Anyone sell a sentimental/valuable vehicle to help fund the Bronco?

Your gonna love how much more versatile the Bronco is!
I just did the opposite, and already miss the Bronco. Plus my wife hates me!

I do have a '21 ZR2 Bison as my daily right now, which will be going away whenever the Bronco shows up - so I already have a versatile daily driver.. the Dart was a 'fair weather' car for sure (no windshield wipers, no AC, older car didn't like driving in the 100 degree Sacramento summers, etc).. .but I am definitely looking forward to the next chapter. Plus, we still have my wife's '66 Mustang, which we're doing a V8 conversion on (swapping in an early 90's 5.0), so if I ever get the urge to drive a ridiculously inefficient and obnoxious old car, I'll still have that, LOL

Calgecko

I bought this car (1971 Dodge Dart Swinger, original color is "Citron Yella" - only available in 1971, and only 1% of the Darts came in this color) in 2003, and spent 11 years restoring it and getting it running properly .. did an engine swap (from a 318 to a 360), major upgrades to the transmission, bigger rear end with an Eaton LSD, I rewired the whole car front to back, front brake upgrade, Hotchkis sway bars, all new interior and paint, etc - but I just haven't been driving it much in the past 3 years, so I decided to let her go. It's been about a week and a half now, and it definitely feels weird not seeing her in the garage any more, but I got a fair price for her, and she's with a new owner who is super excited to have her and drive her, and the funds I got will help tremendously towards the cost of my Bronco (if it ever shows up).

So - anyone else make a similar decision to help with the Bronco purchase?

some photos showing how she looked when I bought her, and progress until the finished product:

Love it. What a transformation. Curious why you picked this car? Don't get me wrong, it's great to see something different since so many do a Challenger, Charger or Cuda. Thought maybe there was a story behind it.

Deano Bronc

Love it. What a transformation. Curious why you picked this car? Don't get me wrong, it's great to see something different since so many do a Challenger, Charger or Cuda. Thought maybe there was a story behind it.

yeah, kinda...
My very first car when I was 17 (in 1987) was a 1973 Plymouth Duster - it was yellow, and had the 318 V8. I loved that car, but I was young and dumb, and beat the snot out of it... I ended up getting rid of it, and eventually went to trade school to learn how to do auto body collision repair and refinishing... after working in that trade for about 7 years, I got tired of working on cars and swore I'd never work on another one, and changed careers at 26 years old. Over the years, I overcame my hatred of cars and started getting the itch to have a classic. One day as my wife and I were out for a walk, I saw this Dart for sale in someone's front yard for $500.00. The Dart and my old Duster are both built on the same Mopar A-Body platform, so it definitely struck the "nostalgia nerve" for me. So I agreed, threw in a new battery and drove it home.. then I started learning more about how rare this color was, and how unusual of a factory build it was... which made it that much more interesting for me. Pic of my old Duster for reference:

The wife was not happy with my decision to purchase a new Bronco, so I sold a few pistols that had belonged to my father. He probably would not blame me.

Not to mention, Cuda's and Challengers are way outta my budget. good luck finding a running one in decent condition for reasonable money LOL

I decided that I needed to pull the trigger and just order my Bronco. Was going to wait and buy one used, but used car prices were going up, commodity constraints holding up production. But, the biggest thing was my husband wanting to sell his Jeep. We bought it new in 1984. We raised our 2 sons in the back of that thing. We fit camping gear for 4 in that thing. We wheeled in Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado. We had only been married 6 years when we bought it. It has gone through 2 rebuilds. The only thing original is the VIN plates and the grill. So, if he does find a buyer, it won't be as bad. Start a new chapter in our lives with a new Bronco. Pic was from about 6 years ago at a car show, the photographer asked if he could have some fun with it and then emailed us some of the pics. I will always have my memories!

Darrel

I decided that I needed to pull the trigger and just order my Bronco. Was going to wait and buy one used, but used car prices were going up, commodity constraints holding up production. But, the biggest thing was my husband wanting to sell his Jeep. We bought it new in 1984. We raised our 2 sons in the back of that thing. We fit camping gear for 4 in that thing. We wheeled in Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado. We had only been married 6 years when we bought it. It has gone through 2 rebuilds. The only thing original is the VIN plates and the grill. So, if he does find a buyer, it won't be as bad. Start a new chapter in our lives with a new Bronco. Pic was from about 6 years ago at a car show, the photographer asked if he could have some fun with it and then emailed us some of the pics. I will always have my memories!

yeah, there's not much Jeep left there!! Awesome memories though!! That's one of the things about being a 'car person' - we have much more of a sentimental connection to the vehicles than most - I think it's because of the memories and life experiences associated with them... they're more than just 'transportation' :)

