How did you aquire and how little did you pay?

I was looking at the other thread about how long your car has been a project and got to thinking about when I first bought mine:

In the summer of '96, I saw it in a yard of a guy that was trying to sell me a '68 LeMans. I told him if he could get the Grabber running, I'd give him $1000. He declined. In the fall of '97, I was looking at the for sale ads in the local paper and saw an ad for a Grabber for $200. I called, they still had it. I got directions to the same yard. The guy was in jail, his grandmother was selling the property and needed all the cars out. They were being sold off with his 'ok'. (I spoke to him many times after)The car wasn't running but wasn't far from it. It looked nice outside but like h*ll inside and I offered $150. I was told someone offered $175. I said I'd match it and have it out within the hour. SOLD! I went to the bank and could only get 20's. I gave her the extra 5 for a total of $180.00

What's your story?

 

There are several threads like this on the forum - I started one too, before I found the others - but I always enjoy chiming in!!!

I bought a 1981 Camaro Berlinetta for a father son project. Turned out to be a total waste of time and money (the completely rebuilt, 60-over 350 vortec motor sitting in the garage is the only thing left from the project.)

The most important lesson I learned: I do not have the tools, talent, time or treasure to completely rebuild or restore an old car. So I decided to buckle down, save up my money, and buy the BEST car I could possible that my son and I could still work on together (but now mainly tweaking, improving, replacing rather than rebuilding.)

Unfortunately, getting a pre-82 (the coolest body styles and few if any emissions requirements) Camaro/Firebird was impossible with our budget. I'm sure there are plenty of people across America selling off nice ones for a bargain, but not in the North Texas area. So that pushed me to look around for other options. Late 80's/early 90's Mustangs? No, all butchered up. Old trucks? Nah, also too expensive. Short story, I eventually ended up at the doorstep of Mavericks.

I had actually seen a Maverick popping up on the Dallas Craigslist again and again for several months. It looked pretty cool and had a hot engine, but was about 50% over my budget. One day it popped up again and sounded like the owner was ready to deal seriously. We talked and soon struck a deal we both could live with. I can't say it was a total "bargain" for me, and I'm pretty sure he lost money on the sale, but a month later I brought home the Maverick.

 

69.5 Maverick- - -FREE

 

Where's the story?

 

72 maverick with a 250 6 cylinder. It ran and looked good for $900.

 

got it for free from my dad. He paid 150 For it back in the early nineties from a guy who used to race it. It had a crane cam, head swap, intake and a holley on it. It came from arizona.

 

Friend had a 64 Caddy years ago that he traded for a BDS blower for the 4V Cleveland in his 67 Mustang fastback. He had the blower for years and finally traded it for a 71 Grabber. I told him he should give it to me since I always thought the were cool cars. Close to a year later he needed it moved and had little time to do it so he gave it to me. He said it was pay back for all the times I helped him with the Mustang.

 

Paid 50 dollars for my first V8 71 Mav. Drove it home. Lady wanted rid of it cause it was getting too rusty to drive. CAr was light blue but full of bondo. I attempted to save it then it bacame a donor car for my first project Mav.

Heres a pic my Mom found last month. This is about the stage I got to when I realized the car was way too far gone even for a crazy teenager to fix.

 

V8 mav with air and power steering, 48k original miles, $600 plus ttl. It was my wife's great-grandmother's car. When she passed away, it ended up sitting in the family's barn for a couple years before I could pry it from the grandmother's hands (great-grandmother's daughter).

She assumed it was worth big money thinking it was a "classic" and spent a year getting quotes and trying to sell it on ebay, etc, and finally quit trying and agreed to $600 from me.

 

3 grand, needed my first car and thought it was cool, fell for the 302 paint, and side exhaust right before the back tires.

302 crapped out on me a year later
Paint is going to hell
changed to headers and purple hornies

The car is or was rust free but i was being a retard and cut a hole for the floor shifter i never ended up using.

 

I was born in the back seat of my Maverick.....

 

Got mine free!

A friend of mine bought the car in 1990 and put it in his garage. Fast forward 19 years, he gets divorced, she gets the house where the car is stored and it has to go. Since I had expressed some interest and he knew I would actually do something with it he gave me the car. Here I am 11 months later and I have done a ton of work to it. Probably still have a couple years worth of time and energy ahead of me. But when it hits the road it will be worth it.

 

Man, I bet that left a mark

 

The story is that, as my daily driver, I had a Q Code 72 Gran Torino Sport - 351 C - 4 speed and a 9 inch rear and the body got to the point that it was rusting off the frame rails. I kept the Torino's entire drivetrain and started looking for a 65 Falcon but never had any luck. A friend of mine did have this Maverick in his back yard and I pestered him for a couple of years to sell it to me. Then one day, out of the blue, he calls me up and tells me to get it out of his yard - for free. So the Torino drivetrain is getting transplanted into this Maverick now.

 

I bought mine 3yrs this december. I could of bought 3 mav's at once but only had room for one.I choose the 69.5. It was in bad shape so I decided to make a pro streeter out off it. I paid $800 for it and as of now I have about $7000 in it with 15 to 20thousand to go.