What car should you have kept?

[ModelT46]

Most of us have owned what is now a car that we know we should have kept. I have four or five that would look great in my garage. One was a perfect, all original 1912 T touring made in November, 1911. Another was a 1932 Lincoln 4dr in great condition -- drove that when in high school.- The next would have bee a 1932 B400 convertible sedan. The last was a 1965 Mustang V8 convert I bought new. Hindsight is nice, but does not bring back what was lost . Others that would be fun to have back would be 1947 Chevy convert, a 1950 Pontiac convert, 1954 Parkard hardtop or a May of 1927 perfect T roadster. How about you?

[RVA23T]

My 1978 Toyota Corona Luxury Edition 5-speed.
Fun driving and problem free car.

[Russ T Fender]

My 1908 Type I Locomobile!

[Steve Jelf]

I have three.

1 1953 Willys 4 x 4 pickup with SBC. I fell asleep and drove it into a tree.



2 1954 Ford convertible. I paid $90 for it. A year later the top blew apart on the 405 and I sold it for $90.

3 1964 Kaiser 4 x 4 wagon. A well used Border Patrol vehicle. I drove it on dirt and rocks and washboard halfway down Baja. In the bean fields of western Colorado a tire blew and it rolled. Another total.

[Bryant]

I had a 1956 Chevrolet 210 sedan 265 V8 3 on the tree. I often wish I would have not parted with it. It was the only Chevy I ever owned.
Bryant

[JTT3]

1963 split window corvette & 1967 convertible firebird.

[George House]

My college graduation present: a 1972 Buick GS. Stratomist blue, factory hood scoops, chrome mag wheels, white leather bucket seats. It was the exact chic magnet I very much needed.

[Mark Gregush]

All of them!

[CudaMan]

My 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible. Originally a Rallye Red 318 car with A/C, it had a tired non-number matching 318 in it by the time I bought it, so I installed a 340 six pack engine, 727 auto transmission, and a 3.55 sure-grip rear end. The body was OK, but needed to be gone through completely again to fully satisfy me. Before I could do that, I got an offer on it I couldn't refuse and sold it. Since then, it has changed hands multiple times, with the price doubling every time. I can no longer afford to buy it back, even if I wanted to.

[JohnM]

1946 Chevrolet stylemaster sedan. Not a particularly exciting or valuable car. I bought in 1979 with 41xxx miles. Very well kept by an older gentleman, no rust, dealer installed seat covers, kept in a garage. At that time, original unrestored cars didn't draw quite the attention they do now. I enjoyed that car for 27 years, sold it in 2006 with just over 50xxx miles. They are only original once!

[Burger in Spokane]

1960 DeSoto Fireflite 2HT. Specialorder car stripped of everything except go-fast
and stop. Monotone black, manual steering, brakes, windows, and seat, no heater,
no radio, no backup lights, clear glass, dog dish hubcaps and body colored wheels.

On the up side, 383 X-ram, T-85 manual 3-onda-floor shifter, 3.23 posi, and 3x12
drum brakes. Well tuned, it could pull the front right wheel off the ground and
easily handled 396 Nova type racers, except this car was dead stock. 1 of 1 built.

1957 DeSoto Firedome convertible. Another stripper with monotone turquoise
paint. 341 Hemi /3-onda-tree. Another 1 of 1 built.

But I did keep the 58 Fireflite convertible and the 66 Coronet convertible.

[CatGuy]

My 1947 Chevy Fleetmaster. I restored it and had it looking like a Police Car. I would love to have another one. It's the one car that I would trade my T for.

[tmodeldriver]

First for me was the 1933 Plymouth Sports Coupe. With it's chrome headlights and horns on the front, wire wheels and two side-mount spare tires just a great looking car.

But the one that stole my heart and never gave it back was the 1959 Jaguar XK-150S roadster. That was during my days in the USAF and making pretty frequent trips between Oklahoma and Florida. The Jag was a great car for getting down the road. Just as happy at 100 mph as at 60. With it's well broken-in Abarth exhaust system that old Jag made stack music that would stand your hair on end. I still had hair back then.

[George Mills]

As far as T's go...no contest...lol...I still own all of them, back to the first bought in the mid 70's and everything since...

