My wife and I were talking a few weeks ago about cars we've owned and regretted letting go of. For me, there were 3, a blue 1950 Chevrolet pickup, 6 cyl, standard, a green 1969 Roadrunner, 383, 4 speed, and a tan 1972 Nova SS, 350 automatic. Wish I had them all still.
Rebecca had but one car in her past that she regretted selling, a gold 1987 Pontiac Fiero GT that she bought new in early 1988 with money she earned working at JC Penny. It was a V-6 (140 HP), 5 speed car, sunroof and power windows gold with a tan interior. She has on her desk a photo of herself standing beside the car in front of her parent's house, 1980's hairdo and all. The car was stolen in 1988 and used in a drive-by shooting in a nearby town, when it was returned several moths later it sported a sizable number of bullet holes, both inside and out. These were repaired but damage had been done to the engine and it became unreliable, so she reluctantly traded it in. So, last May, I started searching for an identical, if not the same car. Had to have the same options and the same color scheme. I found several, mostly junk, then I found a collector in Nashville that had one in his collection, identical to what she had with less than 17,000 original miles. Weeks of back and forth resulted in a deal, assuming she liked the car. An already planned hunt in SA, a bout with Covid for me (no big deal), foot surgery for my wife, bigger deal for her, and finally mid-July I sent her to Nashville to look at the car. She went, she loved it and I bought it. About 3.5 times what a new one cost in 1988, but worth it. Had the car shipped to Texas and it now sits in our garage. I have to admit it's a pretty neat car.

I had a 1969 AMX with 390 and T-10, sold it when I moved from Raleigh to Riverside in 1980. I moved back there in 1986, found out I still owed a little real estate tax from before. Awhile later I wondered if the AMX was still around and if I could buy it back. Too late, it had been sold again two weeks before I called. Nutz...

Karl. Congratulations to you and your Wife. The last year '88 is the best one. I wish I had your luck. Low miles and everything, what are the odds! Wow!
CB

Karl, for me, getting rid of the Roadrunner would have been the one that hurt. I've always had a thing for them. A Hemi Roadrunner would be the Holy Grail for me, I guess.

Yeah…selling the Roadrunner was hard to do but had to do it. This was in 1991 and a guy pulled a trailer from Washington state to buy it. I have another in my metal building that I’m rebuilding (restorer had it 8 months and only took parts off of it), got it torn down and replacing floors now. It’s a 383 Air Grabber, bench seat 4 speed car. Numbers match, too. It’ll be green when finished.

Awesome...green is the color for a Roadrunner.

Jon, I agree, the one I’m rebuilding was an “F3” car. Surf Green Metallic, and will be again.

I loved the dashboard-high pistol grip Hurst shifters.

My wife hasn’t had time to drive her “new” old car until today and wanted me to go along, I did. We went 10-12 miles on farm to market road, car really drove and ran well. About 10 miles from home I noticed a slight vibration and told her it felt like an out of balance tire or a tire about to come apart. She turned around and headed home and about a mile and a quarter from home the right front tire came apart, on gravel road and low speed so no body or paint damage. We were close enough that I just walked home and got truck with jacks and impact wrenches, only took about 10 min to put spare on and she on her way. The tire had a date of 12/86! The tires on the car are apparently the original tires, will he changing them out next week. Hard to believe original tires were on the car, I suspect the remaining 3 would come apart, too if driven much at all.

Good thing she wasn't on the highway at 70+ MPH.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Good thing she wasn't on the highway at 70+ MPH.

She was going about 65 when I noticed the vibration and asked her to turn around and head for home. Told her it was either a poorly balanced whell or a tire about to come apart. Took the other 3 off and they are cracked as well, odd though, the sidewalls look perfect, splits are in the grooves of the tread. Could of been a lot worse.

Sorry but I am not a Mopar guy, GM by blood.

'62 Impala, 327 3-speed column and
'70 Olds Cutlass Supreme, 350 3-speed column

1968 SS Chevelle

Sold it to my dad in 1994 for $2,600 for a down pay to by my first house. About 7-8 years, he sold it to a guy in Midland Texas for around $16k I believe.

I wish I had it now but although $2,600 was not a lot of money, buying a house was a great investment

63 galaxy convertible. Aquamarine blue, padded boot for convertible looked like an overstuffed couch. 300 horse 390, needed all the pony's because of the weight, but a stunning car!

Good for you and your wife, Karl.

About 10-12 years ago, I passed on buying a fully-restored, Plymouth green, 1970 Superbird, the one with the huge rear spoiler.

440 c.i. engine and 4 barrel carb.

It was only $80K and I really should have bought it. Not the only bad decision I have ever made when it comes to cars, but it was a beast and I do regret not buying it.

Probably worth twice that now.

The one that got away from me was in 1974. I worked at a gun shop and we had a police officer who would always come in. He was into cars in a big way. He offered me his 1970, yellow HemiCuda for $2800. Nothing but normal wear and tear was wrong with it. I was a junior in high school then, making $2.25 per hour. He said he didn't care as long as I paid him something each month. Unfortunately I passed...

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
A Hemi Roadrunner would be the Holy Grail for me, I guess.

I'll take a K2 Vitamin C '69 1/2 A12 package liftoff hood 440 6 barrel Roadrunner.