The one that got away!
Discussion
John D. said:
and31 said:
I really regret selling this mini-it was 1380 cc with some expensive engine mods, I had a dyno print out with it showing 123bhp-it was rapid! I sold it to a guy who came over from France , for 5 grand-what a fool I was!
I ve got another classic mini now with a 1330 engine but it s nowhere near as quick ( although far more usable)
Town driving was a pain as it would not tickle around in second gear, I think first gear was good for 35mph ffs,
I had 115 mph on the clock once-(probably a lot less than that in reality)and it was still pulling-that was f
king scary -it had a full FIA cage , harnesses and buckets , and a plumbed in fire extinguisher,but was too compromised for a road car with that gearing.i should have kept it and whipped the engine and box out and fitted a 3.4 final drive…. Gutted looking back at the pics…
I bought this back in late 2014, the previous owner fitted a 3.0 v6 to it. It wasn't meant to be a massive project car but I threw some suspension mods and a new set of wheels at it and that was supposed to be it, but 6 months later the original v6 died on me, leading to a 1000 mile round trip in a weekend to source a replacement v6 Which was just the beginning.
Many thousands were spent over 10 years but towards the end I just didn't have time for her, in the last year I owned her I drove her 2 miles between most. I'm sad that I sold her but it was the right decision at the time. Im still a member of a lot of the MR2 groups hoping to see the current owner post pics or updates but I still haven't seen anything yet
There are quite a few cars I regret selling but some were really sheds that later became valuable like a Fulvia HF and a 911S ( both definitely shed territory many years ago. However, the more recent car I regret selling is the 997 below; (I had Sabine Schmitz drive me in it at the Ring in 2010). I just had no space at the time and I had a new car coming in. Bad decision.
Bad.
The car I most regret not buying was a 1955 Gullwing (not the car below) which I was offered in 1996. He wanted $220k and the car was in very good but but not concours shape. An excellent driver though. I would have had to cash out investments and I generally never do that; for toys. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
Bad.
The car I most regret not buying was a 1955 Gullwing (not the car below) which I was offered in 1996. He wanted $220k and the car was in very good but but not concours shape. An excellent driver though. I would have had to cash out investments and I generally never do that; for toys. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
RDMcG said:
There are quite a few cars I regret selling but some were really sheds that later became valuable like a Fulvia HF and a 911S ( both definitely shed territory many years ago. However, the more recent car I regret selling is the 997 below; (I had Sabine Schmitz drive me in it at the Ring in 2010). I just had no space at the time and I had a new car coming in. Bad decision.
Bad.
The car I most regret not buying was a 1955 Gullwing (not the car below) which I was offered in 1996. He wanted $220k and the car was in very good but but not concours shape. An excellent driver though. I would have had to cash out investments and I generally never do that; for toys. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
Wow!!Bad.
The car I most regret not buying was a 1955 Gullwing (not the car below) which I was offered in 1996. He wanted $220k and the car was in very good but but not concours shape. An excellent driver though. I would have had to cash out investments and I generally never do that; for toys. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
RDMcG said:
The car I most regret not buying was a 1955 Gullwing which I was offered in 1996. He wanted $220k and the car was in very good but but not concours shape. An excellent driver though. I would have had to cash out investments and I generally never do that; for toys. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
Yep, that would stick in the memory! I regret selling my Ford GT which I bought new in 2005. However, the truth was that I hardly drove it. Too wide, LHD (which was tricky in such a car) and many parts (not that I needed any) became impossible to get hold of. But it was a lovely thing!
I’ve had maybe 60 cars and only really regret selling a few.
Sold this because I did a Honda conversion and didn’t like it. Faster wasn’t better. Peak Elise for me, a late S1.
Loved this car, absolutely loved it and spent loads of money refreshing things on it. Always wanted another but never quite got round to it.
P1 was special, had it 3 or 4 years and sold it not long before prices went nuts.
