Which cars got away from you?

[nuthin' fancy]

We've all had opportunities to buy cars that we didn't take up, which do you regret most?

Mine was in 1985 when a 390 4 speed 68 Mustang GT Fastback was for sale in Healesville. Green with red interior, a tough car. Could have been mine for around $9k (nearly a year's salary at the time). I think about the car often and wonder what became of it.

About a year later I saw a 68 Shelby GT 350 in Somerville Rd, Yarraville and left a note for him to call me. He rang before I got home, mum wouldn't accept the reverse charge call and I never laid eyes on the car again despite driving past the same spot many times.

J

[wrongwaynorris]

White XC 351 manual two door with the hounds tooth trim . Looked at it went home and by the time I rang him to say I'd take it it was sold .

[290GTP]

Diamond White XWGT, 4 speed with 4 into 1 extractors back in around 1988. The owner wanted $11000 ono for it. I just couldn't raise the cash.

Yellow & black 71 Mach 1 Mustang 351. I took the car for a test drive, got back & told the owner I would think about it over lunch. Came back about an hour later only to have him tell me he just sold it. :

[MercurySilver]

xb coupe gunmetal grey lowered like hell 351 etc etc full GT specs for $9000 around 13 years ago off a mate i worked with
i was a casual employee back then and the bank wouldnt give me ten grand
after he sold it a month later i walked into that bank and shut the account and told them to jam it up their ***

[Linkachu]

Toxic green BF XR6t, day i got my loan and was going to contact the guy it was sold. I was in love with that car.

[mex351]

Clean as and totally stock light blue XP ute.Pursuit engine and three on the tree,no rego but no rust and super tidy.Tray was in good knick too.Guy screwed me around for more money till I said forget about it and he later sold it for $300 to another local guy who sold it a day later for $900 and price kept going up every time I seen it.

That was 12 years ago though...but I still think of that car when I see a another XP.Hmmmmmmm the one that I let get away...

[Resurrection]

It was about 1998. Saw an XP Futura Coupe exactly as one my father owned many years earlier. Was unmolested but rusty. Would have been a great restoration project. Didn't want to pay $6,000 for it. Haven't seen once since (same colour combo, options, etc).

[flappist]

In 1981 I bought an fairly tidy orange 4 speed manual HG GTS monaro for $500 as a birthday present for my girlfriend. She hated it so I sold it for what I paid for it and bought her something else.

In 1985 I was wandering around Melbourne hiding from the SEQEB strikes with $40k with which I was about to start my business.
I went to Hamilton Porsche to look at the toys and they had a brand new shiny Turbo there for $111k.
I spent several hours trying to work out how I could afford to buy it but just could not do it.
In 1986 ULP came out and Turbos were discontinued and as this was the yuppie era just before the 87 crash a low km 1985 Turbo was selling for $5-600k (GTHO P3 was $60k).

[mik]

as a young buk i had my eye`s on an xc interceptor for 5.5k, 351 clevo, fmx, 9" diff, 4 wheel discs, plastic floor mat , yellow in color, i was still a peasant apprentice back then, dear old dad would`nt go guarantor as he reckoned i`d wrap myself around a pole, so i went from the glorius 5.8 litre falcon to a 1600, model 240 cortina , talk about being brought back to earth .

[2011G6E]

Oh where the hell do I start...

* 16 years old in 1981...looking for a car to drive when I get my licence at 17. I was riding my pushbike home from work and down the road from my parents house was a big old car, fairly ugly two tone brown and cream with a brown interior, being sold by an Islander family that lived there. It didn't seem to have any rust, head a few dings, but all the chrome was there and it had two months rego. They wanted a grand for it. I took my old man for a walk down the road (as I would need another $500 of them to buy it), and he had a look, heard it run, and said "It's a six cylinder...it'd cost you too much to run and it's pretty old and a Yank Tank, think of the parts and running costs, let's find something newer".
I didn't know a huge amount about cars at that time, and it was only later I realised the Chevrolet I'd been looking at was built in 1957...bugger.

