|
|
|
Anyone interested in a thread about cars you should have bought ?? For me there's 3, A Mk1 Cortina that I was told was a GT but, after I hadn't bothered, I found out too late was a genuine Savage Cortina, A Mk2 Cortina Lotus 4 door less mechanicals, A Lotus Elan 2+2 that I didn't bother with because I was suspicious of the seller and the colour, (long story,) that I then saw frequently where I used to deliver and when I spoke to the owner was told it was the best car he'd owned !! Oh well, hindsight is brilliant, Nigel
|
|
BMW E39 525i Sport BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
|
|
|
jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,815
|
|
|
One of these, in that colour Test drove it, didn't buy it because it had some damage to the front drivers wing which I thought at the time (knowing nothing about fibreglass) would have been expensive to repair, I later found out it would have been a fairly cheap fix 😞
|
|
Last Edit: Feb 4, 2024 15:02:01 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
|
|
|
|
|
In 2009 I paid deposit on a 30,000 austin 1100 estate in white. It was ridiculously mint. Being sold by a used car dealer on behalf of a neighbour who somehow saw no real value in classics. He wanted £1k for it. When I got home from viewing it I found out dad had been taken ill so priorities being what they are I called the dealer and told him to keep the deposit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One of these, in that colour Test drove it, didn't buy it because it had some damage to the front drivers wing which I thought at the time (knowing nothing about fibreglass) would have been expensive to repair, I later found out it would have been a fairly cheap fix 😞 Funnily enough Jim, when I had my TR6, a guy on a petrol station forecourt asked if I was interested in a straight swap, Unfortunately at 6ft 5 plus having an exceptionally large physique I had to literally crawl out on hands and knees lol, No swap, 😁😁 Nigel
|
|
BMW E39 525i Sport BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
|
|
jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,815
|
|
|
Alpina99 There's not a lot of room in them is there, although I had a 1275 Midget at the time so it wasn't an issue for me. It "only" had the Renault engine in it, but it was no slouch, handling was night and day compared to the Midget
|
|
Last Edit: Feb 4, 2024 16:56:34 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
|
|
Paul
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,907
|
|
|
In 2009 I paid deposit on a 30,000 austin 1100 estate in white. It was ridiculously mint. Being sold by a used car dealer on behalf of a neighbour who somehow saw no real value in classics. He wanted £1k for it. When I got home from viewing it I found out dad had been taken ill so priorities being what they are I called the dealer and told him to keep the deposit. You did the right thing. Imagine the connotations it would have if you HAD bought it. You'd probably resent it really quickly. I had an R53 Mini Cooper S in the colour and spec that I wanted, some mods that I'd done to the engine and exhaust, tidied the interior, upgraded the stereo - yet even now I remember it as the car I went and visited my terminally ill mother in...right up to the last visit. It had to go after that. On a lighter note I still regret selling my PD130 Ibiza...not particularly retro but I wish I'd kept it. Even now nearly 20 years later any car that performs with simple remap pushing 170 brake, 50+ to the gallon, 'pulled like a train innit' would hold its own. I even liked the garish yellow colour 🤣
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One day driving to work saw a Ginetta parked by a bungalow with For Sale notice so turned around went back and Ginetta was in need of some tlc but old lady was selling it for family member at £ 400. Got urgent call to get into work, sorted out the issue returned and it had sold. That near and that far to owning a Ginetta.
|
|
Started out with nothing and have most of it left.
|
|
|
|
|
A friend of mine told me about a Elan racecar for sale. Sent me a pic. I recognized it as the Ex Brodie Elan. It was all in bits, and all the parts were mixed with several other disassembled lotus'. Scattered all over the place. And also at the time, I was nostril deep in my Capri build. So I didnt act on it. That whole deal was completely out of my league anyway. Seemed to me the only way to do it right would have been to buy everything in the shed, and then sort it all out in the months or years or would have taken to do it. I hope somebody did... A while later, while still trying to finish my Capri, I had a chance to get a De Tomaso Pantera in exchange for some work I was doing. It was rusty, incomplete ( was used as a parts car for another Pantera ), but there was enough of it there. That would have been a cool racecar, but the mid engine layout was a big disadvantage ( expensive ZF transaxle, if anything went wrong with that it could sink me ). Passed on that one too. Pic of the Pantera... BTW, after doing some work on the good Pantera ( the one this was the parts car for), I learned that the build quality was pretty bad. And very limited interior space. To get me at 6'2" in it , plus a full cage, would have meant a lot of hacking...
