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| I picked up this magazine at the news stand. I was 20 years old at the time. |
The reason that I made that mention to Pat Ganahl's Rod and Custom blog is because he recently had an article on a pertinent subject.
He discusses a cover photo shoot that made the cover in 1975. Strangely enough I had bought that issue off the news stand back in the day. I'm pretty sure that I still have it in a box somewhere.
The magazine was printed in 1975, and by that time the owner had owned the car since 1961. It was finished with paint and upholstery by 1970. So by the time the magazine was printed, he had owned it for 14 years.
Now it gets even more interesting. Pat said that he lost track of his old buddy. Just last year a mutual friend went by the owner's house, where he still lived (!) and saw the '32 in the garage!
1975 to 2020 is 45 years add 14 years to that, and we are talking 59 years!
The '32 had been undergoing a stalled refresher. The owner had a couple of other cars that were currently ahead of it in the queue. There had been a time when he was also working on fixing up his house so as usual, life does get in the way.
I was also looking through my old magazine library at a Rod and Custom issue from 1989, the giant issue on custom Mercuries. Besides the Mercs there was a story entitled "Menage a trois," concerning a rodder, his real name is Joe, that owned three very desirable cars. A '32 Ford two door sedan, a 32 Ford three window coupe, and an historic custom '50 chopped Mercury coupe.
The article describes the cars, then asks if the reader is jealous. Or maybe the reader thinks that the owner is just very rich or very lucky. It turns that he is neither, just smart, persistent, and hard working. It took him thirteen years to acquire the three cars.
The sedan was the first one, bought as a basket case and rebuilt. The '32 coupe had been known to him for twelve years, as it was stored disassembled in another old hot rodder's garage. Joe bugged the guy to sell it to him for years and the old guy finally relented. The hitch was that he had to take all the old junk that was in the garage with it. Of course, the old junk was actually valuable and desirable old Ford and hot rod parts which the Joe took to the swap meet. It turns out that this reduced the Joe's actual investment in the car to 900.00!
The Mercury came about because one of the neighborhood kids told him that he had seen some old car, probably a Merc sitting under a tree in the backyard of a house in East LA. Joe figured that it was probably something like an old Hudson, so he was skeptical. Later the kid returned with a copy of Street Rodder and showed him that it looked like a custom Mercury. So Joe went to take a look and sure enough it was a chopped Merc. Covered with corrugated sheet metal panels with white house paint on the roof for protection. The owner wanted to sell it but was asking 3,500.00. Joe said that it would need a lot of work and was able to bargain it down to a price well below that. It turns out that the Merc was truly historic, the second one chopped, featured in the little books back in '51. Customized by Gil Ayala, if you know who that is. The Merc was transported home and by the end of the week was up and driving. It was eventually restored to it's original build appearance.
This is a story that will not likely be repeated again. Though Joe did all the hard work to bring the cars back to life, the buy in price alone, for most of us Today would be prohibitive.
I've spoken to several old guys in their Seventies, at car shows who told me that if they hadn't held onto their cars they wouldn't be able to afford to buy them now. I'm sure that is true.
It's just like real estate, when you bought is a huge factor. In my court of eight homes there are just two original owners, I am a long time owner of 33 years and there is another owner with a few years on me. The rest of the owners have been there for around five years. At current prices I wouldn't be able to afford to buy my house. I'm glad that I bought when I did and have remained there. I almost didn't buy my house, because at the time I was going to have to really stretch financially to afford it. Luckily it turned out to be worth it.
One reason that guys can hold onto cars for such a long time is that they were desirable cars when they first bought them. Not necessarily valuable, but desirable. They were cars that enthusiasts wanted to own. The passage of time has not made them any less desirable, or less valuable.
It's not that these guys were rich. Most were not. They were young and money was tight.
But they were focused. They bought what they really wanted.
They usually bought cars that needed finishing and put the work in. Sweat equity it's called.
New cars are expensive, Even worse they all depreciate down to almost to nothing.
Even Today while a nice Mach One will go for around mid thirty grand, a new GT will go for about the same price. A fixer upper will go for a bit less. Back in the day the classics were just a fraction of a new car price. So a working guy could stretch a bit and get that car. And still buy that used Accord for his Wife.
But he had to want it.
