[The Boss]

You call and talk to them, ask specific questions but they don't always tell the truth. Sometimes you get pictures but you have no idea how recent they are - but they always look good. So you set a date & time, you drive there to meet them, some show up, some forget. You're always wondering on the way if you're going to like them & want to bring them home. Sometimes you get so excited because they look so cheap & easy & you want to take them for a ride as soon as you set eyes on them.

Other times, you know even before you get out of the truck that it was a bad idea, they've got that sad, neglected, forgotten look to them. They may be cheap & easy but the realization hits you about how expensive they REALLY are and you couldn't afford them in the first place! Sometimes you walk around making small talk, trying to figure out your exit plan, others you're afraid if you touch them you might catch something!

I've had a few "dates" recently, some better than others - the last two were both fat & ugly!

[68 Firebird]

Yup I hear ya on that story. When I saw my 68 & ran the numbers, I said
drive her right on the trailer. 95% original except for intake, carb and ignition!!!!
Seller was apologizing that AM radio was missing cause his wife threw it out
20 years earlier. That was a good first date!!!!!
Had a few others that were not even worth the gas. The minute I hear Pontiac
400 Big Block I get nausea!!!

Gerry

[goatmanmitch]

Hmmm, sounds like you attract damaged goods as of late.

[Drag Star Le Mans]

So true and well said. There are still some deals out their. I scored a complete 29 Model A Fordor for $2600.

[njsteve]

I once drove all the way from NJ to Canada to buy a 1969 396 Indy Pace Car Camaro that was "expertly restored". Yeah right.

I got there after driving 19 hours, walked up to it, took one look and got back in my truck and trailer and drove away with the owner just standing there scratching his head. The repro quarter panels had been tack welded over the existing quarters without the original quarters being removed. It was like when your wife goes to the manicurist and they glue a set of fake fingernails over the real nails. Only this was a much less professional job...

Then again there are other times, like in this photo when you drive 30 hours to Wisconsin in a blizzard on superbowl weekend and the guy digs a path through the snow to his garage and a one-of-eleven, 1971 Hemi Cuda convertible is sitting there with a truckload of NOS parts. :-)

[oakster]

I think most sellers have no real sense of how ugly their cars are.

Deep inside,I'm mad as hell that I just drove 3 hours to check out a car that is nothing like it was described but I don't want to be the guy to destroy their sense of worth by telling them what I really think. I just find my moment to break it to them that their car just isn't my type and I end the date early. After all, I have another 3 hour drive to think about what I could have said.

But, when you do get those rare cars that you had mo expectations about that turn out to be diamonds in rough, all the bad experiences disappear.

[67Twistytee]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Then again there are other times, like in this photo when you drive 30 hours to Wisconsin in a blizzard on superbowl weekend and the guy digs a path through the snow to his garage and a one-of-eleven, 1971 Hemi Cuda convertible is sitting there with a truckload of NOS parts. :-)

I know this is a Pontiac forum, but that must have been an awesome day.

[OVERULD]

Great comparison Chris! Steve, I agree with 67Twistytee. Love to hear more of that story.

BJ

[njsteve]

Yes it was an awesome day...back in 1985. There was an ad in Hemmings in January 1985 and I was the first guy to fedex a deposit and borrow my dad's truck and a trailer and headed west. Two competing millionaire, mega-collectors tried to bargain the guy down just on the principle of not wanting to pay his asking price of $25,000. He told them to pound sand. I gladly paid his asking price.

Then hit another blizzard on the way back home!

I restored it and then beat the living crap out of it at the 1986 Supercar Showdown in Ohio. Darn thing was too slow so I sold it and went on to the next project.

(And yeah that's Dan Jensen's 70 Judge next to me...)

[njsteve]

Here's a more recent one: 18,000 completely unrestored 73 SD Formula down to original paint and tires. And this one was only 50 miles from me in NJ.

Here's the thread on it: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=736345

[Alvin]

Subscribing to this GR8 thread!