|
|
|
|
stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,835
Club RR Member Number: 174
|
Cars I've "missed"stealthstylz
@stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member 174
|
|
Probably one of these:- classiccars.brightwells.com/viewdetails.php?id=6269Apparently there are 2 left in the world. Heard about one for sale donkeys years ago when I was working at a recovery place. Rang the guy and said I was on my way for it. He phoned up half an hour later to say it had sold and to turn round so I wasn't wasting a trip. The guy who bought it (who did the old "always wanted one gonna restore it" routine) sent it round the oval.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One of these, in that colour Test drove it, didn't buy it because it had some damage to the front drivers wing which I thought at the time (knowing nothing about fibreglass) would have been expensive to repair, I later found out it would have been a fairly cheap fix 😞 I was on the hunt for a project in 2020 and one of these popped up for sale At the time I was looking at an 850t but lock down prevented any travel or viewings. It also seemed steep for a full resto project, particularly when I know little about them so I let it slide. I didn't get the 850t either so add that to the list as it's now back on the road having required far less welding than the one I ended up with. Oddly I would have added the one I did buy to the list of regrets had I not bought it (its currently high up on a very different list of regrets) so sometimes it's a case of better off not knowing.
|
|
|
|
|
awoo
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,503
|
|
|
Nearly bought a delorean in 2007 but just got pipped to it, I think a guy on here bought it instead. Dunno what happened but the deal fell through and we just missed out.
|
|
|
|
ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,192
Club RR Member Number: 170
|
Cars I've "missed"ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
|
|
I've missed quite a few in my time. So here it goes:
-A 1989 Mini Racing Green, with a 1275 Cooper engine. It was £800 in 2002. I really wanted it as my first car. However, my dad talked me out of it, when I was getting a deposit ready. He didn't want me in what he saw as a death trap of a car, despite him having a Mini 1275 GT when he was younger.
-A 1998 BMW E36 328i Touring in 2011 I think, that was basically an M3 ; Interior clocks, bodykit, wheels, suspension, engine, you name it. It was offered on here of all places for around £2.8k. I was set to get it. However, a phonecall to the insurance companies basically were giving me quotes for how much I was buying it for : I declared the fact that it was basically an M3. So that idea got put to bed quickly!
-Mitsubishi Evo VI : My mate and his wife rebuilt this car. However, it seemed to be a little doomed after the rebuild, that was done by FQ Performance. Random things would go wrong with the car, like a PAS pipe blowing apart etc. They didn't use it much after the rebuild, so they decided to move it on. I debated it, but I had 3 cars then anyway, and selling them for this just didn't seem wise. It turned out that was a smart move. 2 weeks later, they sold the car to chap I'd eventually work with. A week after he bought it, the shells span in the engine. The chap thought my mate stiffed him. In reality, the engine had been badly rebuilt by FQ. The crank had been ground down alot, and the correct bearings were not used. A new crank and a rebuild later, and the car is fighting fit to this day. But I definitely am glad that I was not in that position.
-A 1979 Mini 1275GT. In 2014, I went from 2 average cars and 1 great car (I regretted selling that car for years:944 Turbo) , to 1 great car ; An S1 Escort RST. However, it was too clean to use on the road, and I remembered how my dad's Mk4 had basically every panel underneath patched over before its 10th birthday. No way did I want to repeat history. So I decided I needed a daily. My mate's E36 323i Manual Coupe should have fitted the bill. But the things that people love about BMWs just made me not gel with it. So that moved on.
