Well, I'm struggling with the thought of selling my 1970 Skylark. I recently bought a GS455, so the Skylark sits in storage now. The car is decent, some rust, and a couple dents, but overall not too bad. I am the second owner, and bought it 1991 from the original owner. I started getting interested in it this spring again. But, I found a restored 71 GS, and bought it. It is my baby now. I don't have plans on doing anything with the car soon, and it is costing $100 a month to store it. Should I sell the car? I could put the money into the GS and make it even nicer...but I am emotionally attached to my Skylark. What would you guys do???
I'm not really at the how much stage yet. Like I said, I am really struggling with the thought right now. I have over 150 digital pictures though (Jim Burek has a whole picture album full...we talked about a restoration). Heres just a couple. Its really a pretty solid car. It has the normal rusted right front battery tray/inner fender, and some rust around the lower rear quarters etc. It's all original though, with the window sticker. Kinda cool I guess.
If it is $100 a month that you can't afford, and you are planning on keeping the GS for a long time, than I say you should sell it. Short term, you will never really have the time or money (or desire, now that you have the GS) to drive it, as you will be busy with the other car.
Chris, I hear ya. But, once its sold, that's it. I bought it when I was 18. Damn, those were the good old days!
If it really means that much to you, $100 a month isn't really all that much... Less than $5 a day. Small price to pay to keep something that close to you. But if you're sure that its never going to get done or drivin, then its better that you get rid of it to someone who will enjoy it. Rather then spend that money each month for it to sit and rot. Not to mention $100 @mo. will go along way to restoreing the GS. Just my .02 I still regret parting out my swiss cheese GS....
$100 a month can buy lots of goodies. You don't or cant park it on your property or on the street??? Maybe someone would take or keep the car to work on and restore it for you. And give them $100 a month. with Maybe a $1000 or so up front for parts.
I dunno. Thats a hard question that I am wrestling with right now. I have had a 70 Lark for 10+ years. I am the 2nd owner of this solid car. I also have a 68 Vert that I am in the middle of a body off resto and a 46 Merc that is always needing something. It makes no sense to keep the '70, but I love that car. I'll bet I have driven that car 70,000 miles. Anyway, I'm not trying to hijack your thread, just let you know you are not alone. If the car is just going to sit and rot, sell it. Let someone else get the enjoyment of working on and driving a great car. Now you know what I'm going to do Good luck :TU:
Keep it. It's only going to increase in value and a c-note/month is nothing in the grand scheme of things. You'll end up kicking yourself about the "one that got away" if you sell it.
Dont sell you will regret it. I regret selling my Riviera, and like Gary said, there only going up in value and there not making anymore. Goodluck.
I wouldn't sell it. I've had my '71 GS w/350 since I was 19, my first car. Bought it in 1985. I'll never sell it because I know I'll regret it, even though I'd much rather have a 455 car. Another point about your car. You have many expensive original parts that look to be very straight on your car. If you ever need them, they could be a gold mine. Finding good straight '70 parts is not easy. You have a whole car worth of great parts free of charge if you ever need them for the GS, especially if you ever get a '70. No way I'd sell that car! :TU:
My take may differ from others but I have been down your road.I too am the 2nd owner of my car. I seldomly drove the car, but was dissapointed in the performance in it, so pulled the engine to upgrade in this area. Long story short, I had to move into a place that required me to store my car. I figured 6 months at the most 6 months. Was I wrong..... 4 years and almost $7700.00 later (160 a month for me to store close to the house)I got the car out of storage. You stating you dont plan to do anything soon to me is why I shared my experience. I could have bought a really nice car for what I had in storage alone! Grand National even :Brow: If I had a do-over, I would have sold mine. I just have too much money into things that did absolutely nothing to improve any area of my car. I didnt sell it because I too had an emotional attachment to the car. Now I question my own intelligence about how I could have made that foolish of a financial decision. I like the car but......It is a car. I didnt have 160 a month extra to spend at times and had to do various things(extra jobs, borrow) to make ends meet. Thats my take......
I bought a 67 GS 400 from a guy with a story like Wayne's. He had the car in storage for 6-7 years at $160 per month. Yes, that is over $10k in storage fees. I bought the car for under $4k. You do the math.
