Ones that got away

[rlux4]

Son of a gun Craig! It almost seems like you must be my brother from my other Mother.
I can't remember where I saw it, and you may have seen it also, but recently there was an old commercial on the net showing a bunch of GM engineers taking turns banging the rubbber front bumper of a 68-69 (LeMons probably) and with sledge hammer. They were really having fun "testing" the features of the car.
This subject got me thinking of all the cars I've had that were convertible. Here's what I can remember:
61 Ford Sunliner, 59 Fiat 1100 TV (a total rust bucket, but it had swivel seats ), 63 Impala, 68 Ford Galaxie, 79 Fiat Spider, 82 Fiat Spider.
Ron

[ga.spyder]

Here it is ,Ron.I used to coast into a parking lot,and let the Judge hit a block retaining wall!!! We all thought it was cool that it just bounced off.Gawd...were we stupid or what? I love the commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QmYgpqLlsk

[Spiddy]

Oh boy, you guys have sure had some magical cars. In my 45 years of driving, I've had quite a number of what you would probably describe as "mundane": 2 x '59 bug eye Sprites, '62 Saab 96, '57 Sunbeam Talbot etc.etc. But the ones I truly wish I'd kept were a beautiful TR4 which helped finance our first house 35 years ago, a '57 RR silver Cloud - sand over sable - and a '62 Bentley S2 - also sand over sable. I bought both of them in LA in '89 and shipped them back to the UK.

But the one I didn't buy and have always regretted (I was scared of the possible maintenance bills) was a gold Lambo Espada. I wrenced myself apart on that one . . . for once the brain won and the heart lost. Damn

[howard]

1963 corvette split window coupe 327/ 340 hp 456 rear red / black int

[ga.spyder]

Spiddy...I bet you looked good,cruisin' in that Rolls!!!!

[rdavidson52]

There are a few I miss, wish I'd kept, kick myself for letting go and grieved for (still do in one instance).

1955 Ford Sunliner (highschool wheels)
1967 Mercury Cougar
1970 Grand Prix
1973 Cutlass Supreme (Chocolate, wihite vinyl top and white interior)
1972 Fiat Spider (bought 1st week after arrival in Italy-1984 for $600.00, used all four years. To be safe and sure had a valve job done immediately by one of top two mechanics in Northern Italy; he finally billed me after 6 months - $60.00. Later fuel pump failed, cost me $18.00 and ten mintes (matbe) to pull and replace, one set of tires and had it painted, $200.00, before I sold it for $800.00 at the end of the four years.
1972 Lancia Fulvia - Cost $100.00, gave it to new folks coming in-country to get settled and folks leaving after theri stuff had shipped. Sold it for $100.00.
1979 BMW 323i Bavarian Bubble (as the Italians called it). Short time later learned from the dealer he'd made a big mistake as it had a $25K racing engine and suspension set-up. I paid $3,996.00. Shipped to U.S. when I cam back and later, it went to a Father / Daughter racing team, then UT Austin when she went to college. Ran around in the Alps during all seasons on Goodyear NCTs, no chains, no problem...what a beautiful balance! Kick, Kick, Kick Whaaa!
1989 BMW E30 M3. The only thing I found close to the '70 in performance and handling. This one i kept for 9 years and still kick myself. and all the rest, and, grieving!

Robert Davidson
1984 Fiat Spider Pininfarina Azzura
1966 Chevy C20 P/U (original drivetrain, 283, top-loader ganny gear 4-speed - less than 500 miles on rebuild)
2007 Mazda Miata
2007 Chevy Avalanche LTZ 6.0

[WYSpider]

Did anybody let an Alpina get away?

[SeldomSeen]

My first car was a dark blue 1969 124 Spider back in 1971. I lived in Michigan then with its salty Winter roads and had to use the car as a daily driver. It only took until 1977 for it to rust away to garbage. That was heartbreaking. When I dream about driving a car at night it is almost invariably that car. I'd rather have that car back in brand new condition than any other car ever built. I've had three other 124 Spiders since but it just wasn't/isn't the same.

