What price nostalgia? (buying back the one that got away)

[Ghoste]

A lot of us have that Charger we wish we never sold in our background.  I'm curious what you would pay to get it back, fair market value only or a percentage above that? 

[EccentricMagpies]

I don't fit this category, yet.  But I do regret not buying an all original 4 speed 340 '72 rallye.  The part I got hung up on was the fact it was green all over with a bench seat.  Wish I could buy that car again. I'd pay 25% more and this is only about 3 years later.  

Course.   The more I think about, everyone probably could say that about a car

[ACUDANUT]

Ghoste....Another bored member here.  

[Ghoste]

It came about because a close friend had the opportunity to buy his old car back. 

[kab69440]

I'd pay several times what I got for parting and scrapping a crunchy 68 twenty-odd years ago. That car would be an easy fix, these days.

[JB400]

Ghoste....Another bored member here.  

Haven't seen you introduce reading material or topics up for discussion in a while.    You should be thankful for those that do. 

Sorry for the hijack

[69_500]

Does this includes one your parents let get away? I do not regret selling any car I have parted with. I do regret a lot of the ones my dad let go. Where do I start.

[bill440rt]

Not a Charger, but a '71 Satellite/RR clone I had in my high school days (mid-late 80's).
Can't say I would buy it back, but I always wondered what happened of that car. I no longer have the VIN, so tracing it would be almost impossible I suppose. Lots of great memories with that car.

[BrianShaughnessy]

I paid way too much for what was left of Sinnamon and I'm shoveling $$$ at her.    I've been having 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even  897,432nd thoughts...  

[Old Moparz]

I paid way too much for what was left of Sinnamon and I'm shoveling $$$ at her.    I've been having 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even  897,432nd thoughts...  

You'll change your mind when you fire it up.   

[Ghoste]

So what percentage would any of you pay for just the sentimental factor?

[70 sublime]

I know my first Charger (68) was a rot box beyound my skills to fix but my second Charger (also a 68) I wish I could find and buy back (in the condition or better than I sold it for)
It was a western Canada car with perfect frame and floor
I sold it back in the 80's (got married and needed $$ for the house we were building) and I did come across it again about 10 years later with no motor in it
Did not have enough cash at that time and kicking myself for not trying harder to get it

I think I would only pay market value if I could find it today (which would be 5 or 6 times more than I sold it for)

I would not pay any extra just because it was my old car
I have had many Chargers and if I kept the first one I would not have ever gotten the next one

There is always another Charger sooner or later coming along

[indreams84]

This is indirectly related, but I was 13 and my dad and I saw a B5 69' 383 with white top/vinyl in 1996 near our hometown that the owner was letting go for like $1600. It needed little things, including bottom quarters but was all there and drove ok. I pleaded with my dad to borrow me the money then but he wouldn't...now even he admits he wished he would have bought it. It's since vanished, along with the hippie owner. 

[ws23rt]

I know my first Charger (68) was a rot box beyound my skills to fix but my second Charger (also a 68) I wish I could find and buy back (in the condition or better than I sold it for)
It was a western Canada car with perfect frame and floor
I sold it back in the 80's (got married and needed $$ for the house we were building) and I did come across it again about 10 years later with no motor in it
Did not have enough cash at that time and kicking myself for not trying harder to get it

I think I would only pay market value if I could find it today (which would be 5 or 6 times more than I sold it for)

I would not pay any extra just because it was my old car
I have had many Chargers and if I kept the first one I would not have ever gotten the next one

There is always another Charger sooner or later coming along

This is practical and wise.

When one thinks about the car they used to have they are also thinking about the times in their lives when they had the car.
The car was a part of a bigger picture and having the car back will not bring back the rest of those memories.  

The memories can be strong and the temptation to relive them speaks to that.  The reality is to try to relive the past will be a let down and the memories will not be the same because of the attempt.

I say remember the past and move to the next memory maker.

[70 sublime]

A couple years before I bought my first Charger Dad also had bought a 70 R/T 440 car
The car was brown and in running condition
I was there when he bought it as it was in a driveway behind a hedge on a side road not too far from our house
He paid $500 for it
He drove it up and down our farm laneway a couple of times
Two weeks later someone saw it in our yard and offered $1000
Did not take Dad long to say yes so it was sold

But the moral to this story is when the guy said he would take it he had to leave a deposit
He only had his lucky $50 bill (was like 4 issues older than the current $50 bill of the day)
I still have that very $50 bill
So yes I would trade that $50 plus a few more to get that R/T back in the condition it was when it left  

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Still have my first car, which was my first new car, too.

It now has antique plates, and I would not sell it for the World.

Now my 1st Charger, which was my 2nd car, it's long gone, and I would not give a dollar to have it again 

[myk]

I know my first Charger (68) was a rot box beyound my skills to fix but my second Charger (also a 68) I wish I could find and buy back (in the condition or better than I sold it for)
It was a western Canada car with perfect frame and floor
I sold it back in the 80's (got married and needed $$ for the house we were building) and I did come across it again about 10 years later with no motor in it
Did not have enough cash at that time and kicking myself for not trying harder to get it

I think I would only pay market value if I could find it today (which would be 5 or 6 times more than I sold it for)

I would not pay any extra just because it was my old car
I have had many Chargers and if I kept the first one I would not have ever gotten the next one

There is always another Charger sooner or later coming along

This is practical and wise.

