what is the biggest one that got away

[steve shea]

either through ignorance or bad timing financially or got beaten to the punch by another buyer? I have certainly had my share and someone else's, of pole positions on significant Porsches. I've been an owner and fan since '64 and have traveled extensively for work and pleasure which gave me a lot of opportunity.

There was a 550A, unknown, in Napa for 110K. Otis Chandler's pushrod GT speedster, 84933. I had three weeks on that one. A '56 GS speedster for 50K. Mark Buljon's and record holder at Bonneville. A '58 steel paneled GT speedster which I owned but reluctantly gave up when my wife got pregnant with twins. I freaked out! A werks ST for 90K in Utah, I bought a speedster instead.

My father had a Stanguellini F jr which I could have had but let go. Not a Porsche but a very special drive. I had a beater RS when living in France for five years, gone. Pole position on many other RS cars long ago when not so dear. There were others but the one I regret the most is 84438. A pushrod speedster owned and campaigned by Bruce Jennings. He won many races in that car and heralded the end of his pushrod days as he moved into four cams after that.

There were other makes as well but those are a different stories.

[a911s]

'73 RS late build, Italian spec, restored to concours... $60K in 1999.

[steve shea]

I feel your pain fellas.

[stretch]

Jay kay's Dalmation blue RS. £82K.
A 64 car last weekend. €53k.

[Frank Beck]

I vomit to this day even thinking about it.

Steve, way to open old wounds.

[Chuck Miller]

- A 356 Carrera 2 GT coupe, local (a roller w/bodywork done, drivetrain complete, and 3 big boxes - it was all there) for $7850 in 1978.........

- First series RS, original, in Italy for $52k in 2001.........

[LongRanger]

Back ~1980-1 or so, there was a really neat set of Car Shows that took place in SoCal . . . called The Sports Foreign Auto Fest. Think there were just two of 'em. Last One was at Cal State Dominguez Hills, First One was in the parking lot at the Los Alamitos Race Track

OK --- not exactly Pebble Beach, but, Boy . . . did they have it all. All kinds of clubs + cars, grouped/parked by marque, a swap meet section, even had a this goofy/half a$$ gymkhana set-up --- right next to . . .

. . . the cars for sale

I had a BIG Pontiac, back then --- a '73 T/A SD-455, 4-speed, a super-rare car, too . . . but zero places to show it off, so . . . there I went

Not that memorable an event, at the time. Think I was still in school, then --- + dead-broke. May've had to borrow money from my Mom to get gas to go



Anyway, two things stood out for me

First One --- that did hit me at the time . . . was this absolutely gorgeous Series I Jag coupe, BRG, biscuit leather, back hatch swung open, hood popped forward --- huge polished carb bells, + everything under the hood was so shiny in that morning sun that it just hurt to look at. I wasn't a Jag Guy but the Guy Selling was asking $5k

I thought then (+ today) that Jags are total pcs-of-$hit --- just not worth the misery of owning . . . but was impressed by how tidy the car was. And The Asking

Still . . . Jag? = pass



A little further on . . . .

. . . Second One --- which did NOT hit me at the time . . . was this Car on a Trailer

Car was sitting on this nasty/ram-shackle two-axle trailer. First thing that struck me was that the thing was brown --- an absolutely agricultural shade of Cow Pie . . . applied with a brush. Or maybe a broom. Just awful. I mean, a joke. No side glass. Inside, springs were coming through the seats, head-liner hanging down in strips. Weird dash, too. Instruments in front of the driver were all the ancillaries --- fuel, temp, etc . . . and tiny, too . . . while what-looked-like the tach was over in the middle --- just above the shifter . . . and big as a dinner plate. I ogled all these ruins + weirdness, the moved towards the front where the hood was off. No air cleaners and I don't remember the carburetor count --- just the plug wires

Twelve --- and I wasn't impressed so much by that

The thing was --- even in the sad state it was in? . . . and from any angle? . . . car was just beautiful. Slinky shape. Great lines. Slim sexy tail. Lovely/minimal trim. Front bumpers were like these little chrome mustaches, drooping down below the head lights + turn signals. Even trashed, like that . . . I looked at that car a long, long time. No idea what it was

So, I asked The Guy . . .

'Zit run?'

'Nope. Motor needs an over-haul'

'How much to re-build?'

'Well . . . I checked around with a coupla Guys. They tell me about Ten Grand'

'How much for the car?'

'Five'

(Same as that Jag . . . which is why I remembered)

Now --- I could get the money, buy the car. But the re-build would've meant selling my T/A. And I still would've needed to fix absolutely everything else. And, I was supposed to be in school, so . . .

Thank you

. . . = pass



Years later . . . I'd see pictures of that same kinda car, again . . . and all fixed-up




250GTL, aka Lusso


Hhhh

[yale]

Porsche Abarth at Heritage Classics in the early 1990's for $100,000. A lot of money but a very cool car.

Orange Ferrari 330 GTC for $59,000 in about 2004 at Gullwing Motors. Given what Gullwing was/is like I expected the worst and didn't really look at the car closely but the car ended up at Heritage Classics for $25,000 more. Funnily enough same car in same condition looked a lot better then! Damn! Sure there are many folks here with much more dramatic near misses.

[Bullethead]

Ah, the loathsome sensations of woulda-coulda-shoulda.

Attorney sale in 1973, a pair of 904s with spare engines (two Fuhrmanns, one 906), wheels, gearboxes, brakes, etc. on a tandem trailer.
Only had $3500 of the $6K asking and couldn't talk anyone into a loan or splitting the package... painful regrets

Twenty years later, 1993... extremely nice tangerine '73 RS, $32K. Thought that was too much (yeah, I'm an idiot).

[Biancaneve]

It was in Spring 1995, Black with red lettering 2.7 RS, Italy (Monza area), 50 millions Lire (around 25K Euros nowadays) negotiable. Not perfect but good driver. I had been working for less then 2 years, got married in January that year, had to buy a flat and so passed on. The built-in kitchen my Lady decided to buy costed me about 1/4 of that RS ...