One's that got away

[daddypig]

I thought I would throw this in as the ‘ones’ who got away. When I just past my test and driving around a lot of my brothers mates were also into cars so knew of this one here and there all classics, so here’s the ones I let go (if only I had hindsight).

MG TD offered for free, needed a little work but I didn’t get it because it didn’t look cool, car was scrapped.

Triumph TR6 (triple Weber version) needed a new wing, £50 for the car £100 for the engine, had no space at the time.

Messerschmitt Tiger KR200, just been restored and needed paint, swap wanted for the Triumph Toledo I was driving, dad said “you’re not having that outside the house”.

Anyone else!!!!

[exuptoy]

Passed my test in 1989 with a £1500 loan in my pocket, went down to Tondu to Chris Willacombes cars sales to test an Atra/opel kadett 1300s berlinetta, just going in and a guy pulled up in a 1980 RS2000, white with a vinyl roof, revys and fishnets and my dad says go see what he wants for it. I say no chance could I afford that. Anyway finishes the test drive and just about to leave sees this guy ready to leave in a 1985 Sierra jellymould and asks him what they give him for the car thinking £2500 and he says £1200 QUID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gutted.

[Phil J]

It happens to me all the time, when I am skint I get offered bargains and can not buy them, then when I have cash in my pocket and am looking for a mini there are never any around

When my old mini Bod came up for sale last year was the worst though, I was only £200 short and the seller wouldnt budge, I bought another mini, then a month later he phoned me to say I could have it for nearly half the price he originally wanted

[dai9fxey]

Anyway finishes the test drive and just about to leave sees this guy ready to leave in a 1985 Sierra jellymould and asks him what they give him for the car thinking £2500 and he says £1200 QUID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gutted.

Ouch.! That must have hurt Lyn.

[ljonez]

when i very first got into minis and didnt really know much about them i saw a mk1 mini very local to me in a right state in some ones garden, i enquired about it and the elderly gent told me the local scrap man was picking it up the next day but if i wanted it i could have it. back then not knowing much and seeing the bad condition it was in i decided not to bother with it.

about a year later i saw it in the scrap yard pretty much how it was previously. then being more knowledgeable about different marks rarity etc. it turned out it was a original 1959 Austin seven !
Mr scrap man would not let me buy it and a few months later it was crushed

i've still got the reg number written down somewhere as i phoned the dvla to check it out

the gent also had a run down 1275 gt ( on 10's) in his garden but he was sure he was keeping that, few months later that was also gone

[taffy1967]

I can remember looking for a nice second hand Mini back in late 1990 and me and Marie went to see a silver 1984 Mini 25LE that was for sale in the Church Village area of Pontypridd.

Anyway the bloke said it was worth a fair bit as he'd just had the brakes done, although they didn't seem that hot on the test run. Plus none of the panel switches lit up either.

Well he wouldn't come down a penny and he told us to go and think about it as that Mini was worth every penny.

So we didn't bother and I bought a nice blue 1985 Mini City E instead which was a fair bit cheaper.

Then several months later we spotted that same Mini 25LE in the local newspapers advertised at the price we'd offered the previous Xmas.

Some people are total pratts, because I had the cash in my hand and he'd have had a bit of money for Xmas. But there was no way I was paying a penny more because that car just wasn't worth it.

Plus the 1980's metallic silver Minis tended to dissolve before your very eyes anyway!