How do you know when a car is a keeper?..

[Brock Samson]

 I'm seeing a couple posts recently where folks have regretted the selling of their chargers, They look to be pretty nice ones too. In some cases individually made to the owners preferences like the topless charger, the Petty clone and the flat black sunroofed Jenny Lee,.. a personal favorite of mine, (see i do like them   ) anyhowz - i see folks get their dream car, fix it all up and then turn around and sell it, and I don't understand why.
I know sometimes there are economic reasons like the ones that caused me to sell the Road Runner, as I couldn't do it justice, it needed just too much and I lost my garage parking spot. And sometimes I guess it's a practical thing like you made a 600 Horse monster Nazgal and the wife needs a minivan or whatever cause the third kids on the way... or the guy who walks up at a show and has $100,000.oo in cash in his pocket or briefcase and he has to have your car, there's been a couple stories like that too.
But I'm curious, because it seems a fair number of folks have let some great ones get away yet, have held on to others that have some sort of hold on them. I'd be curious as to your personal experiances and why you feel a car is a keeper you wont part with. If you care to share...
                                                                       
                                                                                                                   

[Cooter]

When I buy it.....I'm not a flipper.. People always hit me with "so, when you sell your house, this makes it worth so much more"..I simply look at them with amazement and wonder Why the hell would I sell my house? I'll prolly die in the house I bought, just like they did back in the day...


A "Dream car" that somebody found, and then sells two weeks later... Really? Not a dream car at all, but the dream of money that that car will bring...

Now before everybody gets their panties in a bunch, I totally understand selling due to health care bills, bills in general, basic "Family before car" thing....However, this isn't what usually happens..Someone buys "Dream car", then as soon as "Dream car" becomes more than a photochop on a computer board, and somebody offfers a slight profit over what they paid, off the "Dream car" goes...

[Hissing Cobra]

I myself have only let one get away that I really wanted to keep and that was my '69 Dodge Charger that I bought in 1985. At the time, I was 17 years old and in high school and was making minimum wage. Unfortunately, the car was in need of a lot of work and every one of my paychecks were going towards upkeep. I had to sell it a year later because it was a money pit and I couldn't keep up.

Since then, I bought and built my '79 Mustang Cobra into a magazine quality show car that I drive everywhere and drag race as well. It's the ONE that will never get away unless something catastrophic happens. I've got too much time and effort into this one to let it go, plus it's everything I've always wanted in a Mustang. In the future, I'd like to build a Charger but I'm afraid that the starting cost to build one is out of my range and I wouldn't want to start on one that needs $20,000 worth of bodywork before I could even begin to build it. For me, a "Keeper" is one that takes up a lot of my time and energy and also one that I built into what I wanted.

[Brock Samson]

i don't know if you already posted up pics, but I'd like to see some more of your Mustang... 

[Old Moparz]

My dream car, a Daytona or a Superbird, got away before I bought it. No way I'm paying as much, or more, for a car than I did for my house.

Another dream car, one that I actually bought because I could afford it, a 1969 Charger, was just like what Hissing Cobra posted. It needed too much work after having it for 3 years & I pumped more money into it than I should have. Paid $1600 for it & put another $2000 into it, then the timing chain went & took out the motor. On top of that, it needed a lot of body work due to rust, a drunk who ran a light, & a snow plow in a parking lot. Sold it for $650 & moved on.

I wanted another '69, but found my '68 for a price that was so cheap I learned to live with round tail lights & no grille divider.  

Now my '69 Satellite ragtop is a keeper. There is no way I'll sell it. I've had it since 1984, have lots of cool memories in it, & my daughter loves going for rides in it. I don't care that it has a tired 318, the top goes down.

[Brock Samson]

  So, when you say "Keeper" you mean "Keep her in the garage"?.. 

[Old Moparz]

  So, when you say "Keeper" you mean "Keep her in the garage"?.. 

Definitely not in the pantry in the kitchen.

[tan top]

    saved up first job out of school  wanted one since i was really young  6 or 7 , is the model & original  colour combo i had always wanted    started looking late 88 , found & bought early 1989 ! never going to sell this thing  
first picture about two day after i got it
second picture 8 years after i done a nut & bolt resto

[bobs66440]

That's an interesting question. One I've been asking myself for a very log time. I knew I had an issue with this but it never came to the fore-front until my dad said..."every time you get a car just the way you want it, you SELL IT! Why?" I think that I use each one as a stepping stone to my dream car, whatever that is.

I did the ground-up resto on the '72 'Vette because that was my dream car. Then I got bored and sold it for the '39 Pontiac because I thought having a hot rod would be cool. That got boring so I traded it for the '28 Ford Model A. Definitely NOT a boring car with a 468 big block in a 2500 lb. car  . Just totally impractical for cruising which my club does often. So I traded it for the '70 Mustang. Nice car but did nothing for me emotionally. So I went searching again.

I found the Charger online locally and went to look at it. When he pulled it out of the garage into the light...BAM! Love at first sight! I think it's a KEEPER!

THAT'S how you know!  

[Hissing Cobra]

i don't know if you already posted up pics, but I'd like to see some more of your Mustang...  

Thanks for the request. Before I post pic's, let me just say that the total amount of money that I've got invested into this car wouldn't buy me a decent "driver" Charger. Enough of my crying! Here's the pic's. It's got a 302 with dual quads that makes 307 rear wheel horsepower @ 6,400 rpms and 278 rear wheel torque at 4,400 rpms. My quarter mile times range from 12.38 @ 111 to 12.80 @ 107, depending upon air temperature and my driving on that particular day. I've been lucky enough to have it featured in two magazinges (August 2005 issue of Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords - 4 pages; and April 2007 issue of Modified Mustangs Magazine - 7 pages). My twin brother and I built it together and that's why it's never leaving home.

[Back N Black]

[/quote]
Very nice Stang! I use to have a 83 5.0 way back in the 80's.

[Hissing Cobra]

Very nice Stang! I use to have a 83 5.0 way back in the 80's.

Thanks!

[jb666]

I LOVE the Mustang!! 

I've had a dream, since I was 10 years old, to own the car I now have. Could I ever imagine selling it? No way... It's not going anywhere.. It'll go in the ground with me.

[clanton]

Ill know after my 14,640th post.

[69bronzeT5]

It's all about sentimental value to me. I got my Charger when I was 6 from my dad. I'm never going to sell it because of that fact. That and it's my dream car. My Duster is in the same boat not because of it's my dream car but all the good and bad times I've had with it makes it special to me.