Cadillac Owners Forum banner

Cars I should have bought ..... but didn't!

3K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  thebigjimsho 
#1 ·
I am not talking about some wiz bang exotic, but some car that you could have afforded at the time, but for some reason passed by only to regret it later.

I know in my case I have always regretted not buying the completely refurbished Citroen SM that a Citroen specialist (the Citroen specialist) in L.A. had for sale. The car had belonged to his wife and he had gone through it and brought it completely up to snuff. The car, even though about twelve years old at the time, was in like new condition. I was metallic gray with red leather interior ... an outstanding combination. He wanted $11,000, which was well over market for a used SM at the time (the early eighties), but the car was in such prime condition I still think it was worth it.

At the time I still had my '76 Seville and getting the SM would have made getting rid of it a necessity due to garage space. Ah, well, I never did get a Citroen SM .... I have always wondered what it would be like to live with one of the most advanced and unique grand touring cars of the late sixties.

I'll bet you have had a similar experience.
 
#2 ·
I was sixteen years old and a there was a 72 Buick GS convertible with a 350 for $2500. It was driver quality but could have used a paint job. I was 17 and the only reason I walked away was because it needed a new top (was patched with Duct tape). That car would be over 10K today without doing a thing.
 
#3 ·
Well never really passed up a car that i regret but the thing is there's a car i'm waiting for. My body shop guy has a mint 1979 Coupe Deville that kind of looks like a Phaeton. 67K Miles 1 owner garage kept its whole life and my god is it nice! Then next too his Coupe he has a 70-71 Hemi Cuda mint with low miles and 2 owner.
 
#4 ·
Never really had that problem. I am told that I "shop for cars backwards"

Most people end up seeing a car they really like and either buy it or regret not buying it.

I determine what kind of car I would like to have and then, when the seed is planted in my brain that I should go and get one... I go get one. Such was the story of my Cadillac, my Pontiac and my Lincoln.

The Cadillac I was very specific about (as there were only three like mine, though it could be argued each was unique in some way or another) and I had to track it down. Took me the better part of a month, but I found it. Contacted the owner and paid for it from 3,000 miles away.

The Pontiac, I decided I wanted as a car in need of a complete restoration. It was the car my Father and I settled on getting. a '67 GTO in need of some serious TLC. Within 24 hours, I had determined where to find the car I wanted and two days later, had it on the back of a truck, headed back to my house.

The Lincoln, I decided I should get sort of out of the blue and for no REAL reason, as I hardly needed it (It was technically me beater, because who says beaters can't be immaculate). Came up with the idea one night while spending time indoors with some friends. By lunch time the next day, I had found one, driven a few hundred miles to get it, bargained the price down to what I felt like paying and returned it to my own driveway.

I am a tad alarmed, as the gears in my head have been turning a bit lately and I feel (fear) I may soon desire another car. No idea what it will be. Lately I have even found those ugly black things Buick was making in the eighties to be appealing. The ones with the slanted front-ends.
 
#5 ·
I always wish I had bought a 69 skylark with a 350 that I found while looking for my first car. It was 1k, and needed a paint job (had rust but the rust had been fixed with really good quality patch panels). My dad said no because of the patch panels and the title wasn't in the guys name (it was in the name of a family friend of his, who was the original owner of the car.) He ended up selling it to someone who bought it for the interior (had a nice black vinyl interior with a console and 2 seam splits on the drivers bucket).
 
#6 ·
Well I don't really have that problem either. B4 I was married, if I wanted a certain car, I bought it. The ONLY one I regret passing up was a few years ago. I was looking for a good large SUV to tow my wheeling jeep. Looked at a fully loaded 2005 Yukon XL with the auto level ride, Nav, entertainment system in the back. Basically only way to get nicer was to buy the Denali package. They only wanted 17 for it. But for what ever reason decided to keep using my V8 grand Cherokee as my tow vehicle. I do wish I had gone ahead and gotten it.
 
#7 ·
When I was 16, I stumbled across a triple navy '87 Brougham for sale. On a scale of 1-10, it was a solid 8. Pretty much rust free, paint was in good shape, velour interior was in good condition. The odometer showed like 60k miles. He was asking $1000 cash for it. I had the money, but no license yet and my parents said no to any Cadillac as a first car.
 
#10 ·
I mean, I DID have an LT1 Roadmaster as a first car, which arguably was better than an '87 Brougham. I did get that '92 Deville as a 2nd car.
 
#11 ·
A '57 Chrysler Imperial, white over pink, hemi, 2 door hardtop, $500.

----------

I don't sweat the "woulda-coulda-shouldas" like I used to though.

:cool2:
 
#14 ·
1970 Cadillac Eldorado, triple black. It needed carpet, a small patch in the passenger side footwell, and it needed the bumper straightened out. It was a project, but it would have been a very easy one. They only wanted $800 for it, and it came with a new bumper. I had $600 and they wouldn't budge on the price. I started it up though, and if I could bottle sound, that would be it. Good lord it was amazing. Always kicked myself for not finding a way to purchase that thing.
 
#15 ·
Man you should have jumped on that, 1970 was the last great year of that original design. IMO 1971-78 was way too vulgar, bloated, overwrought, and cheaply made. Plus 1970 was the ONLY year to feature the high compression 500 V8 engine.


