The One That Got Away - your version of the story.
Discussion
ashjones said:
FarmerJim said:
LiamB said:
Not me, but my Uncle.
He came across a little workshop/dealership, and in there stood an immaculate Jag XK120 for.. wait for it.. £8,000.
In RHD as well.
Here it is;
Left it for a day, came back next day with the intention to buy it, and it was gone.
They are now worth in excess of £60,000.
Looks like he had a narrow escape. That's not an XK120. Looks like a kit/replica to me. Might still be a good car, but not an XK120.He came across a little workshop/dealership, and in there stood an immaculate Jag XK120 for.. wait for it.. £8,000.
In RHD as well.
Here it is;
Left it for a day, came back next day with the intention to buy it, and it was gone.
They are now worth in excess of £60,000.
Back in the 70's I did a deal with a chap for his Mk1 Escort RS 1600 BDA I think it was about £1100 . I gave him a £50 deposit and promised to pick up the car on the weekend when I had raised the rest of the cash.
I got to his place first thing on the Saturday, his mothers words were "he's gone off with the car to tow a friend out of the woods"
I walked away RS 1600 never to be seen again....bought an Avenger Tiger Mk2 Wish I had kept it.
Hindsight is a wonderfull thing !!
I got to his place first thing on the Saturday, his mothers words were "he's gone off with the car to tow a friend out of the woods"
I walked away RS 1600 never to be seen again....bought an Avenger Tiger Mk2 Wish I had kept it.
Hindsight is a wonderfull thing !!
My dad and a few of his mates used to be involved in a small racing team competing and winning in the group n saloon car championship in the 90's including the will hire 24hr at snetterton in a humble suzuki swift and then a Honda civic.
In the late 90's the team owner and driver Tim busby brought a UFO jeans liveried BMW CSL Batmobile at this time I was old enough to understand and was racing myself in karts.
I was becoming more involved in the team and was promised I would be a driver in the BMW when I reach 16 competing round europe in the classic thunder saloon championship in a shared drive basis with Tim and Mike. As you can imagine I was over the moon and couldn't wait. In my 16th year in 2004 Tim tragically and unexpectedly died that year. My dream and only chance of racing vanished. As my dad just did not have the cash flow to take over the team and aswel as loosing his best mate he didn't want too at the time by the car for a bargain of 8k. Just recently the car changed hands north of 80k.
My dad is now wishing he took a loan out and snapped the cat up lol. But as people say it just wasn't meant to be.
Adam
In the late 90's the team owner and driver Tim busby brought a UFO jeans liveried BMW CSL Batmobile at this time I was old enough to understand and was racing myself in karts.
I was becoming more involved in the team and was promised I would be a driver in the BMW when I reach 16 competing round europe in the classic thunder saloon championship in a shared drive basis with Tim and Mike. As you can imagine I was over the moon and couldn't wait. In my 16th year in 2004 Tim tragically and unexpectedly died that year. My dream and only chance of racing vanished. As my dad just did not have the cash flow to take over the team and aswel as loosing his best mate he didn't want too at the time by the car for a bargain of 8k. Just recently the car changed hands north of 80k.
My dad is now wishing he took a loan out and snapped the cat up lol. But as people say it just wasn't meant to be.
Adam
Must have been 1999 and at the time I'd just split up with a girlfriend and as a result had two cars to shift. My own renault 19 16v and the car I'd bought her (mine was on the V5) Hyundai Accent.
Autotrader was a bit of a publication at this time and I seem to recall stumbling across a Venturi Atlantique gt400 for the grand sum of £9995. I talked myself out of viewing the car as the result would have been inevitable. It would be the same price I went on to pay for a nearly new 106gti.
I convince myself to this day that it would have ruined me.....
Or, there's the time while leaving a Rover dealership that I tried to convince my wife that getting a Nissan Skyline R32 would have been a better investment than a nearly new MGF.
I was very right about that.
She got the MGF
Autotrader was a bit of a publication at this time and I seem to recall stumbling across a Venturi Atlantique gt400 for the grand sum of £9995. I talked myself out of viewing the car as the result would have been inevitable. It would be the same price I went on to pay for a nearly new 106gti.
I convince myself to this day that it would have ruined me.....
Or, there's the time while leaving a Rover dealership that I tried to convince my wife that getting a Nissan Skyline R32 would have been a better investment than a nearly new MGF.
I was very right about that.
She got the MGF
DickyC said:
When I was about fifteen in the late sixties, and sufficiently interested in cars to read Exchange & Mart and buy, "do up" and sell cars (mostly for a resounding loss), an advert ran in E&M for several weeks for a complete but unroadworthy AC Ace for £100.
For just over forty years now I have tried to comfort myself with phrases like, "Where would you have stored it?" and "You'd probably have messed it up."
A friend's Uncle has an Ace (For just over forty years now I have tried to comfort myself with phrases like, "Where would you have stored it?" and "You'd probably have messed it up."
