Good morning, all. When I was 12 years old, my Grandpa Jordan had a great '66 Mustang that he intended to hold onto and give me when I turned 16 and of driving age in Illinois. Alas, it wasn't being driven much and Dad told him to go ahead and sell it since I was 4 years away from getting my license. It was sold for $2500 in 1984. I've had an affinity for Mustangs ever since, especially '66 models, and would love to know where that Mustang is now.
So, what beloved car in your past got away?
Hi new guy. 83 zit zylinder mutdang. Fun convertable. I'd drop the 302 in her now. We see her every once in a while.
a 1985 Saab 900 SPG. My first car, technically. Bought it with 200k miles, tranny blew 4 days after I bought and and the seller took it back. If I had the fortitude that I have now, I would've fixed it. But instead, on a high school budget, I went on to buy my 1989 Prelude. I miss that Saab and vowed I would find another '85.
I passed on a '69 Firebird in daily-driver shape for $5k. That's the only car I still kick myself about.
Around 2001 I bought a 1990 Honda Civic Si w/ 27k original miles. It had been in a building garage every night of it's life, and was literally factory fresh. I paid the massive premium price of $3800 for it, and I stupidly sold it when I bought a leftover 2002 Civic ep3 hatch the end of '02.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
1973 Pantera had the car for 8 years and rebuilt evry last nut and bolt. Exwife wanted to build a new house and i sold the car....the image of handing the keys over to the new owner will be etched in my mind forever....no wife, no house and no Pantera
First car...442. I sold it to pay off college so it went to a good place, but still!
My Dad's first new car, a '69 Olds Cutlass S. It was in the family for years until my Dad decided it was too much work to keep going. He sold it to a friend of my brother's who promptly blew the transmission. We knew where it was behind a shop for a few years, but never tried to go get it. Now I wish I had just gone and bought it. Oh well.
I don't look back! 
But if I had to I'd by back my supercharged MR2. I know where it sleeps...in parts...
Porsche 356B sunroof coupe, running and driving with a 10-footer respray, clean interior, half-assed floorpan repair and VW motor.
Seller was asking $600
Dad vetoed the idea and sent me off to college with Mom's '73 VW Bus instead.
I'd love to have the bus back too!
Manual NA Miata I saw when I was about 16. Back then I thought anything less than 1.8 liters might as well be powered by a hamster on a wheel. Which is perhaps true, but that shouldn't have stopped me from buying the car. Miatas are quite rare here.
Minty AW11 with a ton of goodies when I was about 19. I was in university and just didn't have the money.
Pimpin' SW20 turbo when I was about 18. OMG, the ladies I could have pulled with that car...my life would be wildly different if I'd owned that, but the insurance quotes I was getting were just horrifying. Well over a challenge budget each year.
Scrapped SJ410 a few years ago...I could have saved a lot of money if I'd picked it up.
One thing they all have in common, other than the SJ410? Getting parts locally would have been a nightmare.
So far I haven't let one get away by selling it.
1969 Chevelle. My older brother's friend gave it to me when my only mode of transportation was a BMX bike.
I used to ride my bike to see it, touch it, and dream of fixing it up. Had to give it up due to lack of space/money/drivers license.
Another? A 1973 Mercury Monterey. Green/green, 100% stock and it was my grandpa's. All he did was get the morning paper and a yearly trip to PA from MA.
Brother' friend from other story bought it for $500 and came in 2nd in the demoloition derby up here in Brockton. I cried when it erupted into flames.
dad had a '56 bel air 2-door post, 265 powerpack v8 and 3 on the tree, that he sold when i was 14.
i've owned 24 cars, and i miss two of them: V8 944 and V8 corvair.
'95 Miata R-Package. I was stupid and didn't make the payments on it, instead spending it on 'having a good time'. Literally got repo'd the day I got paid and was going to make the deposit to make up the payments. I think I laid on the floor for about 2 hours because my chest hurt so bad. Completely ruined my credit, that was 7 years ago. Car was spotlessly clean, when I ripped the gross carpet out(only thing wrong with it when I bought it), I found a bunch of receipts from a dealership in Georgia. First and only car I've bought with a loan. I'm an idiot. I ruined that car by beating the snot out of it and doing stupid mods. Pictures are in reverse order from about a week before it was repo'd to about a week after I bought it. The panasports were corroded as hell(I don't think I have a picture of them silver anywhere) so I painted them.
bludroptop wrote: Porsche 356B sunroof coupe, running and driving with a 10-footer respray, clean interior, half-assed floorpan repair and VW motor. Seller was asking $600 Dad vetoed the idea and sent me off to college with Mom's '73 VW Bus instead. I'd love to have the bus back too!
