Cars, falling in and out of favor... decisions... decisions...

Kent Dorsey

PCS Member / Funeral Director
I have been struggling with an issue over whether I want to sell one of my cars. I have acquired two in the last six months and that has pushed my storage space to the limit.
Right now, with seven hearses and one high top ambulance, I have a six car garage, one place at home to keep a car, and an aluminum car shed that will hold two - but the funeral home van stays in one place.
Sometime last year with the '78 ambulance, I reached a point similiar to what I reached with the 1964 Superior Combination - I felt like I had all my fun with it. There wasn't a lot of seller regret after the '64 went, and the funeral home that bought it markets it and uses it on funerals...
After acquiring the '85 Eureka and the '81 S &S, I reached a point where I thought I would be happier to walk into the six car garage and see only the hearses lined up. The ambulance has been a lot of fun, it's my favorite year of Cadillacs, and color and styling are great... As a side note, I have a lot of folks in my community who actually think I took a hearse, painted it red and white, and stuck lights on it to look like the '59 in Ghostbusters. You can see why I don't care much for that movie...
However, I put the '76 M-M up for sale twice, and now I'm glad it didn't sell, with the new drapes in it, it sure looks stately now...
In frustration, today I managed to get the six car garage (2 deep, 3 bay) with seven cars in it... the '92, '90, '81, and '97 are packed in the front like sardines and I don't care for that either... I have the '73, '78, and '76 across the back and was going to take the '85 home.
So, how do you decide when you are going to sell and not regret it? I had been in a mood for weeks to sell the '78, and today in mood to keep it, yet the crowded garage is frustrating...
What say ye?
 
That is always a tough decision to make. Some times you have to trust your gut. If you have had you fun with it and there is not as much love for it anymore its time to go. Im doing that with a 70 olds rallye 350 i have had for 20years now. My dad had a national show winner of one of them, and i rember it when i was growing up and had to find one,"they only made 2400 of them" so i found a surviver car and i still like it when i look at it but my intrest/ desire of cars has change over time. So mythought is its up for sale at a fair price, im not giving it away but also not top dollar, if it goes great if not now oh well. But there always seems to be more stuff to take up space that fall in our laps. If you know what i mean.
 
I feel your pain

My garage space is also at near max. With my funeral home garages filled and all my garages at home filled, I find it tough to move around. However, it pains me to sell a car (even a used up rusty parts car). This being said, I can always find room for an additional car..such as a 77, 78 or 79 3-way or a 66 cadillac hearse! Unless my wife finds out!:drama:
 
Back in the '90s when I kept a fleet of 12-15 cars most of the time, the same situation arose more often than I care to remember now. Storage was always an issue. Mainly though, when another came available that I couldn't afford is when serious assessing occurred.

From a strictly analytical viewpoint, I would look at the collection and figure out which would be the easiest to replace in the future. Low man on the totem pole left. In doing so, seller's remorse never took root as time passed because emotions were left out.

Another strict rule to adhere to? Sell when you have a buyer. ;)
 
WOW Kent. Whats the serial number on the 85? Is it front or rear wheel drive? Just being nosey. Wondering if the serial number is close to mine.
 
I know the feeling. I'm out of storage space, and there's another ambulance that, either I'll save it, or it'll be junked. What to do?
... So, how do you decide when you are going to sell and not regret it?...
You may never not regret it. Just look at the '73 S&S we sold a few years ago (remember this thread). It wasn't my favorite car, but it was a nice car. We sold it to a collector who really, really wanted it, and it ended up junk. Unless you sell it and someone else brings it to shows (like Blackie does with the DeSoto he bought from us), you may never not regret it.

But when you look at it and say, "this has got to go," then it's time.
 
so are you collecting or enjoying. if your collecting replace the tin shed with a pole barn and keep them all. if your enjoying keep, the one you like to use. that's what I'm doing with this Seville
 
Well, my 2 pennys worth, the ambulance seems to be the greatest heartburn from your description so I would put it on the block along with one other hearse that you feel is the least desirable from whatever factors are important to you. Whichever one sells first goes off the roster, cut and dry. The other stays. Sometimes you just have to shut your eyes and hit the gas, what happens, happens.
 
My garage space is also at near max. With my funeral home garages filled and all my garages at home filled, I find it tough to move around. However, it pains me to sell a car (even a used up rusty parts car). This being said, I can always find room for an additional car..such as a 77, 78 or 79 3-way or a 66 cadillac hearse! Unless my wife finds out!:drama:

Ummm... ask your wife to leave the room... :YesNo:


Ok, now that it's safe, I have a friend wanting to sell his '79 Superior 3-way. It has body damage (he opened up one side of it on a guardrail about a year ago) but all the glass is good, as well as the interior. It'll be plenty affordable and as soon as he gives me a price i'll pass it along to you. He just emailed me tonight asking if I knew anyone looking before he advertises it himself. This coach is in Iowa...If you're interested i'll put the two of you together!
 
Resurrecting an old thread...

A follow up...I did sell the '78 Transport last August. For me, I went through THREE periods in 12 months where I wanted to sell it. Each period would last for about 3-4 weeks... weighing all the good and the bad. Eventually, someone would say something (STEINBERG: "you'll never get it back...") that would tell me to keep it. But when I went through it for the third time, I knew it may be time.
Adding to that was a fantastic buyer/seller relationship that made the sale easy for me...
(As a side note, and don't jump on me for this, but I have decided I am the wrong personality to own a combination or ambulance, I was just sick of folks who hollered those comments we discussed earlier. People around here were not accustomed to a straight ambulance... Everything with them was Ghostbusters... my concealed weapon permit was going to leave someone running from flying bullets eventually...)
 
will I regreat selling my ambulance, I'm the guy for it I'll trade you a combo. then I would have 3 ambulances and one combo here. along with the 6 door. but like you a hate to see anything out side.
 
I would be very happy to assist as I am impartial to other folks coach's. I think that if you asked me, I would give you a unbiased consult after looking at your fleet. Just a suggestion. Start with some simple criteria, The one with the highest mileage. The last one that you would stick any extra money in if you had the cash to work on them. And so it would work for me to make a choice. Sometimes leaving it up to other folks can put a different perspective on the situation. Yes, invite a friend over you trust and can discuss with.
 
I know the feeling. I think off and on of selling some of my cars, make up the ads for them, and after a few days wonder what I was thinking. I have thought of selling my 49 many times because I know I will never get it to my satisfaction, then I drive it and fall in love with it all over again. I have sold 8 of my procars and will always regret about half of my decisions.
 
I personally can tell you it is not an easy decision. After searching for years to get a Criterion, I sell it. Do I have regrets, not one. It went to a better home and will get the attention it deserves. I had almost two years of fun with it and that is what it is all about. Now had I had the space and the bucks to make it right I would not have sold it.
Best of luck with your decision.
 
I have sold many cars over the years and a lot of them I have had no regret what so ever. But every Pro-Car I have sold I have had some type of regret. The 81 Victoria probably being the biggest regret of them all. There is just something about Pro-Cars I get more attached to.

As far as trying to decide what to sell, I wouldn't go by what anyone else thinks, its all about what you like and what makes you happy. Which car do you look at or drive the least, or which one are you least likely to get out and take to a PCS meet. It can be a very hard and stressful decision.

Josh
 
I personally can tell you it is not an easy decision. After searching for years to get a Criterion, I sell it. Do I have regrets, not one. It went to a better home and will get the attention it deserves. I had almost two years of fun with it and that is what it is all about. Now had I had the space and the bucks to make it right I would not have sold it.
Best of luck with your decision.

"Failure is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently." Henry Ford :smiley_w_ballbat:
 
Everyone has different preferences, based on model year, coachbuilder, style, hearse or ambulance, etc. Only you can make the final decision, but if it were up to me, since '80's cars don't give me the slightest tingle, the '81 and '85 would both go. Tom
 
In the 25 years I've been collecting professional cars, I've bought and sold more than I ever imagined I would. I've never really bought a car with the intention of selling it and making money. I've sold for a variety of reasons including needing money for college, a friend wanted a specific car, and a particular car just didn't suit me. I regret selling some, others not. It makes me sick that at least two cars that were in great shape when I sold them are now trash.

I've always wished that I'd never sold my first car, a 1968 Superior Cadillac 51" ambulance. However, I now own a 1968 Miller-Meteor Cadillac Classic 48 ambulance that I patiently waited 13 years for. I would have preferred to keep the silver '68 M-M combination I sold to Ed Renstrom last year. However, I know Ed will do right by the car and the garage space will soon be occupied by another Miller-Meteor that we are bringing home from Iowa (a car I would not even have known about had it not been for the trust a friend and fellow PCS member placed in me to keep quiet about this car when he was first in line to acquire it.)

I am very interested in 1970s Cadillac ambulances, especially Miller-Meteors. We were fortunate to acquire a custom spec'd '75 Lifeliner from a good friend in 2003. And of course, most of you know the circumstances surrounding our beloved 1973 Superior Cadillac Crown Sovereign combination. So, we've come by all of our cars in some special way and they all have significance due to being styles I like and associated sentimental value.

A piece of (unsolicited) advice I would offer to fellow collectors, especially those new to the hobby: If there is a specific vehicle or type of vehicle you desire, try to find it! This usually takes time and requires an incredible amount of patience. If you have some extra money, don't buy the first thing that comes along just to say you have a coach...try to reasonably identify what you want and seek it out (I know, everybody wants that pristine '59 Cadillac professional car that's socked away in a garage just waiting to be discovered.) Well, stranger things have happend; I never dreamed I'd find some of the cars I have found (and came to own.)

The old car hobby is fascinating and can be so much fun. You just have to decide what it is that really interests you and how much effort - and patience - you are willing to invest in finding it.
 
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