TVR engined early 110, wish i’d kept this and restored it. Got all excited when it reached 25 years old and could USA export it and sold it for 3 times what I paid. Still miss it though
That wee boy is 19 now and is Land Rover mad
Sold this because I did a Honda conversion and didn’t like it. Faster wasn’t better. Peak Elise for me, a late S1.
Loved this car, absolutely loved it and spent loads of money refreshing things on it. Always wanted another but never quite got round to it.
P1 was special, had it 3 or 4 years and sold it not long before prices went nuts.
TVR engined early 110, wish i’d kept this and restored it. Got all excited when it reached 25 years old and could USA export it and sold it for 3 times what I paid. Still miss it though
That wee boy is 19 now and is Land Rover mad
Edited by Lefty on Saturday 4th April 17:18
limpsfield said:
Lotus here too - Elise 111r which I sold to buy an evora eventually.
Still on my phone wallpaper more than 10 years after I sold it!
Quite a few Lotus on these pages.Still on my phone wallpaper more than 10 years after I sold it!
I sold this in 2004, regretted it straight away.
So I bought another S1 in 2006.
Sold that as well and regretted it since, so I bought my third S1 last year, no plans on selling that one. Lesson learnt.
I’ve had quite a few cars I really enjoyed, and I get told the odd time I was crazy to sell some of them, especially my E46 CSL. But truth be told I was done with them, and the timing was right to sell despite whatever the market has done since
This is possibly the one exception, as it was almost unique in a lot of ways in terms of spec and history. Probably should have kept it in hindsight
Do you think you’d still have the Gullwing now if you had bought it?
This is possibly the one exception, as it was almost unique in a lot of ways in terms of spec and history. Probably should have kept it in hindsight
RDMcG said:
There are quite a few cars I regret selling but some were really sheds that later became valuable like a Fulvia HF and a 911S ( both definitely shed territory many years ago. However, the more recent car I regret selling is the 997 below; (I had Sabine Schmitz drive me in it at the Ring in 2010). I just had no space at the time and I had a new car coming in. Bad decision.
Bad.
The car I most regret not buying was a 1955 Gullwing (not the car below) which I was offered in 1996. He wanted $220k and the car was in very good but but not concours shape. An excellent driver though. I would have had to cash out investments and I generally never do that; for toys. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
At least you had the experience and memory of that Sabine drive though! Bad.
The car I most regret not buying was a 1955 Gullwing (not the car below) which I was offered in 1996. He wanted $220k and the car was in very good but but not concours shape. An excellent driver though. I would have had to cash out investments and I generally never do that; for toys. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
Do you think you’d still have the Gullwing now if you had bought it?
Leins said:
At least you had the experience and memory of that Sabine drive though!
Do you think you d still have the Gullwing now if you had bought it?
I would think so. They are pretty timeless. I recall when I drove it though how much noisier and hotter it was than I expected. Quite impractical but a unique car and amazing form something that age. Obviously there comes a time when they are too hard to get into if you are very old though. I do keep some cars for a very long time.Do you think you d still have the Gullwing now if you had bought it?
My Elan +2 130S.
Rebuilt by my own fair hands (including a broken finger trying to dismantle the suspension) over a period of 4 years. Bought as a running wreck, I did everything except the paintwork which was above my pay grade! I had the only oil-tight Twin-Cam in the N.E. and was regarded as the engine expert thereafter.
Sold after I was made redundant three times in 6 years and ran out of money to feed the family.
ABB 96M where are you now?
Rebuilt by my own fair hands (including a broken finger trying to dismantle the suspension) over a period of 4 years. Bought as a running wreck, I did everything except the paintwork which was above my pay grade! I had the only oil-tight Twin-Cam in the N.E. and was regarded as the engine expert thereafter.
Sold after I was made redundant three times in 6 years and ran out of money to feed the family.
ABB 96M where are you now?
Doesitdrive said:
UK_Scat_Pack said:
My Impreza STI Type-R Version 5. I absolutely loved this car ..until things started going wrong every month and costing me £1000 each time! Sold it to a guy in Ireland.