My first car was a '64 Chevy Impala SS Coupe...327/300 corvette engine from factory, dual exhaust with glass-packs...traded that in for $475 when I bought the '68 Charger, black cherry red, black vinyl top. (Bought that with my Vietnam money...pay never spent...plus dollar or so a day combat pay...plus I think another buck or two a day since I was technically 'per diem' on my assignment as embedded with the Viet's all by myself) Then traded that in for maybe 800 bucks on a '72 Satellite. (part of the 800 was I had relatively new Crager S/S mags and white raised letter ground grabbing 'paws' on the Charger that I had them move to the Satellite and place the new tires and rims on the Charger.)

All of these I 'should' have saved...but the reality was the next one couldn't be bought without the money from the prior. I've had about 15 other cars since and probably no remorse on letting them go even though some were really nice. I have often thought of recreating my first three as tribute cars...but then always shy away when the time comes.

[KMcoldcars]

I narrowed my list down to five.
1930 Cord L-29 convertible sedan.
1932 Lincoln KB V-12 sedan.
1929 Franklin roadster on the 132 inch wheelbase, Franklin's largest.
1939 Delage D-6 drophead de ville, bodied by Coachcraft of London.
1971 Buick Gran Sport Stage 1 convertible. One of 81 made in 1971.

[CatGuy]

1946 Chevrolet stylemaster sedan. Not a particularly exciting or valuable car. I bought in 1979 with 41xxx miles. Very well kept by an older gentleman, no rust, dealer installed seat covers, kept in a garage. At that time, original unrestored cars didn't draw quite the attention they do now. I enjoyed that car for 27 years, sold it in 2006 with just over 50xxx miles. They are only original once!

I hear you! I also had a '46 Chevy Stylemaster 4 door once, It ran, but I never did much else with it for some reason. I also had a '48 Chevy Fleetmaster and a '47 Fleetmaster. I really enjoyed that '47! Great cars.

[m_p_dean@yahoo.com]

'71 Alfa Romeo, '68 Austin Mini, '61 Karmann Ghia
shoulda bought at the time, '30 Model A, '36 Harley Davidson, '70 Austin Mini...I'd list more but can't see thru the tears.

[Distagon2]

My 68 GTO convertible. Of course, if I had kept it I might not be here typing this reply.....

[PDGx]

All of them!

Agree - but always had to sell one to be able to buy one ……..

[AndyClary]

I’m in the same place as Paul, have to sell to buy. There are a couple cars in my past that I miss. But what I have is what I wanted.


Andy

[Art M]

My first car was a 57 Chevy Belair 2 Dr hardtop 3 spd overdrive and 2 bbl carb, 265 cu in engine. Drove it to 191,000 miles. Engine never apart, not even a valve job.

Art Mirtes

[John Codman]

1962 Chrysler 300 H, 1979 Corvette L-82 4-speed.

[frontyboy]

In 1965 I was able to purchase a 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa factory GP car with the engine all apart. I paid the princely price of $2500.00. Got it together and drove it around the streets. MY then wife wanted a house so I sold the Ferrari for $12,500.00 and paid cash for our first house.

That buyer sold the Ferrari a few years later for $15,000.00. Then his buyer restored the car from the ground up and after nearly 25 years of ownership he sold it for$4.5 million dollars.

The Ferrari factory had a sister car which they sold for $17 million at auction. The end result was I don't have the house, don't have the wife and don't have that Ferrari. Yes I should have kept the Ferrari ad dumped the wife!!!!!! We learn too little far to late in life.

just sayin'

frontyboy

[TRDxB2]

This is exactly what I had 1965-1971. A 1959 Porsche 356A , Rock Gray with Sun Roof & gas heater. They were relatively very inexpensive then.
I had a summer job during working for Easy German Immigrant (US Citizen) at his "Service Station" - his business card read "We service Mercedes, Porsche , VW and other fine European cars." At that time he charged $30/hr & a long waiting list of work to be done (NY burbs). He was that good. Rebuilt my engine for the cost of parts, no labor. Were good friends for years afterwards. Reason for selling it: frame rust through. Sold it for what I had purchased it for & without a battery. These cars had an undercoating/sound deadner of tar & tar paper and an excellent place to capture salt spray etc. Only survivors today are from dry climates. If it was a SOCAL car & I lived in CA, I would have kept it.

