Author Topic: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago  (Read 3407 times)

PonoBill

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I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« on: August 29, 2020, 07:55:53 PM »
About 30 or so years ago I bought a Maserati Mistral. Cool car. It took a bit to get it running reliably, but I managed and then I crashed it. Coach built aluminum-bodied cars aren't easy to fix, but eventually, I got it done. And then I shoved the car around in my shop for, well, forever. I finally sold it on Bring a Trailer for $117,000 which felt kind of good except when I bought the Maserati I didn't buy a 1961 Aston Martin DB4. It had a chevy V8 in it, but the original engine was included in the price.

Here's a DB5 for sale on BAT that looks a lot like the one I passed up for 10K, and I think DB4s are way cooler. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1963-aston-martin-db5/?utm_source=dm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020-08-29  There are 12 days left in the auction and it's at $300K. Oh, well. Here's a story and ridiculous number of pictures of my Maserati. https://www.ponostyle.com/project-far-maserati-mistral/
« Last Edit: August 29, 2020, 08:15:57 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

blackeye

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2020, 06:12:08 PM »
Bring a Trailer has gone bonkers. I can't go on the site because I lose half of my day. At the end it is dissatisfying. Like porn (just imagining it is so as I just read the articles). I much prefer ratty drivers' cars that go out and mix it up.

One neighbour has a 911 in the garage. It never comes out to play. He is a banker and I am assuming it is an investment for him. I want to light his house on fire. But then that would make 911's all the more precious, so no. Another neighbour has a 2002Tii on Bring-your-wallet. I don't begrudge him as he is a real enthusiast and the car is magnificent.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-bmw-2002tii-52/

Less than a day to go as I post this.

Edit: The Canadian dollar is quite depressed so cars and boats in Canada are being snapped up by Americans. As long as they are commercially shipped they can cross the border.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2020, 06:15:46 PM by blackeye »

justsomeguy

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2020, 09:06:25 PM »
One neighbor has a 911 in the garage. It never comes out to play. He is a banker and I am assuming it is an investment for him. I want to light his house on fire.

LOL !! ... I have the same feeling about people I see driving convertibles on absolutely beautiful days, but the top is still up, windows up, AC on ... WTH, you don't wanna mess up your hair? so why do you own a convertible?
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pdxmike

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2020, 09:36:27 PM »
That Aston Martin is beautiful.  Coincidentally, I just saw a new Aston Martin in the boat launch parking lot, and took a picture of it with my dog.  It's interesting to see how the distinctive grill shape is still there nearly 50 years later, although everything else is much different.  It looks OK to me, but it doesn't seem integrated into the rest of the design compared to 1963's.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2020, 09:38:36 PM by pdxmike »

steamroller

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2020, 11:10:30 PM »
i like the pic of your 14 footer orange and yellow sticking out of the back seat of the hot rod the BEST!
...or maybe it was a Ferrari

PonoBill

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2020, 06:54:56 AM »
Ferrari 360 spider. I enjoyed the heck out of that car, drove the wheels off it. I liked the board a lot too--SIC F18.

« Last Edit: August 31, 2020, 07:02:50 AM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Wetstuff

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2020, 07:02:39 AM »
Blackeye.. Your mention of the temperamental Tii brings up - I met my wife vis Beemer ...I think mine was a '68 2002... her's 1970.  I lived in Toronto working for a Cape Breton boat company with an extra office in Annapolis.  We were frequent guests of the local 'foreign wrench' - where we met. If I did a triangle, Nova Scotia-Maryland-Toronto, it needed service. It had a rickety valve train if I remember correctly...   The same guy worked on our 996 and 911 a number of years ago.

I dislike convertibles (Marjie liked the 996) and the reason you would see tops-up around here is that the temperature may be no higher than low-90's but the humidity May thru Sep is stifling. You'd have to strip and shower at your destination. They sound wonderful for SoCal and midwest summers, but not over this way! 

BTW - I watch the C$ and bought an ML 320 in 2001 when the C$ was depressed to about .85US.  It does not work anymore, for MB at least. To beat the workaround, they switched the TPMS monitoring system to EURO standards and it is too expensive to overcome and re-certify. (I was sniffing last year...)   

Back then, a pissload of people from the upper states were going over the border.  It took 20mins and <$200 of paperwork at the Peace Bridge.  I keep the ML as my 'farm truck' and the speedo still reads in KMPH.




