Need to start shopping for a classic soon, advice?

[TxFrog1999]

Well after selling my beautiful 2000 vert Texas has the best damn top down weather in the last decade... figures with my luck. I had sold my car because I didn't need another 2.5 years of payments and we're trying to get a house and two mustang payments don't look good to the loan officers. Well I had thought I was going to be able to car pool with my wife who works ten miles from the house while I take her 2000 stang into Dallas for my morning classes (I teach Multimedia). Come to find out the college rescheduled my class (because it turned out to be so popular) from 9:30-12:30 to 2-5pm. So now I can't wait until Summer to begin shopping for my classic.

What I was wondering is what everyone thinks I can get for around $4000? I really want a car I ca rebuild or restore on my own, it doesn't need to be original, matching numbers, or rare. I'd love to have another vert and nothing from 71-73. I did like a Mach 1 my ex-boss has, if I were to go for a coupe but he wants $4000 and to be honest I just don't think its worth the money (painted matte black, was raced hard, 302 5.0 out of a fox body under the hood, needs a lot of work, hole the size of a football in the trunk, but the interior was redone).

 

[66 BLAKE 96]

For 4k, you are looking at a decent V8 coupe that needs some work, or a 6 cyl coupe in pretty good shape. Sorry to tell ya man, but a 4 thousand dollar convertible will probably fold itself in half, or be a good shell with no driveline and maybe a missing top. Also, without seeing the Mach 1 you are talking about, it sounds like it may be worth the 4K judging by the description.

For instance my car, which you've seen I believe, was 5.5K almost a decade ago (would've been a 4.5K car if it weren't a fastback).

 

[3spd on floor]

i could be mis-reading your post, but it seems you're saying that your boss has a mach1 coupe? just for the record there is no such thing and if he's trying to pass a coupe off as a mach1...

 

[chepsk8]

Multiply your $4K by three, and I have a 69 convertible for you...

 

[66 BLAKE 96]

i could be mis-reading your post, but it seems you're saying that your boss has a mach1 coupe? just for the record there is no such thing and if he's trying to pass a coupe off as a mach1...

I think he slipped up and lumped all hard tops togeather as coupes. You have to understand, this guy is spoiled by convertibles.

Multiply your $4K by three, and I have a 69 convertible for you...

I would just loooooove to have Cheapie a few miles from my home town. Hell, I couldn't think of a better way to spend $12K.

 

[TxFrog1999]

Multiply your $4K by three, and I have a 69 convertible for you...

And if I had that much cash I would have called you by now I LOVE that Indian Red 69... very nice ride.

3spd - yes I made a mistake, it IS a Mach 1, I did a lookup on the VIN, and I didn't mean coupe I realize there is a difference. And Blake is right I've been spoiled, I loved my vert, but a house come first.

 

[Pakrat]

Yeah, this is a tough order to fill. I hear ya though man, I'm a top down guy too. I love the look of the fastbacks, but for me to ever consider going from no blindspots to all blindspots, I'd likely have to of recently joined the hair club for men or something. For the money you would have to spend, you definitly are not going to find something you can use or trust as a daily very easily. I know the idea was to eliminate a loan, but have you considered a classic loan? I mean, a 4k car will nickel and dime you to death anyway, but classic loans can be way cheap. Just an example, take Chepie's car. If you went to a company like say www.jjbest.com to buy it, you would need to put down about $2400 of your $4000. It's simple interest, so if you set it up as a 5 year loan, you are looking at payments of less than $200 a month which you would surely be plopping into a 4k car just for monthly maintanence and some goodies you can't live without. You have a good month, then pay more and pay it off early, save thousands in simple interest charges in the process. Get a home with a garage and also get classic Hagerty insurance for under $150 a month. Either way, you will make out in the long run.

BTW, haven't we met before? I lived in Flower Mound for about 14months over a year ago, and I hit a few local show and shines with Tang350. I also have a 69' vert like Chepie but it's Gulfstream Aqua and dressed up a little like a Mach, and I had a 99' for a while too.

If you are who I think you are, you should contact Tang. He has an excellent resource in California and the guy he got his car from always has a good deal on cars in a variety of stages and conditions. He may have purchased a good project car he has not gotten to yet that you could get a deal on.

Good luck.
Pak.