This is what happens to them in Ireland. I've had a few cool things over the years but surprisingly few that I have any regrets at all about letting go. The only car I would genuinely love to have back is my first car (an 87 Polo coupe) for entirely nostalgic reasons. I'm sure I'd be hugely disappointed driving it but it's the memories. I'd now urge any young car enthusiast to do anything in their power to keep hold of their first car if it's in any way practical. The £300 I got for it at the time was probably gone within a week and the car that replaced it was a total lemon!
Gad-Westy said:
Doesitdrive said:
UK_Scat_Pack said:
My Impreza STI Type-R Version 5. I absolutely loved this car ..until things started going wrong every month and costing me £1000 each time! Sold it to a guy in Ireland.
This is what happens to them in Ireland. I've had a few cool things over the years but surprisingly few that I have any regrets at all about letting go. The only car I would genuinely love to have back is my first car (an 87 Polo coupe) for entirely nostalgic reasons. I'm sure I'd be hugely disappointed driving it but it's the memories. I'd now urge any young car enthusiast to do anything in their power to keep hold of their first car if it's in any way practical. The £300 I got for it at the time was probably gone within a week and the car that replaced it was a total lemon!
Relatively modest compared to some here, but such a lovely sum of its parts. Took a job so I could relocate with my current partner and found I hated it, so the only real way out was to sell the Swift and get something cheaper with the remainder being my buffer for bills and expenses.
I didn't do too badly with it's replacement which was a 2.0T B7 convertible, but the Swift was just so right. If my Abarth 595 could have been half the car to drive the Swift was, I'd have been able to fall for it more.
I didn't do too badly with it's replacement which was a 2.0T B7 convertible, but the Swift was just so right. If my Abarth 595 could have been half the car to drive the Swift was, I'd have been able to fall for it more.
I sold my track toy Clio 172 Cup just after having my first baby, put towards a Volvo, on brand for a new Dad.
Was doing the same thing as OP and checking the MOT every year, mostly in awe that it's still passing. I ended up seeing enough of these types of posts so I made a service that does it for me across AT, eBay, PH classifieds, Collecting Cars and C&C. It pings me if any of them go up for sale. It found my 172 on eBay during beta testing but absolutely not buying it back (it lunched an engine on the 8th lap of my first track day).
Anyone here actually managed to buy one back? Curious whether it ever lives up to the memory.
Was doing the same thing as OP and checking the MOT every year, mostly in awe that it's still passing. I ended up seeing enough of these types of posts so I made a service that does it for me across AT, eBay, PH classifieds, Collecting Cars and C&C. It pings me if any of them go up for sale. It found my 172 on eBay during beta testing but absolutely not buying it back (it lunched an engine on the 8th lap of my first track day).
Anyone here actually managed to buy one back? Curious whether it ever lives up to the memory.
Moderator edit: no advertising
My Chimaera 450 which I had for 7 years was the car of my heart but, sadly, ULEZ put paid to that!
The car of my head is the Cayman 987.2 with PDK, Sport plus, sports steering wheel etc etc etc. Such an epic car. After a eurohoon (aged over 60) I decided that I had to grow up and decided to sell the Cayman and purchase myself an E400 convertible Merc. It was a lovely thing but quite boring so I moved it on after 6 months. I am now happy with a V6S F type but often hanker after my old Cayman. Just everything one could want. The gearbox is sublime and it's epic in the mountains.
The car of my head is the Cayman 987.2 with PDK, Sport plus, sports steering wheel etc etc etc. Such an epic car. After a eurohoon (aged over 60) I decided that I had to grow up and decided to sell the Cayman and purchase myself an E400 convertible Merc. It was a lovely thing but quite boring so I moved it on after 6 months. I am now happy with a V6S F type but often hanker after my old Cayman. Just everything one could want. The gearbox is sublime and it's epic in the mountains.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff