The ones that got away

We all have them, the ones that got away. Back when I was getting divorced I had to sell this car. It was a project, a decent one, that needed the drivers quarter replaced due to collision damage, and was missing the numbers matching drivetrain and fender tag. But it’s nice to see it got a nice restoration. It sold recently with an $84,900 ask. Yep, I should have kept it! 😮

What’s your “one that got away?”

I remember when Dave Jones had one just like this back at the Mopar Nats in Indy 1984 for sale. As I recall, the car had around 13,000 miles on it, was all original paint & looked showroom new - same color combo. He was asking $8k for it. That was a LOT back then! Some guy from MI. bought it. WAS THAT CAR NICE!!!!!!!!!

300F

Oh man, I feel your pain on that one!

Over the years I’ve been looking for this car, but never could seem to find it. The cars that were F6 typically seemed to have a black interior and tail stripe. Even the cars with white tail stripes all seemed to have a black interior. Not long ago the guy I bought it from emailed me the link to the recent sale. He said he simply entered the VIN into his search bar and viola! It showed up. Interesting too is that it still doesn’t appear to have acquired a fender tag over the years.

That is a super color combo. Dang!

Can't say I've really had one that got away more than I've looked at cars that were just either more money than I had available, or if I had the money there was no extra room for it.

69 383 Superbee in cream with black interior with a for sale sign sitting at the end of a long dirt road in a farming area. Too much money for a high school kid back then.

Blue 69 Charger hot rod type build that was like double what I thought it would be at a fly by night used car lot, It's a Charger and they always cost more....

Looked at a blue 68 Dart GTS on blocks of wood in backyard once. Was supposed to be a roller, but it was more of a stripped shell. No way could I have afforded to put it back the way it needed to be way back then so I hoped it ended up with the right person.

Once responded to an add for a "1965 Plymouth, view at this address xyz in Boise" in the thrifty nickel and it turned out to be a valiant instead. Not a bad car, but I was thinking B body.

Looked at a silver 67 Coronet R/T once not long after I had my driver's license. Very nice original car and thus too much money.

Tried to buy a 65 Lemans from a used car lot and I waited a little too long and by the time I went to the bank to see about a small loan it was gone. Not a huge Pontiac guy, but it was in amazing original shape.

From 2 wingcars to a couple hemi cars.
2 different gtx verts. And A LOT more.

Ive had a bunch . But none i would trade my current car for to get back.

BUT ,,if it would make itself known. I would like to know where the GTX on the right is today. Even though I dont think I could make a play to own it again. The rest I really dont have much desire to own again.

PS, I was making a play to buy a bronze 1969 GTX vert about 20 years ago. Tan interior Hemi auto.. Car sold before about 3 days before I could get funds in place ( sold the one on the right and had another buyer lined up to buy the one in the back ) . Had it been there a week later that car would have been mine

THIS one

None that I owned, but a couple that I looked at.
'71 GTX V-code, B5, auto. Missing the six barrel and a few common parts. Passed on it for $600 because the guy didn't have the intake. That was 1982 in San Jose.

Spring 1977 in Fresno:
1970 Challenger R/T 383/slap stick, triple black, gator grain. Car was as flawless as a 7 year old car could be. Dad wouldn't ok it. $1,500.
1962 300 Sport with the "H" interior (150 speedo, four buckets, full console). Not sure of the engine, but it needed NOTHING. Just couldn't see myself driving a "salmon" colored car at 17. $600.

The only one that I'd really love to own today is the '62.

I sold this 71 Cuda back a little over 20 years ago to buy my first Viper.

There were times that I kinda wanted it back.
If I had kept it then the shortly after that ex-wife would have wanted it, she didn't want the Viper.

Sad story Mr Artist!

I have the same story too.

Back in the 80's I found through a Moparmate a 69 Sixpack Superbee.
It was the only known Bee in the UK at that time and there has only ever been two.

I was looking for storage and I had it outside my house in Fulham London.
It attracted a lot of attention, as you could imagine lol.

I had just got married and funds were tight, then one night the local loonies started a mass riot!
It was called the anti 'POLL-TAX' brigade and they targeted the folks with nice cars!!!

Yes mine was attacked and the guy tried to stab me when I confronted him...

It really upset my new wife and I wasn't best pleased either and sold her cheap for £2500...

She is now living in France, our new enemy (the Bee not the wife) lol...

That's another whole disaster story too.

