Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

After finishing the last post I felt I should do something constructive to my car. I had bought a set of KYB Gas charged shocks to replace the tired air shocks in the back. These are not the heavy duty high performance models, these are like an upgrade from stock, the Excel G. After a twenty five mile test drive I hope they break in a bit. I would have liked them a little softer. I'm not a fan of the punishing ride. When I ordered these from Rock Auto I saw that these were eligible for a 45.00 rebate. This time I downloaded the form. When the shocks arrived I sent it and the box ends in to KYB, A month later I received the check. Not bad. This brought the total cost of the shocks to around 50.00. This is the first time I have ever returned a rebate form but 45.00 is a fair amount of change.
I've had the shocks for a few months but hadn't gotten around to installing them. I've got a few more parts sitting around that I should install. I installed the new fuel level sending unit and the front spoiler. I don't want to be the guy that puts his car up for sale with a bunch of new parts in the trunk.

I find that the best thing is driving my car. It makes me appreciate it more. It starts up easy and runs real smooth. Cruises easy at 65-70 mph. What more do I need?  At this point, nothing but I've got a roving eye. There's a consignment lot in Santa Clara called Wheels and Deals. This place has been around for quite a while. I've bought two cars from there and sold one. It's a great place to see a wide cross section of different cars and the best thing is, there are no salespeople. I can wander around checking out Bimmers, MBZs, muscle cars all kinds of stuff. I saw a beautiful 66 GTO parked there at the curb today. It was blue and the bodywork and paint were straight as glass and twice as glossy. I can appreciate a car like that but I know that I will probably never have one that nice. I would guess that the paint and bodywork alone was probably 25 grand. It would probably be hard to recoup most of your investment at sales time. Still the fact that there are guys that can write a bunch of big checks shouldn't have any effect on how much we enjoy our cars.

This beautiful black, up and running Benz is offered at 3,500!

There are a bunch of one time high dollar cars that are approaching the bottom of their depreciation curve. MBZs such as SL models from the 70s,80, and even 90s are bottoming out at less than five grand. I saw a beautiful 92 MBZ SL 300 that was offered at 3,500 bucks. Sl 500s at around five grand, Jaguars, not just XJS' but XK8 convertibles at 3,500 to 5,000 bucks. Big Bimmers are similarly priced. Now there is a reason that they are so cheap. While some are fixers, (actually priced from 1,000 to 2,500 dollars) most are currently running functioning cars. Of course that's the rub. How long will they be running? No one knows. Truthfully no one can predict. You might buy one and enjoy a couple of years of service or it might die a terrible death right after you drive it home, It's all supply and demand. Not many people are demanding their chance at automotive Russian Roulette. So the prices are low, and the sellers are motivated, really motivated.

This 12 cylinder Benz is offered at 3,500.00

This jag was described as "beautiful luxury car, runs great" 3,500.00

This jag looked beautiful from every angle and from inside. It's got "engine problems" and they are asking 2,500 bucks. I bet they would take 1,500 (or even less) in a heartbeat


Still if one of these is your dream car, this is your chance at greatness. I just saw a 12 cylinder Mercedes coupe that cost one hundred and twenty thousand dollars new in the mid eighties, selling for 3,500 bucks or offer. And it had 20in. chrome wheels, new tires, straight body,great paint and a clean interior. Personally I lust after a Jag. I was thinking of an XJS, maybe with a 12, but maybe a later XK8. These are the brother to the vaunted Aston Marten V8, which believe me ain't on this depreciation trajectory. Yes I have visited the forums and even the late 90s Jags still have terribly unreliable electrical systems. It seems that most of their problems are electrical based, no complaints on the forums of these cars throwing rods, just iffy trannys. If you or I were to buy one of these gems I would choose one with the great body, paint, interior equation and currently registered and running. I would hope that I could enjoy it for at least a little while before the work starts.

I would need a garage to keep it in, and where I could work on it. I would just assume that I'm not going to drive this like my 96 Mustang which I would definitely keep. Yes, have at least one reliable easily fixable daily driver you can depend on. Like I read on another forum, a car like this is not just a purchase, it's an adventure, a relationship and a dream come true. Life is too short to deny your dream. let me know how it turns out.