Jim
Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

PonoBill

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2020, 07:11:34 AM »
My wife is actually the car nut, I'm more into motorcycles. When we married her daily driver was a 1962 Corvette, red over gold with a black top, 327/340 HP. She could hustle that thing, even though she had to have a firm pillow behind her to work the clutch. We used it on our honeymoon--drove up to Whisler in it. I had to replace the clutch cable on the way. Since then she had a first-year Boxster for 14 years, a Bentley Continental Spur, and two Teslas. She likes her toys.

The Aston Martin is at 469K with ten days to go. I doubt it will make the reserve, which is probably somewhere around 1.5M. Yeah, Bring a Trailer is a huge time sink, I just pick one or two motorcycles to look at. I bought a 2004 1150 GS on BAT a few months ago at a good price ($4200). I really wanted a GS airhead, a bumblebee sold recently on BAT for 10K as I recall, but this will do.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2020, 07:19:20 AM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Wetstuff

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2020, 07:20:31 AM »
I did the same thing: 'blame it on my wife.'  I got them for her. It was funny. The local docs would come up to her, a lowly RN, "Did I see you driving...?"  I stay too dirty to drive nice cars. 

Jim
Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

PonoBill

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2020, 07:27:20 AM »
People still sometimes assume my wife was a trophy wife. Beautiful woman stuck with a lumpy geezer, nice cars, 15 years younger than me, etc.. Actually she was my business partner long before we got married, and she bought her own stuff. I have no idea what she sees in me, but we've been married 25 years this year.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

blackeye

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2020, 11:32:46 AM »
BTW - I watch the C$ and bought an ML 320 in 2001 when the C$ was depressed to about .85US.  It does not work anymore, for MB at least. To beat the workaround, they switched the TPMS monitoring system to EURO standards and it is too expensive to overcome and re-certify. (I was sniffing last year...)   

Back then, a pissload of people from the upper states were going over the border.  It took 20mins and <$200 of paperwork at the Peace Bridge.  I keep the ML as my 'farm truck' and the speedo still reads in KMPH.

Jim

A lot of Americans are (or were) coming up to Vancouver and Victoria to buy boats. Used boat prices are crazy high. Even older Canadians are paying the prices because the rainy day is here now. I remember a Mercedes ad that went something like "How long are you going to wait to buy ice cream?" ie you've earned the right to have a little luxury; what are you waiting for? It's time to buy another boat. Or build one.

TallDude

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #11 on: September 02, 2020, 01:09:00 PM »
Blackeye.. Your mention of the temperamental Tii brings up - I met my wife vis Beemer ...I think mine was a '68 2002... her's 1970.

Jim
I had a 76' 2002 (The last year) Forest Green with gold BBS rims and a tan interior. I completely rebuilt it. New crated 2.0 engine. Dual Weber EMPI carbs, Tuned exhaust, and a Centerforce Clutch. 8000 rpm. Heavy little car though. Handled like a tank in the mountains. My little Subaru was way better in the mountains.
It's not overhead to me!
8'8" L-41 ST and a whole pile of boards I rarely use.

steamroller

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #12 on: September 02, 2020, 06:26:32 PM »
ditched facebook to avoid all the BS...dont blame you one bit...but im GLAD you still come here ;)

sflinux

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #13 on: September 03, 2020, 09:04:04 AM »
My father-in-law (founder of dagerlac) says his only regret in life was selling every car that he has ever owned.
Kites and boards are my passion (maybe I have too many of them?).
Quiver Shaped by: Joe Blair, Blane Chambers, Jimmy Lewis, Kirk McGinty, and Bob Pearson.
Me: 200#, 6'2"

PonoBill

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Re: I bought the wrong car 30 years ago
« Reply #14 on: September 03, 2020, 11:57:49 AM »
My father-in-law (founder of dagerlac) says his only regret in life was selling every car that he has ever owned.
Kites and boards are my passion (maybe I have too many of them?).

I assume you mean the paint. I remember Dageriac, from my pinstriping days, I liked it better than one-shot. I wonder where my stuff is--I had some good brushes. I never got great at it, but I could do small stuff and make it look decent. Guys like Feinmann and Von Dutch made it look so easy, but they were alien life forms.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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