Cars you should have bought...

...but didn't? I'm sure this has been brought up here before. I DIDN'T buy:

SA RX7 -rust free, running ($500) Miata -bad HG ($700) 914/6 ($5000) TR7 -rust free, this fall ($500) TR4 ($800) TR250 ($750)

Maybe not everyone will agree on whether these cars should have been bought at those prices or not, but I"m still kicking myself about them (especially the 914 and the TR250). The reason I bring this up at this time is I passed, TODAY, on a 1988 Yellow Formula Fiero ($900)...

I just need someone to pat me on the back and say it's ok. Or Kick me in the ass and say wtf were you thinking?

sigh

Stan

You did yourself a favor not buying the Fiero. They look good on paper but they suck to drive and the interiors are laughable at best.

Imagine a mid engine buick century...

you are a liar.

(There is no such thing as a rust free TR-7, next thing, you are going to tell me the head was good too.)

$1000 1925 Model T coupe rust bucket with a good title. Neighbor was storing it in my parent's driveway after he lost his storage. His wife made him put it up for sale. I should have jumped on that one. I had recently bought an RX-7 at the time, and wasn't willing to add to the stable.

1976 Olds 98 Sedan with a 455. Can't remember what my dad sold it for, but it was way too cheap. Only problem it had was the plastic taillight extensions had gotten brittle and cracked. The A/C and all the power accessories even worked. Had just graduated college, and lived 800 miles away in Oklahoma.

And an endless stream of creampuff FWD GM cars for crazy cheap prices that always seem to show up right after I've spent a good chunk of change on a new daily driver.

Go back and get that fiero, or please tell me it runs fine, and is in Cincy.

skruffy wrote: You did yourself a favor not buying the Fiero. They look good on paper but they suck to drive and the interiors are laughable at best. Imagine a mid engine buick century...

Didn't the 88 Fieros get the good suspension, not the parts bin junk the beancounters made the earlier ones use?

You sir are correct. . . . 88 Fieros around here are $$$$ no matter the condition . . .

96 Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon. Old lady one owner cream puff for $2500. Got the call that it was for sale the same day I bought my wife the engagement ring. For some reason I didnt feel like spending any more that day even though I could have barely swung it.

1969 E Type. In 1987 I had the opportunity and money to buy a low mileage convertible for $13,500. It was a little over priced but decent for the perfect condition that the car was in. I decided to pass since my first daughter had just been born and my second was on the way. I wanted to be a responsible father and left the money invested in the stock market. 3 weeks later the stock market dove and I lost the $13,500, and since I had made a trade earlier and taken some profit I had to take the loss to avoid paying additional taxes. The guy that bought the car, sold it five years later for $65k !

You passed up on a yellow Fiero Formula for $900?!? Where at and can I have it? That's a rare beast. (As mentioned above, the Formula was 88 only and has all the better brakes and suspension)

My "should have bought it" story was a pair of Hondas back when I was in college, one Z600 and one N600. Could have had the pair, rust free but neither running, for $1000. Back then, that seemed like a mint but I really wanted that N600 and the Z600 would have been a parts donor. I finally made up for the mistake of not picking up that N600 recently; I found a rust free N600 that (just barely) didn't run. It's now a driver and although it was a bit more money than that one in college, I think it was wise to wait.

I'm a poster child of striking while the iron is hot, I RARELY let a smokin' deal on a car pass by. Unfortunately, I've got a fleet of constantly fluctuating cars to show for it...currently at 8. Fortunately, I've got a fleet of constantly fluctuating cars to show for it...currently at 8.

Bryce

55 Porsche 356 coupe with no rust or damage, running for 11K. Complete interior, all the glass, no paint, and a non standard motor. About a year ago.

maroon92 wrote: next thing, you are going to tell me the head was good too.)

well, he wouldnt want to hurt your feelings...

Austin Mini Cooper, an early one with some 900 or so cc engine, for $500. Sure it was rusty, but a complete new shell from Mini Mania wasn't that much back then. My 'friend' was going to buy it but got cold feet and never took the guy the money. He never bothered to tell me until I found out it was sold.

I will probably regret not buying Mike Snyder's Ford Fiesta he just sold.