[67Twistytee]

The OP is spot on and I like the pig in a poke analogy, but it's nice to know there's still gems out there.

Nice score on the SD Steve and great thread. Those highway tow shots from 1985 look unnerving with a trailer out back. I drove in a few of those storms between Chicago and W. Lafayette on I-65. No windscreens left plenty of 18 wheelers on their sides like in those photos. Out of curiosity, did you ever get the hankering to track down the VIN on the cuda to see where it is?

[71GP76TA]

Last summer I was screwing around on ebay.. Spotted this '67 Cadillac and threw a bid at it for whatever reason... The bidding crapped out at $1,700 and some change..... So drove 600 miles to Boise Id with the truck and trailer... needless to say I was very happy. the car was a lot better than represented... R-12 A/C still blows cold...AM-FM and power antenna still work. The black interior is like new as the car was garage kept most of its life.

[BB70]

LMAO, thats funny Boss, not to much shaking around here , sometimes I got to look at pictures and pretend.

[Jeff Hamlin]

Hey, just remember ugly gals need love too.
We drug home a very ugly 1970 GTO without thinking/researching before hand.
The price was borderline and we figured we could make a little off parting.
Once back at the shop it turned out to be a True RA GTO.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by 67Twistytee

Nice score on the SD Steve and great thread. Those highway tow shots from 1985 look unnerving with a trailer out back. I drove in a few of those storms between Chicago and W. Lafayette on I-65. No windscreens left plenty of 18 wheelers on their sides like in those photos. Out of curiosity, did you ever get the hankering to track down the VIN on the cuda to see where it is?

Oh yeah. I sold it to Otis Chandler and it was the first car to go into his collection back in 1987. It is now in "The Brothers Collection" out west (that is the actual name of the collection). Nice couple of guys who own all the ultimate muscle cars.

Funny story on the sale to Otis. I was in my senior year of my third college, sitting around with my buddies one day, when a call comes in from someone I never met before (It was Greg Joseph - the curator of Otis's museum). He says he wants to buy the cuda and asks what I want for the car. I put my hand over the receiver and ask the bunch of drunks in the apartment what I should tell the guy. In a chorus of drunkenness, they all yell "twice what you paid for it". So I tell him $54,000 and before the call was over he had wired the money into my bank.

I should have hung out with smarter drunks. The next hemi E-body ragtop went for double what mine sold for and then they starting doubling again, and again. Last time that car sold I think it was for around $2,000,000. For years, people in the hobby blamed me for the insane rise in musclecar prices back in the late 1980s.

[njsteve]

Here's another long distance find. 3,000+ miles away. A one-of-three, 1972 455HO four-speed Formula in Special Order Black paint and with 37 options and born-with drivetrain. It was as far away as you could get without hitting the pacific ocean. NJ to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Here's my thread on the find and the mechanical restoration:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=695444

And the continuation thread after I sold the car to BentwheelBob, who gave me the original heads-up on my 73 SD survivor find:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=736820

[The Boss]

$54k was a hell of a lot more than my Father was making when I was in college Steve - I'd say you did well.

It's not that I don't mind looking at cars or talking to car guys - it's just when they tell you it's nice & it's not I get a little pissed.

It's like some girl telling you that at 35 she still fits in her High School cheerleading outfit, only to find out it was a size 16 to begin with & the coaches made her wear sweatpants instead of the skirt.

Mind you, it's been over 9 years now since I've gone on a first date, no plans for any of those ever again.

[Txbobcat]

I drove to Minnesota from Missouri for a 63 gran prix. The guy said it was beautiful and he had already done some work on the motor. All was good except some damage on a quarter panel.
I pull up and this is a junk yard refuge and most of the motor is in the trunk. My brother asked if I was going to get out and look at it. I replied if I was going to get out somebody was going to get punched for lying.

[Judge273]

My blind dates/ old cars with memories were in Philly with Don. First was our burgers and shakes in a 71 GTO. The second was cheese steak sandwiches in a 71 vert, and we still talk!