracemore subdivision.) Custom painted maroon Mach with a paisley stripe, Magnums, and a sunset scheme painted on the hood. His parents went to have the engine rebuilt when they discovered it was a Boss 351, so the rebuild was expensive. 2 weeks later he asked if I would entertain trading him cars since it needed $600 in brake work, and my Mach was on the road. I went to the house, verified the VIN, found the clutch pedal hardware, grabber yellow door jambs, non a/c, black interior under the purple shag carpet. (Previous owner had "fixed it up" for his daughter to drive.) I said, let me check with my parents since the title was half theirs at the time. He backed out saying he decided to keep it. 6-months later he excitedly told me how he traded it and some cash to a used car lot for a 4x4 Chevy Pickup. -I was PO'd

2) Worked for a guy who parted out Mustangs in KC. Upon return from college I found a note in my toolbox. 67 Shelby Mustang 350, all numbers match, needs paint, $3500. and a phone number. I called and the number was out of service. (Should have called before college and sold drugs to pay for it!

3) 70 Mach 1 428-4-Speed Shaker, Louvers, spoilers, mach 1 wheels, New rebuilt engine, fully restored except for the interior. $4000 in 1984. I didn't have the money and was ready to go to college. Later met the guy who bought it. He said he sold it because it was so powerful he was afraid he would kill himself in it and destroy a nice car while doing it. At that time he was in his late thirties and I was in my early 20's, so I did not understand the concept of "too powerful".

I just though he was a puy!

Yep, All true- I missed a few!

kcmash