[Mopar_man]

I still have them all.

[Mopar_man]

And.... My Charger.

[Mountainrider]

My first car 68 VW Bug. I chopped the roof 4”, installed 1800 cc kit, and added duel strombergs.

[TFan]

Fresh home from Viet Nam I bought the only brand new car I ever owned, 69 Mustang Mach I. Taught my future bride to drive in it and brought my baby daughter home in it got rid of it mid 70's gas was getting expensive around 75 cents per gallon.

[Luke]

Jim,

Not sure if that's the best photo you have of your Mustang, but just in case it is I've done a very quick cleanup for you. With a higher resolution scan it could be better improved:


[attachment=0]DSCN0359.JPG[/attachment


Luke.

[Luke]

As for me, I have had somewhat north of a thousand vehicles, and have many photographs. I won't bore you with all of them but here's a small selection:

My first Jaguar, at 18 years old the epitome of everything I dreamed about as a kid. Cost then $450 NZD (rescued from the literal barn covered in hay) repaired the body and sold for $650, value today ~$20,000 NZD:

One of the many Fords I've owned. This one a Prefect, cost then ~$500, today ~$9000. Shown here just after I recoloured it from the poo brown it was:

A Mk3 Ford Cortina, repaired the body and painted it. Cost then was ~$2000, today maybe $25,000. Cortina's were a staple here and I had lots of them ranging from the earliest Mk1 through to Mk5, the Mk1's I paid as little as $150 for (I still have receipts!) are today fetching up to $50,000:

mk3.jpg (43.97 KiB) Viewed 7157 times

A Series Land Rover. At 17 I paid $481.50 for it and did numerous mechanical + body repairs. Today these seem to fetch somewhere between $25,000 - $50,000. I've had just on 60 Land Rovers, and still have several:

After a while, as a youngster, I moved from Land Rovers (they leaked and broke regularly) to Land Cruisers. This one I purchased in parts for ~$2000 and reground the crank, made new mudguards and roof, then repainted it the then new colour they were being sold in. There is one of these for sale presently at $50,000, and I've seen them as high as $90,000 (no I don't have any now ):

As good as the Cruiser's were they still didn't have the character of the Land Rover's so I eventually returned to the fold, but throughout my career it's been a Ford that has been my go-to for a daily driver. Today I have a Focus, and have several Ka's - we get British/European Ford's here...

Luke.

[Luke]

Finally, just to show I wasn't entirely one-eyed about these things, and that I occasionally embraced more 'sporting' vehicles:

I bought this as a basket case. Did a complete body-off restoration while flatting and attending University .. had to completely clean up and put away all the parts by the end of the day or the landlord got very unhappy, this made for a lengthy job but the end result was worthwhile:

And, of course, the obligatory muscle car, circa 1987 :

corvette.jpg (47.61 KiB) Viewed 7148 times

[Norman Kling]

1931 Model A Phaeton. Restored from scratch and driven as a daily driver all over California, and even Baja California.
Norm

31 phaeton after 2nd rest.jpg (55.71 KiB) Viewed 7144 times

[FundyTides]

All of them! Most notably my first car, a 1934 Ford Tudor. Others that were special and easily would qualify as keepers: 30 Model A Town Sedan, 49 Monarch (Mercury) sedan. 50 Mercury club coupe, 51 Crosley?, 50 Jag Mk V saloon, 53 Jag XK 120, 2-53 MG TD's, 56 Ford Crown Victoria, 55 Ford Sunliner Convt. 57 MGA. Most of these were just another used car at the time (late 50s early 60s0. Isn't hindsight great. On the plus side I still have my 31 Model A Roadster (bought it in 59 for $60), pictured today after years of procrastination and finally rebuilding it. Also have acquired another MG TD, not the same one I had in the 50's but close enough. Also have kept my Dad's 27 Canadian Model T touring which he bought in the early 50's from the original owner.

[John Codman]

I have three.

10-66 074.jpg
1 1953 Willys 4 x 4 pickup with SBC. I fell asleep and drove it into a tree.



2 1954 Ford convertible. I paid $90 for it. A year later the top blew apart on the 405 and I sold it for $90.




img129 copy.jpg
3 1964 Kaiser 4 x 4 wagon. A well used Border Patrol vehicle. I drove it on dirt and rocks and washboard halfway down Baja. In the bean fields of western Colorado a tire blew and it rolled. Another total.

