Ya, me too! Its really a relief that it was "just the car", though you may not feel that way right now.

Sooner or later, it happens to a lot of us, probably even most of us. Letting go of a dream is very hard. Priorities change, your priority changed from having an old car to taking care of your mother, that is a pretty Nobel tradeoff in my book.

Times are much different then they were 3 years ago. What could have been an achievable dream then may well not be such a thing these days, a change in responsibilities during these times requires new dreams.

It may be a good time to look into what you would really like (as you take care of mom). Having a car (or truck) you can get in and go for a 1/2 hour drive without concerns, or without dealing with some sort of issue, may be the lightening of the load you are caring be an escape you may need occasionally. There are times when the simplest pleasures change everything.

Then when better times come (they always do), you can revaluate your situation and move on from there in which direction seems correct then.

I've been building cars for 40 years, having a major project car that needs a full on build at this time in my life would be more like a nightmare then a dream. I sure like jumping into that way less then perfect old truck and going for a ride now and then though.