Classic Motorsports

discussion

Subscribe: One year subscriptions to Classic Motorsports magazine are only $19.95. Try a free issue of Classic Motorsports, No cost, no obligation.

Classic Motorsports Forum » Classic Cars »

  • David

    April 18, 2008 8:03 p.m. David Wallens Editorial Director

    This morning Margie and I were discussing those deals that got away. Actually, it was a short conversation. Tim rarely lets them get away, and I guess I'm too busy to notice.

    The one that did get away from me is kinda gruesome, however: the "alleged" Jane Mansfield death car. Seriously. The "alleged" car was on display at a museum in St. Augstine, Fla., for years. The caretaker passed away, and his wife wasn't able to keep the museum going. They auctioned everything off, and the prices were cheap--the Mansfield car went for like $2500. The ambulance that carried Lee Harvey Oswald's body went for about the same amount. This was before eBay. You can read a bit about the auction here: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/FLSTAtragedy.html

    Still not sure what I would have done with that car, too. I'm going to bet that you guys have better stories.

  • Baxter

    April 18, 2008 10:21 p.m. Tim Baxter Online Editor

    In the tiny town I grew up in, there was a perfect TR4 stored indoors for years. I told anyone who would listen if it ever went for sale I was interested. They all thought I was kidding. As I understand it, it was basically given away cause nobody knew what to do with it.

    Then there was the BMW 2000CS I could've picked up for about $2500. Beautiful, rust free car, but the ex-wife couldn't reach the pedals.

    But honestly, I think my worst "one that got away" stories are cars I owned. Both my 71 BGT and my 81 320is weren't even out of the driveway before I knew I'd made a mistake.

  • Shinsen774

    April 19, 2008 6:25 a.m. Shinsen774

    The guy here in Central Virginia who claims to own the "Mel Torme MG-TC" is having some personal problems. It won't be a bargain, but I wonder if he's going to have to sell that car and if he can prove that it belonged to Torme at some point. Mel Torme MG-TC

  • bobpink

    April 19, 2008 9:01 a.m. bobpink

    I had a mostly original 1970 240Z that I sold just before the value of cars like this started climbing.

    It's okay though. I see the car occasionally and with the way it looks now, it ended up in good hands.

    Didn't completely get rid of the Z car bug as I replaced it with a 260Z project car.

  • April 19, 2008 11:42 a.m. kb58

    I wonder how I'm going to feel after I sell the mid-engine Mini that took me 10 years to build from scratch. Carbon body, tube-frame, Honda H22A1 in the back seat. The only "problem" is that it turned out too nice to be used on-track.

    A lot of people are already telling me I'm going to regret it... Guess I'll find out the hard way. It's at http://www.kimini.com and was on the cover of GRM, too!

  • Nick_95_6sp

    April 19, 2008 8:48 p.m. Nick Tallos

    I love that kimini. I probably can't afford to buy it, but if I had it I would definitely track it ...not wheel to wheel racing, but a nice fun track day car. I can understand lamenting the sale of something like this.

    My great lament is selling my '67 E-Type roadster. I never NEVER should have sold it. I bought it in 1972 in perfect condition for $2200.

  • KaptKaos

    April 19, 2008 9:38 p.m. KaptKaos

    I sold a fairly rough, but running Fiat 850 spider. I shouldn't have, but at the time I just didn't have the room to keep it. I could buy another (maybe I should LOL), but I worry that I won't be happy and will continue to compare it to my old one.

  • Burke

    April 20, 2008 6:57 a.m. Burke Bell

    Out of all of my former flames, the one I miss the most was my '68 M-B 280SL. It was a Euro model with the rare 4 speed. Not the best driver, but a beautiful car. The one that got away... '74 BMW 2002. MINT condition, red... It was to be my first car and I begged my dad for it. Didn't work ;)

  • steved033

    April 20, 2008 7:53 p.m. steved033

    I hear there was still blond hair lodged in the dash...ewww.

    Knowing what I know now about restos...I should have kept that 1 of 7 1964 elva GT coupes I had.