* 1984...I'd just bought a magnificent 1980 VC SL Commodore Four. I'd owned it for a week and my mate who owned an XYGT which was undergoing a repaint showed me a car he had bought to drive around while it was being done. It was an XY Fairmont with 302, column auto, full instrument dash, black interior, green paint, fawn vinyl roof, factory air con under the dash. He was curious about the Commodore Four and we swapped cars to drive down to his house at Bargara. I'd never driven a V8 before, and loved the old XY. He asked what I paid for the Commodore, and I said $6500. He said "Hell, I get my GT back next week and I'll be selling this thing...I'd have let you have it for $2000..."

* A month later, at a friends place for a BBQ with a youth group I was a member of. Her father had a stunning XB GS sedan they had owned since new...bright red, black trim, black interior, factory air, power steering, disc brakes, full of options top to bottom. Again, "How much did you pay for the Commodore Four?". And when I told him he said he was selling the GS, and would have let me have it for six grand...

* 1986...still driving the Commodore Four but looking to get rid of it. We visited a car yard, and saw a similar model Commodore Four on the lot, but a wagon, with about the same kilometers on the clock, and a price of $6500 on the windscreen (believe it or not, at the time Commodore Fours were reasonably popular with people wanting space but four cylinder rego and running costs and held their price well). Also sitting there was an XB GT, green with silver trim and a white interior, air con, and it was a 351 auto. The price was $7500. We took it for a test drive, fell in love, and I said to the wife "Look...they want $6500 for that other Commodore 4...if they offer us at least $4000 for this thing as a trade, we'll buy it". She readily agreed. We went in and talked to the shark, and he pulled out Glass's Guide from his pocket and offered us...$900 for our car. I was dumbfounded...I pointed through the window to where you could see the wagon with "$6500" in big letters on the windscreen, and he shrugged and said "That's the second hand business".

* Dumb-*** brother in law worked on a farm in the early 1990's, and had several old cars he had bought for peanuts from surrounding farms. He'd drive them around the farm until they stopped and just left them behind the farms shed. The cars included such rarities (today they would be anyway) as a Gemini Diesel five speed manual...a coupe yet!, a HQ panel van, an XA wagon, and sitting near some trees I spotted an old Valiant ute.
I went to have a look and it turned out to be a 1967 VC ute...and not just a Valiant ute, it was the rare "Wayfarer" model! I knew they were fairly rare and this one was absolutely perfect. It was a purplish colour, with a black interior. The only problem was the engine had seized, but at home I had a 265 hemi 2 barrel engine and four speed...that would slot in nicely. I asked him what he wanted for it, but he "didn't want to sell it...I might fix it up some day". I left him firm instructions to tell me if he wanted to get rid of it, and we went home.
Three months later he was leaving the farm and my wife and I took a mates ute down to help him move, and I noticed the cars were gone. I asked what had happened to them, fearing the answer, and he said "Oh I just wanted rid of them, so I got the farmer during a cleanup to get the Simsmetal truck out and crush them with the rest of the scrap metal around the farm".

I've never been closer to strangling someone with my bare hands before or since...

[Bazil]

1978 I was offered an XA GT, claimed RPO, in Red pepper for $7K. It was a private sale and I was a bit dubious on the ownership as regards any finance on it. Let it pass and bought an XA fairmont 302 for $4K. The Fairmont was the best car I owned untill I bought my GTP, but still have misgivings on not looking into the XA GT a little closer.

[revcore]

For me there have been a few... Sometimes I often think about the cars I "passed" on and regret not buying them when I had the chance.
White 308 WB Statesman Deville, White/grey EA SVO Falcon, Black 302 XE ute and also a really clean and tidy yellow 2 litre auto Mk II Escort panelvan.

[Yellow_Festiva]

About 5 years ago I was umming and aaahing over a green Fiat 500. Had rego, was in reasonable nick with minimal rust.....

Still regret not getting it... Was between homes and had nowhere safe to put it.

Oh.... Was $6k neg.....