My stuff could never match what you old timers missed out on. But I do remember Muscle cars being really affordable in the 80's.

By the time I became of car buying age.... I missed out on:

- '68 Javelin. Rust Free. White on Black. 232 w/ bolt-action 3 speed. $300. Needed brakes but was too far away to drive home with no brakes and nobody would haul it for me.
- '70 Pontiac GT-37 Carousel Red. Black guts, bench, rubber floor, 400 4 speed. $1700. No rust, runner. Had to borrow money from mom to be able to afford. We went to look at it and owner neglected to tell me it only had bottles on it. Way too loud, mom said "No."
- '71 Sebring 383/Auto $1500 Couldn't get the hood open, assumed it was a 318 car and passed on it. A friend later bought it to discover it was a big block, disc brake car.
- '68 Dart 383/Auto. Sat in a farmers' field. Drove by it for years. Used to be people didn't give a passing glance at an A-body. A guy one town over scored it for $1000.
- '72 Demon 340 / 3 speed. Most stripped car I'd ever seen. It had a radio and little else. $700
- '78 Dodge 1/2 ton shorty Stepside. NOT a Lil' Red. 2wd 400 4 speed. Acquaintance of mine wanted to trade for my '80 GMC 1/2 ton 4x4 350 4-speed. Passed.
- '65 New Yorker 2dr hardtop $1500 very, very clean car. Had the money but hemmed and hawed because.... I really didn't want it.
- '83 Eagle SX/4. 258/Auto, Sport Package. White on Black. NO Sunroof. $1000 US. Was on eBay with a Buy-It-Now. Was in Nevada, fresh out of storage since 1986. Dusty but no rust. Mint Interior.
I've wanted another ever since having my '81. Mother told me to buy it, float it on my credit card and figure out a way to ship it. I didn't want to put that much money on my CC knowing full well my bonus was coming the next week. Somebody else pulled the trigger and got a really sweet little car.

Worst one: (recent, too)
'72 Charger Rallye. Semi Local car. Barn Fresh. FE5, Black Top, Black Guts. 400/Auto. AM/FM, Air, Slapstick, Rallye wheels. Still wearing it's Polyglasses (but they were all garbage). Interior was still very nice, top still good. After hosing off the dust, turds and chicken poop, the paint probably would've buffed out to be presentable. 400 was stuck but I betcha it'd have broken loose. Family friend was selling it as his brother (who owned the car) had recently passed away. They knew I was into old cars so I got first dibs. Sadly, I haven't worked in almost two years and blew my wad on my little Ram and the Gremlin this year. Was NOT expecting that Charger to come up for sale for a while.

Okay, I'll have to say, I've never been threatened with a knife over ANY car I've ever owned. Or any woman either!

Dang that's quite a list! That Charger sounds cool.

I sold it to soon...

Oh my! That's a sweet AAR!

I think that if there were two of them that wish that I had back,it would be my A12 Super Bee 4 speed car, and my71 Barracuda convertible. Honorable mention would go to my 70 V code Road Runner 4 speed air grabber hood car,and my 70 GTX U code 4 speed, air grabber hood car. The ones that got away were a 70 GTX Hemi 4 speed car, that was a recovered theft,missing engine transmission and rear axle, for $250 with the air grabber hood, in 1978! The other one was a 69 b5 blue Hemi Road Runner 4 speed car, loaded with options like a GTX for 5 grand in the eighties. It had a running 383 in it. I couldn't get the money together in time and he traded it for a jet ski.

The Mopar that I wish I had kept was a 70 Challenger R/T roller that I bought for $75 back in the mid 80's. It was FK5 with white interior, stripe delete, 383 4 speed with AC. The numbers matching 4 speed and bellhousing were still in it. I had to sell it, and all but 2 of the rest of my fleet in order to be able to keep my house when the ex pulled a Mary Kay Letourneau and ran off with one of her students! The car went to Switzerland, and hopefully it is living a good life there.

The car I've grieved over the most, was a 69 Firebird, 400 Ram Air 4 speed car. Fastest car I've ever owned, and owning it at 18 years old.....it's a thousand wonders I'm still alive! I didn't know it when I owned it, but it started life as one of the rare 69 Trans Ams. The hood was changed sometime between 1969 and 1976, when I bought it. It still had the decklid spoiler, and fender scoops. The late Dave Walden was a Pontiac fan also, and we used to PM back and forth about them after he saw me mention it here years ago, in a thread similar to this. I traded it in on a pickup truck. I was dating a girl who was hotter than bacon grease, and she was a barrel racer....so I just HAD to have a truck to pull a horse trailer. Live and learn.....lol.

