Missed Any Bargains?
Discussion
I was reading a link on the classic bike section about missed opportunities and it got me thinking.
What cars/bikes did you turn down years ago only to see the prices go out of reach.
For me - A Brough Superior at 400 pounds and my dad wouln't lend me the money as he thought it was astronomical for an old bike.
My Vincent Black Shadow bought for 90 pounds as a basket case. I rebuilt it and sold it for 450 and I thought I was doing well ....bought my first car a Vauxhall Victor with the profit. Wonder what that Vauxhalls worth now !
What cars/bikes did you turn down years ago only to see the prices go out of reach.
For me - A Brough Superior at 400 pounds and my dad wouln't lend me the money as he thought it was astronomical for an old bike.
My Vincent Black Shadow bought for 90 pounds as a basket case. I rebuilt it and sold it for 450 and I thought I was doing well ....bought my first car a Vauxhall Victor with the profit. Wonder what that Vauxhalls worth now !
mph said:
I was reading a link on the classic bike section about missed opportunities and it got me thinking.
What cars/bikes did you turn down years ago only to see the prices go out of reach.
For me - A Brough Superior at 400 pounds and my dad wouln't lend me the money as he thought it was astronomical for an old bike.
My Vincent Black Shadow bought for 90 pounds as a basket case. I rebuilt it and sold it for 450 and I thought I was doing well ....bought my first car a Vauxhall Victor with the profit. Wonder what that Vauxhalls worth now !
The Healey 100M I should have kept.What cars/bikes did you turn down years ago only to see the prices go out of reach.
For me - A Brough Superior at 400 pounds and my dad wouln't lend me the money as he thought it was astronomical for an old bike.
My Vincent Black Shadow bought for 90 pounds as a basket case. I rebuilt it and sold it for 450 and I thought I was doing well ....bought my first car a Vauxhall Victor with the profit. Wonder what that Vauxhalls worth now !
The Lambretta model A and the TV200 I should have kept.
Did the heating, fixed the damp, still married, got a big Healey . There we are thirty years gone.
mph said:
AJAX50 said:
Moved house in 1975, had about £10K to spend on renovations, nearly bought a Cobra (real one) instead. Decided that saving marriage was more important.
and .....?AJAX50 said:
Did the heating, fixed the damp, still married, got a big Healey . There we are thirty years gone.
At least you can probably afford to take the Big Healey out with being terrified of just how much the thing is worth the whole time. A friend has a car that's value has exploded in recent years now he hardly drives it and can't leave it anywhere.mph said:
AJAX50 said:
Moved house in 1975, had about £10K to spend on renovations, nearly bought a Cobra (real one) instead. Decided that saving marriage was more important.
and .....?Agreed, I keep the Healey perfect, drive it hard and don't worry too much about it's value.
a8hex said:
AJAX50 said:
Did the heating, fixed the damp, still married, got a big Healey . There we are thirty years gone.
At least you can probably afford to take the Big Healey out with being terrified of just how much the thing is worth the whole time. A friend has a car that's value has exploded in recent years now he hardly drives it and can't leave it anywhere.mph said:
AJAX50 said:
Moved house in 1975, had about £10K to spend on renovations, nearly bought a Cobra (real one) instead. Decided that saving marriage was more important.
and .....?Said yes to buying a 1934 Singer 9 Le Mans for £1,400, it needed restoration, but all the hard to get bits were there, all the rest could have been bought from the club/experts....went away to arrange bank loan (I was 17 and had just started work), went back a week later and he'd sold it to someone else! They now go for £15k-£20k!!!
I guess i learn't the hard way to put a deposit down!
I guess i learn't the hard way to put a deposit down!
A litter of things really. Sold my Manx Norton for 40 quid, sold my BMW M1 for £25,000, sold my 1962 1293 Cooper S for a song, and so on. But then we move on and find other things. Regrets never do any good and I am content with my Lynx D which I bought for a comparative song a few years back and my flat floor E type roadster I've had 27 years which cost the grand sum of £800!
lowdrag said:
and my flat floor E type roadster I've had 27 years which cost the grand sum of £800!
My old maths teacher sold his flat floor E type coupe to a local jaguar chap for £800 back in the mid 80's. It got very nicely restored to a nice gunmetal grey with red interior and wire wheels.A DB5 Convertible at £1,695 in 1974
Three separate DB5's, an ocean blue one, a red one and a california sage one (KLK 7) each at £5000 in 1981
A DBS Vantage manual with an £8000 respray by RS Williams at £13,000 in 2003
A very tidy no issues XK150 3.4 FHC at £18,000 in 2003
An immaculate XK150 Roadster at £49,000 in 2005
In each case because I couldn't get my hands on the readies at the key moment. It's the thought of the ones that I'm about to miss that really gets to me.
Three separate DB5's, an ocean blue one, a red one and a california sage one (KLK 7) each at £5000 in 1981
A DBS Vantage manual with an £8000 respray by RS Williams at £13,000 in 2003
A very tidy no issues XK150 3.4 FHC at £18,000 in 2003
An immaculate XK150 Roadster at £49,000 in 2005
In each case because I couldn't get my hands on the readies at the key moment. It's the thought of the ones that I'm about to miss that really gets to me.
There was a RHD Alpina C2.7 Touring on here for about £3k recently. I'm not sure how much of a bargain that would be in munitary terms, but it would have been perfect for me. I didn't have the space or the cash to hand at that instant though.
Right now I'm watching a Porsche 924 on eBay which looks very nice (one lady owner etc.) and seems due to go for next to nothing. Again, if I had room in the garage and time to go over and take a look I'd be very tempted. I suspect the same thing is going to happen again.
Right now I'm watching a Porsche 924 on eBay which looks very nice (one lady owner etc.) and seems due to go for next to nothing. Again, if I had room in the garage and time to go over and take a look I'd be very tempted. I suspect the same thing is going to happen again.
My old man used to tell of when Merchiston Motors/Ecurie Ecosse went bust, they were auctioning off their assets, his brother made my dad stop bidding on a D type Jaguar when it went past £220! Same old man would not lend me £50 in order to buy a Jaguar SS 100 sport for £120.
And just recently someone told me that a friend of his was selling a Jaguar XK140 I said I had nowhere to keep it and when he told me the price, £12k, I imediately thought it was a rust bucket and thought no more about it until, speaking with another friend he told me that he had bought the car and it was in great nick, so good that he was able to start racing it immediately in historic events. I'm still kicking myself!
G
And just recently someone told me that a friend of his was selling a Jaguar XK140 I said I had nowhere to keep it and when he told me the price, £12k, I imediately thought it was a rust bucket and thought no more about it until, speaking with another friend he told me that he had bought the car and it was in great nick, so good that he was able to start racing it immediately in historic events. I'm still kicking myself!
G
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