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Stories about selling or 'offers' for your old rides?

I was lucky when I decided to sell my 64 Chevelle SS that I owned since 1987. It was a convertible, 496 BBC, Four speed, mini tubbed, Dana 60. Nice car, quick but hated it being a ragtop so I decided after my garage was done all the little stuff wrong I would fix and sell it. Got the work done and wasn’t sure what to do….list it on FB or go with a dealer. So last year in April it was my twin sons 14th bday and we decided to have it in my car condo….the name people gave my new garage. Put the Chevelle up on the lift and the boat under and I posted a picture and said great place for a party. Some friends commented and asked if it was the same car I had in High School…yup just restored. A guy I knew from years ago said wow looks great and I am looking for a car now. I said I am getting ready to sell. 1 week later the car was in his garage. His mother had a 64 Chevelle ragtop. The funny part is he knew the car he bought for over 30 years. The best part is I followed old Mecum auction on what cars I would buy based upon price and what it was. A few weeks after the car sold the same car I looked at that sold twice at MECUM popped up on a search….bought that car on Memorial Day.
 
I know the color; it’s kind of stuck in my head as my elder brother bought a ’65 389/tri-power 4sp post in that color. I was 14 or 15 then just dying to get my driver’s license. Remember that goat idling in our driveway sounding sooo neat and his car buddies coming over in their nice rides parked in the driveway with their girlfriends saying “Hi there cutie” pinching my cheek or running their fingers through my hair…launching an immediate boner. Within 48 hours after my 16th birthday I was DRIVING (lucky deal as I had a mostly available ride, ’63 triple black GP 389/tri-power). My mother got a ride to and from work every day with her work friend who lived nearby letting me have wheels for school and such. Ahh doze good old dayz.
Was your Mother really naive, or a real interested car person?
 
As I've already posted a couple times, Baby Blue got sold to the right guy locally for the right reasons. I had a totally different experience with my Track Pak GTX. Two years ago, I planned to run the car through the Harrisburg Mecum auction, with a fairly hefty reserve. Figured I might get lucky and make a small profit, but mainly I wanted to get a better idea of market value, in case I predeceased my wife. Well, Covid happened, and the auction was cancelled. Mecum graciously cancelled the contract and had my paperwork back 24 hours later.

A local deep pocket collector got word of the fact that the car wouldn't be going to auction, and contacted me. Guy owned nearly 30 cars, including seven high end Porsches, no Mopars of any kind. He showed up in my driveway, driving a Porsche, accompanied by a buddy driving a new 7 series BMW, and his son in a late model hot Mustang. The trio parked across the street, and surveyed the GTX from afar, making sure a good sampling of my dog walking neighbors got to see them standing with their upscale convoy.

Negotiations were quick. The guy asked me my reserve, I told him, and he offered to match it, cash. I asked him if he had questions before he inspected the car, and he said no and had no interest in looking it over, I'd warranted it was numbers matching when I consigned it to Mecum, and all he cared about was the colors, and the 4 speed. I started to discuss the car's history, how the GTX model came to be in the B body series, Petty's record driving a Hemi Belvedere back in the day, and the guy blew me off completely, told me he didn't want to be bothered with that trivia, said his son could look it up on the internet if he ever had any interest.

I immediately raised the price by 15K. My wife bit her tongue until the convoy departed. She told if I ever considered selling to that jerk for twice the quoted price she would slap me silly. And as I've posted many times before, Diane has absolutely zero interest in my hobby. She pointed out that it would kill me if I ever saw that clown with my beloved GTX down the road, and I knew she was right. I sold it last year, for less than my reserve, to an out of town guy who flipped it, so I wouldn't have to see it in the hands of a jerk.
 
As I've already posted a couple times, Baby Blue got sold to the right guy locally for the right reasons. I had a totally different experience with my Track Pak GTX. Two years ago, I planned to run the car through the Harrisburg Mecum auction, with a fairly hefty reserve. Figured I might get lucky and make a small profit, but mainly I wanted to get a better idea of market value, in case I predeceased my wife. Well, Covid happened, and the auction was cancelled. Mecum graciously cancelled the contract and had my paperwork back 24 hours later.

