You can't always get what you want......

One of the Rolling Stones' biggest hits said-"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."  This applys to buying a musclecar as well. If you lower your sights a little-sometimes you can score a great deal. A friend of mine wanted a "Vanishing Point"- Challenger preferably with a 340, 383, or 440. The search for a 1970-71 model in decent condition at a fair price proved initially fruitless. One day he's driving down the street and sees a nice black Challenger with a "For Sale" sign on it. It turned out be a 1974 model with a 360. After driving it, he made the owner an offer, and a deal was struck. He loves the car, and talks about putting a 360 based 410 stroker in it, or a 440. And he's driving it and enjoying it while thinking about his future plans.  Another acquaintance was looking for a 1964-66 GTO.  Same story-the only Goats he found were basket cases not worth fixing or complete restos that people wanted 30K for. No "Driver quality" or needing work models in between. He found a 1964 Olds 442 for $6,000!  It needed a paint job, but the body was straight, and relatively rust-free. It had a non-original 350 Olds V8 in it, and a Muncie 4-speed. He bought it, and threw a quickie paint job on it. That was 3 years ago. He too, talks about either finding a 330 V8 and making it original, or building a 455 and making it really fast. But-He says-"It runs so damn good, and it's so damn much fun to drive, that I can't bring myself to tear it apart."  Needless to say, he no longer wants a GTO.  Don't get fixated on a certain car. And I don't mean a model, I mean an individual car. A Mopar fanatic I know got fixated on a 1970 Charger R/T .  The car was fully restored, and immaculate. It had a numbers-matching 440 Six-Pack and Center Line wheels, and it was gorgeous. However the asking price was $40,000.  He only had about 10 grand in cash, and no bank wanted to put a $30,000 loan on a 40 year old car, classic or not. My pal was bummed out, and really down in the dumps when his wife absolutely refused to let him get a home-equity loan to buy the car. While he was bitching and contemplating divorce, we ran across another 69 Charger for sale. It wasn't as nice as the other one-it was a "Driver" not a frame-off resto- but the body and paint were good, the interior was good, it only had a little rust in the trunk, ( What '60's Mopar doesn't? ) and it had a freshly rebuilt 440. And the price was $18,000.  While he was trying to get a peronal loan or a credit card for $8,000, to buy that one- we ran into a guy selling a gorgeous 1970 Super Bee. It had a 383 with a 4-speed, an awesome Sublime paint job with black Super Bee graphics, Keystone Klassic wheels with huge radial T/A's, and a gorgeous black interior. The guy was asking $13,500 for the car, and accepted my buddy's offer of 10K cash. He turned handsprings all the way home, and thanked his wife for talking him out of borrowing 30K to get the other car. He loves the Super Bee, and is still driving it, while saving for a Mopar Performance Crate Hemi. And he's still married. The point is, be patient and keep looking. And, within reason, don't "settle" for something that's not close to what you want. I know a guy that bought a 318 / Automatic 1972 Charger with the intent of someday swapping in a big-block. Like a month later-on a used car lot we see a 440, 4-speed 1974 Charger, and the price wasn't much more than what he paid for the 318 model!  Talk about kicking yourself- I never saw such despair in a human being over a car. Like Mick sang-if you try you might find what you need. At the right price. Mastermind