First car was $175 in 1977 for 1967 Coronet 4-Door 440 model, 318 with 727 and 8-3/4" rear, less than 40,000 miles it was my Aunts car, she bought a Dodge Aspen. Car was in good shape, but the engine was carboned up bad. Ran when I got it, but had to pull the engine apart, pry the rings out of the pistons, scrape the piston ring lands clean. Put back together with new rings, bearings, gaskets and had a valve job done on the heads. Daily drove this car for maybe a year before I started racing it with the usual 318 upgrades 4-bbl intake & Carb, headers, 284/0.484" purple shaft cam, various gear sets.
First truck was $1,000 I think in 1979 for a 1973 Power Wagon Sno-Fighter 318, 727, 8-3/4 rear, dana 44 front axle. Truck was pretty rough when I got it. Only drove it as-is for a short time (maybe a month) before modifying it. Built a nice 360 engine for it 4-bbl, headers, Crower Baja Beast cam and such, like rebuild everything, body and paint, interior. This became my daily driver through High School, and to around 1985. I kept the truck until around 1990?
Around 1985, paid $300 for a 1973 Audi 100 LS 4-speed from my neighbor looking for a car with better fuel economy. Car smoked. had a loose valve guide. I overhauled the engine (same pistons) and painted the car, had to fix a bunch of wiring under the dash, and got better condition seats from another '73 Audi LS that was in a junk yard. Became daily driver, but heater didn't work well in the winter.
1986 paid $75 for a 1968 Polara 4-door hardtop? (no post between the door windows) 318, 727, 8-3/4". Car belonged to a friend of my brother who got it from his Grandma. He couldn't get it running and wanted to use it as a demolition derby car. The car was actually in very nice condition. The issue was the alternator shorted and burn't the fusible link. Fixed that and it ran great. Needed tires, so I tool my old rims/tires off the '67 Coronet and put them on the car (Light Blue rims on this White car.) over time, had to rebuilt the transmission, and put a muffler on it. One cold day the speedometer stuck and snapped off the indicator. Got a replacement. Drive this car on and off as needed and in the winter.
I think around the same 1985-86 time period, I bought a 1968 Dodge D250 Truck. Paid $300 for it but the 383 engine had thrown a rod. I was looking for something for hauling stuff and the old 1973 Power wagon was only a 1/2 ton. The '68 had the Dana 60 axle and the 16.5" split rims, but I bought some 8-lug hurricane rims for it. The hard part was finding left hand thread full-duplex lug nuts. I put the 360 from the '83 truck into the '68 (had to use a small block transmission) and used that truck for a few years when I needed to haul stuff around. I think around 1991 or 1992 I sold it to a friend.
1989 when I bought the '71 Charger 500 383-4, 727, 8-3/4" for $550. Body was pretty beat up, but it actually ran. Didn't matter as I tore the car apart and started rebuilding everything and doing the body and paint work. From the title, looks like 1992 was when the car was back on the road.
1994 I bought the 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T Hardtop for $700. Pretty much a basket case, It had been raced and the interior stripped. The guy I got if from started restoring it. Body is pretty good, but needs the trunk/lower quarters as usual.
1995 I bought the 1969 Dodge Coronet 500 Hardtop for $800. Originally was looking for a parts car for the R/T, but this car is way too nice to part out. After fixing a bunch of vacuum leaks and a tune up it drove good, but not much power from the 318, 904, and 7-?? rear axle. Pretty solid and straight original paint, wheels, hubcaps, ect.. The bad is the top was cut off and roof painted, but water got around the rear window, and trunk. I patched the rear window metal and still need to fix the trunk. Lower quarters are still intact, but can see rust bubbles under the paint, so more metal work.
2001 is when I bought the 1969 Coronet R/T Convertible. Paid alot more for it $$,$$$
Some other cheap cars I bought with/for my brother:
$200 for a 1968 Pontiac Firebird with 350 engine, power glide transmission. Originally green. I did body work and painted it metalic gray. Was going to rebuilt the 350 Pontiac engine that the previous owner dropped the carb stud down the intake and bent a valve, but my brother found and bought a 350 Buick engine for it. He didn't know it was not a direct swap, but not a hard swap, mainly different motor mounts on the frame and re-locating the wiring I think the starter was on the other side of the engine? Being my brothers first car, he had an accident in it soon after it was painted, fender and bumper damage, but he drove the car (and some of my cars) until after he graduated High School.
Found a deal, $200 for another 1967 Coronet 2-Door 440 Model, 318, 727, 8-3/4" that my brother started fixing up. But he lost interest in it and I was too busy to do much with it.
Body was good, but it needed all the interior re-done. It ran, but overheated so it wasn't driven much. I think got rid of the car after a year or two.
My brother was not good at buying decent cars, but had several bad ones he picked up cheap. I recall a ratty 1970's Subaru DF? Drove shortly before a half shaft broke, A clapped out 1971 Vega shell (was going to be his "race car"), I think a 1980 Ford Escort in poor condition that someone broke into not noticing the radio was already gone.