). I learnt at the weekend that when he bought it he wavered between an MGB and the Ace. At the time the Ace was 50% more than the MGB. I think he made the correct decision...A few months back, I saw a Maserati Quattroporte 4.7 S advertised at silly money, like £10k cheaper than you can buy one today.
Posted on a forum about it, trader bought it the next morning. I would have loved to have bought it, run it for a year or two and still easily got my money back! Ho hum... must be quicker next time!
Fortunately, the trader that bought it is a cracking lad and I'm please he had an earn...but still, part of my wishes I had the baws to have gone with it.
Posted on a forum about it, trader bought it the next morning. I would have loved to have bought it, run it for a year or two and still easily got my money back! Ho hum... must be quicker next time!
Fortunately, the trader that bought it is a cracking lad and I'm please he had an earn...but still, part of my wishes I had the baws to have gone with it.
neutral 3 said:
Vixen, I well remember that " garage " in Leytonstone H rd, they often had 246 Dinos, V12 E Type roadsters ( usually red ) etc etc and All hugely Overpriced average examples !!
Yeah, Hills of Leytonstone, they also owned the Toyota dealership in Woodford.They were always overpriced, but in hindsight why didn't I buy that Dino, keep it in my mum's garage for a few years and drive around in an old Datsun. £6250
Overpriced too.
Chicane-UK said:
Do you think we'll look back now, in 25 years time, on cars like E39 M5's for <£6,000 and 996 Porsche's for <£10,000 and wonder why we were not hoovering them all up? 
Unlikely, but 80s and 90s Ferraris are a fair bet as production numbers were still fairly low. As would any of the top end (i.e GTx) Porsches, including 996s.I have 2 examples. Both were my error, one of them affected me directly, the other my dad. Both involved a BMW.
Back in 2005 a BMW dealer offered me an E30 M3 Ravaglia for 5,000 GBP that had come in as part exchange. For the time, that was a fair price, not a bargain, but the car was in very good condition. However, back then I simply didn't have that amount of spare cash or the space to keep it, and I wasn’t too sure if I would be able to look after it effectively. Therefore, after much painful thought I had to say no. A salesman from the dealership ended up buying it and as far as I'm aware he still has it.
For my dad, it involved a brand new Z8. At the time he drove a BMW 840 and wanted a change. He liked the Z8 and was looking at a new one in the local dealership, but had spent the last couple of years going on about getting a 911 - the ultimate sports car, he used to say!! The Z8 was up for ca. 75,000 GBP (if memory serves correctly) but BMW were prepared to let it go for ca. 55,000 GBP, such was the demand back then. However, Mr. Wise Me, told him not to bother with the Z8 and go for the 911. I argued that the 911 had been a car he had always wanted, the 911 was arguably the better car, and after the depreciation hell he had experienced with the 840, the 911 would be a far better bet. I mean, if BMW were already prepared to give a 20,000 GBP discount on the Z8 when it was new, what would it be worth in 5 years time? Oh, hindsight is a wonderful thing. He ended up buying the 911.
Back in 2005 a BMW dealer offered me an E30 M3 Ravaglia for 5,000 GBP that had come in as part exchange. For the time, that was a fair price, not a bargain, but the car was in very good condition. However, back then I simply didn't have that amount of spare cash or the space to keep it, and I wasn’t too sure if I would be able to look after it effectively. Therefore, after much painful thought I had to say no. A salesman from the dealership ended up buying it and as far as I'm aware he still has it.
For my dad, it involved a brand new Z8. At the time he drove a BMW 840 and wanted a change. He liked the Z8 and was looking at a new one in the local dealership, but had spent the last couple of years going on about getting a 911 - the ultimate sports car, he used to say!! The Z8 was up for ca. 75,000 GBP (if memory serves correctly) but BMW were prepared to let it go for ca. 55,000 GBP, such was the demand back then. However, Mr. Wise Me, told him not to bother with the Z8 and go for the 911. I argued that the 911 had been a car he had always wanted, the 911 was arguably the better car, and after the depreciation hell he had experienced with the 840, the 911 would be a far better bet. I mean, if BMW were already prepared to give a 20,000 GBP discount on the Z8 when it was new, what would it be worth in 5 years time? Oh, hindsight is a wonderful thing. He ended up buying the 911.
Painful reading some of these posts...
As a success story, in the 70's my grandad bought spent £150 on a AC Aceca in need of restoration. It had belonged to my great great uncle, who had a habit of buying odd cars. He also had a TR5 with surrey hardtop, which my dad bought and and 1962 Austin Healey Sprite with original Monza Speedwell bonnet.
My Grandad spent the next 30 years restoring it and now my dad owns it. Turned out it to be a AC Aceca Bristol with a lot of race history from the late 50's/early 60's, even driven by Paddy Hopkirk.
Prices for Grade A Aceca Bristols stands at about £110k or a fair bit more with race history...
