For me it’s simple — a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker. It was 1998 and the car sat in a local driveway for months. Every weekend, the elderly owner would fire it up and let it run for a few minutes, never shifting the transmission from ‘P’. Once in a while, I’d see someone test driving it around the neighborhood. When I finally spoke to the owner, he told me that he had bought it new in Baltimore, Maryland. It had about 80,000 miles on the odo.
I took it around the block a few times with him in the passenger seat, it flowed like clean, new oil. I remember thinking that the man looked as though he might start crying at any moment, it was so obvious he didn’t want to part with it. The Chrysler was black with a white stripe and came equipped with the vaunted FirePower 331 engine. Sure it only had 180 horsepower, but it felt like it would cruise comfortably all day. The old man only wanted $2,500 for it. He said something like, “It’s more important it be taken care of,” but I already had two cars at the time and only room for one. Sadly, I decided not to buy it.
About a month after I drove the New Yorker, it disappeared. Maybe a year after that the old man passed away. Today, it’s certainly not worth as much as a convertible Hemi Mopar or a Mercedes 300SL, but knowing how much that car meant to the man, how well loved and cared for it had been, makes me lament not purchasing it. I hope that car is still so appreciated today.
What about you? Is there one car that you wish you’d have bought, but didn’t?
Image Source: uniquecarsandparts.com.au
