Whats your best find and or deal? Good fortune or regrets...

[ratlook63]

I've had a few good finds in my day. Goin through the classifieds in MD I found 2 '49 ford F-100's for $500. Went to go look at them, they were all in pieces, but enough to make 1 truck out of the two. Never did get around to pickin' them up though...doh.

Next up was a '64 bug on ebay that someone had started to turn into a roadster..... great pans, running engine and all the stock parts included plus many many extras. Picked it up for $400, used the pan to drop my '63 body on and cut the rest up. I've made $1200 or so to date of the sale of the parts. Some joker paid $375 for the engine on ebay... plus gave me $50 to deliver it to his moms house which turned out to be about 30 minutes from mine. Not to bad

Third, I was able to buy a garge full of parts and tools with a '65 daily driver included for under $3000 (I forget what price we actualy agreed on). Got every tool I could ever need for restoration ( $350 compressor with just about every tool you can think of plus all the accesorys, sand blaster, paint gun, $500 worth of sand paper, hand tools, sockets and a bout 100 cans of paint (spray and otherwise)). To top it off I got a ton of parts and $500 plus worth of stereo equipment.

Saved the best for last though. I needed somewhere to put all of this stuff and my parents were moving so it looked like I might have to sell it all. Well I ended up getting the use of a massive 2 story 3 car garage in exchange for mowing the persons lawn and doing odd jobs around the house.

Anyone else have similer storys of good fortune with old cars? How bout a car you wished you bought? Any good stories of stubling on an old dub in the woods and rescuing it?

I'm just sick of all these stories of people from the West coast (damn you all!!! ) getting free or cheap cars with little to no rust, so I thought I'd share some East coast stories
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‘60 SWR walk-thru Kombi
‘60 Mango Standard
‘66 EZ Camper

[TeamSpatula]

2 that got away - When I was still in high school, I went to look at a running 65 Westy. Told the guy I wanted it, and had to go home and work out the details with my parents for insurance and everything. Went back to pick it up the next day, and the #&@! sold it out from under me...
Later, while still a poor college student, (1994) I went to look at a sweet, running, garage kept all-original 65 21 window Deluxe...had a couple dings, but no rust...but alas, I couldn't afford the price, and had to pass on it...looking back now, I just about cry...he wanted all of $1200 for it...
Good luck finding one of those now...
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<---Air Cooled Search & Rescue Team - STICKERS & T-shirts for sale!
1981 Diesel Rabbit
I NEED A CAMPER!!!! (1971 is ideal but will consider other years)
http://www.TeamSpatula.com

[DaveM]

the 59 westy that robert davis restored a few years back was a few blocks from where I live... i tried to find the owner a few times but didnt give it that much effort. finally one day, it was gone. My understanding was it was complete with tent, tumbers, all the tough parts and sold for $700.
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Sounding like a broken record as to why You should be measuring protein during harvest in order to better your agronomic practices.

[ratlook63]

Damn..... can't even count the cars I had to pass on due to finaces/space.

Worst was a deal in NJ for a complete '63 with rusted out pans (chanels were replaced) and another '63 rag body in great shape plus a ton of parts for $500..... this was around the time my parents were moving so I thought I'd have to get rid of all my stuff. Really coulda used that cherry '63 body to drop on my freshly restored '64 pan. Now I got a few weeks of rust repair ahead of me when I get home from school.......

Another one that I forgot about was a '47 Hudson truck that had been sitting in a barn for the past 25 years. It had been runnning up till the mid 70's and taken off the road to start a resto... most of the rust repair was done and it had all the parts to do an engine rebuild (if anyone knows Hudson you know how hard it is to find engine parts... thats why most of them are running samll block chevys or the like) Either way the land was bought for development... Hudson just shows up on the side of the road one day... best offer.... Offered $1200 for it and I heard it went for $1300....
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‘60 SWR walk-thru Kombi
‘60 Mango Standard
‘66 EZ Camper

[69calibug]

My '65 Beetle. Complete but partially disassembled with a running motor, new pans, over $500 in new body metal plus a replacement channel, 4 brand new tires, and a complete parts car with lots of good stuff on it. And the guy even towed it 20 minutes to my house, and I got a stack of vintage hubcaps that I couldn't see turned into scrap metal, all for $550. Good deal by east coast standards.

Last month I got a good dual port engine, 3 KG seats, a beetle rear bench, 4 new drums, a windshield, 6 side windows, shifter, carb, a starter, a '67 back-up light, and 2 boxes of bolts from the dis-assembly of 2 Beetles for $84. Only had to drive 2 hours each way in a terrible snowstorm to get the stuff before it was sold, and I stuffed it ALL in the trunk and interior of my old Pontiac, engine included

Also got a sapphire playtape radio for free too.
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'69 Beetle, '69 Beetle Convertible

[crukab]

In 1980 I went to a car dealer in Denver that had a '66 Doublecab, body was mint, interior nice, had a softball size hole in the back floor and a bad starter, they wanted $2500 for it , which is what I payed for my '73 Opel Gt,, but they only wanted to give me $900 for the Opel Gt, No WaY ! So I take my sporty little Opel home -2 months later the wiring MELTED down........ , ended up buying a '63 DC that was not 1/2 as nice as that one in Denver...............
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Tom

My Pops:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604100&highlight=
I know you will always be with me, rest in peace with no more pain. 8/13/14.....