Yeah... its a no brainer when you think of it like that, but it's unrealistic. I'd be looking at ways to cut something out of my budget to pay for storage... something like all the money I waste on Coke ou: (probably could've bought a concourse GSX if I'd only have saved all those 99 cents over that last 20yrs ) The problem is actually doing it. Saving money to keep a car is alot easier than saving money for a extended period to buy one later. It took me 3 months to save up for my SP1... Yet I still had fast food for lunches and 1-2 cokes each day. Something about actually haveing the object makes it more important. (or maybe that's just me ou: )lol I guess the most important thing is that whatever you do... make sure that $100 each month actually goes to a BUICK... That might make selling the car easier on ya... if you do.
How many times have you heard a guy start a conversation with.."I used to have a......, I sure wish I would have held on to that one". I have a bunch of those stories. If the $100 a month is to expensive for ya sell it. It's a nice looking car. But if you can swing the storage and you think you'll always want it... keep it until you have a garage big enough to keep it in. :TU:
Derek, From a guy who KNOWS :TU: ; I have never had "enough space" to keep ALL of my Buicks in ONE place, but somehow I "managed" to keep them, without having to "pay" for storage. Even recently, I was considering a Garage/Workshop (last WEEK, as a matter of fact!), for $100/month. 40' Long x 15' Wide x 24' Tall (big enough for 4 Skylarks, with a Loft area for Overhead storage!):eek2: When I realized that would be $100/month x 12 months= $1,200/Year, I thought I could USE "$1,200" to build my 455's, better than just to "pay SOMEONE ELSE" to let MY CAR sit in HIS GARAGE, instead!:Smarty: I decided to clean out my OWN garage, instead!:TU: Dad has my '70 Skylark in HIS garage. Father in Law has my restored Convertible in HIS garage. Another buddy has my '70 GS in HIS yard. Another buddy has my '70 Skylark in HIS driveway. AND, I STILL have TWO MORE that I just spent the last 3 DAYS rearranging MY OWN GARAGE (moving 350's, 455's, Heads, Intakes, Exhaust Manifolds, Transmissions, Seats, Consoles, Interiors, Fenders, Bumpers, etc.!:shock: ), just to MAKE room to get the CARS in! I've done in 3 DAYS, what I HAVEN'T done in 18 YEARS! All my Buick parts are now BOXED and LABELED, and on SHELVES, so I know WHERE to find what I'm looking for, as I need parts to finish my '72 GS. DON'T SELL YOUR CAR, Derek! You WILL regret it, eventually! I never "sold" any of my ex-Skylarks, I've GIVEN them all away, to close friends that I've helped to restore them.:bglasses: My biggest regret, though, only because of the (as you say) "Emotional" attachment: I owned my "First" Skylark ('71 2 Door), for 10+ years, until around '98, when I gave it away to my best friend. We put in a fresh 350, rebuilt trans., restored it as a Yellow GSX Stage 2 lookalike, but the Brake system needed to be replaced. He didn't want to spend the money, and that was the ONLY thing it needed. I still have the PIECES of the car that I ASKED for (Stage 2 Hood/Hoodscoop, Rear Spoiler/Trunk lid, Fenders, some interior pieces, etc.), as HE junked the rest of the car. I should have NEVER gotten rid of it, or I'd STILL HAVE IT, to this day, and I'd probably be DRIVING it, TOO! :ball: :Smarty: As a Financial Advisor (my career), I would tell you to find "other ways" to SAVE money, to PAY for the storage. For example: Do you have Cable TV or Satellite?o No: Figure $45/month to WATCH TV!ou: GET RID OF THAT! That's $45/month to BUY BUICK PARTS, or PAY towards your STORAGE unit, or WHATEVER you want to use it for! $45/month x 12 months= $540! What WOULD you buy with $540? Instead, you're GIVING that money away to the Cable company!.ou: Wherever you can "CUT" costs (ANY or ALL of the "extra" expenses that you have), is Money in your Pocket (or a Savings account), to use for "something else" that you would RATHER have!:Smarty: If you do decide to "get rid of" the Skylark, then KEEP THE "GOOD" PARTS for your OTHER Buicks, at least! Once they're GONE, and you decide, later, that you NEED certain "good" parts, you'll end up PAYING 3 times MORE for the parts that you WILL need, compared to what you have ALREADY spent for the parts that you NOW have!:Smarty:
what you should do is sell the car to someone that you know and tell them if they ever go to sell the car, to tell you first. so you can get the car back if you want it. my brother was thinking of selling his 2002 Trans Am and he was really close to doing the same thing. but if you like the car too much to even do that then just keep it and look for cheaper places to store it.