A local deep pocket collector got word of the fact that the car wouldn't be going to auction, and contacted me. Guy owned nearly 30 cars, including seven high end Porsches, no Mopars of any kind. He showed up in my driveway, driving a Porsche, accompanied by a buddy driving a new 7 series BMW, and his son in a late model hot Mustang. The trio parked across the street, and surveyed the GTX from afar, making sure a good sampling of my dog walking neighbors got to see them standing with their upscale convoy.

Negotiations were quick. The guy asked me my reserve, I told him, and he offered to match it, cash. I asked him if he had questions before he inspected the car, and he said no and had no interest in looking it over, I'd warranted it was numbers matching when I consigned it to Mecum, and all he cared about was the colors, and the 4 speed. I started to discuss the car's history, how the GTX model came to be in the B body series, Petty's record driving a Hemi Belvedere back in the day, and the guy blew me off completely, told me he didn't want to be bothered with that trivia, said his son could look it up on the internet if he ever had any interest.

I immediately raised the price by 15K. My wife bit her tongue until the convoy departed. She told if I ever considered selling to that jerk for twice the quoted price she would slap me silly. And as I've posted many times before, Diane has absolutely zero interest in my hobby. She pointed out that it would kill me if I ever saw that clown with my beloved GTX down the road, and I knew she was right. I sold it last year, for less than my reserve, to an out of town guy who flipped it, so I wouldn't have to see it in the hands of a jerk.
If quickly detected as you seemingly did with this clown - That’s the guy I wouldn’t sell my car to either - but it is the guy I would likely enjoy a bit of mental gymnastics with. People like him think it’s all about money all the time for all of us. Not so and I would have loved to have slapped him silly with things noticed to be of an annoyance to him just for the love of the game. Part of my evil nature.
 
I wanted to take a different spin on this thread. I've enjoyed all the stories! Wanted to tell you of a positive experience of mine I will not forget.

Turning the tables a bit, in the late 70's I was a pretty new engineer at IBM. Got to know an old timer there because I heard he had a 56 Nomad. I had a real thing for Nomads back then. At one point I had 3 of them at once. Sure wish I'd kept them, looking at prices now.

Anyway, his name was Glen. Nice enough guy. Really nice home with 1st class shop out in the country. He'd done well for himself. Glen was pretty quiet. Not big on conversation, but a definite car nut. At the time he was probably in his early 60's. I was in my late 20's. To me, anyone with heat in their garage was a high roller. I spent some time in his shop looking over the Nomad.

I tried without being pushy to get him to talk about what he was going to do with the Nomad. He was noncommittal about it at first. I just dropped the subject. After a couple weeks Glen came around at work and said he'd sell it for more than twice what I thought it was worth. I just told him straight up that price was more than I wanted to pay and frankly more than I could afford. I thanked him for considering my inquiry. He was fine.

We visited a bit more and literally as he was was leaving my cubicle he mentioned in passing he was seriously looking to buy a Lincoln Zephyr coupe to restore. He apparently had been scouring the country looking for one. It's hard to remember but this was long before the internet was much of anything. Hemmings Motor News and National Dragster were my two main reading resources.

Somewhere I came up with a name and phone number out East of a guy who was selling a Zephyr coupe. I don't remember the selling price but to me it was big money for something that needed to be restored.
I gave Glen the info. Nothing else was said.

About a month later Glenn shows up at my cubicle at work again. He wanted to thank me for the lead. He'd already bought and brought home the Lincoln. He was more animated than I'd ever seen him. He wanted me to come out to his place and see it. I went that evening. The Zephyr was impressive. He was going to restore it. Glen was a walking encyclopedia about that style of car. It was fun to see it and learn from him.

After a bit he says: "Come get the Nomad whenever you want. Just pay me what you think it's worth. I owe you for finding me this Lincoln." I was speechless, but managed to regain my composure enough to come back the next day for the Nomad! I paid him the same price I felt it was worth. We were both happy.
 