 

[TxFrog1999]

Yeah, this is a tough order to fill. I hear ya though man, I'm a top down guy too. I love the look of the fastbacks, but for me to ever consider going from no blindspots to all blindspots, I'd likely have to of recently joined the hair club for men or something. For the money you would have to spend, you definitly are not going to find something you can use or trust as a daily very easily. I know the idea was to eliminate a loan, but have you considered a classic loan? I mean, a 4k car will nickel and dime you to death anyway, but classic loans can be way cheap. Just an example, take Chepie's car. If you went to a company like say www.jjbest.com to buy it, you would need to put down about $2400 of your $4000. It's simple interest, so if you set it up as a 5 year loan, you are looking at payments of less than $200 a month which you would surely be plopping into a 4k car just for monthly maintanence and some goodies you can't live without. You have a good month, then pay more and pay it off early, save thousands in simple interest charges in the process. Get a home with a garage and also get classic Hagerty insurance for under $150 a month. Either way, you will make out in the long run.

BTW, haven't we met before? I lived in Flower Mound for about 14months over a year ago, and I hit a few local show and shines with Tang350. I also have a 69' vert like Chepie but it's Gulfstream Aqua and dressed up a little like a Mach, and I had a 99' for a while too.

If you are who I think you are, you should contact Tang. He has an excellent resource in California and the guy he got his car from always has a good deal on cars in a variety of stages and conditions. He may have purchased a good project car he has not gotten to yet that you could get a deal on.

Good luck.
Pak.

Yeah thats me! I've tried to contact Tang for some time but I fear my information for him is either out dated or he never gets the messages I had some major issues pop up after 2001 and I wasn't able to make it back to the show circuit in 2002, and of course last year we moved from Fort Worth and life was chaotic so I haven't seen all you guys in a while. Hopefully with Blake and Forrest (if he's still around and doesn't mind keeping an eye out when he's in Cali) help I can find something starting in March. Blake has convinced me that 4K won't cut the mustard, and my delusions of having a classic vert have been quelled... for now. So I'm going to do some odds and ends for a couple of clients and see if I can't scrape 5K together or a bit more by March for a coupe or fastback. Plus I haven't seen my wife this happy since we brought the 2000 vert home. After buying a classic she tells me she wants to learn how to work on the car and go to the shows this summer! So now I have another reason to find a classic

BTW if you see Tang, let him now Sean is looking for him and he can email me anytime, my hotmail account is a PITA to get through with all the junk, but if you see him give him this email addy for me will ya?:

smfoushee<NOSPAM>@mac.com

Also I do want to thank everyone here for their help, I'm glad to see Stangnet hasn't become a haven for pissed off teens looking for a flame war in every thread.

 

[65fastback2+2]

shoot, multiply 4k by 4.5 and you can buy my 38,000 original mile show winner....

 

[stang69]

around here all you'll get for $4k is a 6 cylinder!
any v8, without a vinyl top or white interior, is going to cost you close to $10k if not over.
make that a 69 or 70 fb, your talkin $12k-16k easy! if youll take a coupe, sure, then you might be able to find a car. But nobody wants those!
Its impossible to find anything not beaten to death.

 

[Pakrat]

Yeah thats me! I've tried to contact Tang for some time but I fear my information for him is either out dated or he never gets the messages I had some major issues pop up after 2001 and I wasn't able to make it back to the show circuit in 2002, and of course last year we moved from Fort Worth and life was chaotic so I haven't seen all you guys in a while. Hopefully with Blake and Forrest (if he's still around and doesn't mind keeping an eye out when he's in Cali) help I can find something starting in March. Blake has convinced me that 4K won't cut the mustard, and my delusions of having a classic vert have been quelled... for now. So I'm going to do some odds and ends for a couple of clients and see if I can't scrape 5K together or a bit more by March for a coupe or fastback. Plus I haven't seen my wife this happy since we brought the 2000 vert home. After buying a classic she tells me she wants to learn how to work on the car and go to the shows this summer! So now I have another reason to find a classic

BTW if you see Tang, let him now Sean is looking for him and he can email me anytime, my hotmail account is a PITA to get through with all the junk, but if you see him give him this email addy for me will ya?:

smfoushee<NOSPAM>@mac.com

Also I do want to thank everyone here for their help, I'm glad to see Stangnet hasn't become a haven for pissed off teens looking for a flame war in every thread.

Well, that last time I talked to Forrest was actually around 4 or 5 weeks ago on AOL IM, but it was almost a year prior to that. I have his email as [email protected], which jives with his IM account still. I hardly ever see him on the boards anymore, so he likely won't see a PM. I also have some phone numbers, I'll PM them to you today so I don't have to list them here.

Glad you decided to wait and start out with a better car for your money, probably the wisest move even though the most difficult to make. Good luck, we'll all still be here when you are ready and need us. BTW, I usually recommend that any new classic buyers read this story first so you can see that even a butt load of cash doesn't always buy a good car.

Horror story!