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Number: 1011
From: asc709
Date: Fri Jul 12, 2002  11:52 am
Subject: My take on things...thinking out loud

Body:
Just a little rant....

Be careful on how you approah a prospective seller. I played my
cards wrong a few years back. I found a 5-speed Azura blue/blue/blue
Recaro car out here that had just about had it. I figured it'd be
cool to fix it up over the next couple of years. A really unique
street machine. Happened to be that a co-worker of mine was his good
friend. I contacted him and inquired about the "McLaren Mustang".
He said he'd think about it. A few days later he told his friend he
would never sell it! He looked up on the internet and found out he
could get $15,000!!! I tried to talk sense into him, but it wouldn't
work.

The car had a slipping clutch, 117k miles, a rat trap interior, no
spoiler, no foglights...a decent body. I've kept in touch and the
owner says he going to fix it up. He parks his Lexus in the drive
but keeps his ASC in the garage. No progress in 3 years....

I let this one slip through my hands. Should have kept my mouth
shut. Still working on it, though.

Another co-worker of mine said he had a 30k miler. Black paint,
black top, grey interior. He was driving his Typhoon...no time for
the McLaren. He purchased it new in 1988, drove it a while, put it
in "storage". Immediately visions of a near perfect McLaren danced
in my head....would he sell it? He said he'd think about it....It
had been parked in Juarez for years. The Southwest sun had baked
the paint, deteriorated the top, tore up the interior. I lost track
of him.

There are 2 ways you can see these cars. Need to be retired OR
passed on to someone who has the time and "magic hands"? I prefer to
think of myself as the latter.

I agree that it is becoming increasingly hard to find a decent car.
Almost every one will need some TLC. I guess the Mustang rage is
what contributed to this. Everyone wants something rare. Take a
look at the message boards and ads. Everyone has some kind of "rare"
combo. T-tops, rare paint, black interior, promo car, limited, I've
even seen one where the guy claimed FoMoCo pulled his LX coupe off
the line and gave it snake badges! Mr "boy racer" finds a McLaren
that needs no list of options to show it's rare and guess what
happens. Unfortunately (and fortunately) these cas are affordable.
There is no prerequisite to own one. When I was looking at the new
2002 GT's the salesman was telling me that his previous customer had
been approved and was scheduled to pick up his car in a couple of
hours, although he had just totalled his 2nd GT! Imagine if he had
his hands on 3 McLarens so easily?

Would I want a 2k mile McLaren in showroom condition? Hell yeah!
I'd end up driving it, though. It'd end up a really nice 80k miler
that served time as a daily driver. I don't have the patience and
won't pretend to. It's my vice. I enjoy people
pointing...talking...giving me ugly looks...admiring.

I want a fixer upper so that I won't be so emotionally crushed when
some jacka** in a mini-van plows the front end...or rear ends me.
Sure I spent alot of time on it, but it's replaceable. It's not so
much of a "crime" to the collector car industry. Plus it's a risk we
all take in driving. Even if you only put 20 miles on it a year!

Back to my search for a fixer upper...if only I could find that
yellow one with the Fronterra Chihuahua plates...

Again, I was just thinking out loud. We're all different.

Robert
'88 #709

	Replies	Name/Email	Yahoo! ID	Date	Size
1012	Re: My take on things...thinking out loud	cigarsandy	cigarsandy	Fri  7/12/2002	6 KB
1013	Re: My take on things...thinking out loud	asc709	asc709	Fri  7/12/2002	7 KB
1014	Re: My take on things...thinking out loud	cigarsandy	cigarsandy	Fri  7/12/2002	8 KB
1017	Re: My take on things...thinking out loud	asc709	asc709	Fri  7/12/2002	9 KB
1018	Re: My take on things...thinking out loud	tasmaniac1	tasmaniac1	Fri  7/12/2002	3 KB
1016	Re: My take on things...thinking out loud	Brent Abrams	ascmclarencoupe	Fri  7/12/2002	9 KB