Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Wondering the worst decision you have made in the past..I parted out a 68 and 69 chevelle ss 396 and an original paint and equipment 70 roadrunner in the early 80's Passed on what i believe was a gen 1 hemi barracuda! no engine or trans..Hope i have the right forum.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

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Hope i have the right forum.

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Nope. This should probably go in the "lounge" or general discussion area. No worries, the mods can move it for you.

My worst decision were both my 442 and my Camaro I currently own. I should have waited for the market to tailor off and buy solid examples of both instead of the rust kings I got. Oh well, live and learn.... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Selling my Lemon Twist/white interior, 1971 hemicuda ragtop for $54,000 in 1987.

DOH!

http://i466.photobucket.com/albums/r...pson2Thumb.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Marrying my Ex, wasnt a buying or selling decision but it sure cost me.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

worst: buying a diamond for the ex-wife 25 years ago....

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

best: while living in a 10' wide trailer and rolling pennies and spending the 'house' money to buy my ZL-1...which eventually helped lead to my divorce...haha...

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

..and actually helped me pay for my divorce when I sold it too!!!

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Its all good. The 68 ss i parted out was ex's driver!!

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Doing a complete nut and bolt restoration on a '70 Challenger, RT/SE that was a non numbers 383. So upside down on that one when I sold it. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...thumbsdown.gif

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Having almost $100G into the restoration of a '72 T/A...Oh, wait, I'm not even finished yet. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/rolleyes.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Letting my dad talk me out of buying a 1970 GSX because the 455 would get terrible gas mileage. Yellow with a black stripe. It had black interior with buckets and a automatic. The non-original motor was rebuilt with the original heads, that was the bad part. The good part was that the original motor was in the trunk! LOL

I heard $900 bought the car. This was about 1984 in Beloit WI.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Too many to list. The one I regret most is parting and crushing a 68 Hemi Super Bee a few years back. Hated to do it, but the car had been "V.I.N. farmed".

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Worst....In 1977, selling a 13,000 mile ***perfect condition*** LeMans blue 69 Nova SS that was originally a Brigance Chevy 427 conversion car that had been street raced since new. It had a 283 in it when I had it, but it was still like a brand new car. Still had the 5.13 gear in it when I bought it. My wife was mad at me when I sold it back then, and she still reminds me about that to this day https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/rolleyes.gif Should have kept it and sold my 73 Z28 Camaro...dumb, dumb, dumb https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

In about 1976 or so I was 19 and didn't have much money. I heard about a 64 Impala SS for sale that was about 40 miles from me. When I got there the car didn't run. A friend and I tinkered with it and got it started. The guy wanted $500. I gave him a $50 deposit and planned to pick it up the next week. I don't remember what happened but I never went back for the car or the deposit I left. BTW, the engine was a 409.
James

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Selling my 1958 Silver Blue w/Inca Silver insert and Silver Blue interior 283/290 h.p. F.I., 4 speed, power window, power top w/hartop car back in 1984. Of all the cars I have owned it is the one I enjoyed the most and miss the most.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Buying an IROC Camaro,and basically giving away my 72 SS Chevelle (my 1st car) in the fall of 1984.
The kid I sold it to,wrapped it around a tree and totaled it,and I stumbled upon it at Victory Auto Wreckers months later...http://forums.serverbeach.com/images...mashfreakB.gif
I pulled the buildsheet from the backseat before they crushed it,and still have it today.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

1971. In one month I passed on these three:

56 Corvette, bad paint was peeling, but body was perfect. 265 three speed. Original motor. $700. thought is was too much because I could detect a bit of whine in second gear.

56 Nomad owned by a little old lady. Very nice, no rust original car with slight oxidation on the red paint. $600

55 Nomad (this one really hurts). I followed the guy to a monstrous house out in the country. Turned out he was the maintenance man, and got out of the car with a gun. We ended up talking a couple hours (not at gunpoint) and when I left he told me to just "call on ole Roosevelt if you ever need anything". Light blue Nomad with blue and white interior was really nice. But... just couldn't see spending $750 on it.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Back in the late seventies I went to look at a turquoise ’68 Camaro SS350. I don’t remember the mileage exactly, but it was a very low, original owner car. He had taken it off the road in the early seventies to race at West Hampton and it had just been sitting in his garage for years. It was a 4-spd car with slicks and headers and no other modifications. The car was perfect; the only defect was a dime sized ding in the passenger door from his daughter knocking against it getting her bicycle out of the garage. It looked brand new inside and out.
It was listed for $2500, I offered him $2000, he dropped to $2400, I went to $2200 but he wouldn’t budge. I wanted a driver, and didn’t want to have to buy tires and an exhaust system and was crappy because I had gotten a radar ticket on the Meadowbrook Pkwy going to his house and walked away from the sale.
Every time I see a turquoise Camaro I get that sick feeling in my stomach, knowing I still would have had that car today! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/mad.gif

