In 1986 I put a 1971 429 in my 79 bronco, bought the motor for $50,rebuilt it & put it in. Could have bought a 428cj for $400, but didnt have the$$$, so didnt buy. Wish I could get both now.
In '80 there was a used car lot with a 68 GT350 4 spd that had it listed for $3000.00. I was only 18 and couldn't sell my 69 Charger in time to buy it. I ended up getting a 69 Sports roof for $1500.00 instead.
Since we're talking about ones that got away. When I was in high school a guy I knew offered to sell me his 4 speed 1968 Hemi Road Runner for $2k (it was either 74 or 75). I didn't want it because it was too boxy and even then we considered the gas mileage to be crap. Funny thing is even a $2k back then he had a HARD time selling it. I also was a day late on a Boss 351 for $2,500 but the one I did get was a 1969 Dodge Dart 383 GTS with a 4 speed. I owned that for about a year and sold it because it really wasn't at all streetable. The previous owner built the motor (cam, carb) and grafted on a Hemi Road Runner (once again) exhaust on it. The cars was fast but a total beast.
In 1979-80 my father bought a 1969 Shelby gt350 sportroof for around $2500. He purchased it from a Chevrolet dealer that had taken it in on a trade. We had searched high and low for a car priced in the 4000 dollar range and couldn't find a car to buy at the time then someone told him about the Shelby at Huber Chevrolet and it was a real Shelby and priced cheap so he snapped it up. Second story.....I purchased my 1970 mach1 in 1985 for $1300. The guy we (me & dad) purchased it from had a 1970 boss 302 also. I don't remember the exact price but he was asking around $4000 for the boss. I later heard that he sold the boss 302 nine months after i purchased mine for half his asking price because he just couldn't find a buyer. Third and final story......I have heard many stories about a local 289 cobra for sale for $7000 in 1977. It sat unsold for at least one year. I saw the car 6-7 years later at a car show here in Omaha and the guy had never sold the car for the $7000 asking price. By then the price of cobras had really skyrocketed and I'll bet he was damn glad people felt it was overpriced when he has tried to sell it earlier.