Opposit of really dumb- really lucky find

Every stumble across something too good for words- and keep it for a couple of generations?
My dad used to drive around looking for old cars to fix up- came across the body of an El Camino covred in needles under a pine tree. Knocked on the door, a guy even older than dad answers. " can't drive 'cuz of cateracts, so parked it back there, Neighbors' been after me to junk it, go get him and we'll figure a price". Even older, crotchety old neightbor comes over, says it's junk and $200 takes it. Mind you, it's COVERED an inch deep in pine needles. Dad figures it's locked up and rusty, gives benefit of the doubt tho and offers $500- done deal. I swing the roll back over, and drive the whole mess through semi car wash on the way home. THIS THING IS CHERRY. 87 El Co, 4.3 V6, last year made, 13,000 original miles. Fresh gas, battery, exhaust and brake pads and dad's tooling it around. Now that dad's gone, it's my daughters' car- 17" Americans, IROC side skirts, l-88 hood and "coolest Car" in her "senior superlatives" at HS.
What's you best / most memorable find?

A old gal up the road needed somebody to clean her house. My boys went up to do it for her. When I went to get them,they weren't finished yet. Had a closet open. There was a near complete set of Tru Scale farm toys,absolutely imaculate. She said that she never let the kids take them outside. Made them play with them in the house. She said nobodys kids ever came to visit her anymore. She knew I collected farm toys. We'd had had her down for supper before and she saw my collection.When I commented on how nice they were,she offered to give them to me. I told her no,if her great grandkids came over,they needed something to play with. She was pretty insistant,so I told her I'd go to TSC and get some new stuff and trade her so she'd have some toys if anybody came to see her. She didn't seem to care a bit that I brought her the new ones. Seemed more pleased that somebody who wanted the old ones was getting them.

I always think i'm lucky to find a decent girlfriend.. however, it's like a never repeating cycle of good luck, bad luck, good luck, bad luck.

Story an old fella told me yrs ago got me started in collecting old tractors.He had worked in an old sawmill many years ago and a old farmer came up to get some sawdust with his tractor and wagon. He ran out of gas.went to get gas and never came back.A couple years went by and the sawmill burnt to the ground.Things were forgotten and all grew up .to poplar and fir trees.I found out who owned the land and inquired about the sawdust pile out in the woods,Yep,go ahead and dig.Friend had a 580 case backhoeand used it to dig out rusty 1929 GP JD.Guy said I could have it,You dug it out. Been hooked ever since.I got it all running and painted up.That was bout 15 yrs ago. Hoss

Found a dusty $20 in my wallet yesterday. Proud as a new papa.

Aaron

I told a friend of mine that I had to work on my lawn tractor that the rear end had quit but it would wait till spring. He asked if I knew where his 455 JD(diesel) was and I told him what building it was in, and he told me to take it home and don`t bring it back!

Back when I was restoring my '66 GTO , friend and local Car Quest owner said that the local Pontiac body shop manager said he had a pair of new and original quarter panels up above the paint booth that had been there since 1967. They totalled out the car instead of repairing it and never sent back the panels. Said to come down andsee them and if I wanted them he would sell them to me. When I got there he was washing 30 yrs of shop dust off them. They were perfect and still had the "deer tag" ring hanging on them. Said what do ya have to have for them? Mind you , this guy was old even when the '66's came out. Meant not much to him. Damn kids cars anyway. $150 for the pair , he half shouted! Sold , I shouted back. Loaded them up , cleaned them up some more...sold them for $450 EA. paid for a lot of stuff I still needed for the car. That was back in '89. They would bring $1000 each today!!

In 1981 I found a real nice 1969 Dodge R/T convertible, paid $1700 for it. There were 436 of them built that year. I still have it.

'68 firebird, convertible, factory orig green paint with a white top, well it needed a top, orig body, 54,000 miles, 350 pontiac/auto, $700, someone who worked for us in '82 or '83, was garaged for years, top was dry rotted, the rest was nice and it ran great.

If $200 takes it, was he feeling generous on that particular day.?

Fall of 1974 ,1969 Mercury MARQUIS convertible ,68k Miles, Bought straight out before cleanup from the dealer for 6 Ben Franklins , Only because Dad knew the Salesman well and told Him I was looking for a Montego MX ,,,, they talked Me into Settling for the Marquis,, never regretted It

If its anything like the JD 410, HE made a good deal.
Walt

When I first started looking for a tractor a friend said she had a tractor that her dad used to use.She hadnt been able to get it to run for 3 yrs. Asked me what Id give,I went and looked it over.Tires and rims were good.Sheet metal was good.But I didnt know why it wouldnt run and told her that.We settled on 2 prices,if the tractor needed just little work it was $500. If I needed to put alot into it then the price was half. I changed fluids,found that the gas tank was full of crap had it cleaned and fiberglassed.
Im not a crook so I took my reciepts back to her and showed her that it was worth more and if she would pay the reciepts she would get double my top price.She said a deal is a deal.So I got a J.D. B,1950,in its work clothes and new tires.Only issues if you will were the throttle was hooked to the shutter lever because the set screw was wollowed out and the throttle handle was loose,and it had an ugly set of case fenders on it. Good deal to me as I got a 2 cylinder jd (my dream)and she got what she wanted and we are still friends today. Best deal of all.

Pop was a good man- he knew the difference between a great deal and josing someone. When dad passed over 300 peopel attended his funeral-
hard to find guys like that today

Back in 1974 I answered an ad in the San Jose Mercury for a '67 Lincoln 2dr. Continental Coupe. Turned out it was totally cherry with 50,060 miles on it with brand new factory exhaust (expensive..even then) system. Asking price was 1250 bucks...I offered 1000 cash, seller said he'd think about it and called me next morning and said bring the money. He gave me the owner's manual and even a sales brochure he'd got when he bought the car brand new in November of '67. (it was a holdover and he got it "reasonable" he said). His wife had mostly drove it, he had a Ford LTD wagon he drove for work and personal use...owned a liquor store in south San Jose. I drove that car 15 years to 186,000 miles...it was one of the best cars I've ever owned, it needed a water pump and one more exhaust system and a rear window actuator because my daughters ran the windows up and down too much, tires every 35 to 45 thousand miles and brakes every 50 thousand along the way. Got 12-15 MPG around town and 17-18 on the road using good Standard Premium gas. No "Stinkin' Lincoln" by any standards, this was a good luxerious car....big, fast, safe, and comfortable. I wish I still had it, I got teary when I saw it leave after I sold it in 1989. Bought a '84 Crown Victoria to replace it....cost nearly 10,000 bucks, About half the car the Linky was.