In the yard right now:
'51 Dodge 5 window truck
'65 Bug
'66 Singlecab
'82 Rabbit Truck Diesel from CALI
'86 Doublecab W/T
'91 Vanagon carat/wolfsbrg.Tiico
'88 Dodge Ram pickup
'11 Jetta Wagon

[jackq]

Found out as you get older...more deals come your way. Have to admit I've been very lucky getting deals, got a few yesterday while in Albuquerque picking up my sister at the airport after she flew in from NY. Went to get brake parts for a 71 Ghia and got offered three Ghias..a complete 71 vert, a complete 68 coupe and a nice 64 coupe shell...and a 63 bettle vert body. One peice body...no pan, doors,...nothing. All stripping to bare metal and body work done. All this comes as I'm trying to cull my fleet....oh well...four more cars...will probaly sell most of the stuff after going all over it and making it presentable. Bug vert body would be perfect for someone living in a rust prone area. Will be sealed and primed...ready to go shortly.

[rusty57]

I just paid $2500 last weekend for my 66 Convertible bug. Runs but needs a couple things to finish. Paint was done last summer and it was restored in 96 and never driven until last summer. I have pics of it in the gallery.

I once bought a 66 Ghia for $500 with a porsche race motor installed. I gave it away(abandoned it in front of a vw buisness) because i had no place to store it and had to move out of state. It was rust free.

I'm currently in persuit of finding a "good deal on a Ghia" if anyone has one out there for cheap.
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67 Ghia coupe, Retired military.
www.TagDefender.com

[Nid]

I missed out on a '58 ragtop with heart lights, lowered, with full racing buckets and roll cage, and a fire breathing 1900-odd CC engine with dual Dellortos with no rust once.

Asking Price: $1500

The thing had a sweet black and white paint job with shaved trim, too.
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My, you've been naughty. How.....Delicious.
You're such an inspiration for the ways that I'll never ever choose to be
Oh so many ways for me to show you how your savior has abandoned you
Fuck your God, Your Lord and your Christ, he did this
Took all you had and left you this way
A Perfect Circle - Judith

[ubercrap]

Not a VW, but when I was around 14-15, there was a 62-63 T-Bird roadster that mysteriously was partially stuck in a ditch by the highway in front of this old dive bar/trailer park/shanty complex. It was missing the Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, as well as the hard tonneau, but I'm almost certain it was a roadster. From what I could see driving by, it was in fantastic condition. There were the remains of a tarp over the interior, and the top was down. Interior looked immaculate from a distance, well, at first... It sat there for months, but my mom and dad absolutely refused to stop every time we drove by. I heard later that it was towed to a scrapyard, but not sure of the source. This was in the early '90's folks! Much later, the husband of a woman that worked for my dad told him a story about a fascinating car he had seen in Missouri scrapyard in the '70's. He knew an eccentric guy with a rich family who was a hairdresser in Kansas City. He bought a Facel Vega that supposedly had belonged to Frank Sinatra (possibly inaccurate). Later, the car was stolen when the man was on vacation. The woman's husband was looking around in some junkyards in central Missouri years later, when what did he find? A Facel Vega that looked suspiciously like the one that had been stolen from his friend years earlier. He kept meaning to get back to buy it, but never did. Enter me in the late 1990's. After getting all the pertinent info that he could remember, I went driving around the countryside in the area approx. where the salvage yard was. I couldn't find it, but through asking around, I was directed to the county courthouse. I talked to some old-timers in the courthouse, and they knew who I was talking about, and amazingly, he still lived in the area, and the salvage yard was still there. I looked him up in the phone book, and got him on the first ring! Indeed, he had a Facel Vega in his yard at one time, but had sold it a long time ago. I thought he might be gruff and suspicious, but he told me he wished I had tracked him down sooner since I was interested in cars, because he had just sold a Kurtis racer that he had sitting around the previous week, and maybe I would have been interested in it! I'm not sure if any of you know Springfield Missouri, but when I was a kid, there used to be a place called May-Pop Tire (as I remember) that had a microcar on a post as a sign. Later, I researched and I believe that it was a Glas Goggomobile. When I was an adult, I decided to try to go and see if I could buy it one day, but the place had been torn down and the car was gone. I wonder where it went?
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'74 412 wagon
(2) '74 412 2dr. sedan
'73 412 2dr. sedan

[70 140]

I never find any deals

[VWAdam]

Back in August of 2002 I bought a rusty '58 Ghia for $150. It had been sitting since 1972. It was rusty but so straight. I sold it on the samba for much more than I paid, and I kept a good number of parts from it.