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Back in the late 70's I could have a had an Orange 71 Hemi Cuda for $6500.00. Thought it was to much........duh

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Mine kills me to this day.... back in 1990 when I was 18, there was a 70 GTO Judge that set on a local car lot for a couple weeks. Light brown/fawn interior. RA IV 4-spd car. Missing hood tach. Everything else was there and decent original shape. Test drove it and the car was a absolute beast. ...... $2000...... I begged and begged... but because I had just in the previous 6 mos rolled my 71 Chevelle 3 times and then bought and was paying on an 84 Trans Am.... my parents refused to let me get the GTO.. (even they regret that one to this day now knowing what that car would have been worth now). https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

I've got a couple different ones that I'll always remember.
1st one was a 65 Shelby Mustang with a Paxton supercharger, original tri-y headers and spare tire. Wife and I had just got married (1979) and the guy was asking $6500.
Had the money, but decided to use that for a house and pass on the car. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif
2nd (also in `79) was a complete original 66 Hemi out of a Belvidere for $1100. We test ran it hanging from a chain on the ceiling of an old rickety garage. Thought the garage was going to come down around us when I revved the engine. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif We couldn't get the engine into the truck because the hydraulic hoist kept sinking back down, so went home expecting to return the next day, then decided we didn't want to do the deal, so left it. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/crazy.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

A couple come to mind...

Bought a '69 RAIII GTO 'Vert in '78 from the original owner. Raced it and beat the livin' daylights out of this car for 5 years. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif
Drove it from NY to FL and back 3 times, never had to rebuild the drive train. I had to sell the car in '83 due to economy (lost my job).

Sold it to, at the time, the president of the GTO club of Fl. I had someone call me in the early '90's that was trying to restore the car, I heard later the car might not have survived due to typically NY rust/rot.

Again, late '70's from a family friend, I was offered a Superbird for $2,500...car had some minor rust, I passed. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif

Mike

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Letting my son drive my '70 Z28 (see "Ouch my Z28" post)

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Taking a 1970 GTO and converting it into a full fledge bracket car. This while the musclecar market was affordable in the early 90's and missing out on growing my collection to go racing.

Talk about being upside down in a car. You want to make a small fortune in racing? Start with a big one.

10 years later I ate the loss on the car because of three kids. Now I'm slowly rebuilding my other toys and searching for deals.

Also passed on a 69 Judge in 1993 or so, because it was $2,500 and in pieces in the kid's parent's garage. All I had to do was go get it. the car ended up in Wausau, WI and got the restoration it deserved.

Go figure.

Blair

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Winter of 1970 lived in Burlington,Ia. Stopped at Fred Gibb Chevy. On the back row was 69 camaro had 7 miles on it, open the hood, ZL-1. Went in the show room talked to I think Herb Fox, they wanted 4500.00 for the car. I walked away thinking it was too much money!!!DUH I win!!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/haha.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

......not taking Chads advice and flying to upstate New York to personally hand an original owner some down payment money on a certain LS6 convertible. The owner said there was no need and he was a man of his words. Instead he sold it to someone who knocked on his door a week before I was to go get it. As Jeff Dunham would say........DUMB A$$!!!!!

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In 1979...I went to look at a T/A 340 six pack Challenger that was being sold by the original owner. It was a root beer-ish brown color and he was selling it because he had started a family. He wanted either $3200 or $3500...but I ended up getting a 6 cylinder Nova instead (family didn't think it was wise for me to have the car) The car was perfect in every way... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Also, within a year of that...I spotted a 69 Trans Am on the used car lot of a Buick dealer in Westminster, Ca. The price on the window was ~$3300... I called my brother Gary, and by the time we got back up there it was gone https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

There was a white with blue top 1967 Camaro convertible that was always parked at Gemco near our house. I used to laugh because it had a metallic blue nose stripe and blue interior...and I "KNEW" that they never came that way (Yeah right). I often wonder what happened to that car?

Finally, there was a green 1969 RS/SS 396 for sale on a used car lot at the corner of Lincoln and Brookhurst for $2500...didn't get that one either https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/no.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

In 1965.....one of the guys I hung around with was looking for a car and we saw there was a 65 Chevelle in Skokie Ill that was advertised in the Chicago Sun-Times.....so ...we drive out there to look at it and it ended up being a Red/Black Vinyl Top Red Interior Z-16.....the guy that bought it couldn't afford it ......he was asking $3500 and my friend offered $3000.....No Deal....so we drove over to Mr. Norm's place and he bought a red Coronet 383 4 speed car.....LOL

Ken

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

I went to look at a '68 Camaro with a transplanted '68 L-78 from a Chevelle. ALL the GOOD parts were still on the engine and the car was a RS with tilt, gauges,custom interior, etc. Original SB car with a TH350 and a 10 bolt. Body was saveable, but not 'pretty'. (I had visions of doing a '68 version of a B/M car. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif) The owner wanted $7k for the car and I didn't think I could come out on it so I passed and a friend bought it.