As a success story, in the 70's my grandad bought spent £150 on a AC Aceca in need of restoration. It had belonged to my great great uncle, who had a habit of buying odd cars. He also had a TR5 with surrey hardtop, which my dad bought and and 1962 Austin Healey Sprite with original Monza Speedwell bonnet.
My Grandad spent the next 30 years restoring it and now my dad owns it. Turned out it to be a AC Aceca Bristol with a lot of race history from the late 50's/early 60's, even driven by Paddy Hopkirk.
Prices for Grade A Aceca Bristols stands at about £110k or a fair bit more with race history...
1979, I was looking for a classic, and knew of this Triumph TR4A which had sat beside an MOT garage for over a year. It had original wire wheels, overdrive and Surrey top. Asked him how much he wanted, he said "about £125" . I would have taken his hand off at that, but he insisted on putting it on the MOT ramp to show me it was solid underneath. Then he decided "Naah this is even better than I thought it was, I'm not selling it..."
Really wish I had just shoved the money in his hand and taken it away...
Also nearly bought a Jowett Javelin (or maybe it was a Jupiter, can't remember) for £60 from a garage just along the road from there. Bottled out...
Really wish I had just shoved the money in his hand and taken it away...
Also nearly bought a Jowett Javelin (or maybe it was a Jupiter, can't remember) for £60 from a garage just along the road from there. Bottled out...
Edited by tvrgit on Wednesday 8th August 09:37
Triumph 1800 back in the 60's,
Also a morgan 3 wheeler with the v engine
Both owned by a friend in the same street. didnt have the cajones to put in a bid
Also missed out on a 1932 Lanchester also late 60's that disappeared out of my life as me and the owner had a blazing row on his driving ability with it. I think he bought it for EIGHT pounds, My Dad said it was worth a lot more that that..... Still ended up with a Daimler Conquest Century for £50.00 two years later. wrecked the rear passenger door following parking instructions by a rather dense deckhand on the Rosslare-Fishguard ferry
Also a morgan 3 wheeler with the v engine
Both owned by a friend in the same street. didnt have the cajones to put in a bid
Also missed out on a 1932 Lanchester also late 60's that disappeared out of my life as me and the owner had a blazing row on his driving ability with it. I think he bought it for EIGHT pounds, My Dad said it was worth a lot more that that..... Still ended up with a Daimler Conquest Century for £50.00 two years later. wrecked the rear passenger door following parking instructions by a rather dense deckhand on the Rosslare-Fishguard ferry
In the mid 80's I was offered a mint Triumph TR6 with owners club provernance detailing matching engine and chassis numbers from the factory, all MOT's and tax discs from new and a full service history with every receipt (including those for spares etc) and a fully stamped book. The car also had a spare engine and gearbox (both fully functional) and was a one owner car. The guy was emigrating to Canada to be a pilot of some sort and couldn't take the car with him.
I was living at home at the time and we didn't have a garage to keep the car in so I decided against it. I doubt the car would have been worth a signifcant sum today but every time I see a white TR6 with red leather interior I get a sharp pain in the wallet.
I was living at home at the time and we didn't have a garage to keep the car in so I decided against it. I doubt the car would have been worth a signifcant sum today but every time I see a white TR6 with red leather interior I get a sharp pain in the wallet.
My Mum and Stepdad live in Normandy and run a small business there. My Stepdad was out visiting a customer one day about 2 years ago when he noticed an e30 M3 in his barn covered in dust.
Being an ex-racing driver my Stepdad knew a thing or two about motors and commented on how it must be nice to have an M3 tucked away for a sunny afternoon hoon. The owner said it had actually belonged to his son and was taking up space in his barn, he wanted rid of it and clearly didn't know what it was worth.
Stepdad made a quick call to me and we agreed to go halfs on it, the fact the owner only wanted £3000 for an EVO3 with 60,000 miles on the clock meant that we may have come across a bit too keen when striking the deal.
Was on my was to Dover to catch the next ferry with a pocket full of cash when I got a call from my crestfallen Stepdad. Our keenness to take the car of the owners hands had given the game away and he had got in touch with a few car dealers, the asking price had risen rather dramatically.
I didn't bother catching the Ferry
Being an ex-racing driver my Stepdad knew a thing or two about motors and commented on how it must be nice to have an M3 tucked away for a sunny afternoon hoon. The owner said it had actually belonged to his son and was taking up space in his barn, he wanted rid of it and clearly didn't know what it was worth.
Stepdad made a quick call to me and we agreed to go halfs on it, the fact the owner only wanted £3000 for an EVO3 with 60,000 miles on the clock meant that we may have come across a bit too keen when striking the deal.
Was on my was to Dover to catch the next ferry with a pocket full of cash when I got a call from my crestfallen Stepdad. Our keenness to take the car of the owners hands had given the game away and he had got in touch with a few car dealers, the asking price had risen rather dramatically.
I didn't bother catching the Ferry
Edited by The Dirty Bubble on Wednesday 8th August 09:57
Edited by The Dirty Bubble on Wednesday 8th August 09:57
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