I think my '67 13 window Deluxe Bus (my avatar)I bought for $500 last month was a good deal too. The owner first told me no he wouldn't sell, but I went back.....and it's in my driveway right now.
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All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.

'59 Euro Beetle ragtop
'63 Standard Microbus

Come to my show! www.volksjam.com

Looking for badge/sticker/frame from Western Motors in Great Falls, Montana

[Morganwerk]

My co-worker told me her neighbor wanted to get rid of their son's Ghia. No thanks I said, I was poor, already had my 1966 bug, 1963 SC and a GLI and no extra room. (Also hanging around was the 1200A, a 1964 bug, a rabbit, a two door Jetta and granpa's boat)

A few days later she mentioned that the Ghia was gone, she had seen it when it was towed away and said it was a convertible and was orange (possibly making it 1970's vintage)

Do you know how much they got for it? I asked

I asked you if you WANTED it, they gave it away

YOU NEVER SAID IT WAS FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I figure I will have forgiven my co-worker by the time we retire
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Gary
1966 1300 Sea Sand
2003 GTi VR6

[EdW]

Last fall I bought a 1973 Karmann Ghia convertible from the original owners. The car had been sitting since 1980 - not ran or touched in 25 years. The car is rust free and original in all aspects. Has the "Sport" package (I'm pretty sure its called that) with special wheels, trim package and steering wheel. Engine turned fine, but taking it apart to clean and refresh. Just needs to be polished, new brake system, a couple of minor paint issues and she's ready. Oh, and the car only has 38,000 original miles on it and was only serviced by VW. I even have the original battery (dead) and tires. All for $4k.

[corey2120]

My find was my 1970 Bug its got 58 thousand original miles some little old lady had it in her garage for like 15 years untill my friends dad bought it in 2000 used it for a year and then put it in his garage. i saw it and was like that is my car i want it. so i asked them how much they wanted for it and they said make an offer so i did of 500 and they said it was mine. the car has no rust it runs great the only thing wrong with it is a rusted out brake line that i have to replace. and the color i am not a fan of it its like a yukon yellow or somethin but i think i got a real good deal on it havin only 58 thousand miles and no rust (i live in New England)

[nawie181]

I found my 73 Thing less than 1 mile from my house. It was only out for 1 day, my father drove by and gave me a call. I went to look with low expectations, but was instantly surprised. It was very straight with almost no rust which is unheard of in MA these days. It had a little rust on the quarters and rear floor area where water collected, and no accidents. The top frame was complete with a non rusty header bow. A roll bar and factory rear tire rack were also included. The downside was it was painted with green latex house paint with black flames. The owner didn't know the first thing about VW's and claimed it needed a valve job or something to run, and he didn't want to spend any more money on this beater. I gladly took it off his hands for $450. I had it home and running in 2 hours (bad fuel pump, old gas). This was about 4 years ago, and seeing the prices that Things go for on here in awful shape, I think I scored pretty good.

[sixfootdan]

I threw out a Empi wheel on my first VW and installed a little Foam n Chrome instead? That was 17 yrs ago
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Schrodinger's cat walked into a bar and it didn't.


GO SEAHAWKS!!!

[chrome]

just made a deal on a 58 panel, told the old boy "its worth a couple hundred bucks".....so what does he say, "will you give me $100.00 then, and haul it away for me??!!!" i about popped my shoulder out of joint because i couldnt get my hand out of my pocket fast enough to close the deal, its complete, w/pressed bumpers and correct deck lid to boot
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65 21 window
57 T1 ragtop
58 ghia vert
68 fastback
73 Thing
74 Thing
54 chevy 210
63 mercury meteor wagon

[my59]

In 86 I designed a deck/hot tub area for some parents of high school friends. They moved out of state in 88, passed their bugs and KG onto their kids, and wanted to give me their early 60's bus that he had owned since new. They had pulled a complete westy camper/pop top set up out of a scrap yard that was mint, welded in the pop top roof section, had all the gear- curtains, cushions, sink etc and even a clock out of a Ghia mounted so you could tell time from the bed.
I was living in NYC putting myself through college and had no place to keep it or cash to keep it up with so I had to pass on it.

Damn, now you got me thinking of the good times in the hot tub with his daughters.
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my59: Well son, my grandfather died before I got to drive it, so does that answer your question?
our79: sunroof bus w/camper interior and 2.0 FI
Other:'12 Jetta, '77 Benz 300D, and a 74 MG Midget.

[Z]

My biggest miss is probably the 59 DC and loads of parts that I could have had for $900. I had just brought my 67 Std home, and didn't really have room for that, so I passed on the DC and parts, thinking I was saving myself a headache. Now, every time I see an early DC, in any condition, I want to kick myself.

Second place would be the dozens of busses (OK, other VW's, too) in scrapyards, fields, woods, etc., that I ignored in the 80's and early 90's that were equal to or better than a lot of those being pulled out and run today.