He split the engine from the body and listed it on e-bay. The engine with ALL the correct dated components (including the OE dated plug wires!) sold for $7200, and the buyer came to pick it up. The rolling car sans engine brought another $7k. Turns out it was also a "- -" paint car that looked to be Grecian Green, but was just a bit lighter.

I still have pictures of the car and they pop up on the computer every so often to remind me. Off in the distance I can hear Ron White and Jeff Dunham talking about me.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/stupid.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Talked to my mother last night, and she reminded me that she tried to give me her 64 impala ss 327 when i turned 16, but i thought it looked like an old lady car, so i got a 1971 capri as my first car!! good choice!

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I sold one of the original eight T/A Radial Tirebirds in 1980. I was using it to drive to work and I broke my left leg. I couldn't drive a stick for months. So, I sold it for $2,200.00 and bought an automatic Firebird Esprit.

Canepa Design in L.A. has one for sale now. Asking Price is $750,000.00

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

1983 - Passed on a '69 Camaro SS350 4-speed Convertible for $1600 - had some rust in the qtrs.

1997 - Passed on a '72 'cuda 340 4-speed for $1200 - rusty but complete. Listened to the wife who reminded me I was into Chevys and not Mopars.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Almost forgot - 1983 - traded a plain-Jane '69 Camaro with fresh 4-speed, 12-bolt and MQ '68 396/375 that I'd just rebuilt for a Fender Stratocaster and amp. I still can't play guitar.

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

Mine are not as bad as some of yours, but they hurt me just the same https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/smile.gif

Buying my SS350 basket For $500 and not waiting for a more complete car. Then to top it off accidentaly including the original smog manifolds in a 69 El C sale instead of the auto ones.

Selling any of my past cars (69 Mach I, 66 Pontiac tempest, 64 chevy pickup, 69 El C!) https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

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My parent's biggest selling decision was when they traded in the 1969 GT500 they bought brand new; traded it in for a 1970 Olds Delta 88 convertible https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

A few of my mistakes;

Passing on the Ivy Green '66 GT350 for $8,000 at Carlisle back in the mid eighties.
Not buying the Palladium silver RAIV Judge that was for sale at Carlisle in the early '80's. Car was a former POCI national champion and was perfect.
Not checking out the grabber blue '70 Boss 302 that was for sale at a place called "Car Village" in Pa. back in the '80's.
Finally, selling my Forrest Green '70 Z28 because I wasn't real fond of the green color (I love it now) and also selling my 1968 SS/RS 396 Camaro. Sold that one when the wife and I bought our house and we needed things.

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Kim Howie
I transplanted a 2.8 v6 motor, and a 2 piece offenhauser manifold, and 390 holley carb with headers..No way that zl1 could compete with my capri!!

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Passed on a 71 Hemi Cuda... twice. It was a Chrysler Canada Exec car,local broker picked it up and offered it to me in July 71 for $4500. I had been in my first career job for 7 months and just making the last student loan payment so I had no money. Two months later bought a used Camaro.
The following spring,the broker has the car back,first buyer let his wife use it and she hated the car, now the price was $2500...I passed again, I was travelling every week and racking up 500-800 miles per week.

Best decision..... March 1988,original owner called and asked if I knew anybody interested in his 71 442 W30 convert. I had it bought within three hours..still have it.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/DSC06020.jpg

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Back '83 I bought a complete, fresh 396 and GAVE AWAY what was probably my Chevelle's original engine. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/no.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

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Best decision..... March 1988,original owner called and asked if I knew anybody interested in his 71 442 W30 convert. I had it bought within three hours..still have it.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/DSC06020.jpg

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Paul, that's honestly one of my favorite cars, ever. Green on green, with the W-25 hood, dog dish caps, and topped off with the W-30. Absolutely fantastic. I love green cars.

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5 years ago I passed up a very nice offer to by the 69 Rallye Green COPO Camaro that Nickey now has. My wife and I still kick ourselves over that one.

My brother passing on a JL8 Z in the early 80's cause it was too expensive, $8k.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

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Pulled a 70 GSX Stage 1 4-speed w/air car out of the brush about 7 years ago. Paid 12k for it and turned right around and sold it 18k thinking it would cost too much to restore. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/rolleyes.gif

Re: Worst buying or selling decision!!
 

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Almost forgot - 1983 - traded a plain-Jane '69 Camaro with fresh 4-speed, 12-bolt and MQ '68 396/375 that I'd just rebuilt for a Fender Stratocaster and amp. I still can't play guitar.

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Yeah...but what's the Stratocaster worth now? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif