NA - Classic Cars

Collecting is probably not the word. I have one classic airplane, one classic boat, and one classic car (1987 Avanti).
 
I just made a deal for my third old car to restore. Actually this one is a 1962 Willys Truck. I've done a 1980 MG with my son while he was in High School; a 1979 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-40 and now getting ready for this one. Once I get it running good and reliably, I plan to go with a WWII desert paint scheme. It will be my daily driver.
 
My son just got himself a '61 Fury ...

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Well, one similarity to buying airplanes is already becoming apparent: Sellers don't know how to sell stuff.

I have clicked the "contact me" button on seven ads in the last week. I have heard back from precisely two of them -- one is probably a scam, and the other has not answered my response, requesting a showing.

We went through this same crap buying airplanes. It just makes me shake my head... Why run an ad if you aren't interested in selling?
 
@eggman, the cars are cool, so are the signs. I'm envious of the collection, like most people here, but the cool part is that you and your dad do that together. Congrats.
 
James_Dean said:
Cars have been the one indulgence through the years. We don't look at those as investments either. They all get driven except for the 'dealer prep' cars.
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My God man - that's an incredible collection. The Cobra alone is making me drool. We all better be invited to this fly-in! ;)
 
What year is the gray Vette? Looks like a '62 but might be an earlier year. Love '62s!
 
Gerhardt said:
@eggman, the cars are cool, so are the signs. I'm envious of the collection, like most people here, but the cool part is that you and your dad do that together. Congrats.
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We go to auctions together regularly and enjoy the knowledge and experience we've gained doing it. Dad's first new car was a 67 GTX with a 440. He was 18 and was working as a dock laborer at an egg company. He was on his way to catch his transport to start his enlistment in the navy and realized he forgot a document he needed. Blew the engine trying to get back on time to catch his flight. After that he rebuilt a 1963 split window coupe corvette from a junkyard car and put a 396 in it to go drag racing. That was what my mom drove when he was in Vietnam. That car got wrecked by a buddy in 1972 and he was busy saving for a home so he drove a junker until 1975 when he bought a new corvette. Within weeks of getting it they found out that I was on the way and it turns out that a corvette isn't a good family car. He gave it up on corvettes until I turned 18 when he bought the 1965 396 vette and it has gone from there. We do a little wrenching now and again, but for the most part we have the pros do it. I own a few of the cars, but most are his. I get to drive them in exchange for ensuring they are cared for properly, are fueled and in good oil, and get waxed when needed.

We have an absolute blast together looking at the auction catalogues, but the real fun is searching out the cars that don't show up publicly. The 55 vette is a triple crown and duntov award winner and was even in the Chicago museum of science and industry on exhibit for a few years. We found out through a mutual contact that it might be for sale and talked to the guy out of spending the money putting it up for auction.
 
mscard88 said:
What year is the gray Vette? Looks like a '62 but might be an earlier year. Love '62s!
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There is a dark gray that is a 1958 290 hp fuelie. The silver is a 1961 315 hp fuelie.
 
Thanks, wasn't quite sure. Beautiful and amazing collection. Cool y'all drive 'em! There's a gentleman in Birmingham that built Barbers racetrack who also has a world class museum full of motorcycle and sports cars, especially Lotuses. I was told everything in there is driven on the track periodically with the exceptions of a few of each.
 
I cant wait for the fly in...would make the trip in a heart beat.
 
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Warlock said:
I cant wait for the fly in...would make the trip in a heart beat.
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Our county is consolidating two smaller airports and is building a new regional airport that is about four miles from where our shop is at. We're starting with 17/35 which should be paved in 2017 and fully operational in 2018. A pretty good story compared to what many other airports are going through.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I have a '65 coupe sitting in my backyard (an homage to my Arkansas roots but not up on blocks) right now that I'll restore after the twins' college education is over. I bought it around the corner from my house and I actually drove it about a mile before the engine decided it didn't like to run on varnish. I had to tow it home.
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I drove mine from '76 to '86, then started having kids. I have two out of college and two in.
 
Wow, this is worse than buying an airplane! I've sent out a dozen responses to ads over the last week and, so far, I've received just two responses, and one was a scam. WTH?

Apparently people who post ads for their classic cars aren't actually interested in selling them? Must be one of those "my wife said it's gotta go" things...
 
When we were looking to buy a Navion, we found a few of those there, too. There was this brown one I recall seeing on the market for a very long time (both before and after we got ours). They guy wanted some ungodly amount of money (50% over what a gracious person would have valued it at). We guessed it was a similar "I'm trying to sell it, I got an ad in Trade-a-plane) deal. Still being a Navion guy, he sent us pictures and talked at length about the plane.
 
Always liked Navions. Didn't the Army and/or USAF fly them too?
 
Ok, I'll play. They belong to the FIL, but we have access to them 24/7, similar to Mr. Dean. Trash business instead of egg business though, so it's not quite as polished a facility or collection, lol. He's probably got another dozen vehicles, but these pics were taken when my wife was trying to decide which one was going to be our "get away" car for the wedding a year or so back. We chose the T-Bird. He likes his toys, so there's tons of boats, watercraft, RV's, motorcycles, etc., too.

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at first scroll, looked like serious Mopar fan, and then along comes the chebbies :) very nice!
 
gkainz said:
at first scroll, looked like serious Mopar fan, and then along comes the chebbies :) very nice!
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He's mainly a GM guy and Corvette fan. He owns probably a dozen or more Corvettes, and has at least one of every generation except the C7, but obviously multiple C2/C3 models. He's got a handful of Mopars and even had a Ferrari for a bit. A few Fords thrown in for posterity I suppose, lol. He has a beautiful 71 GTO Convertible, 4 Speed, 455 HO Red w/White top/interior but I didn't have a picture of it to include. He and my wife built up a '76 Corvette, black on black convertible . . . complete with a blown 468 sticking up through the hood. Screams down the road, but doesn't stop for **** since the brakes are OEM!

The thing about 95% of his vehicles is that they aren't 100% original or "best in class" type restorations. Most are just drivers with average/good paint and they run reliably. Many still have a quirk here or there, but there isn't much other than the Shelby GT350 that is going to fetch 6-figures, so we don't exactly have to drive them with kid gloves.
 
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mscard88 said:
Always liked Navions. Didn't the Army and/or USAF fly them too?
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Yes, the Army Air Force had them. Designated the L-17, later they were redesignated the U-18.
The were L-17's used sort of as executive transport in Korea. Somewhere I have a picture of McArthur getting out of one. I also have a picture of one landing on the carrier Badaong Strait. You can't really tell an L-17 from a commercial Navion without looking up the serial number to see who originally bought it.
 
flyingron said:
When we were looking to buy a Navion, we found a few of those there, too. There was this brown one I recall seeing on the market for a very long time (both before and after we got ours). They guy wanted some ungodly amount of money (50% over what a gracious person would have valued it at). We guessed it was a similar "I'm trying to sell it, I got an ad in Trade-a-plane) deal. Still being a Navion guy, he sent us pictures and talked at length about the plane.
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What's funny is I sent another 5 inquiries out last night. For the hell of it I sent an inquiry to a guy selling a pink '56 Ford, which I cannot see buying but it looks totally original and fairly cool.

Guess who is the ONLY response received this morning? Yup, the Pink Ford.
 
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'56 Ford, especially if a Crown Vic, a good looking car. I had a '56 Merc in HS. Of course I like just about any car/truck from the 50s/60s!
 
This thread makes me want to cry....I know envy is a sin but my God that 'Cuda....and for a minute there I thought the site plan Eggman posted was for his own private airport.

I would pay good American money to see either collection.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
This thread makes me want to cry....I know envy is a sin but my God that 'Cuda....and for a minute there I thought the site plan Eggman posted was for his own private airport.

I would pay good American money to see either collection.
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Ha! They will be closing KSOY and KORC once the new facility opens. Both of those strips are too short for most jets and we have Pella Windows, Diamond Vogel, and a few other large companies local that need better facilities. I am trying to get land bought to build a hangar at the new site.

Pilots are welcome to visit anytime I'm available. Give me a PM and I'll do my best to give a proper tour of the collection.
 
image.jpeg Oops. Posted this in the 310 thread by accident and meant to post it here. Finally got my Cessna sign mounted in the shop today.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
This thread makes me want to cry....I know envy is a sin but my God that 'Cuda....and for a minute there I thought the site plan Eggman posted was for his own private airport.

I would pay good American money to see either collection.
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If it makes you feel any better, the 'Cuda is only a 440, not a hemi. ;-), however the yellow challenger is hemi-powered, and the pink challenger is a 340-six pack.


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Get Rick Mascari to fly his Cherokee 400 up and take a look at it. He's retired now.
 
Okay, I give up. I've sent two DOZEN inquiries out to sellers, from their ads.

Number of responses? Three. THREE! A 12% response rate.

Why in the world would you pay to put an ad on the internet for your product and not respond? What's the freaking point?

Or are these all bogus ads, placed there by the website owner in an effort to make the site look popular?

We ran into this when trying to buy airplanes, too, but not to this degree. I'm starting to think that the only way to buy a classic car is if you find them on the street, and you have cash in your wallet...
 
Well I know a ton use the auctions to search out buyers for the car. Most don't sell at the auctions, but they'll exchange info and work out a deal later. Otherwise, the online sales are probably just feelers to see who will take the bait on an over priced offer.
 
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