The greatest car opportunity you missed out on.

[Garp]

Summer 2006. I come across an advert for a 965 (3.3) with just 25,000 miles on the clock.
Black, full leather, one owner, full maintenance record. I decided to call the seller as he didn't live that far away from me. We got into a conversation and he tells me he wouldn't might stop by on a Saturday afternoon cruise. We were just two enthusiasts who wanted to talk and compare.
Turns out his car is the most gorgeous 965 ever, perfect in and out. He was asking 33,000 euro for the car. I already had a Midnight Blue 964 and couldn't dish out the cash back then.
Big regret.

[cbush]

Back in 1988- a 1 owner 69 Mustang GT 350 Shelby Cobra IIRC- for $12.5K.

[Garp]

Originally Posted by cbush

Back in 1988- a 1 owner 69 Mustang GT 350 Shelby Cobra IIRC- for $12.5K.

Did you consider stepping under a train?

[HunterVonWurst]

I was looking at an old BMW motorcycle (R65?) with an original sidecar (Steib?). Guy wanted $600. I was hemming/hawing trying to negotiate with him. The doorbell rang and the seller went to answer the door, leaving me with the bike (we were in his closed garage). He comes back and said "sorry...it's been sold". Another guy who came to look at the bike (arriving about 2 mins. after me) stuck $600 in his face the second he opened the front door.

[stealthn]

Late 70`s any Cuda, Challanger, or Camero.....

[Gogar]

A few months ago there was a 1965 911 on our local craigslist one Sunday morning for $4000, "drives and runs." I called about 30 minutes after the ad went up, and there was already someone there looking at the car, and he ended up buying it. Maybe it was one of you guys though, so that's ok.

[cbush]

Originally Posted by Garp

Did you consider stepping under a train?

Yea- but I was young, didn't really understand the value of the car, and with young family, just didn't have the resources to pull it off. Just one of those things!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Shoulda' bought josephsc's 968 a couple years ago.

There will probably be a 968 of some sort in my future. It'll make a good car for the wife.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by HunterVonWurst

I was looking at an old BMW motorcycle (R65?) with an original sidecar (Steib?). Guy wanted $600. I was hemming/hawing trying to negotiate with him. The doorbell rang and the seller went to answer the door, leaving me with the bike (we were in his closed garage). He comes back and said "sorry...it's been sold". Another guy who came to look at the bike (arriving about 2 mins. after me) stuck $600 in his face the second he opened the front door.

And I have been that other guy before... not in this case but on a Toyota for my wife abut 5 years ago, these guys were poking and prodding at it and talking jibber jabber in their notive tongue. I walkd up, saw that the car ran and offered 75% of the asking price (willing to pay full asking). The seller accepted, signed the back of the registration, I handed over the cash and we drove the car away and left these lebanese guys standing there completely dumbfounded...

If something is a good deal, you put your money where your mouth is. I bought a one owner FJ40 landcruiser in the same way. I stole it for $1000, by the time we got back from the test drive (with a quick stop at the bank to use the ATM) the seller had 4 other calls on it. I paid for it before we finished the test drive.

[matthew-s]

Late 1980's / early 1990's. A "real" Lotus 7 set up for street / track, with trailer: $7,000.

Of course, I was in H.S. or College back then, and $7k might as well have been $700k. I still look back and think what fun that would have been for $7k.

Well, either a lot of fun, or it would have put me 6 feet under . . . .

I have no idea what they are worth now, but it HAS to at least 4 multiples of $7k.

[Jim Bremner]

In '87 I had a '66 Ford Fairlane GT. It was a VERY bad axe street car and kinda loud.

I had a boss who wanted to buy it from me. I was with a guy looking to buy his 66 Fairlane 427! one of 72. It had a auto trans, plus the Toploader in the garage!

It was caged and stickered 42,000 miles 1/4 of a mile at a time. The body was lazer smooth no hit's never driven in rain ( just rage)

My boss was with me. He was going to give me 4,000 for mine and LOAN me the rest

Asking price? $6,000


Selling price two years later $30,000

Mid '90's selling price? in the $100,000

I didn't buy it I thought that I would piss off my neighbors!


It's REALLY the bigest S T U P I D mistake that I've made.

[vwbobd]

The dealership I used to work for traded for a very rare (didnt know at the time) VW Golf Rallye, red with low miles. I kick myself everytime I see one on some of the VW sites. I could have gotten it for like $6k

It looked exactly like this:


All wheel drive, G60 supercharged !!!

[unclebilly]

So here's another one you missed out on...

FS: 1977 911S 2.7 Widebody Kit

The car when I bought it for $4700:



The car now:



I pm'd the seller my phone number and told him I would pay his full asking price. The next day, I wired the money to his bank account.

My point? When you see a deal, you put down your purse and act on it before somebody else does.

[stomachmonkey]

69 AMX with Go Package. $4,500 in 84'. Seller left on street overnight during snow storm. Snow plow took it out. Shame, was a nicely sorted car.

[vash]

1970 SS el camino. my parent's lawyer knew i was looking for a car. he offered me a "hotrod" for the cheap. i saw the front end poking out, and almost creamed thinking it was a chevelle. i saw the car/truck and declined. the thing was cherry. shoulda jumped on it.

[VINMAN]

About 16 yrs ago, a free 23 window 62 VW bus. Had no room for it.

a 390 67 Fairlane GT. For $1200. At a swap meet. I gave the guy $100 dollar deposit. Was gonna pick the car up at hs house 2 days later. He was fairly local

I lost the paper with his adress and phone number on it. This was before the days of cell phones in the early 90's. Later that yr the same guy was at the swap meet again. He said wtf happened to me? I told him. But he sold the car a few months before.

He actually gave me my $100 back.

[widgeon13]

I should have bought a 911S or 2002 Tii when I was in Germany for 2 years in 70 to 72. Instead I bought a MGB.

[sammyg2]

When I was 18, a friend of a friend offered to sell his 71 hemi cuda (30k miles on it and perfect) for $3500. I passed. too much money.

When I was 20 or 21, I had a chance to buy a low mile Lamborghini Muira for around $8k. It was near perfect except it had suffered an electrical fire under the dash.
I was in college and $8,000 might as well have been a $ million.

[TRE Cup]

This one takes the cake:
It was in the mid to late 70's. I was working for my dad's machine shop in Hollywood. At that time there were all sorts of Italian exotics driving the streets. I would stop into the various shops in the area to drool on them. Miura SV, Daytonas, Dinos, GTB4s, etc etc.
So i am in the machine shop and hear the distinctive rumble of a V12 coming from the alley. Huh?! I walk out the back door and parked in back of a recording studio is one of the Belgian Team Francorchamps yellow Ferrari 250 GTO...... with one of those plastic red and white "FOR SALE" signs taped to the side. OH MY !! "8500 obo" . Ok, ok- at the time i had no clue that these cars would climb to 14 million plus, BUT i did know it was something special and just HAD to be bought.

Now 8500 was quite a bit of money back then, and no amount of pleading with Dad for an extended loan worked.

sigh........

[Noah930]

OK, maybe not a steal but one I was just wondering about even last night: About 6 or 7 years ago, before I bought my 930 there was a local European car dealership asking about $43K for a '94 3.6 Turbo. I wasn't ready to buy a car at that time, and I didn't think I had the cash for one, anyway.

A year and a half later I wound up buying my 930. And then a year later I bought a Duc. When I think about how much I spent on the two together (plus immediate maintenance and such), it would have come out pretty similarly. And I'd have one of the high water marks of 911 Turbos...that seem to go for considerably more than $45K today.