When one thinks about the car they used to have they are also thinking about the times in their lives when they had the car.
The car was a part of a bigger picture and having the car back will not bring back the rest of those memories.  

The memories can be strong and the temptation to relive them speaks to that.  The reality is to try to relive the past will be a let down and the memories will not be the same because of the attempt.

I say remember the past and move to the next memory maker.

Very well said.  I on the other hand hope to never fit into Ghoste's question; death first!

[Ghoste]

I hope so too Myk and always try toward that goal.  But a lot of guys have said that before you.

[Stegs]

I still have my first car, even tho it was a truck. 98 dodge ram 1500. Its black, reg cab, short box, bought it when I was 15, had it restored a few years ago with a brand new paint job (factory black of course)

No amount of money would buy that truck from me. A few years ago I was offered (supposedly) 15,000 for it when I was getting gas (keep in my KBB value on my truck at that point was less than 4,500 dollars)

Im 99% sure he was just blowing smoke, but when he made his offer and he looked me in the eye.....I just started to laugh, and kept pumping gas.

I watched him walk away almost offended that I laughed at his "real" offer....but its not for sale.....no amount would get it from me. Money comes and goes....memories from being my first vehicle, they all come back everytime I go to start it up. It may sound stupid but when im having a rough day I will get in and go for a ride, takes me back to when I was a kid in high school, being care free, not a worry in the world.


no amount of money would buy that truck, besides I hear way to many people say they would do just about anything to have their first car back....

[wingcar]

When one thinks about the car they used to have they are also thinking about the times in their lives when they had the car.
The car was a part of a bigger picture and having the car back will not bring back the rest of those memories.  
The memories can be strong and the temptation to relive them speaks to that.  The reality is to try to relive the past will be a let down and the memories will not be the same because of the attempt.
I say remember the past and move to the next memory maker

Well said..........your life during your youth was a different time...and time for better or worst has moved forward...nothing can change that.  Yes, I wouldn't mind having a few of my old cars back, but I would be owning them for entirely different reasons today.  I will always have the memories even if I don't have the cars in my garage.

(*I couldn't afford to buy most of the cars I once owned:  1970 Hemi 4-speed Superbird, (2) 1970 Challengers RT/SE with every option but a sunroof, 1969 Charger RT/SE with every option but a sunroof, and more....)

[Old Moparz]

A lot of us have that Charger we wish we never sold in our background.  I'm curious what you would pay to get it back, fair market value only or a percentage above that? 

I had a lot of fun & good memories in my first Charger, a '69 SE with a 383-4V that I had for almost 3 years. It was a great driving car but eventually the failing bondo showed me all the work it was going to need later on. I also had a lot of electrical & mechanical headaches with it so I couldn't wait to get rid of it when I was moving onto my next headache, a '70 GTX that was wrecked by the towing outfit bringing it to my house after I bought it.

Would I want, & would I buy my old Charger back & pay a premium? Only as a much needed parts car. 

[ACUDANUT]

I still have my first car, even tho it was a truck. 98 dodge ram 1500. Its black, reg cab, short box, bought it when I was 15, had it restored a few years ago with a brand new paint job (factory black of course)

No amount of money would buy that truck from me. A few years ago I was offered (supposedly) 15,000 for it when I was getting gas (keep in my KBB value on my truck at that point was less than 4,500 dollars)

Im 99% sure he was just blowing smoke, but when he made his offer and he looked me in the eye.....I just started to laugh, and kept pumping gas.

I watched him walk away almost offended that I laughed at his "real" offer....but its not for sale.....no amount would get it from me. Money comes and goes....memories from being my first vehicle, they all come back everytime I go to start it up. It may sound stupid but when im having a rough day I will get in and go for a ride, takes me back to when I was a kid in high school, being care free, not a worry in the world.


no amount of money would buy that truck, besides I hear way to many people say they would do just about anything to have their first car back....

I would had thrown him the keys and would have ran with the money.

[jaak]

The only car I wouldn't mind having back is the 73 Rallye.... but I wouldn't pay more for it, just because it used to be mine.

The guy the used to live behind me (passed away 4-5 years ago), had a 69 GTO Judge, that he bought in the late 70s. He was the second owner. He drove the car for years... pretty much ragged it out, and it sat behind his house for years. (He actually began restoring it before he died, all the drivetrain had been rebuilt and got it running before he passed, and I would say about 75% of the body work is done). Like I said it sat behind his house a few years before he started restoring it. One day he was outside and a couple pulled up in his driveway. The guy was the original owner of the car. I don't know how he found it but he did, any ways he talked to Mike a while told him who he was, and wanted to look at the car. After looking at it, he offered Mike 5k, he turned it down (keep in mind at this time it was a full project been sitting up for years), then he upped it to 7.5k....Mike refused. 10k....no, 12k....no, then the man looked over at his wife, she shook her head yes for the last time, then he offered 15k...... Mike refused. Man left after that. Mike's Mom lives next door to me, It is sitting in her Garage, the way he left it when he passed away..... Wish I could get my hands on it.

Jason

[TUFCAT]

Once I sell something...I'm done with it.  Honestly, I'd never want any of my old cars back.  I had an opportunity to buy my old 340 Duster back, not once but twice....and I passed both times.  Basically once its out of my loving care, it becomes something I no longer want back.