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"I'm Never Going To Sell It."... "I Understand, But Are You Ever Going To Drive It ?"
We all know of that 1959 Fuelie, the SWC, the '67 427 Roadster long neglected, nestled amongst the weeds/sawhorses/lawnmowers/kiddie pools that are enticingly situated just barely within sight of the road out front. All of us have seen them, most of us have asked and most of us have been told that "It's mine, I'm gonna' restore it someday" or "I'm leaving it for my kid" or "The UPS guy offered me $100K as soon as he gets his tax refund check" … We all know the drill.
I have a co-worker who owns a '69 Z/28, silver/black and it's all original because he purchased it brand new. It hasn't run in years. He complained about having to move a bunch of junk off of the car so that he could stand on it to change out the burned garage light bulb. It hasn't run in 15 years.
Me: "I would love to buy this car from you."
Him: "People bother me all of the time about buying it when my garage door is open."
Me: "I would give you the fair market price for that car."
Him "It's really all that I have from my youth, even though I haven't driven it in years, I can walk into the garage, look at that car with all of that crap on top of it and it still makes me smile."
Me: "I understand … That old Z will never mean as much to someone else as it does to you."
Him: "So you aren't gonna' harass me about selling it ?"
Me: "Nah, but I am going to offer to get it out of your garage and we can both get it running so you can drive it again."
Him: "Wow, that's a generous offer … but I'm just not sure …"
This was ten years ago, that car is still in the garage, the light bulb has been changed 4 times since this conversation, I think that if we got it running, it would start the ball rolling and in his mind, that ball might not be rolling for the right reasons.
I'm disappointed but I'm okay with it, this is his car.
Have any of you had any luck doing what I have offered to do ? If so, please share your stories. I like to think that we're all vintage car fans here on this Forum, not speculators.
Whole not a corvette story, I did purchase a brand new 92 Honda Civic hatchback with 26000 miles on it two years ago.
I did sell it and doubled my initial investment.
This is old lady had bought it new and started driving it church on Sunday. She just parked it one day after she got a new car. I inquired about it, but was told that was the first new car she bought and she was going to keep it forever.
So.. I started to stop by and say hey just to talk.. These started with front porch talks just to see how everything was going. Soon it progressed to invites over for dinners.
Then one day, she asked if still wanted to buy that car.
If it were me, invite him over for dinner and not just once. Don’t talk cars unless he brings it up. Just try to get a friendship started other than telling him you’ll help him get it running and selling it to me.
I have the same offers wih my cars. A Black 69 Z, A lemans blue 69 SS and a 70 chevelle.
Its always the same line, wanna sell? Turns my nose up every time I hear that. If someone wanted to be a friend first, without the premise of only buying my cars, I’d be much more apt to give them first right of refusal if I ever decide to sell.
So pick a good saturday night, and invite him/wife over for dinner. Keep at it until he either comes or wants you to stop asking. Get friendly with the guy on other terms. Ask him if he needs any help doing jobs around the house. I’d be willing to bet if you kept this up, he might just let it go to you.
Good of luck and if you need any help with authentication let me know. I’ll help you out with that.
Last edited by 69z28&ss396; 01-20-2019 at 05:25 PM.
I've made that offer several times. A few times, with no desire to buy, and no offer, simply wanting to help out and get the car back on the road for the owner and family. I was turned down every time. My labor charge was zero. I learned from this that many are stuck in a rut, and don't want change, even if it's perceived to be for the better. They want to keep things as they are. They do NOT want to move forward for fear of losing something.
The fact of the matter is, at some point, the car will be for sale. It just depends on when, and how far gone it will be at that point. Who knows why he doesn't want it fixed, there cold be a million reasons. You have offered to help, all you can do.
Let him know every month or so, you be interested in buying it if that's your ultimate goal.
I've had luck buying cars by staying in contact with owners on a regular basis. There is one I've wanted but the owner won't sell. A Chevelle SS convertible. same story, the owner, is going to give it to her grandson, who is about 5 right now.
I have told her from time to time I'd be interested in the car. Hasn't been on the road since the early 90's and it was rough then, but it was all original.