I know the color; it’s kind of stuck in my head as my elder brother bought a ’65 389/tri-power 4sp post in that color. I was 14 or 15 then just dying to get my driver’s license. Remember that goat idling in our driveway sounding sooo neat and his car buddies coming over in their nice rides parked in the driveway with their girlfriends saying “Hi there cutie” pinching my cheek or running their fingers through my hair…launching an immediate boner. Within 48 hours after my 16th birthday I was DRIVING (lucky deal as I had a mostly available ride, ’63 triple black GP 389/tri-power). My mother got a ride to and from work every day with her work friend who lived nearby letting me have wheels for school and such. Ahh doze good old dayz.
That colour is likely GM Butternut Yellow. It is pretty well the same as my '67 R/T Daffodil Yellow.

IMG_3215.jpg
 
I wanted to take a different spin on this thread. I've enjoyed all the stories! Wanted to tell you of a positive experience of mine I will not forget.

Turning the tables a bit, in the late 70's I was a pretty new engineer at IBM. Got to know an old timer there because I heard he had a 56 Nomad. I had a real thing for Nomads back then. At one point I had 3 of them at once. Sure wish I'd kept them, looking at prices now.

Anyway, his name was Glen. Nice enough guy. Really nice home with 1st class shop out in the country. He'd done well for himself. Glen was pretty quiet. Not big on conversation, but a definite car nut. At the time he was probably in his early 60's. I was in my late 20's. To me, anyone with heat in their garage was a high roller. I spent some time in his shop looking over the Nomad.

I tried without being pushy to get him to talk about what he was going to do with the Nomad. He was noncommittal about it at first. I just dropped the subject. After a couple weeks Glen came around at work and said he'd sell it for more than twice what I thought it was worth. I just told him straight up that price was more than I wanted to pay and frankly more than I could afford. I thanked him for considering my inquiry. He was fine.

We visited a bit more and literally as he was was leaving my cubicle he mentioned in passing he was seriously looking to buy a Lincoln Zephyr coupe to restore. He apparently had been scouring the country looking for one. It's hard to remember but this was long before the internet was much of anything. Hemmings Motor News and National Dragster were my two main reading resources.

Somewhere I came up with a name and phone number out East of a guy who was selling a Zephyr coupe. I don't remember the selling price but to me it was big money for something that needed to be restored.
I gave Glen the info. Nothing else was said.

About a month later Glenn shows up at my cubicle at work again. He wanted to thank me for the lead. He'd already bought and brought home the Lincoln. He was more animated than I'd ever seen him. He wanted me to come out to his place and see it. I went that evening. The Zephyr was impressive. He was going to restore it. Glen was a walking encyclopedia about that style of car. It was fun to see it and learn from him.

After a bit he says: "Come get the Nomad whenever you want. Just pay me what you think it's worth. I owe you for finding me this Lincoln." I was speechless, but managed to regain my composure enough to come back the next day for the Nomad! I paid him the same price I felt it was worth. We were both happy.
That’s a great story. And being from Minnesota myself originally I can see a couple of guys like you doing as you say. That’s one of the many things I still love about my home area - the great people.
 
A whole bunch of years ago, I built a One-of-None 1967 Coronet R/T 9-passenger station wagon as accurately as Dodge could have done. 440, 4-gear with Inland shifter, buckets and "buddy" seat, 150 mph speedo, etc. We drove it to Carlisle one year, and lots of people took pictures of it. Rob Wolfe of Mopar Collector Guide did a photo shoot of it and it was published in his magazine. Soon after the magazjne was published, a guy from the Detroit, Mi. area started calling me to say he wanted to buy it. I informed him that it was really not for sale. After a couple more calls,where he was upping his offer, I began to question who was the goofy one here: him for offering the money, or me for turning it down. I finally told him to bring a trailer and U.S. cash. I figured by selling it to someone across the border, I would never have to see it again and witness its decline. After 3 or 4 years, it showed up in Ontario again at car shows, usually with a "For Sale" sign in the window. It ended up living about 45 minutes away from me.