[badasgof]

In 1974 I was cashed up from the army(army release payment) and looking at buying a new car so with the misses in tow went to a car sales yard that had the following cars for sale Ph 2 GTHO low miles $6000,last of the SLR 5000 $7500 and a 911 turbo $13000. I set my sights on the SLR went for a spin and said I would return to confirm the sale but the misses had other ideas and the father inlaw went on about the rising price of gas and I would not be able to run it so on and so on plus the brother inlaw said the same thing (they where panel beaters). So what did I buy a brand new brown Ford Escort 1600 Ghia three speed auto price $2990.00 this was the start of my Ford ownership.

[Tokyo Geoff]

In ~1981 I missed a Ferrari 308GT4 by a few minutes, ie the guy that got there just before me bought it. They wanted $20,000. It was suspiciously cheap even at the time and before I knew it they were selling for around $40,000. After the bagging Clarkson gave it on Top Gear they are probably worthless now.

[ShootsWithFilm]

A guy a few years older then me had a 2 door XB (or XC) for sale in the town where I grew up when I just got my licence. It was a nice straight car that was pretty clean, but the big downside was that it had the 250 6 cylinder engine in it. The upside was that it was going for a song (the details are a bit thin now, but I think it was around $1K to $2K - this was around 1989).

In retrospect, this would have been a steal - as long as there wasn't too much rust, I could only imagine what could have been done to that car!

Well, my folks wouldn't lend me the money for it - they told me it was too big and too thirsty, so instead they lent me $6K to buy a Sigma.....a F..KEN Sigma.

Time heals - I have forgiven them now...

[OzJavelin]

1999 ... Passed on an XB GT 4-speed in Tango Orange in great condition for $6K .. Because it didn't have air-conditioning.

Early nineties .. Mate of mine sold his '49 Ford convertible to another mate on an payment plan (can't remember the total, but probably less than $10K)

Mid nineties .. Same mate sold a 1965 Pontiac Bonneville convertible (factory 421 tri-power) for about $10K .. Which I didn't have at the time (was happy buying big-block Phoenixes for under $3K)

[wicko]

XC Cobra around 1986- they had 2 on the lot - one was 351 4 speed with a bonnet scoop (no idea what the number was) and it didn't have any baggage (ie: Air, power steeer etc). They also had a 302 Auto with all the extras - Air/power steer etc. Checked the insurance on the 351/4 Speed and it was about $2000 a year (or 20% of the asking price). Being under 25 and earning whst most 25year olds earn, I decided I couldn't afford to run it.

[GTP-814]

My father had the chance to buy an ex demo XC Cobra 351 4 speed from Peter Warren Ford, but mum didn't like the stripes so he bought a new XD 302 auto (he still kicks himself to this day.

When I was 19 I had the chance to buy a Bronze/Gold looking Toranna with triple SU's. It need a lot of work inside & out to tidy it up & I didnt know much back then, plus I liked fords. I told my 21YO neighbor who loved it at first sight. It turned out to be a genuine XU1 :-(. But I bought a TD 250 manual Cortina

[Kowalski]

Series 1 E-type FHC just a few months ago.
Have been stuck working in Saudi Arabia for a few months and was not able to get to see it before it sold......

[2011G6E]

Not me but one of my nephews went to a farm clearance auction after an old guy died. This was back around the late 90's. He went to the "pre auction viewing" where you looked around everything in the hours leading up to the auction itself, and he saw a yellow sedan in a shed.
It was apart from most of the other piles of farm equipment, so he didn't think it was part of the auction. When he went and checked it out, it was an XD S Pack, fitted with a 351, four speed, four wheel discs, Volante alloy wheels, air con, power steering, the lot! He asked the auctioneer about it, and he said the family was still, even at the last minute, considering whether to put it in the auction as it had been the old guys pride and joy.
My nephew had a Ford shirt and cap on (huge Ford fan) and talked to the son of the old dead guy. He asked him about buying the "old yellow Falcon", and the son said the price he would be happy with was only $3500. My nephew said "This was about $3000 more than I had in the bank", and the car went to auction and went for $5000.

Bugger.