I ran into her in December, and didn't mention the car. She asked "Aren't you going to ask me about the car?" I told her no. I said by now its probably too far gone and I could buy a redone car cheaper than restoring hers. She looked a bit shocked and asked if I was kidding. I told her I wasn't kidding. I saw the car in her storage shed in the fall, moisture, mice and rot had really done it in. Her husband was getting somsthing out if the shed, and I just happened to be passing by.
Unfortunately that car is just about completely gone. Not worth much, and by the time she gives it to the kid, it will be too late. It will be for sale at some point, what's left of it.
I agree with the above. I have had the same conversation for a 66 big block, 40,000 miles. Sitting since the 70’s. I offered to help get it running and find some missing parts. No bites for close to 15 years.
Its going to rot and the grandkids will sell on ebay or to highest bidder one day.....who knows when......
They like the attention their delapataded jelopy brings. Same with junk airplane owners. As long as they have their “car” or their “plane” they can sit at the bar or the break room and talk big. The other is ones inability to accept their own mortality and it keeps their “someday” dream alive. Each to their own.
For some folks, just owning the car is enough for them. That gives them comfort and pleasure. The car doesn’t have to run and it can look like crap. It’s like having a stash of cash in the bank. You don’t have to go down to the bank and look at it every day. You just feel good knowing it’s there.
I had a colleague at work with the same story. The car was his brothers, who passed away in the 70's. He had great memories of the car. He was going to restore it someday and would sell, but 35 years passed and the car sat. He eventually came back to me and asked if I would make an offer. One thing led to another, and we made a deal on the car with the promise that when the car was finished, he could take it for a weekend every now-and-then to drive his wife around. Also, I gave him my word not to flip it, but get it back on the road.
The project has taken longer then anticipated (got married, had kids, etc...), but I keep in touch with him and will honor my end. He is happy to see pics of the progress. It is now a restored rolling chassis and the bodywork is ready to be started.
There are too many slick talkers out there that say they want to get it running and enjoy it, then flip it. This is a real dick move.
Two houses away (I didn't know it for the first 10 years I lived in the neighborhood). I made multiple offers, no dice....the elderly woman living in the house passed away and her family came down to trailer it back to Ohio. I did get to help load it on the trailer (last pic); first time it saw daylight in 20+ years. Engine bay was a disaster (heads, intake and carb long gone - block looked good though), no rust anywhere; the top, body and interior were all nearly perfect.
Triple black GTO convertible with racing history..
For all I know it may just be sitting in Ohio unloved. New location, same sad story.. I hope not -- the nephew I met was excited about it and hopefully will bring it back to racing glory...
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 01-21-2019 at 07:17 AM.
I bought an RS/SS 396 Camaro new in ‘67. Parked it in ‘82. I kept hoping to restore it as I couldn’t afford to at the time. Gave it to my son in ‘88 and he sold it. Although I realize that I don’t have the talent or the workplace to do the work, I wish I still had it.
Sort of a badge of life, like a tattoo.
I understand that my story reflects a very particular personality type that doesn't apply to every Corvette hoarder, but here it is. I have an older friend who has long had mild OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). It manifests itself primarily in three ways. One is he is obsessively neat and organized. He does that because it causes him great anxiety to not be able to find something he wants to find. As a joke one night when he and I were having dinner at his house, I moved his drink glass from the right side of his plate to the left side. When he sat down and noticed the misplaced glass he looked very puzzled for several seconds, then moved the glass to its usual place. He looked at me (the only other human in the house) and asked, "Did you move that?." ... "Yes," I replied with a grin. And then the real joke began when I said, "I wonder how long it will take you to find the other things." Of course there were no other things out of place, but he could not start eating until he found everything that might be out of place. I waited a few seconds and then told him it was just a joke. Everything was where it belonged.
The second way he manifests his OCD is by compulsive saving. He is very tight with his money and is still saving a large percentage of his income for his future even though he is well into his 80s. This has made him a very wealthy man. The third way he manifests his OCD is by owning cars. He can't stand the idea of being trapped without a working car so he currently has five. One is a C1 Corvette that he has never sat in. And another is a 20 year old Miata that he bought new and has less than 3,000 miles on. Though he stopped driving more than a year ago, he has resisted suggestions that he sell any of his cars.