    If I sat and thought about it, I probably have a list a mile long of them getting away.

    sjd

  • April 24, 2008 3:40 p.m. Andy Reid Auction Editor

    4 Years ago I went to see a Lynx C Type replica, the car was painted, had a proper interior and all trim. All it needed was its wiring harness installed. The car was completely done except for wiring and had all correct instruments and trim. The car was selling for $14000 dollars. I passed because I did not need another project at the time. A friend of mine just bought one for over $80000 dollars.

  • Bret

    April 24, 2008 4:09 p.m. Bret

    I really miss my 67 Barracuda. Never should've let my ex-wife talk me into getting rid of her when I did.

    Here's a Pic:

    Also about 15 years ago I had a chance to purshase a Triple Black 1970 Challenger. 383ci V8 with a Manual. But I bickered too much over the $20K price at the time so I walked away.

    Still kick'in myself over those two cars.

  • Nick_95_6sp

    April 26, 2008 11:44 a.m. Nick

    Talk about nice Challengers, at the big Carlisle PA show about 20 yrs ago I stupidly passed up on a '70 Challenger ...I think it was a '70... with the 440 Six Pack setup, it was plum crazy purple, Torqueflite; still looked and smelled almost new, for $17k.

  • aeronca65t

    April 26, 2008 2:56 p.m. aeronca65t

    I sold a decent, running MGA for $60 (in 1969 when I was a starving college freshman). And I sold a running, overdrive TR-3 for $100 two years later. ~HERE~ are those two cars.

    Then there was the P1800 I sold for $100.

    But the one that got away was an MG-TA that was for sale at a car dealer in Lakewood, NJ in 1967. Ran good and in decent shape. They wanted $500 for it.....too much for me at the time.

  • racetearoffs

    April 28, 2008 9:25 a.m. Karl La Follette

    I had a BMW and a maverick hit by falling trees at the yard . The bavaria was sweet I never drove it but it looked nice and smelled good sitting in the driver seat , the maverick got the same treatment kablam tree nailed it . I have kept allmost all the cool cars that I come in contact with much like the people you see with newspapers in ever room of an apartment piled high to the ceiling . Time has come to sell some off so I am going to be letting them go ..... ahh soon .

  • racerdave600

    April 28, 2008 10:26 a.m. racerdave600

    Oh man...I had a '70 Boss 302 Mustang that I sold for like $1,500 (I think) in the early '80's, and I also parted with my TR4A for next to nothing.

    I passed on an E-Type Roadster for $5,500 about 25 years ago, a DB4 for about the same. Test drove a '64 Corvette convertible in mint condition, asking price; $6.500, and have sold way too many Alfas that are now worth money, but at the time were pretty common. Think 105 series GTVs here. Oh, and I passed on a pile of parts that were an Alfa TZ-1 that the owner only wanted like 2k for, stupid..stupid...stupid.

    Not me, but a friend was once offered a Ferrari Daytona for $20k back in the early '80's (way beyond my budget at the time), but he thought that was an outragous price for a Daytona. He could have unloaded it a few years later after Enzo died for what, half a million to a million before the price crash?

  • April 28, 2008 11:59 a.m. spitfirebill

    Not as great a deal as many of these, but I had a chance to but a Morgan +4 for around $5,800 in 1977. That's almost what my wife's Cutlass cost then.

  • wspohn

    April 28, 2008 4:59 p.m. wspohn

    I once swapped a complete MGA Twincam for a race car trailer...... agh!

  • racerdave600

    April 29, 2008 10:16 a.m. racerdave600

    That one hurts!

  • TR3only

    April 30, 2008 9:30 a.m. TR3only

    For readers of GRM this story has already been told, but if you missed it:

    In the early '70s I was driving along the road that runs parallel to the ocean (I forget the name) in one of the beach towns near Jacksonville, Fl. I passed this unknown to me little sports coupe for sale on the side of the road and being the car nut I am, and curious about this unknown car, I turned around and went back. It looked like a 2/3 scale Maserati coupe from the late '50s...it even had wire wheels with the "winged" knockoffs. It sure looked interesting (I've been a fan of small cars for quite some time) but I didn't stop and take a really long hard look because I wanted a roadster if I ever got into a proper sports car....preferably a TR. Well, I eventually bought and sold a Spitfire to buy my TR3 and started to amass some reference books to help in the care and maintenance of my "diamond in the VERY rough". In one of my reference books, I ran across a photo of my "mystery sports coupe". It was one of about 225 Triumph Italias. A few years later I read an article in a collector car mag that said only 25 Italias were registered in the U.S. branch of the Italia Regstry, so this car in the late '70s would have been extremely rare.

