The ones that got away...

As we all know, any good bench racing session must include several pints of one's favorite brew and a lengthy chat about the ones you should've bought, or the ones that you should've kept. what say you, folks? What are the top 5 on your list? Cheers, Scott

Hindsight being 20/20, I shoulda kept:

'59 Corvette

'67 SS396 Chevelle

'69 Ranchero (good shop truck)

'71 Fiat 850 Spider (perfect runabout for where we live now)

And I shoulda bought:

'30-something Lincoln Zephyr for $5000 at some movie car place in Santa Monica

'55 Siata 208S for $2500 at the Fiat dealer in Santa Barbara

'69 427 Corvette for $2000 at a gas station

My older brother shoulda kept:

'53 MG-TD

'54 MG-TF

'59 TR3A

'62 AH 3000

'64 AH 3000

'69 AMX 390

'71 Firebird Formula 455

Hey, they were just old cars a while back, ya know?

My 89 BMW 535i/5spd, dad's Studebaker Starliner Coupe, 65 Corvair Turbo Coupe, 59 Jag Mk1, 74 X1/9, uncle's 64? Aston Martin DB4 GT, Grandpa's MGA Twincam and the other MGA with a Judson supercharger. At least I have dad's '38 BMW 327, which needs huge amounts of work, but is ultra cool.

Shoulda bought

'56 AC Ace

'52 Crosley Hot Shot

'52 Jaguar XK 120

Shoulda kept.

1964 Pontiac GTO

'67 London Taxi

'59 Morris Minor 1000

Dave

Genuine Mini Cooper 900-something cc. Rusty floors but complete and running for $300.

Should not have traded the '72 Capri V6 for a Fiat 124 spider parts car.

Should have gone to look at the 1969 Fiat 124 Spider that was offered to me for almost free that wound up being an unrusted car covered with pigeon poop. To add insult to that one, I towed it home for the guy who was smart enough to buy it.

Should have kept the '65 Skylark convertible a little longer. Maybe not forever, but for a few more summers.

Should have kept the Honda CB350 I bought at a public sale for $35 that cleaned up like new except for the rusty headers.

Sad I couldn't keep the '67 LeMans my pal and I restored from a once-parts car. At least we made good money on it.

OTOH: glad I didn't persue buying my Dad's rusty old '57 Willys CJ-5 I found again. I wisely realized I had enough projects and there wasn't much on it that was still original.

Disappointed I didn't fit in nor much care for my grandmother's near-pristine '66 Thunderbird, so let it go. Would have been nice to have an heirloom car, but it just wasn't the right car.

I should have never sold the 850 Spider.

I am 50/50 on the 2.8 Capri. It was a rolling tetanus shot.

Should have never sold the 91 CRX Si. Ever. Or the 83 RX7. I lost out on a 72 Ghia Vert, Running, no rust for $2500 a few years ago.

There are so many more. I am finally getting to the point that I can buy some of these cars I shouldn't have missed out on. 122 Wagon should be here next week =)

Shoulda bought; '68 Firebird 'vert-400 c.i. w/4 speed. '69 Fiat 124 coupe-running and w/complete spare engine and gearbox, $100. '81 TR8-needed paint and interior, $700. '72 GT6 MkIII-needed paint and fuel pump, $1000. Shoulda kept; '86 Dodge Omni GLH-T-"Goes Like Hell" indeed. '66 Volvo 122s. '64 Triumph TR4. '67 Austin Cooper S-I don't miss the leaky Hydrospastic suspension though. '69 MGB-GT. '72 BMW 2002tii. Looks like if we'd kept half of these cool cars we'd have a great start on a museum. Cheers, Scott

BTW, Kapt., congrats on your Amazon wagon... Cheers, Scott

A running TR3 with overdrive and a TR4 motor I sold for $100.

A running MGA I sold for $75. I gave away a presentable Bugeye with a dead 948.

I owned a "factory" Volvo P1800 V8 (289 Ford) that the New Jersey distributor built as a marketing test (they built several of them). By the time I got it, the thing was a rat. I was a poor college kid and needed cash so I sold it for about $200.

It was 1989. Before my dad decided to semi-retire and sell his auto body business, I should have picked up the Fiat Dino Coupe for the $2K--I could have squeezed one more paint job out of him.

1984 toyota truck 4 wheel drive bought and sold it 1 week nice profit but the kid is still driving it , mudding , crazy 5 years later very strong dependable trans portation .

Shouldda kept:

1959 Austin Mini 850

'63 Corvair monza 102 with 3.08 diff ratio (very rare).