scan0002[2].jpg scan0003[1].jpg scan0001[2].jpg
 
A whole bunch of years ago, I built a One-of-None 1967 Coronet R/T 9-passenger station wagon as accurately as Dodge could have done. 440, 4-gear with Inland shifter, buckets and "buddy" seat, 150 mph speedo, etc. We drove it to Carlisle one year, and lots of people took pictures of it. Rob Wolfe of Mopar Collector Guide did a photo shoot of it and it was published in his magazine. Soon after the magazjne was published, a guy from the Detroit, Mi. area started calling me to say he wanted to buy it. I informed him that it was really not for sale. After a couple more calls,where he was upping his offer, I began to question who was the goofy one here: him for offering the money, or me for turning it down. I finally told him to bring a trailer and U.S. cash. I figured by selling it to someone across the border, I would never have to see it again and witness its decline. After 3 or 4 years, it showed up in Ontario again at car shows, usually with a "For Sale" sign in the window. It ended up living about 45 minutes away from me.

View attachment 1239015 View attachment 1239016 View attachment 1239017
WOW!
 
A whole bunch of years ago, I built a One-of-None 1967 Coronet R/T 9-passenger station wagon as accurately as Dodge could have done. 440, 4-gear with Inland shifter, buckets and "buddy" seat, 150 mph speedo, etc. We drove it to Carlisle one year, and lots of people took pictures of it. Rob Wolfe of Mopar Collector Guide did a photo shoot of it and it was published in his magazine. Soon after the magazjne was published, a guy from the Detroit, Mi. area started calling me to say he wanted to buy it. I informed him that it was really not for sale. After a couple more calls,where he was upping his offer, I began to question who was the goofy one here: him for offering the money, or me for turning it down. I finally told him to bring a trailer and U.S. cash. I figured by selling it to someone across the border, I would never have to see it again and witness its decline. After 3 or 4 years, it showed up in Ontario again at car shows, usually with a "For Sale" sign in the window. It ended up living about 45 minutes away from me.

View attachment 1239015 View attachment 1239016 View attachment 1239017
That would have been a perfect family car for us when we were kids back in the day. Nine kids and the parents. My dad had a liking for Chrysler back then - I remember having a Dodge Pioneer for about 100 years. No radio, no air, no carpet - he was so cheap he would not have accepted a heater if that was possible and we lived in Minnesota. I think that was the cheapest route he could go back then - and that was my dad.
 
I bought a 1964 Polara 500 when I was 18 for $250. Neighbor was using it to haul things to his truck patch. I only wanted it for a field car but after getting it home and cleaning it up I realized what great condition it was in. The only thing it needed to pass inspection was a tail light bulb.

Long story short, I beefed up the top end, cam and reworked heads, headers, 456 Dana rear, Cragar SS wheels, H-50 rear tires. Really ran great and had the looks being black on black with all the chrome. It was my daily driver for three years. I'd occasionally drive it to Monrovia or to Rt 30 for some 13.50 passes.

There was a local guy that really wanted it. He would see me out in public and hound me to sell it to him. He kept offering me different amounts of money but I'd decline. One day he offered the right amount and I let it go. That's one I'd like to have back!

Not mine but it's a look alike.
14395179-1964-dodge-polara-500-srcset-retina-xl.jpg
 
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must have been a 2 speed with freeway gears
not most/many GTO's were pigs

or someone didn't know how to tune it
or rebuilt it with low compression junk

or put a 326 in it, disguised/dressed to look like a 400/6.6
My '66 389 was fast for its day. And was a fabulous match for H.O. 383. As one would expect. Both 335 rating. Only 9 ci difference. Both high 13 sec street cars. Same performance as my street GTX. (But the 440 would run them down after 1/4 mi.) My GTX? She is a highway star. It can do 150 MPH. While still being remarkably stable for a 50+ old car. Maybe it's because Christine was right? She is new now?

20180823_115241.jpg
 
I hear some interesting propositions when driving my beater 68 GTS, most which are rather humorous. After the obligatory "is it for sale?" i have "I would take 45k in cash" as a prescribed response like it's on a holster lol.
Of course that statement brings the dumbest resposes including:

"Is that you best price?" (Yes)

"Do you warch GYC?" (No!)

"Is that your bottom dollar" (the restroom is on the side of the building)

"Would you take payments?" ( Is this craigslist live?)