One car I wish I had jumped on was a 2003 Miata "Shinsen" . . . It was a special edition, limited production Miata. In Miata speak, Mazda usually did one "special" car a year, with a unique interior/exterior color combo, the car usually came equipped with every factory option, but mechanically it was identical to any other Miata. The Shinsen car was a very pretty gunmetal grey, blue top, navy blue seats, navy blue accents on the otherwise black interior. Very sexy and somewhat subdued car. The dealer(a reputable Honda dealer) had this on their lot about 5 years ago for way under market price with about 30,000 miles on it, in just immaculate condition. They also had 2 used S2000's for WAY more $$$$, along with 3 or 4 new S2000's.



With the price, this was going to be my only car. I just could not justify how impractical a Miata would be in my life. Looking back, I never really hauled people in the back seat of my Camaro I had at the time, and if I needed more cargo space I could've always borrowed my buddy's Chevy truck.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Few years back had a chance to pick up a WS6 with 6 k on it for 24 k . Drove it, fell in love with it, thought about it too much and decided I would kill myself. I now wish I had bought it, would have been a weekend driver and they don't lose there resale value at all. And now that Pontiac is no more ( weeping), would have been a keeper. He who hesitates.......

View attachment 107346

Hmmmm

View attachment 107347

Hmmm
 
#17 ·
On my way to work I used to drive by a house with a '83 Electra Park Avenue and '90 Brougham. They were both under a car port and didn't move for years. One day my Wife calls me and says there is an estate sale and those two cars were up for sale!! By the time I got there both were sold for $2,800 (yes both). They needed work but were rust free and both under 80k miles..... .:nono:


I wish I bought my Dad's Viper. He couldn't wait for me to scrounge up the cash and traded it in for $38k :bonkers:

 
#18 ·
I, too, passed up on a good one in the interest of "practicality"
The 635CSI was the ultimate BMW of the '80's. The guy selling this one was fanatical about the care of his cars. He owned several BMW's and was selling this one:


Unfortunantly, I needed something that could hold more in the backseat.
But, that is how I ended up with my Cadillac, so it had a happy ending :)
 
#25 ·
#19 ·
bigm57ict said:
I, too, passed up on a good one in the interest of "practicality"
The 635CSI was the ultimate BMW of the '80's. The guy selling this one was fanatical about the care of his cars. He owned several BMW's and was selling this one:

http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/bigm57ict/media/IMGP9726_zps71c565a0.jpg.html
Unfortunantly, I needed something that could hold more in the backseat.
But, that is how I ended up with my Cadillac, so it had a happy ending :)
I love the 80s 6 series, especially when fitted with the factory ground effects.
 
#21 ·
^it would be fun to drive a V8 swapped one.even 4bangin they're pretty zippy little cars.

My brother had a buddy that had a '80 camaro z28 that was gunmetal grey with silver pleather. only 4x,xxx on it back in the early '90's. He wanted $3,500 for it. it was mint except for a scuff on the front valance. I'd still have it today I'm sure,but I'd probably be a lot poorer if I did.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Home on leave after a Northern Run. Came within a gnat's whisker of ordering a 1967 Stingray 427/430 (L88) 4-speed hardtop in Emerald Green Metallic with the camel colored interior. $6,500 out the door. (Lotsa bucks in '67)......... and they ran on 103 octane ONLY - Sunoco pumps had it.

In 2006 they sold for a million - right now they have dropped to about $820,000. I think that less than 100 were built.

http://www.supercars.net/cars/349.html

EDIT: .......... but I DID build/order a '65 Chevelle MalibuSS 327/350 posi 4-speed. Several options plus A/C and P/B delete - $2288 out the door.
I still have the invoice. It would have been traded on the Stingray.
 
#24 ·
Home on leave after a Northern Run. Came within a gnat's whisker of ordering a 1967 Stingray 427/430 (L88) 4-speed hardtop in Emerald Green Metallic with the camel colored interior. $6,500 out the door. (Lotsa bucks in '67)......... and they ran on 103 octane ONLY - Sunoco pumps had it.

In 2006 they sold for a million - right now they have dropped to about $820,000. I think that less than 100 were built.
A while back (quite a while now, 20 years?) I was in Santa Barbara, driving up Jimeno Road where my grandmother lived when I saw a beautiful red, '67 L88 convertible in a driveway. It looked to be in mint condition. I stopped to take a closer look and the owner came out and showed it to me.

It was the lower horse power version, an automatic with A/C and the large Rochester 4bbl. It had a black interior and center knock off rims. We chatted for a bit and then he walked me over to his garage and opened the door. Inside he had another '67 L88 convertible but this one was the 427/430, M21, Tri Power, center knock offs. It needed some restoration. He said he used this one for vintage racing at Laguna Seca.

Next to the Vette was a '67 Mustang Shelby GT350, all original. It needed some restoration as well but it was quite a sight to see all three cars in one place at somebody's house!

----------

Another car that I should have bought but wasn't allowed was my grandmother's ride. A 1970 Monte Carlo, Z20 SS package, LS5 454, rally rims, green on green.

My grandmother wouldn't sell it to me. She said it wasn't appropriate for a family man. She had control issues. :)

I did have the odd opportunity to drive it while they owned it though, it was a sweet ride!
 
  • Like
Reactions: CadillacLuke24
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top