[The Yeti]

The year was 90 and the dealer I worked at traded a landau, I had the option to buy it at the same price a wholesaler had offers $1,800 and I passed. It went to the wholesaler and a month later my cousin fronted up at a family function in it :( he changed cars like I change undies so I asked him to come to me when he grew tired of it

Well it's 2013 and he still owns it :(

[302 XC]

About 8 ish years ago,got offered a genuine 2 owner HG 350 GTS Monaro
It was the 2nd owners first car,he loved it to bits
Done the daily 40 min run to brissie every day,didnt lie down when the need arised, and handed the loose to many new breed
Anywho ol mates missus hated it to bits, she wanted it gone
20 large was the ask,had the money,just bought property but there was no shed, so didnt fit the bill
Coupla years later a minter 1 owner XC Cobra was offered
30 Large for that one
Both times had cleared funds,so money wasnt the issue, keeping them and storing them was, and storing was a major issue
Im a realist and altho they were offered for good money at the time, with the boom,im afraid they would both have been sold,and money used elswhere
20 years ago got offered a genuine 73 GTR XU1,6 large was the ask,was to be the daily driver, loved the little torries back them, but a mortgage put rest to that dream quickly
There have been many old skool muscle offered,marketed cheap way back when , but then they were worth nothin and the word "Investment" wasnt heard of
Crystal ball its a wonderful thing ..........

[SSD-85]

I can name a few;

01 Lincoln LS
74 Mercury XR7
ZJ Fairlane 302c
ZG Fairlane 500

Each of them under $5k

[mr smith]

In 1992 a mint XA GT 4 door, original owner, factory sunroof, spare never used. $7000 ono, even took it for a spin.
Didnt buy because it was auto

[Bushbasher]

Had a mate back in the late 80s' who had a pin straight HT Monaro, mint interior. It had a 308 and 4 speed in it but someone had fitted a 2bl Stromy to it from a 253. He drove it around for about a year and then started making noises like he was getting bored with it so I offered to buy it and offered him 2K but he turned me down and said he didn't want to sell it. Every time I saw him for the next 2 months I made an offer on it but no joy so I told him when he was ready to get rid of it to let me know and I'd buy it no worries. I didn't see him for about 3 months with one thing and another and the next time I laid eyes on him he was driving a falcon.
"What happened to the Monaro?" I asked,
"oh I sold it about 3 weeks ago".
"Oh, Ok", says I,
" how much did you sell it for in the end?",
"$800"

"Thanks for nuthin' man".........

[2011G6E]

I think there would be a lot of stories dating back to the eighties and early to mid 1990's of what we would call "expensive classics" getting away, as back then they were just "old cars". Interesting, but plenty of them around.

My mates XYGT was purchased in 1980 for $4000 in excellent condition. I bought my 1972 VH Charger with the 265 hemi and four speed in late 1982 for $1700 from a large Holden dealership car lot. You used to be able to pick up Monaros and GT Falcons for not that much more than a tidy "normal" V8 Falcon, and there were plenty around.

Go to a second hand lot today, and if you are in a higher population area chances are you will see ten year old cars like SS Commodores and FPV Falcons and yes, they're more expensive than normal Falcons and Commodores, but you pass them by with maybe just an interested glance or two, because there's plenty for sale.

...and in twenty years time you'll be telling stories on the internet on how you passed up a fantastic deal on a GT/SS/whatever...

[jamies]

In 1994 I got offered a Reef green Xw gt 4 spd with 16 inch V5 simmons this car was tough as.. My mate worked at a car yard and it was traded in. I was told $9k and its yours DOH !

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Geoff

In ~1981 I missed a Ferrari 308GT4 by a few minutes, ie the guy that got there just before me bought it. They wanted $20,000. It was suspiciously cheap even at the time and before I knew it they were selling for around $40,000. After the bagging Clarkson gave it on Top Gear they are probably worthless now.

He bags anything that isnt an Aston or jaguar.
308GT4 were ok.

[Brendo_GSUte]

I know its a bit cheeky me saying this because their still on sale, but i feel like the FPV GS ute will escape me as ive just built my house! I hope not!

Also i had a blue print AU XR8 that i converted to a 1 tonner, manual had leather loved it but had to sell it due to pressure from the parents for losing my license for speeding ild definately have that over my boinic BA XR8 any day