Its better to get fuel from a drum and drive in the country away from "those people" lol
 
My 3rd year in college at Lawrence KS I decided I needed to sell my 64 Sport Fury and put a sign in the window. Lawrence had a lot of one-way streets and one day I absentmindedly turned off a main drag on to a one-way street the wrong way. I immediately realized my mistake and started looking for an exit strategy but as would be the case there was a police car right there and he pulled up to me with lights on as I was creeping along looking for a place to turn. He came up to the door and asked for my license and then stated the obvious - that I was going the wrong way on a one way street and I needed to turn around. He then noticed the for sale sign in my window and commented about my car being for sale. He looked it over and ended up buying the car from me. No ticket too.
 
Back around the fall of 2004 I was selling a '65 Satellite, that had a 360 dropped in it, had an auto, bucket, and a console. The car was rust free but the body had some minor issues. I wasn't getting a lot of calls on it. I had one guy come to look at it. As we do that he tells me about all the problems he's had trying to find a car. They weren't as described, had oil or gas leaks, or something else wrong with them. So I told him about small easily fixed problems with my car and he looks at me as though he didn't understand any of it. He then said, well maybe you can help me fix any problems. That was my first red flag. I asked him if he wanted to take a test drive which he didn't want to do. He said he was interested in the car and made an offer which I accepted. Day before he was to pick up the car he called and said he wasn't comfortable with the price and talked me down a little more. Then, he says he wanted his mechanic to look at the car which I didn't have a problem with. BUT THEN, he says the guy isn't available for another week. This pissed me off because I had started getting more calls only to say the car was sold. With that and some other things he said I told the guy that the deal is off, he doesn't know what he's getting into owing a classic car and I'm not selling it to him. He didn't believe it but got the message when I hung up. I relisted my ad the next spring and finally found a buyer at my price. What was funny was I received an email written all in caps asking if this was the car listed last fall, I had a good idea who that was and ignored it.
 
Not a Mopar but a couple years ago as the COVID crap began, I decided it was time to part with my pristine 03 Lightning pickup with 17,000 miles on it. I listed it on Autotrader Classics and got a lot of responses - tire kickers, low-ball offers, I will try to look at it when the COVID stuff is over ( boy - glad I didn’t wait on that), etc. Then a guy from Chicago calls up and says I’ll buy it - be down there tomorrow with a trailer. I say wait a minute - I need either cash or a wire transfer if that’s the case. He says I can bring cash. He does ask about price and I tell him for cash I would be willing to knock a couple thousand off my price.

The next day turns out to be optimistic as he has to wait for his bank to open, but he shows up the following morning after spending a night on the road in a motel where people try to steal his trailer and hookers roam the place knocking on doors. They spent the rest of the night sleeping in the pickup cab to guard it.

I had the truck backed out but was a bit nervous as I had googled the guy and I came up with about 4 pages of references to a famous mobster in Chicago by the same name who was famously murdered in a mob hit I think in the 80s. But I had finally found a reference to him and his auto dealership group he mentioned. Still not sure if the name is a coincidence or if he’s from that family. But I hadn’t sold a car in 30 years in a private transaction so I was nervous and even had a .380 in my pocket. He was a really friendly guy when he showed up with his business partner and he told us his story and walked around the truck. He pulled out a wad of $100 bills for the full asking price and handed me. He said he was buying the truck for himself and didn’t plan to flip it. I told him I had agreed I could take a couple thousand off the price and I would stick with that. So, I handed my wife a wad of cash and sent her off to count it - which she did, wearing rubber gloves and wearing a mask. He asked if he could drive it down to a near by auto parts store and buy a couple more tie downs for his trailer. I decided why not - I have the cash. He came back and we loaded the truck and sent him on his way. He struck us as a really good guy and he had pictures taken of all of us together before he left. He talked to us about the COVID stuff and having to watch more TV and streaming a bunch of shows and asked us if we were streaming any good shows. I told him we didn’t have a smart TV so we weren’t doing any streaming - which he seemed surprised at.

Later that day on his way back he called and said he was so pleased to meet us and with the truck that he had ordered us a new smart, large screen TV and was having it sent to us. I tried to tell him thatvwas nice but he shouldn’t do that. He said it was already on the way and to enjoy it and check out some of the streaming services.