Darrel

I decided that I needed to pull the trigger and just order my Bronco. Was going to wait and buy one used, but used car prices were going up, commodity constraints holding up production. But, the biggest thing was my husband wanting to sell his Jeep. We bought it new in 1984. We raised our 2 sons in the back of that thing. We fit camping gear for 4 in that thing. We wheeled in Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado. We had only been married 6 years when we bought it. It has gone through 2 rebuilds. The only thing original is the VIN plates and the grill. So, if he does find a buyer, it won't be as bad. Start a new chapter in our lives with a new Bronco. Pic was from about 6 years ago at a car show, the photographer asked if he could have some fun with it and then emailed us some of the pics. I will always have my memories!

Just noticed that my husband's '69 Ford Falcon station wagon photo bombed this pic. LOL!

Calgecko

yeah, there's not much Jeep left there!! Awesome memories though!! That's one of the things about being a 'car person' - we have much more of a sentimental connection to the vehicles than most - I think it's because of the memories and life experiences associated with them... they're more than just 'transportation' :)

Well said @Calgecko I could not agree any more!!!

Indirectly... yes.

My father had a 1989 Ford Bronco XLT. I was born in 1988, and my father bought it brand new, so it's the only vehicle that was a constant presence in my life since basically birth. Every one of our family vacations were done in that Bronco growing up and I learned how to drive on that Bronco... so you could say I was super attached to it.

Obviously my dad was well-aware how attached I was to the Bronco so he let me drive it as long as I kept up with the maintenance and insurance. I fully intended on buying it from him after college... but around the 280,000 miles mark it was starting to show its age. It really needed a complete rebuild at that point, but I was a poor college kid at the time and didn't have the time or financial means to take care of it how it should have been taken care of. I kept it running but it definitely was not reliable.

Around that same time the Car Allowance Rebate System (aka: Cash for Clunkers) program popped up, and strictly from a financial perspective it made all the sense in the world to trade it in for a newer vehicle. I didn't want to trade in the Bronco obviously... but eventually reason and logic won. We traded it in and the money from the trade in eventually went to buy a Ford Focus.

Fast forward 12-13 years and I am now trading in that Ford Focus for a new Ford Bronco.

No... the 71 VW Karmann Ghia is staying...2019 Rav4 your out of here.

I would rather sell a kidney than part with a couple of my more sentimental vehicles or simply skip the Bronco altogether.

Here is one of my favs:
- 1974 MGB that my mom bought brand new.

I staged this pic of my oldest daughter at just 1 YO & again at 16 YO when I taught her to drive a manual. The car is now almost 48 years old and has just 57k miles on her. Daughter 1/2 of that YMMV

Darrel

Just noticed that my husband's '69 Ford Falcon station wagon photo bombed this pic. LOL!

Pictures or its not real. :D

Deano Bronc

Pictures or its not real. :D

@Deano Bronc its real, the pic is posted.

It's a truck...a truck, like all the other vehicles, when you drive it off the lot it has already lost value. There will be a short up tick for a small amount of time. They will be available in years to come. IMO selling off stuff for this truck is a bad financial decision. Just my opinion.

Calgecko

I bought this car (1971 Dodge Dart Swinger, original color is "Citron Yella" - only available in 1971, and only 1% of the Darts came in this color) in 2003, and spent 11 years restoring it and getting it running properly .. did an engine swap (from a 318 to a 360), major upgrades to the transmission, bigger rear end with an Eaton LSD, I rewired the whole car front to back, front brake upgrade, Hotchkis sway bars, all new interior and paint, etc - but I just haven't been driving it much in the past 3 years, so I decided to let her go. It's been about a week and a half now, and it definitely feels weird not seeing her in the garage any more, but I got a fair price for her, and she's with a new owner who is super excited to have her and drive her, and the funds I got will help tremendously towards the cost of my Bronco (if it ever shows up).

So - anyone else make a similar decision to help with the Bronco purchase?

some photos showing how she looked when I bought her, and progress until the finished product:

I did a 77 C-3 Corvette :)

Darrel

@Deano Bronc its real, the pic is posted.

Sorry, Ima car guy. Should have said you need to post more pictures of the Falcon wagon. :cool:

vzqhsg

It's a truck...a truck, like all the other vehicles, when you drive it off the lot it has already lost value. There will be a short up tick for a small amount of time. They will be available in years to come. IMO selling off stuff for this truck is a bad financial decision. Just my opinion.

Have you ever heard the phrase "read the room"? :rolleyes: