Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Biggest The one that got away's list them

Im posting this to do nothing more than pout like a little girl. But this sign showed up on craigslist 50 miles from my house for a 100$ i missed being the first caller by 5 minutes. This sign is on my list of must own signs. Dsp 6' in its ring and thats just leaves on the sign. Please list your biggest "the ones that got away"

Story of my life!

Oh god, pout away!!!! Can you start a ''what's the biggest thing that got away" thread with this story? I think that'd be fun to hear some jaw droppers like this.

How well we all know that feeling.

Chances are that every time you have bought a sign or an item...someone else has felt the same disappointment you are experiencing. It's the nature of the beast.

I agree totally with Dave. It seems like I am on a losing streak right now. It is about time for me to get something and not be second or third.

I can't think of any right now, but it has happened. Went back to buy something and it's gone. It's probably a good thing that my memory isn't that good anymore.

I don't even think about these things anymore. Been way too many and not worth the time. Paul www.severngaspumps.com

TRUE STORY: I went to an old woman's house to buy a Fry 17 out of her back yard. She took me through the garage to get back there. I notice a car in the garage with baby blankets and sheets covering it up. Its a '67 Shelby Cobra GT 500 Sherwood Green with 4,750 original miles on the odometer. Son died in 'Nam and it has been there since new but she kept it running and operating from time to time. So I asked her if I could buy the car? She said the neighbor had been bugging her but come back next week. Went back to get the Fry and the Shelby was GONE! Sold the car to the neighbor for $8,500 bucks. The best time to buy something is when you VERY FIRST FIND IT! Goober

I hope that was not recently... These days thats a $200,000+ car isnt it?

EASILY!

This is very true. You might see it again, but with a much larger price tag on it.

Gary.

You see, not all of my picking adventures have been home runs, I took some very costly hard licks along the way as well. That happened in the summer of 2005 and I cried real tears going home that day. They were bragging on Barrett Jackson about a Shelby only having 10,000 miles on it and they thought it was the lowest documented mileage car in the country, wrong again boys. No reason to give up though, who's next? Goober

...from your post, it sounds like you asked if it was for sale, and was told that someone else basically had, in effect, first refusal...if that's the case...well, you can't pass on an opportunity, if you never actually had the opportunity, right?

Right. She was really still undecided on whether or not she was going to sell it the day I was there. Believe me, I tried to get it the first day I saw it. Thats just the way the cookie crumbled gulfiend. Today wasn't so bad, found a perfect G & B T-176 with a good blue cylinder, I really keep hoping to find a Wisconsin visible, thats my type of Shelby... something that nobody has yet. Goob

I had lots of "just missed it" but here is one I got a second chance at it: http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=341171&page=1

I have repressed the memories of such events and hope this post does not trigger them...

I could've had about 3 cases of Invader motor oil quarts that some guy found in a machine shop (cabinet) that he recently purchased. He contacted me and asked me to make an offer...apparently $10-12 a quart (not seeing them) wasn't enough. I told him to sell them on ebay and have fun!

BTT....gotta be more stories....RIGHT!??

It could also be the one that you sold away.

Okay, I'll "Fess-up" and tell a story on me when I was a new-bee. Saw a Lubester in the Shopper Paper for sale, got there early and had first shot at buying it. Glass cylinder pump, and a little Porcelain Texaco sign clamped on it. Well I had just bought a lubester to restore and didn't need another project, so I passed on this one for $100, DUH! Another Old Gasser was there and of course he bought it. He still tells me about selling just the Texaco Plate at Pamona Swap meet for $500 whenever we meet. I hope we can learn from our mistakes.

Summer of 1974,Linda Kolculski.

40 years ago a friend (before I knew him) had a chance to buy an original Norman Rockwell painting for $600, but decided to pay his rent instead. I know, I know, not petro, but one sold in November for over 15 million...

Was the 2nd caller for a Pegasus cookie cutter a few years back for around 700. It was pretty darn clean and about an hr away. Buyer didnt pick it up for a week and I was strung along for the full time...torture. Always have to keep your head up though. Thought that was a one shot in a lifetime miss. 6 months later I found a cleaner one for 600!

I couldn't find these pictures when this post first appeared. Found them today. Lost all these pumps, signs, four cars, VW Single cab and a lot more signs.






It was called: D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Jack Sim

In the late 90's the local Chevy dealer was closing it's doors and the owner was selling everything to the bare walls. In front of the dealership, over the showroom window hung the original Walker & Co sign for this dealership, "Tirb Chevrolet Co". I asked Mr. Tirb what he'd take for it and he said "Shoot me an offer". I gave him a price and he said come back in a week and he'd let me know. After a week had past I stopped back in and he said he had changed his mind and the sign was no longer for sale, spoke of donating it to a local historical museum. This is the same sign that now hangs on the wall of the GM Historical Collection in Sterling Heights, Mi. I still get upset when I see pics of "my sign" hanging there, and I'm a FORD guy!!!

I had the chance to buy this same type of sign off eBay but this sign was in mint condition for 500$ and did not get to the guy in time.

Looks like this thread needs a little action. Here's a couple we wish we had still.

A few weeks ago there was a 36B on craigslist for $300, I called a few times but never got a call back. I'm guessing it sold pretty quick.

Eons ago I was offered 1 complete Roman [$2500] of a pair found, I tried to buy both & ended w/o either. I let Greed kill the deal. Lesson Learned.

Sold this pump for pretty cheap at a swap.....not realizing the plate was worth double, triple the pump price.

When I first got into collecting gas and oil I got a call from an ad I had on a classifieds page for a complete wayne 70. It was a great survivor for $250... and at the time i did't want pumps yet so I passed it up

Most of us on here have seen the Wayne 50 Display pump I was trying to locate months back. Pretty sure the old man sold that for $250. OUCH!!! Thanks for sharing all of your misfortunes as we still all have some nice stuff to be proud of I'm sure.Good day everyone!

Back in the mid-80's my roommate did some plumbing at a house in Chicago's South Suburbs. House was owned by two older brothers who had a Hudson dealership in the area until it closed back in the 50's. Roommate said the entire basement was filled with nothing but NOS parts still in their boxes, stacked to the ceiling, thousands of them. The brothers were afraid Hudson would send someone out someday to collect all their parts back and the brothers didn't want to get in trouble. I was out of work at the time so didn't even bother to check into it. Maybe it was for the better as I would have probably cried.
Ken

Early in my hobbie I was given a complaint of garbage/rubbish in and around a old abandoned sunoco gas station off one of our back streets.
Nobody knew who owned it anymore (taxes unpaid) and the story was it was operating one day and not the next way back when.
The town wanted it gone and was asking us to possibly find and cite the owner to clean up before they had used the town DPW guys and equipment.
This was a while ago but I do remember there being alot of gas stuff inside, like they said, just left there. A air pump was on the building I do remeber, along with pumps out front but I forget what kind.

You have to know..that back then I was just getting into collectiong and I was soda stuff only. I didnt see any machines or signs so I didnt persue it further. Although the building had quite a few gas/oil inside along with displays and such.

Long story short..We never located the responsible party and the town came in and leveled the place about 4 months later. Everything was loaded into a rolloff and never seen again.

Those kinds of stories do make one think (what if) , maybe someone saved a few things but sounds like it all went to the dump and buried . Makes one a little sick for sure.

sorry but another sad story...
Some years ago I saw that "for sale" signs were being put up on our local GULF station - closed since many years and FULL of stuff.
I contacted the broker and got the price for the buildings etc... three days later I see a man tearing down signs from the building :-( I approach him and ask him to take it easy - he doesn't understand why! He was actually a car mechanic who was going to open up the shop again.
I asked for the owner and he told me to come back. I came back and back and...finally got hold of the owner. He looked a bit ashamed and admitted that he probably had made a fool of himself...
I asked why and the man tells me he had thrown away everything from the building, garages and the shop - three large dumpsters.
Needless to say I was devastated!
I managed to save a lighted sign and an old oil barrel.
br
Claes