Several of mine come to mind, and a few weren't Mopars...
Red/white '68 Charger 4-speed, a couple of the 383 RRs, a Q1 Hemi/4peed RR, a Z28, a '69 Mustang FB, and especially a '73.5 911.
That's the short list.
But I suppose if I'd kept them all, I'd need 10,000 square feet and I'd be sleeping on the floor.
I take some pleasure in knowing I owned and experienced them, but it's still bittersweet to ponder...

This one. Sold it 20 years ago next month. Hemi 4-speed. Supposedly one of two 70 Hemi GTX's that came with power windows.

1970 440-6 4-speed super trac Still had the clear plastic covers on the white seats.

A couple cars I still wish I had, is the 1968 Dart GT I owned. Car was Turbine Bronze, white interior, 318 with A/C...car was all original, and flawless. Came from southwestern Arizona, and it was THE cleanest car I have ever owned (short of a brand new vehicle)...sold it to help finance the purchase of my first house. I saw a picture of it on here, of all places, just last year. It was in a thread about smashed/wrecked Mopars. The whole front end had been caved in, in that pic someone had posted.

Second was, a 1992 Dakota Sport, I bought brand new. 318 Magnum...regular cab 2WD short-bed...Black with the blackout trim/grille/bumpers, and grey bucket seat interior....truck looked sinister! I swapped out the stock gears, and added 3.91's and a sure-grip unit, put in a H.P. computer, and a cold-air intake. I wanted it to be a 90's version of a Warlock. For what it was...that truck was really quick! I had to sell it, and get a "family" vehicle, after my kid came along.

Back in the late 70s I had a 73 Duster 340 I bought used , nice car I did a little work to it even drove it to the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals at Indy back in 78 or 9 ( don't remember ) I sold it to go to Community college full time for the amount I sold it for it didn't help much with the tuition. Well I found out full time college wasn't for me and I finished part time. The guy I sold it to totaled it a week later luckily he wasn't hurt but he wrecked it so bad it broke the motor mount bosses off the block. Me and a friend bought some of the salvageable parts back : rear, trans and some other stuff but I should have never sold it! The same guy bought a 72 Road Runner after the Duster and totaled that also! Of the 4 Dusters and 8 Darts I have owned besides my current 68 Dart I miss the 73 Duster 340 the most.

My 68 cuda notch back I sold to start my business was my coolest car I want back and my first car was less cool butt I would love to have it back... white 68 dart 4 door with a 360, sold in nashville back around 2001....

I sold my '69 GP SJ when I got my '69 300 vert. Car was VERY well loaded, window sticker was ~ $6,400. Not for money but for lack of space. 20 years later and I've got space but no idea where the car is now.

My biggest loss was a mint 69 Charger R/T SE and a lifelong friend.

Long story, but I got robbed by a 'so called Mopar-mate'.
He loaned the Charger with promises of ''keeping her nice, and doing some work, on the no so good bits''.

He got 'drunk as a skunk' at lunch-time and crashed it into a Police car!
You couldn't make it up, as no one would believe it...

Yes he lost his licence for 3 years (and then he lost his 'autobody shop' too)...

He was in dire straights after the court appearance and in loads of trouble.
So to help him out I said he could fix the Charger's damage from the crash and sell the car for me.

He did the work (badly) and sold the car worth £10,000 at the time, cheap at £5000.

I only ever got £500 back from him, I lost a mate for ever and my beloved Charger too...

AS MULDER SAYS ''TRUST NO ONE''...

Around 1997 I passed on the yellow car because I bought the blue one a few months earlier. I remember thinking what do I need two 71 cuda convertibles for?

I don't have pics of my car anymore, due to a drive crash and a vindictive wife with the original photos, but the one that got away from me was a longroof. Like the one pictured, with road wheels. Still looking for one...

Oh man!

70 LS6 4 speed Chevelle convertible

Numerous Mopars over the years, especially in the 70's gas crisis. Neighbor had a 70 Hemi Cuda 4 speed, could have bought it for $1500. I was about 12-13 at the time and my parent said no.

I was 19, the red '70 Hemi Cuda went to Alaska for $1,900 is what the owners son told me. I could've paid for it but at 19 the insurance killed the deal.