I like the SBC Jeep. We built one from a 4WD twin-posi 1961 or 62 (I don't remember) pickup after the flathead Continental six went through it's second set of bearings in 8,000 miles. With the 283 2 bbl it was just about unstoppable in any weather. It was the engine that Jeep should have installed in the first place. I have wondered for years whatever happened to it.

[MWalker]

1968 AMX. Only car I ever bought new. It was a lot of fun to drive.

[jiminbartow]

The first new car I ever bought was my gold 1974 Camaro with 350 4 bbl with a great 8 track sound system. Remember those? I bought it brand new late in 1973 for $6,000.00 when they first came out. Had it for 15 years until I blew the engine in 1988. It was a sweet ride and a chick magnet. Had a lot of good times in it.

I got these pictures online, but mine looked exactly like this for the entire 15 years only it had ivory colored interior. Always loved that GM gold color. This one is for sale for $25,995.00. Shoulda kept mine. Jim Patrick

[TFan]

Luke, Thanks for clearing up my pic, I wish I had a better one to post but alas no. I too had a 58 English Ford Prefect only mine was black. Jim

[Sarikatime]

I had so many cars before I was 20 that I didn’t know where to put them. One got stolen, several I had to sell due to too many parking tickets and some very rare but couldn’t afford the parts to restore them.
In the entire threads above, everyone, including me, are crying over 40s 50s and 60s cars that we grew up with and could afford at the time but not one person misses a model T. We love the silly things, I have 2, but we all want the hobby to continue and prosper but if we don’t talk about missing out T’s then how are the younger generation coming into the hobby supposed to heartthrob. Anyone else have cars from the 20s that they miss, I had a 19 and a 21 Star when I was 17 and I miss them but I couldn’t afford the parts and sold them.
Any thoughts? Frank

[JohnM]

The title is, "What car should you have kept"
Most people here still have their T's.

[Norman Kling]

What car should you have kept? I kept all 3 of my T's. I got one to restore while I drove another one. The third one was for spare parts, however, I got all 3 running and kept them. I had a Star, a Franklin, seven flat head V8's one Pontiac, one Oldsmobile, two Plymouths, three Slant 6 Dodges, One De Soto, one Dodge pickup, 2 Ford pickups, Two Buicks. Only one Chevrolet. One Volkswagen Beetle, one Datsun pickup, one Toyota Pickup, Thirteen Model A's, but the only one I wish I had kept was the Model A Phaeton. I did keep all the T's.
So you see why I said what I did before.
Norm

[jiminbartow]

Okay. Here’s one about a Model T with a happy ending. I could have almost said “What car should you have kept?” about my 1926 Model T coupe, for after owning it for 26 years (1970-1996), I sold it in 1996 for $8,000.00 and immediately regretted it. I regretted it for five years when in 2001, the owner’s widow contacted me from York, Maine and asked me if I would be interested in buying it back because he had just died of blood cancer. I said I would for the same $8,000.00 price he paid and made arrangements to drive the 1,400 miles up to Maine from Florida, rent a U-Haul open trailer, pick up my coupe, pay her and drive it 1,400 miles back home. That was my punishment for selling it, but it sure felt good to have her back. The only thing different is that he had converted it to a 12V system. The first thing I did when I got it home was to convert it back to a 6V system. It also needed a new radiator that I purchased from Brassworks and an engine overhaul. I guess I am destined to keep it until I die. After 51 years of having the same Universal tires on there I bought in 1970 from “Mark Auto”, I finally put 4 brand new Goodyear Tires on it in 2021 and have been considering getting a new upholstery kit for it from “Classtique” to replace the “Carter’s Cut and Cover” upholstery kit I installed over 50 years ago in 1972. Everything is still in great condition, except for the upholstery, which is starting to get a little ratty but, overall she is faring much better the second 50 years than she did the first 44 years (1926-1970) when I bought her in 1970 as a pitiful, rotten, dented, shot up, rusting hulk. I guess it helps to be pampered and garage kept for all those years. Jim Patrick

[JEC]

This is probable my favorite.1959 Conv d Porsche
I sold it to put a down payment on a house when we moved from Missouri to Arizona.