One of my co workers has a '70 Corvette. He's had it for more than twenty years. His Wife bought it for him for one of their wedding anniversaries. He enjoyed the car for years until things like refinanced home mortgages and upcoming college expenses for the kids loomed in the near distance. So he decided to sell the Vette. Now I don't know how much he was asking for it, but his Dad decided to buy it from him. Might as well keep it in the family right? His Dad held onto the car for around ten years or so then sold it back to his Son. Cool right?
Now this wouldn't have made sense if the car was a new Hyundai Excel, would it?
So the moral of the story is to pick the right car. Do not compromise. If possible. Of course that ain't always or usually possible.
My '94 Seville STS was another of my dream cars. It was three years old when I bought it. It cost me almost thirty grand. Was it worth it? That thing was incredible. It had it all. No early Vette, Jaguar, or muscle car could match it on the road. Did I enjoy it? Yes I did. Was it prestigious to own the car? In the beginning I guess that it was, since the new '97 models looked exactly the same.
Was prestige or status seeking the reason that I wanted that car? No, it was like my prior '77, it was what I felt was the ultimate expression of the Cadillac marque.
Did I get to bask a little in it's reflected glory? Yeah, sure for a while at least. Though I could have easily bought a nice Vette or early muscle or pony car for what I paid for the STS, I didn't. I saw some Mercedes S class sedans and coupes, even a Porsche 911 that were cheaper. I still could have also picked up a good used Accord for family use. But I didn't.
But it depreciated over the ten years that I owned it so much, I was happy to sell it to some kid for 1,600 bucks. Just to get rid of it.
Could I have just kept it and fixed it? Sure. It was just as fast as it ever was. It still looked about 80% of new in and out. It was still a great looking and driving car. If I had it Today in perfect shape would I be proud to own it?
Yes I would. Then why didn't I just keep it? It's not like selling it would return very much money. It didn't.
Therein lies the whole crux of the discussion.
Yes, it needed some work. The engine developed some substantial oil leakage. The a/c stopped working, the driver's window stopped working, and the ride control quit working. It only had 116,000 miles and the engine was still strong. There was a parking lot abrasion to the left rear door. Pretty much what is on my Explorer. The paint was still very good with no oxidation. The leather interior was immaculate.
From a strict economic standpoint it needed work that would cost more than it was worth, dollar wise. Couldn't I just do the work myself? Isn't that what I do?
Well I kind of thought that it was.
It's not like I worry about resale value.
Unfortunately, familiarity sometimes can breed contempt, or at least apathy. I was ready to move onto something else, so I let the car go, primarily just to get more space.
I was looking forward to the next big thing, I've always been that way. While I enjoyed the older cars that I have owned I was usually looking to move on to a newer version. With Cadillacs it lead from my '64 convertible, to my '77 Coupe de Ville, to my final Cadillac the '94 STS.
That didn't stop me from going back. I did go back to experience a '56 Cadillac and my Rivieras, right alongside my Datsun Z cars.
While I still have a real appreciation of old cars and hot rods, I honestly wouldn't want a Model A or even a '32 Ford coupe or roadster. A '40 Ford coupe is still beautiful and a 57 Cadillac can make a cool cruiser, but not for me ...anymore.
I don't think that I'll ever have a forever car, I'm just not wired that way. Maybe that makes me kind of dumb as I'll usually sell something cheap, just before it goes up in value. When I should have just held onto it. Maybe I'm just shallow, as I don't form an emotional bond with a car or the personal or family memories that are attached to it. Maybe I'm just not disciplined enough or persistent enough to hold out for that car that I really want. Maybe I just don't even really know what I really want! ( That's what my Wife accuses me of! )
A few years ago in an earlier post entitled "Real cars versus tourists; Us vs. Them" ( August 11th. 2018) I stated that there is no way to define the right way to be a car guy. We each will do it our own way. DIY or write the check, classic or newer car, hot rod, custom, or sports car, American or Foreign. It's our choice to pursue what interests us at this time. Some will cherish the classics that they acquired through the years, others will enjoy what they can currently afford to buy. Today. Still others will just finance the newest and shiniest thing. Nothing wrong with that! Our varied choices is what makes the hobby so interesting and rewarding.
So ultimately, am I really a car guy? Absolutely. You probably are too if you're reading this. Who needs labels?
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