So the Mini looked like a good deal. At £2.5k and rising on eBay, I went to view it. I saw a number of the faults and knew I could win them around, as some faults were very obvious. The chap had an offer on the table of £3.2k, but he wanted everything fixing. I said to him, I could go to £2.7k, and take it as a going concern. Yes, I know I asked for a chunk off the other's guy offer, but I saw it as a zero hassle sale, and I knew I was stretching myself at the time, with me (yes I know) being willing to take a 0% credit card hit on it for a while for the extra cash (£300 ; I had a budget of £2.4k for a daily)
I don't think he liked my price! In the meantime, I bought a very clean and low mileage Clio 172 Cup Evocation for £1.5k. 2 days later, I got a message to see if I wanted the Mini. Ah well.
-A 1991 Lancia Delta Integrale. My mate owned the car, but a divorce, and having a child with DS reset his priorities, so the car just sat. I was busy that year, and I couldn't afford his price of £5k : to put it into perpesective, it was 2006, and I owned the M3 at the time, on a low(ish) salary, despite living at home. A mate told me blindly to buy it, and he'd go halves, but I wanted to see the car. Ah, what could have been.
Now? Not many things. I've slowed down alot on the car buying front.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously a lot of us have had some "near misses", One I initially forgot was, in a breakers yard looking for a "toy" and there sat an (early) 911 that had been altered to a Turbo body with minor damage on the front wing, Initially I thought it was a fibreglass and pop rivet job but on closer inspection all panels were steel, I went to the office only to be told it had been sold 20 mins earlier !! Nigel
|
|
BMW E39 525i Sport BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
|
|
The Doctor
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,434
Club RR Member Number: 48
|
Cars I've "missed"The Doctor
@thedoctor
Club Retro Rides Member 48
|
|
An AE86 in good condition for 1500, before they went way up. Just had my driving licence, couldn't afford the car, let alone the insurance on it.
Still can't afford them now...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the 80s I saw a four-door Consul 315 in a local secondhand dealer's yard. Took it for a test drive, liked it very much, and went away to think about it. Went back two days later to find the yard bare, the dealer and all the cars gone. Never found out what happened or why.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There was the time I missed out on a Renault 9 Turbo. Every car I’d had at that point was a hatchback, and I fancied a saloon next. Saw the R9 tucked away on the corner of a dealers lot on a Sunday afternoon, took it for a drive and was smitten. But it’s a turbo so wanted to check insurance. Called my broker Monday and discovered the R9 Turbo was about half the cost to insure as the R5 GT, and not much more than my rusty Fiesta 1.4S. Raided my savings account and went back Tuesday after work to find they’d sold it earlier that day. About a month later I’m on the A130 and I see a trail of oil in the road, then see the Renault in a cloud of smoke on the verge.
Ended up breaking my streak of hatchbacks with a mk3 Orion with the Zetec engine than I ran for five years and it never missed a beat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've owned nearly 100 cars. Imagine how many I haven't owned....
Principal offenders are...
A 1970 Plymouth GTX 383 which I didn't buy for £1500 because it was just a Satellite with GTX badges... MOT'd and on the road ugh.
A 1957 Desoto in triple tone pink and white, would have been my first car. £795 T&T but it was somewhere a bit far to go look, so...
A 1956 Desoto with the Hemi in it, in pink, was in California, needed a few bits for like $2500 couple of years ago. Got the '75 LTD instead when the DeSoto sold.
My old V8 Vauxhall Victor. I failed to buy that back a couple of times.
There was a nice '68 Buick LeSabre fastback only a few months back, but I have too many cars...
So many I thought about it, didn't, then heard they went round the oval.... Many of which were the big saloons, coupes and so on
|
|
1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
|
|
|
|
|
The guy who bought it (who did the old "always wanted one gonna restore it" routine) sent it round the oval. I really dislike that, if folks are honest, then fine, the deception and the fact he did you out of a car which now nobody can have, thats something which makes me irk. But its life and hey.
|
|
1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
|
|
|
|
|
Good memories, bad memories, some quite painful still ... wish I hadn't read this thread !
|
|
Last Edit: Feb 5, 2024 9:18:56 GMT by westbay
|
|
|
|
|
The guy who bought it (who did the old "always wanted one gonna restore it" routine) sent it round the oval. I really dislike that, if folks are honest, then fine, the deception and the fact he did you out of a car which now nobody can have, thats something which makes me irk. But its life and hey. Yeah, I agree...
|
|
|
|
|