    In late 1987 I ran across an ad in a saturday edition of the Jacksonville newspaper that offered a 1960 Italia for sale...for about $500. From reading the ad, it was apparent that the owner had no idea what he had and what it was therefore worth. I called the seller and got directions to his (then?) rural/suburban address on the outskirts of Jacksonville. The car was fairly complete (the owner was midway through a restoration) but was also apart enough to make a good inventory of the parts difficult. I mentioned to the seller (the father of the owner) that these cars were rare and the only one I had ever seen like it was coincidently in Jacksonville, at the beach, and at the time it was painted a root beer metallic color. The seller said this car when they got it was NOT metallic brown and had been bought in Jacksonville...but not at the beach. (Was it the same car? Or another example of this very rare model?) I didn't buy this car, either. Like the car's true owner, I was in the Navy at the time and was about to be deployed to Bermuda for 5 or 6 months, where, as it turned out, the car's owner was already stationed. Yeah, stupid, aren't I?

    BTW, a dealer on E-bay had a fully restored Italia for sale a few months ago...the bidding started at $80,000. That's right...EIGHTY THOUSAND, though it apparently didn't sell, at least not for that amount, as no one ever bid on this car.

  • Baxter

    April 30, 2008 9:46 a.m. Tim Baxter Online Editor

    Ouch. Hey TR3, I was in the Navy, in Jacksonville (Mayport), in '88 and '89.

  • TR3only

    April 30, 2008 2:23 p.m. TR3only

    Hey, T B, I was stationed at NAS Jax from about 1985 to 1988 (the Second time, the first time was from 1971 to about 1975) and still own a house in Jacksonville, in the area of Normandy and Cassat Ave. I haven't been down in about a year, I've been thinking of going down for a visit.

  • IanF

    May 1, 2008 1:38 p.m. Ian F

    Ones that got away... a few...

    Back in '90, I was working and had a bit of cash... a shop I was dealing with had a RB MGB in a back barn... body work was done and had nice BRG paint, but it needed brake work and some finishing touches. Otherwise, it looked great. They wanted $1000 for it... couldn't find the cash...

    Around the same time, there was a '69 Charger 383 auto, General Lee replica I even test drove with an asking price of $2200... Had a bit of rot in the trunk, so I passed... of course, these days you can't touch a drivable big-block Charger for under $20K.

    More recently, my g/f and I looked at a '73 Saab 95 wagon. Asking price was $3000 with a bunch of spares the owner had collected over the years. Wasn't perfect, but was basically rust-free and would have made for a fun driver. We let it pass. We both regret that one. Would have been a fun companion to our '73 ES wagon.

    To this day, I regret letting my mother's old '71 Demon go to the junk yard. It had rot issues... but wasn't really in bad shape... compared with cars I see now...

    Less than a year ago, I sold my '90 Ford conversion van after purchasing my Dodge Cummins 4x4. Part of me really didn't want to, but I really don't have the room for two trucks. I regretted the decision as soon as the new owner installed a new battery and I turned the key... after not being started in well over a year, the old 5.0 cranked for a couple of seconds, fired right up and settled into a purring idle as if it d started yesterday.

    I regret selling my '78 F150 4x4, 351M, 4 spd... although not as much as I regret lifting it 6" and slapping on 36" Super Swampers...

  • aeronca65t

    May 1, 2008 4:03 p.m. aeronca65t

    On the other hand, late last year, I bought this really nice, low-mileage, garage kept chrome-bumper MGB for much less than $1000. It was a bit dusty...that's all.

    It always seems to happen when I'm not looking for a car (I didn't really need another white sports car...that's my daily driver behind it).

  • IanF

    May 2, 2008 2:12 p.m. Ian F

    Wow! That car looks great!

    I wish I could stumble across deals like that these days...

    Wanna sell it to me? I'll double yer money!

You'll need to log in to post.