The $100 car

[LDB]

Something got me thinking about the late 1960's when I and my peers were not quite driving/buying but dreaming and would spend time with the newspaper looking at all the cars for sale and trying to pick out a $100 car. Somehow that was the magic number that seemed at least possible at the time. And there were quite a lot to choose from then. Quite a few of them that were almost derelicts then would be quite desirable now.

 

[JeffKeryk]

And they ran... Those were the days!

 

[hemitom]

I remember in the early seventies my dad picking up two1962 Chryslers I know for sure he Paid $100 for one and I think $250 or $300 for the other the cars were 10 to 12 years old both were on the road until 1978.

 

[sparky123]

Back in HS, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, had a teacher in HS whom always said, "Buy a $250 car and drive it till breaks, then repeat." If the car lasted a year, then you're out less than $250. His cars would be desirable today.

 

[ecotourist]

In the late '60s a good car around here would have been as much as $500. That would get you a '58/'59 Ford Galaxie V8, a 5,6,7 Chevrolet Bel Air 2 dr hardtop etc.

 

[Kira]

A very worn idler arm made an abandoned '72 Toyota Corolla de Luxe feel as if the front wheels weren't connected to the car.
$100 to the friend-of-my-friend made it mine.
$ 5 to a garage owner to lift it and determine the idler was shot
$ 22 to "Mr. Bargain Auto Parts" for an idler arm

$127 Total.

 

[jkasch]

My best friend’s dad owned a road construction business. They had several acres where the bulldozers, road graders and other equipment was kept. You could buy a running car for as little as $25. He bought a $25 Triumph TR3 with a rod knock. He pushed some dirt to make ramps and a track in the company’s yard. We beat the heck out of that car all day trying to kill it. Got it stuck in the mud a couple times, but that’s easy work for a bulldozer. Most fun for $25 ever. Even in 1967 dollars.

Did the same with a Simca on another occasion.

 

[bullwinkle]

Something got me thinking about the late 1960's when I and my peers were not quite driving/buying but dreaming and would spend time with the newspaper looking at all the cars for sale and trying to pick out a $100 car. Somehow that was the magic number that seemed at least possible at the time. And there were quite a lot to choose from then. Quite a few of them that were almost derelicts then would be quite desirable now.

I had TWO-a ‘72 Pinto I picked up ~’83 or so for $25-had to replace the 2.0’s bad timing belt & have keys made for it, drove it for over 6 months until my stupid pre-BITOG self ran it out of oil & it threw a rod, sold it to the local junkyard for, you guessed it, $25! I also bought a ‘90 Civic wagon that had been overheated, warped the head, & jammed the oil control rings for $125 that had a brand new CSR brass radiator in it (that probably cost almost what I paid for it). Had my brother’s dirt track car machinist buddy redo the head, & I did an in frame rebuild on the engine with new standard rings & .001 undersize rod bearings in my driveway, outside in winter! Picked up 2 doors & 2 front seats in the same color from the local boneyard for $25, drove that little crate for several years! Those cheap days are LONG GONE-the local U-Pull & Pay will pay $250 or more for anything, in any condition.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I bought my screen name 1989 Honda Accord for $50 in 2001. The quarter and passenger door were dented badly but it ran. Drove it til 2007 as a second car and sold it for $600 on Craigslist.

 

[daves87rs]

My neighbor down my street growing up used to do this with Ford Escorts. He’d buy them cheap (50-250) fix them up a little, and ran them until they died. He even helped a few folks on the block in getting one as well….

 

[IndyIan]

I am actually starting to see the $1000-1500 car again, that was on the road last week until something like brake lines took if off, or multiple suspension parts need replacing... I guess these are now $1-2k repairs at a mechanic so they just buy something new or newer. A couple years ago these were $3-4k cars.
They go fast off of facebook though, so they aren't easy to find.

 

[The_Jeff]

Bought a $75 Saturn SL2 with a rattling timing chain. Had cruise control which I moved to my daily driver SW1-- it was pre-wired and pre-programmed so it worked.

Then I fixed the timing chain and got my money out of it and then some.

Seller wanted $500 and was quite visibly pregnant. Somehow I "charmed" her and got it for my asking price.

In the early 2000s most barely running Saturns were 275-400 bucks so tracking for inflation against BITOG Boomer Bux they carried the torch well. They were usually 1st generations that didn't have OBD-II so they were easy to get state inspected without worrying about emissions problems.

Agree that prices are dropping on the worst junk. This is the best time of year to buy, people don't want to plow snow around whatever project they were planning to deal with but couldn't.

 

[loneryder]

Something got me thinking about the late 1960's when I and my peers were not quite driving/buying but dreaming and would spend time with the newspaper looking at all the cars for sale and trying to pick out a $100 car. Somehow that was the magic number that seemed at least possible at the time. And there were quite a lot to choose from then. Quite a few of them that were almost derelicts then would be quite desirable now.

My first car was a 57 chevy with 100k on it for $100 in 1970. The original owner was a neighbor who used it as his work vehicle. He was a brick layer. He hadn't taken care of it because it was burning oil. I drove it for a year and it got so bad that I've have to put a qt of that re-refined oil the cheap gas stations used to sell for about .50 every other day. Was a strait 6 with power glide. It never stranded me though.

 

[k1xv]

Around 1957 my father bought a 1949 Kaiser for $100 for commuting to work when his 1940 Buick Roadmaster (!) got hit by another car. The thing I remember most about that Kaiser was its blue paint. It looked like someone polished it with steel wool.

 

[Marcozi]

Back in HS, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, had a teacher in HS whom always said, "Buy a $250 car and drive it till breaks, then repeat." If the car lasted a year, then you're out less than $250. His cars would be desirable today.

$250 may buy you a few fill ups with gas.

 

[Kira]

Kaiser

Lads 2 doors away had a Henry J when I was about 5 years old.
It had very rough paint.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Back in the day, got some runable cars for anywhere from $12. to $100. too bad don't still have them.

 

[Passport1]

Back in fifth grade when I was about Ralphie's age my teacher, Ms. Shields had a young teacher's assistant that drove a robin egg blue TR3. It was probably worth $500. Today that car would fetch a small fortune. Car was bee-utiful and Ms. Connie J. was hot. There were some $100 cars in the staff parking lot.

Like this

mike graham restored TR3

 

[BobsArmory]

Back in the day myself and 2 other high school buddies happened upon a dealership that just finished a push pull or drag sale. They had an old Ford Torino for $100. The 3 of us chipped in the needed cash and took her to Craig's family farm. All summer we used that as a toy driving down trails and dirt roads, power sliding around corners, bashing into trees and jumping it into the river Dukes of hazard style. Pop riveted a 16 ounce Budweiser can to the hood and called it "The Bud Bomb". Passenger door wouldn't close? Run the tractor into it and make it close! Needs oil? fill her up with waste oil. Cut the roof off it because we wanted a convertible. By the end of the summer she was just running on a few cylinders. We babied her to the local scrap yard and got most of our money back.

Best investment ever.

 

[Jdeere562]

Bought a 1964 Chevy Impala SS. Factory tach and console for $50. Only thing missing was the 327 and 4 speed.
Parents told me no, they didn't think I had the mechanical skills, so I did it behind their back at a friends house.

Went to the junkyard to buy a nice 396 and 4 speed transmission to stuff it there. It ran pretty darn good!
Took it home when finished and they thought it was a nice car and I could buy it for $350.
Never told them I owned it a month earlier or about the swap.