[AndyS]

there is something about the first cool car you ever own (especially if it is when you are young ) that is very hard to duplicate as you get older. I didn't really have any cool cars until I was in my mid/late 20's, but my best friend had a 1964 Alfa Spider when we were teenagers, and going out in that car left a lasting impression on me. I do sports car restorations for a living now, and would bet I would be doing something else if my friend Brian didn't get a 64 Alfa Spider when he was a teenager.

I had never been in a sports car before, and I still have vivid memories of that car. the exhaust note, the cool Alfa Key fob he had, the cornering ability compared to the full size American cars i was used to driving, and the whole top down experience. when I moved to California back in 1985, I saw an Alfa like my friend had when were 16 years old--the first one I had seen since the early 70's. 6 years later, i ended up buying that exact car and restoring it, and I still have it. Its a sweet 1961Giulietta Spider.

[Spiddy]

Andy, that raelly is a fabulous car. I have a freind back in the UK who has one and I love it. That's probably because I am a secret Alfa lover. I had a '73 Alfa Sud which cornered like it was on rails and went like a pocket rocket. Unfortunately, it rotted away, but undetered, I then bought my first "new" car; An '81 Alfa Guilietta. That too went like stink and cornered as if on rails. But 5 years later I had to scrap it. The body and chassis were both rotten as a pear. That put me off Alphas for good . . . untill now that is; have you seen the new Guilietta?

[RedWolf]

Well, I have a couple. I'll start with a (blasphemy to follow) Triumph TR8 that I had in my early 20s. That would be about 25 years ago. I bought it from someone who had no idea what they were selling, and had priced it as a TR7. The TR8 decals were missing, so imagine my barely contained enthusiasm when the hood was opened to reveal not the TR7's four banger, but a dual carbed, all aluminum 3.5L V-8!! Poker face barely still in place, I bought it on the spot.

A quality repaint and a few Lucas electrical gremlins chased later, and I had just about the coolest car anywhere around. I wound up selling it to pay for my last year of college. The guy I sold it to kept it for years and then resold it through a consignment collectors auto shop in NC. I lost track of it after that. Here is a pic of it when it was up for sale in NC.



I bought it for $2500, sold it for $10,500, and, IIRC, the next owner sold it for even more through the consignment dealer.

I'll see if I can find any pics of the X1/9 I had to sell a few years back. I regret that one as well.

My first car was a British Racing Green TR7 - would have loved to own an "8". You really got lucky.

[RJ80]

Not so sure about that, Andy. haha! My father bought a nice driver 246 GTS in the mid-'80s (still owns it) for around $30k and now it's worth north of $130k. Not a bad return on investment when you consider a new Porsche 911 at the time he bought the Dino was about $40k. Then again, in 1985, Ferrari 250 GTOs were around $1.5 million and now they're $30 million....

when i was 16, a shop just down the road in roswell ga, had a ferrari dino 246 gts for sale for 2500.00, at this time it was a fair price. my mother told me that "no kid of mine was driving a ferrari" so i bought my first fiat spider a baby blue 74 for 2500.00 instead.. i keep reminding her how much money she cost me when the dinos hit top of their market a few years ago

Hmm, seems like Atlanta has been the home of a couple of these "I should have" stories. Around 1995 or so, a Dino Spyder in decent condition was sitting out in front of a antiques dealer near the Brookhaven MARTA stop. Belonged to the guy who ran the business, and he "kinda" knew what he had, and was asking $7000 dollars for it. It ran great, but both the exterior and interior were about a 6-7 on a 10 point scale, so it needed some TLC.

I just happened to have about $7K to spend on a car, as I had just sold a GTI I had restored. I debated whether I could "afford" to drive mini-Ferrari as a daily driver, and decided I could not.

In retrospect it probably was the right decision, but I still wonder about it.