The AMC Javelin ('68), 290 with a stick that needed a door for $500. I still kick myself over that one. I was worried about finding a door. This was in 1983 or thereabouts so it was a legitimate concern. But still, what a dumbass I am.

That's about it. Too many of them I actually did buy, sometimes regretting it.

69 GTO Judge. It was 1979, and I thought $1100 was too much for a 10 yr old car, even though it was low mileage, and clean. It was orange, too.

That Javelin would've been a cool car.

The number of cheap/cool cars you have to pass up and the resulting heartache is directly proportional to how much time you spend combing the classifieds for said cheap/cool cars ;P

1972 914 1.8 running, no rust. $1200. wife said "there are only two seats?" I misstook that to mean it was "impractical" so I passed on the car. Later it turns out she really didin't know and was just curious.

Neadless to say, I have worked on our communication skills very hard to avoid any future issues like that . (we had ben married about 4 years when that happened, we celebrate 20 years in June)

Cars I should've bought but didn't: '78 Cutlass with the extremely rare 4-speed manual. '76 Grand Prix with t-roof and swivel seats.

Cars I bought but shouldn't have: '82 AMC Eagle wagon (but I still want to find a good one. How stoopid is that?) '95 VW Passat VR6 - fantastic engine and it had the 5-speed but reliability was not a strong point, to say the least.

Get ready for this one, downunder found guy with 4 Shelby GT500s under his house, 3 x 69s and a 68 fastback, he offered me the 68 4 speed green fastback for $20K AUD. This would have been around 1986

Aaaaaaarrrggghhh

aussiesmg wrote: Get ready for this one, downunder found guy with 4 Shelby GT500s under his house, 3 x 69s and a 68 fastback, he offered me the 68 4 speed green fastback for $20K AUD. This would have been around 1986 Aaaaaaarrrggghhh

Now, that's a missed opportunity!

Personally, I found a used car lot with a GT6 that had experienced a fire under the bonnet. Since I already had a Sprite, it was passed over.

A short while later, I found and test drove a Europa S2. The fuel pump died at the corner of 14th and Piedmont, leaving me and the owner stranded in downtown Atlanta. At the time, there were no Lotus dealers nor Renault dealers in the area so parts were going to be a big issue. And, I still had the Sprite - no Lotus for me.

The only one I regret ever having passed on was a Europa S2 for $500. Now before you start on the "Dude WTF!!" It was in crates, the guy had taken it apart to do a total ground up resto and hadn't marked anything. The wire harness was in a plastic bag. He said it was all there but no way to prove it. On top of that I had no place to spread it out to put it back together.

Looking back I should have rented a U-Store-It building and done it there on weekends. Oh well live and learn.

1935 Chevy sedan for $125.00 I still kick myself for not buying it.

I missed out on a 1967 AMC Rebel convertible when I was 14, Grandpa bought it back to restore it and got disinterested. I wanted a Javelin but if I had given up my car fund and really worked at it, that could have been my car. Yellow with a black/white 2-tone interior, 343 V8...

Then at 15 I tried to buy (put a deposit down to come back the next morning with the trailer) a 1979 Spirit AMX 304 V8 4-Speed manual. Black with the screaming AMX hood graphics, fender flares, and spoilers.

Then I bought everything I saw, regretted some sales, and haven't really missed much. I have the sales stubs from the 100+ cars since then...

A buddy said he was driving out of Laguna Seca Raceway after an event, and there on a trailer was a real, honest-to-God Ford GT-40 sitting on a trailer with a for-sale sign: $15,000. This was back in the late 1960's or early 70's.

It still bugs him...

I've regretted buying cars I should have skipped - does that count?

The only car I regret Not buying was an E30 M3 back in the day. At the time, they were going for $8-9,000 and I figured that if I waited a little longer, I could save a few thousand dollars...d'oh!

Solid 1946 Ford conv. $85. 1954 Stude Lowey coupe $200. 1963 Corvette coupe $950. 1966 or 67 Shelby GT-350 $2000. 1964 or so Avanti with blower (S-1?) $2500.Obviously, I'm a bit older than some of you guys to have not bought the above at those prices.

'71 4 door T-bird, $500 in '02

Forester that had been rolled, looked bad a$$ and everything still worked. $1600 last may