We did get the TV and he does still keep in touch with us from time to time. We still don’t stream anything but we don’t tell him that.
 
A whole bunch of years ago, I built a One-of-None 1967 Coronet R/T 9-passenger station wagon as accurately as Dodge could have done. 440, 4-gear with Inland shifter, buckets and "buddy" seat, 150 mph speedo, etc. We drove it to Carlisle one year, and lots of people took pictures of it. Rob Wolfe of Mopar Collector Guide did a photo shoot of it and it was published in his magazine. Soon after the magazjne was published, a guy from the Detroit, Mi. area started calling me to say he wanted to buy it. I informed him that it was really not for sale. After a couple more calls,where he was upping his offer, I began to question who was the goofy one here: him for offering the money, or me for turning it down. I finally told him to bring a trailer and U.S. cash. I figured by selling it to someone across the border, I would never have to see it again and witness its decline. After 3 or 4 years, it showed up in Ontario again at car shows, usually with a "For Sale" sign in the window. It ended up living about 45 minutes away from me.

View attachment 1239015 View attachment 1239016 View attachment 1239017
I was showing these pics to my wife and she said yes that looks like the car her daddy owned she loved it. Her mom was really upset with her dad when he came home with a new 70 roadrunner that he bought and traded the sw without even telling her. He kinda wore the pants in the family.
 
Not a Mopar but a couple years ago as the COVID crap began, I decided it was time to part with my pristine 03 Lightning pickup with 17,000 miles on it. I listed it on Autotrader Classics and got a lot of responses - tire kickers, low-ball offers, I will try to look at it when the COVID stuff is over ( boy - glad I didn’t wait on that), etc. Then a guy from Chicago calls up and says I’ll buy it - be down there tomorrow with a trailer. I say wait a minute - I need either cash or a wire transfer if that’s the case. He says I can bring cash. He does ask about price and I tell him for cash I would be willing to knock a couple thousand off my price.

The next day turns out to be optimistic as he has to wait for his bank to open, but he shows up the following morning after spending a night on the road in a motel where people try to steal his trailer and hookers roam the place knocking on doors. They spent the rest of the night sleeping in the pickup cab to guard it.

I had the truck backed out but was a bit nervous as I had googled the guy and I came up with about 4 pages of references to a famous mobster in Chicago by the same name who was famously murdered in a mob hit I think in the 80s. But I had finally found a reference to him and his auto dealership group he mentioned. Still not sure if the name is a coincidence or if he’s from that family. But I hadn’t sold a car in 30 years in a private transaction so I was nervous and even had a .380 in my pocket. He was a really friendly guy when he showed up with his business partner and he told us his story and walked around the truck. He pulled out a wad of $100 bills for the full asking price and handed me. He said he was buying the truck for himself and didn’t plan to flip it. I told him I had agreed I could take a couple thousand off the price and I would stick with that. So, I handed my wife a wad of cash and sent her off to count it - which she did, wearing rubber gloves and wearing a mask. He asked if he could drive it down to a near by auto parts store and buy a couple more tie downs for his trailer. I decided why not - I have the cash. He came back and we loaded the truck and sent him on his way. He struck us as a really good guy and he had pictures taken of all of us together before he left. He talked to us about the COVID stuff and having to watch more TV and streaming a bunch of shows and asked us if we were streaming any good shows. I told him we didn’t have a smart TV so we weren’t doing any streaming - which he seemed surprised at.

Later that day on his way back he called and said he was so pleased to meet us and with the truck that he had ordered us a new smart, large screen TV and was having it sent to us. I tried to tell him thatvwas nice but he shouldn’t do that. He said it was already on the way and to enjoy it and check out some of the streaming services.

We did get the TV and he does still keep in touch with us from time to time. We still don’t stream anything but we don’t tell him that.

A friend of mine in Oregon recently sold his LIghtning also.. Original owner pristine with 25K on the odometer.... A guy who had been looking for 2 years for a lightning bought it saying he had given up finding a clean low mileage vehicle.. Paid asking price with cash.. A happy camper he was..
 
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