Regal Fever and the Best Known Cure

Image: http://www.americarclassics.com/ 

Oh boy did I have Regal Fever!  For the past two weeks.  It was bad.  Not a "Back 'er Down" type of move AT ALL!  Thankfully I'm over it now thanks to a good conversation with my Dad.  We never even focused on the car, but the message was still there.  Funny how it all works out sometimes

It all started when I was a teenager.  My first car was a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass.  It was a great car that served me well all the way through college.  (There was a six month span where I blew the transmission out of the olds and drove a 1973 Dodge pickup....The Orange Monster....That's a whole other blog)  While working in downtown Savannah the car was stolen.  Broad daylight.  Hot-wired.  Recovered three weeks later.  Completely stripped.  I never got closure for that whole situation.  So here I sit 10 years later.  I've paid the bills and I have some money.  I got a little giddy at the prospect of getting another Cutlass.  Then I just started getting greedy.  I figured that if I was going Cutlass shopping I should just go ahead and look for it's smoking hot older sister, a T-Type Buick Regal.  I found several, but I found one in my hometown, with 27,000 original miles.  GASP!  I came very close to pulling the trigger.  Despite everything I've done saving money over the last couple of years.  Despite the fact that I know I need it like I need a hole in my head.  Despite the fact that it would get 12 miles to the gallon.  Despite the fact that it was a dumb idea.  I was ALMOST ready to pull the trigger!

Luckily my old man came over for a visit.  He's always good for a reality check ;)  He never said "Don't buy that thing."  We did get into a conversation about life, our economy and our country.  We talked about the early 80's and how he lost his farm and how things were when he was a little boy.  We talked about the fact that smart people hold their money in situations like these.  I don't know if he talked about all that on purpose or not.  We talk like that all the time, but it struck a different chord this time.

I had rationalized in my mind that if I bought this car that I could eventually resell it and at least get my money back.  (I rarely buy anything that isn't for sale two days later.)  That might have been the case, but it was pushing it just a little bit.  This particular car would be targeted for resale to a collector....... that guy with money......who would probably be holding onto his money if things don't get better soon.

The stock market has me a little concerned right now.  I have some in it, but I want to keep some of it at hand.  I feel a need to put my cash in some tangibles right now.  So the question really became where can I put it to be safe and get a possible return.  Been doing it with tractors for years, but tractor buying time is in the late fall and early winter.  Gold is past my comfort zone.  If silver comes back down, maybe I'll get back into that.  I see third-world militias on TV all the time riding around in early 80's Toyota pickups.  Those are some tough little suckers.  Maybe that's where I need to be.  I finally decided that a pristine 87 Regal probably isn't the best place right now.  A good solid $1,000 Regal maybe.  I could turn that for a Donk conversion in a heartbeat.  The collector market is just a little too shaky right now.

I still want T-Type.  One day I'll get one.  Just isn't the right time.  Glad I have that visit last night.  Dads continue being Dads no matter how old you are :)

Y'all take it easy,

Alex