I tell this story not because most old car hoarders are just like my friend, but because of the way he justifies his OCD behavior. He will never acknowledge that his behavior is irrational. He always comes up with some story about a long past incident that justifies it. I suspect that more than a few of the folks who allow potentially valuable cars and other assets to just rust away have issues that are preventing them from acting rationally. Presenting them with rational arguments for why they should behave differently may never work. So while persistence may pay off in the end, don't get too frustrated if it doesn't.
In a less-than-humanitarian view of some owners of "project cars", there are those that just "get off" on people being envious of their mistreated "treasure" and its the only attention they'll ever get. These owners have no desire to restore the car or sell it (no skills, no interest or can't afford it), but take a perverse joy every time some giddy potential buyer stops buy to inquire about purchasing it and they can string them along or shut them down cold.
These types would rather have a deteriorating classic car on their property that people are desirous of than cash in their hand but then they will no longer own something other people want.
I have several cars that have not run for a while and when asked if I would sell one, my answer is always the same, "They don't eat so I will keep them."
Well, now they are beginning to eat, I noticed rust on one, so I had to take the fenders off and fix them.
The roof is leaking on another one in a storage area.
The electric fuel pump on another one has been eaten up by E15. (Don't tell me that E15 does not eat up parts in the fuel system, I have replaced at least 5 fuel pumps so far!)
So..... Maybe it is time to sell some of them.
I have several cars that have not run for a while and when asked if I would sell one, my answer is always the same, "They don't eat so I will keep them."
Well, now they are beginning to eat, I noticed rust on one, so I had to take the fenders off and fix them.
The roof is leaking on another one in a storage area.
The electric fuel pump on another one has been eaten up by E15. (Don't tell me that E15 does not eat up parts in the fuel system, I have replaced at least 5 fuel pumps so far!)
So..... Maybe it is time to sell some of them.
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
I agree w/what has been said above, but also add that for some people, they see it (the car) as it 'was', not as it is (not the way you or I or anyone else who isn't attached to it emotionally).
1971 a girl I went to school with had a 57 Chevy nomad she drove the car all the time, in 1983 they took it all apart so her brother could paint the car after being painted it was put back into her garage and left completely apart. Over the years her garage got flooded where the water went over the doors of the nomad. For years I tried to buy the car from her she would not sell it. I would see her at the car shows all the time and beg her to sell the car. In 2017 I retired from my job and told her I am coming to get the car to build it at no charge. She released the car to me and I did not repaint it but I totally took the car the rest of the way apart because of the water damage and got the car back on the road. I was just happy to save that 57 Nomad.
Last edited by 65 Pro Vette; 01-21-2019 at 09:16 AM.
Good for you - that was prob $15K-$20K of pro bono work!
I figure I have been very lucky my whole life with the car finds that I have made. And it is worth it when you see the smile on that person’s face that you just helped out. She just could not afford to do the car and did not want to get rid of it too many memories. I felt confident that she would never sell the car because of all the years that I tried to buy it when it wasn’t running. And I know she’ll keep it for the rest of her life.
Last edited by 65 Pro Vette; 01-21-2019 at 09:31 AM.
I can relate to many of these discussion points. One thing I have not seen that I relate to, I've been approached several times as listed above but seems like what they want is a "steal/bargain" most seem to be flippers. Maybe TV has ruined that.. Fortunately, I've been in a position "for that price, (for me to not regret its loss), I'll let it rust.."
Conversely, to add to the narrative, last week about two blocks over a old guy about my age had his garage open with a black '32 chopped coupe buried in his garage. So I pulled in and quickly said "I don't want to buy your car, I'd just like to old guy car talk".. He looked kinda stunned and said Why not? I have plenty, I told him every car has a story I'd like to hear his. Same as mentioned before, started/stopped/ life, grandkids/ someday. Maybe talking about it will reignite his passion.
Like us all, his wife hasn't significantly motivated him to get it out of the garage.
This is part of a friends "collection". He has one each C1,C2,C3 &C4. He bought this '59 in 1975, drove it for a year and decided to strip and disassemble it for a restoration and there it remains to this day. I've offered to either buy it or work on it (for free) kinda as a "hobby" but he has no interest.. We are both retired so somewhere down the this will be a "garage find".
01-20-2019, 04:45 PM
"I'm Never Going To Sell It."... "I Understand, But Are You Ever Going To Drive It ?"