This one makes ME sick to my stomach
73 Olds Cutlass, was my grandpas car since new. When he died it was offered to my parents and I wanted it but I was 2 years from getting my license and they sold it instead.
In reply to EvanB: Ugh. I can kind of relate, but Grandpa Jordan (with whom I was very close, as with Grandma Jordan and my other grandparents) was still alive. I guess Dad thought 4 years was too long to wait.
Well, being an idiotic teenager, I turned down a free '64 Falcon wagon from my dad for my first car. It was just the family car, and I'd grown up with two '64 Falcon wagons. I was only interested in two-doors.
Same two-door fixation caused me to pass on a ludicrously clean for the money '63 Galaxie. Had plastic on the carpet, near-perfect interior, Kleenex-box tray under the dash. I can't remember whether he wanted $600ish or $900ish, but either way... dumb. 
I have had a few that I really regret passing on.
1986 Honda CRX Si: My uncle's neighbor had this as a daily driver for a while. He was getting rid of it because he picked up a Subaru SVX (which he still has). It was clean and all stock. He was selling it for $400, and I passed because I only liked 'Murican Muscle at the time. Not the smartest move. I wish I had it now.
1968 Buick Sportwagon: I had a 1964 Buick Skylark for my first car. It was cool. The guy I bought it from always seemed to have old Buicks, and he worked next to my dad. One day, my dad comes home and tells me about this big old Buick wagon for sale there. Naturally, I'm interested.
I call the guy up, and he tells me about it. It was a '68, had a fresh Buick 350 with an auto, and was in good shape with no rust. He was selling it because he bought another big Buick. It was $800. I passed on it because it was green. My Buick later got too rusty for me to fix and I had to sell it.
1979 Olds Cutlass Coupe: Back in the summer between junior and senior year of high school, I was daily driving my first of two $250 1987 Mercury Cougar XR7's that I bought off my sister's car dealer's wholesale lot. It was a total POS, but it ran and drove. One morning, the transmission puked and lost reverse. Naturally, I called my good friend Pseudosport to see if he wanted to go find a used transmission at a local boneyeard. We pull up to one of them, and they had no Cougars. The guy that ran the place asked if I would be interested in a whole car instead.
He takes us out into the yard and there's a grandma-fresh 2-door 1979 Olds Cutlass. It had 80k miles, and was rust free and in nice shape. It was red with a white and red interior. It started right up, ran great, and he even let me drive around the yard with it. I passed on it because it had a bench seat and not buckets. DUMB.
Everything else that crossed my path ended up in my driveway. Some just won't leave!
The only one that really got away was my Grandpa's old '65 Olds Dynamic 88 Delta with the 425/4sp, autodimming, a/c, full power, etc. My grandma sold it for $400 in 1999 without even offering it to myself or my dad. That car is either crushed by now or is floating around auctions somewhere in the $40k+ range. I keep an active eye out for that unicorn that got away.
The other one I kinda regret selling was the '60 Thunderbird I had for awhile. Bought at an estate auction for $500, a new carb, battery, and gasoline later, I had $4k in my pocket. So I suppose I didn't really miss it at the time. 
In reply to N Sperlo: Thanks for the welcome, Sperio.
In reply to Reggie Jordan: Oops. *Sperlo. Enjoy your long weekend!
cutter67 wrote: 1973 Pantera had the car for 8 years and rebuilt evry last nut and bolt. Exwife wanted to build a new house and i sold the car....the image of handing the keys over to the new owner will be etched in my mind forever....no wife, no house and no Pantera
Remind me to buy you a drink if we ever meet. That was painful to read.
When I was 16 I got the chance to buy an entirely original, unmolested '72 Datsun 510 2 door for $1K. It was from an estate sale and the seller was proud of the "parnelli" tires on it. But NO, I had to hold on to my POS ' 71 124 Sport Coupe. (insert smack to the head)
Dino Ferrari convertable sitting on the side of the road with a for-sale sign on it, $15,000. That was about 30 yrs ago and I didn't have the money... or the room... or the skill to fix it.
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