'70 BMW 2002 - color Colorado.

Shouldda bought:

'64 Corvair Spyder convertible for $150 (back in 1973).

'97 Miata fully prepared for CSP for $4500 (lost out because I was second in line by half an hour).

Should have kept: 1) Studebaker Golden Hawk. Used it as a daily driver back in the 70s. 2) Norton Commando Combat. Sold it for $800. Ouch! 3) Jaguar MkII. Probably never would have restored it but it was pretty cool the way it was.

It's interesting how a couple of you regret selling your Fiat 850s. I had one too. They were a lot of fun to drive, now that I think about it. Mine was a jigsaw puzzle of several different cars, but had the 903 and ran really well. Two reasons I sold it: parts availability was becoming a real problem for them and it developed some pretty severe and intermittent electrical problems that left me on the side of the road. I wasn't much of a diagnostician back then, so it was doomed.

Here's the '67 LeMans we got as an engineless, paint faded parts car and brought back from the dead as an amateur resto. Not fast, but a beautiful car. I always liked the body style.

I do miss my last Ford Fiesta but after having 4 of them it was time for a change.

Yeah, that was the best of the LeMans / GTO style, IMHO. Nice.

I traded the 850 Spider in on a 124 Spider which was a much "better" car in every way -- I owned it longer and put many more miles on it -- but many years later, it's the 850 I wish I had back.

Mow that I've had a some time to think aout it, I also regret selling my '70 Fairlady Z (sold it to buy my Skyline), '71 Datsun 1200, '72 510 and my '73 ITA Mazda RX-3. Too bad we can't keep 'em all... Cheers, Scott

My first car , A 1966 Plymouth Barracuda V-8 . Also my 65 Barracuda with the super 225 slant six . I wish dad would have never sold his H-Prod 1960 RHD Bugeye Sprite roadracing car , it had been a racecar almost since new . Also the tow truck for the bugeye . A 1966 427 Corvette Stingray roadster . Anyone know how I might go about looking for a Bugeye Sprite that was sold back in 1977 ? Is there a registery for old british racecars ?

I know it's not a car, but I should have kept my Schwinn Pea Picker.

Re: tracking down an old bugeye, there's a group at: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/bugeye/ that has a database of known examples. If you have an idea of the vin it might help. Good luck.

David, I won't tell you what Crates are selling for now. (I also had a Pea Picker)

Should kept:

Datsun 1600

1963 VW Camper bus complete with flowers on the doors

Saab 99EMS

VW Karma Ghia

No other sad stories, mostly run of the mill Volvos, Saabs, a Fiat, a VW Westfalia, Buick Electra 225, Dodge pickup...

The biggest shoulda bought:

Porsche 911. Guy was selling it to start a business - $3500. My biggest concern at that time was there was no way to carry my bikes. Dumb dumb dumb!

Posters on here know, that for me...I VERY stupidly passed on Triumph Italias TWICE. I also wished I hadn't let my TR3 "get away from me". Ther have also been several Capris in my past, but the one I'm kicking myself over is a '73 4 cylinder/auto that I decided against...only because the tranny was bad.

Once upon a time my brother sold his clean 65 Buick Skylark for $1,500.00

I really should've bought that car. The aluminum V8 ran great, and it was a honey of a machine.

I also kind of wish I had kept my 66 Rambler American. It was so basic it was refreshing!

1. Letting one go? The most disappointing one was the ‘68 Volvo P1800 I’d owned for six years. What made it so disappointing is that I traded it for a new Buick Skyhawk in 1976, truly a p.o.s. car … General Motors at its worst.

2. Passing on one? That would have been the car I passed up when I bought the P1800 in April, 1970. My budget allowed either the 2-year old white P1800 or a new Triumph GT6+ in my choice of colors. They were priced the same on the Picard Motors lot in North Smithfield, RI. But one of the Picard brothers was racing a P1800 in SCCA F-Production around that time and it was a very, very cool car, so that was a factor in the decision. But I wish I had both cars today.

Joe Gearin wrote: Once upon a time my brother sold his clean 65 Buick Skylark for $1,500.00 I really should've bought that car. The aluminum V8 ran great, and it was a honey of a machine.

It wasn't a '65. The '65 had the cast iron 'nailhead' V8. I know because I had one. BTW, there's a 4 door Rambler American abandoned at my local garage. Needs a back window.

hmmmm.....always thought it was a 65. Maybe it was a 66, or 67. I thought it was the smaller body style though. (they got bigger in 66)

In any case, it was a pretty cool car, especially with the top down.