I usually post over at the History place since I'm into very low mileage original cars. But this one seemed a more fitting place to post this. It's one of those things you just have to get off your chest! EDIT: I just realized I spelled "Simplest" wrong in the title - My Bad

I've been buying and shipping cars for two decades, but today was one of the most interesting ever. I sold my '89 TTA to a guy in Canada. I've had the money for over a week, and the shipper showed up today. It was all going great this week, just wondering when something would happen :-)

I've driven this TTA only 4 miles in the 1 1/2 year I owned it, and the odometer is at 1,210 right now. It hadn't been started and taken outside for well over a year, until I dropped a battery in it today and fired it up. Fired up perfectly!

So the shipper is there, and the car is sitting there running flawlessly while the driver is doing the inspection. A police officer pulls up and said there was a call about possible suspicious activity, like a car theft. After realizing he was serious, I showed him all the stuff on the car, gave him my business card, etc. Everything was cool, and I was glad people would call the police.

While the officer is talking to me about the car, the TTA just dies. I thought maybe the driver had shut it off while doing his inspection. Turns out he didn't. The officer leaves, and the driver writes "SHOWROOM" on the inspection form. So I get back in the car to start it and help get it on the trailer. Crank, crank, crank, etc etc etc.

Ther'es nothing but a few miserable attempts to idle ... And when I'd put it in drive to go forward, it would just die. Eventually it just stopped even trying to fire up. Correct PASS key? Check! Fuel gauge? Full! Bad fuel? Shouldn't be, I put Stabil in it. After about 15 minutes of being really annoyed, thinking I was going to need to refund the buyer's money, I started thinking of obvious things.

So I asked the driver to watch the car to let me go get fuel ... Just in case that was it. It was at least worth a try! The shipper/driver said, "But the gas gauge shows full." My '82 Vette (454 miles) that I shipped earlier this week also read full even when it wasn't ... Not totally uncommon for cars that don't fill and empty their tanks often.

So I was hoping like crazy the gauge was wrong, and the car was just out of gas. I doubted it, but I managed to keep my cool. I went and bought a couple of gallons of the good stuff, put it in the TTA, knew it would take a few cranks to get fuel to the engine, and turned the key. After just a few seconds, VROOM VROOM .... Ready to rumble. It was way more excitement than I needed at the end of a long week!

But the good news is that it ran out BEFORE it went on the truck, and not during the journey. I also realized that a full gauge doesn't mean that much when you've not personally put fuel in the car, and have only driven it four miles the whole time you've had it. I had no way to know it wasn't actually full. I felt stupid - But it ended well ...

I think the TTA was just trying to make sure it was the car I would ALWAYS remember!!! Or maybe it was pissed I never let it go outside, and then I was just putting it on a truck. These cars have souls you know :-) I still have my pictures though >> http://mohotcars.com/tta.html and a good shipping story to tell my kids!

Mike

 

Beautiful

 

And a solid bit of advice for everyone here: never assume anything.

 

Maybe next time, shake the car to see how much sloshing you get?

 

Wow, nice collection.. how much for the '82 CE?

 

WOW Nice collection! And looking at all 4 cars I bet the Viper has the most milage :P MINT MINT MINT I only could dream someday to own a low milage car like that that is 20+ years old!

Jay

 

hmm...

does that IROC happen to have a red leather interior?

 

It was a nice collection, but it was time to cycle them out. I sold the '82 Vette CE for $45K a couple of weeks ago. Just 450 miles on that thing! The TTA is probably the best investment car, but the IROC is my sentimental favorite since I graduated HS in '85 and wanted one. It took me 20+ years to get some of the cars I dreamed about in my teen years, but I finally got it done. And the Viper was just wicked, but it was too nice ... I need to own a car or two that I can DRIVE, and not worry about the collector value.

And like another person said >> Never assume anything! No fuel ... Who would have thought it. Apparently ME now :-)

EDIT: You couldn't get leather in an '85 IROC. This is the vinyl in the level 3 package - I think it looks like leather only because of the color and the new shape it is in. I believe I also have the IROC sold ... I'll miss it too!

Mike

 

Exactly why I'll never own a really nice car.

 

same here.. I think when I get my next car finished, with its glass smooth black painted self I'm not going to want to drive it anyplace... I figure that will last maybe a month and I will go to town on it like a new pair of shoes, that need to get roughed up so I can stop worrying about them

and my firebird is a joke, despite the amount of work I've put into it.. theres always something new waiting to break or fall off.. thats cool with me, I've taken this car everywhere :P

 

Don't get me wrong - There are good reasons to own really low mileage collector cars. One, I do enjoy having them and trailering them to the occasional show. Two, it's just cool to have them and remember a simpler time. Three, you can make a great return on them if you buy/sell right, which of course allows you to pay for the cars you actually drive.

I've never regretting owning unique things like these cars - It's awesome. It just goes in cycles, and the cycle now is for something I can just enjoy in a different way. I made good money on these cars, and loved being their caretaker the past couple of years. Having them made my smile ...

Mike