Be smart enough to recognize a screaming deal when you see it....

In the last post I talked about how to get the car you want at a reasonable price. It involves some compromise. But sometimes you just have to grab a good deal when it's right in front of your face. I get so tired of listening to people complain that they can't find their dream car, yet they've passed up several awesome cars because they weren't "Exactly what they were looking for". I said it in a previous post-there is no used car factory where you can order exactly what you want. The chance of you finding a 40 or 50 year old car that is the exact color you want with the exact color interior you want,the engine, transmission, axle ratio and wheels you want is almost nil. You have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning on the golf course. The best you can do is narrow it down to a few key things-say you want a big-block Chevelle-I want a 4-speed, and bucket seats, and front disc brakes. That's easy enough-if your looking for say a 68-72 model-there will be a lot of them that have that equipment. Now if it has to be red with white interior and a white vinyl top and have factory A / C and a tilt steering wheel and power windows, your going to have a much harder time finding one, if at all. And you have to be somewhat flexible. I know a guy that wanted an LT-1 Z/28 Camaro. He passed up an unrestored, but exceptionally well-maintained '70 model because it was an automatic. He passed up a 4-speed '71 model because it had traction bars, Cragar S/S mags, headers, and a 750 double-pumper Holley carb instead of the stock 3310. He said he didn't want a "Butchered" car. Excuse me? How was this car "Butchered?" The traction bars could be unbolted, Year One sells reproduction Rally Wheels if he didn't like the Cragars, Summit, Jeg's and even Pep Boys will sell you a 3310 Holley Carb. If for some insane reason he didn't want the increase in performance that the headers offer-theirs several companies that sell the famous "Ram's Horn" exhaust manifolds. That stuff is so easily fixed-it's laughable. Yet he passed up the car. He also passed up a gorgeous 4-speed '73 model becuase it was an L82. If you don't know-an L82 has a hydraulic cam instead of solid lifters and uses a Quadrajet on an iron manifold instead of the 3310 Holley on an aluminum one. When I suggested he buy the car and that swapping in a solid-lifter cam and the carb and intake would be pretty easy-he sneered "But's still not a real LT-1". I pointed out the other two he turned his nose up at were "Real" LT-1s. That was several years ago, and as far as I know-he still hasn't found a Camaro that meets his exacting standards. Another idiot wanted a '65-66 Shelby Mustang. He passed up a '66 GT that had front disc brakes,the Rally-pac guages, factory air, the "Pony" interior, and the original "California Megaphone exhaust with date-coded mufflers intact, because "It's still not a Shelby". I'm not even a Ford guy-and I bought the damn thing and sold it for a tidy profit a couple months later. Two other idiots I know did the same thing. One wanted a '68-70 GTO with the 400 / 4-speed powertrain. He passed up a gorgeous '68 model because it didn't have the hood tach, and it didn't have front disc brakes. He passed up a nice '70 455 model because it was an automatic. When he turned his nose up at a triple white, 400, 4-speed, '71 LeMans Sport convertible done in full "Judge" regalia-because "It's a fake". I wanted to slap him. The seller freely admitted it was a gussied-up LeMans-he wasn't trying to decieve anyone or get "Judge" money for it. And with or without the spoiler and "Judge" stripes and emblems-the car was worth every penny he was asking. The price was reasonable, the car was gorgeous and it ran like a scalded cat. If I'd had the money at the time I'd have bought it. This guy still doesn't have a GTO, and that was 8 years ago. The other one wanted a 400, 4-speed Disco-era T/A. He passed up a 400, 4-speed, '77 Formula with T-tops-for $2,300 in 1996 dollars-still a screaming bargain-even back then. "Its not a Trans-Am"  UGH!  He also passes on a beautiful, for-real, documented by Dennis Mecham '78 "Macho T/A" that sounded absolutely evil, and would smoke the tires as long as you wanted to stay on the throttle because it was an automatic. What does he do after passing up both of these diamonds?  He buys a 4-speed '81 T/A that has a 305 Chevy in it that wheezes out 145 hp, and will barely smoke the tires 30 feet if you pop the clutch at 4,000 rpm!!  He's severely disappointed in the car's performance.  He poo-poos my take-the-path-of-least-resistance-suggestion of swapping in a stompin' 350 Chevy, finds out how much trouble it would be to put in a 400 Pontiac, and sells the car at a loss. Then dejectedly laments to me-"I should have bought that Formula or that "Macho." You think?  Anyhow-this is the message I'm trying to get across-recognize a screaming deal when it's staring you in the face. Mastermind