Thread: I Miss Those Days....

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I'm not sure what triggered the memory, but I miss those days when the newspaper had want ads of things folks wanted to sell. In the Sunday paper back in the '70's there was probably a dozen pages of cars for sale, and another page or two of car parts. I remember looking through the Kansas City Times in late '76 or early '77, after I'd been working long enough to have a couple of nickels to rub together in my pocket, trying to find a '65 or '66 Mustang Fastback for sale, and proclaiming that there was no way I was paying almost $2000 for a 10 year old car! Where's Mr Peabody's Wayback Machine!! I'd run through the available cars, especially the "Other" section that listed hot rods and customs, then run down the engines for sale, wondering about the Hemi's and 427 Side Oilers - and the 409's that had that "look" with the unique valve covers.

Just reminiscing a bit about simpler times, years before the internet and even the personal computer! Ya' know, I'm not sure things weren't better before instant access to information on handheld computers we call "phones".

Ya'll have a great day!

i did not look at the paper so much for the want adds as i worked at a junkyard in the early 70`s and every car i ever wanted was there at one time or another .. i waited every Monday for the sports section because my local paper listed drag racing results nationwide .. i was a Bob Glidden fan even back then and loved seeing him win .. they even listed each round results and qualifying .. i never saw drag racing on tV as they only covered maybe indy on wide world of sports ..

Unfortunately the newspapers of today are but a shell of what they used to be. It appears that many, especially those in a large circulation area are controlled by those who are pushing an agenda and the actual reporting of the news is being thrown to the wayside.
I believe the reporting of the actual news, or the lack thereof, was fostered by the Vietnam War and has gone downhill since.

Your post brought a smile to my face Roger. I sometimes miss those days too. The want ads, the junk yards, subscriptions to magazines….. about the only things left that comes to mind are the swap meets and car shows.

The first car I bought when I got stationed in AZ was a 58 Chevy 2dr sedan. I’d been hunting for either a 57/8 Plymouth or a 58 Chevy to build. After searching all the local junk yards I came across this one in the Tucson paper (yeah I saved the ad LOL).


58 ad by M Patterson, on Flickr


I took the day off and went up to look at it (threw the tow bar in the back of the truck “just in case”). Long story short the title turned out to be for a different car but a couple hours later I flat towed it home hooked to the back of my Vega pickup…….and that’s a whole different story


58 Start by M Patterson, on Flickr


I pretty much got what I paid for (I guess )

But 2 years to the day this is what I had turned it in to.

58 Chevy by M Patterson, on Flickr


Thanks for triggering the memories.




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Yes, I remember those times. I was a paperboy so after making my deliveries and having dinner - I'd get some time to search the for sale and wanted ads. I even sold a 65 Mustang Fastback in the paper once. Was a 6 cylinder car but I stuffed a SBF into it that I swiped from an Aunts Galaxie wagon that was sitting to close to a scrap pile. LOL oops! That one ate front tires and the rear tires kept spinning even when the fronts didn't turn.. HMmmm LOL.

My favorite Bob Glidden car. Not his winningest but my fave.

Time do march on and change gonna come. For a time in the early '70s I put food on the table by scrounging stuff. One venture was household stuff like you'd see in a garage sale, though those were the early days. We'd sell at a buddies house because the customer draw in his area was way better than where I lived. Most garage sale ads in the paper were a couple lines of info with the location. Our ad listed everything we had available, probably 5-7" long ad. When the g salers planned their buying route we figured to be their first stop. It worked pretty well.

The other endeavor was fluorescent lights. I would find commercial remodel projects and hit up the contractor for the lights. I paid a dollar or less each but that was a deal for both of us. I got inventory, he got money for stuff that was usually dumpster fill. I had a contract with the newspaper for my daily ad......."big time business". Usually a 4-6 column inch ad. I cleaned up the fixtures, made them work and sold out of my garage.

Then there was the time the cops knocked on my mother's door following up on a 7-11 burglary involving her Mustang fastback that she'd wrecked a year before..............but that's another story.

I knew my father-in-law for less than a year, lost him to cancer that was in his bones when discovered, but he was a gem! A used car wholesaler, buying from individuals or the auction, and selling to the dealers. He would be up on Sunday morning, waiting for the paper to hit the driveway about 3:30 or 4 a.m. - his days of waiting at the loading dock for the first edition to roll off the presses was gone by that time, he waited for the delivery. His wife, after finding him talking on the phone at 5 a.m. too many times laid down the law, "No Phone Calls before 7:00 on Sunday!" He'd spend his three+ hours going through the ads, circling the ones he wanted to call, just like in Mike's paper above, and as the clock struck the first of seven chimes he was dialing, getting agreement on his price and moving on to the next one. By 9 he was gone, a handful of bank drafts and his business checkbook in hand. First house he'd write a check, explain to the seller that he needed to sign the title and seal it inside the draft envelope, then take it to the bank Monday morning for the cash. Then he'd take that car, to prevent buyer's remorse, saying he wanted to drive it home and would be back later to get his car, left at the curb. He'd repeat at the second house, and each one after that leaving a string of cars parked around town. Back home for breakfast at lunch time, he'd take his wife to start ferrying cars back to his back alley building. He'd sometimes be met by a seller, saying he was sorry that he accepted a reduced price so early in the morning, saying he'd had calls offering full price and wondering if he could get his car back? Of course my FIL was prepared with a story that the guy's car was indeed a great car, so good that he'd stopped to show it to a friend on the way home and already sold it! I loved talking to him, as his stories were mesmerizing, and always left me laughing! RIP, Tom.

One of my favorite memories of Tom's Sunday morning antics, we had 6 inches of snow on Saturday late night into Sunday, so his #1 pick was an early 70's JEEP CJ, located in Independence, MO about an hour drive to the NE of their Leawood, KS home. Talking to the guy, he mentioned that he was a police officer in Independence, and they fell into a comfortable discussion about the "real value" of his "old Jeep". Tom managed to talk him to a price reduced more than $500 from the price listed in the ad, cash on the barrel head, no problems. With the deal done, Tom then asked, "Can I get you to bring it to me, and I'll take you back home?" The guy was flabbergasted - "Mister, you talked me down on my price, and now you want me to drive an hour or more to bring it to you? Are you CRAZY?" Ever the salesman, Tom replied, "Son, I don't have a JEEP to get to you! I'm buying a JEEP so I can drive in this snow! YOU have a JEEP and have no problem driving in a foot of snow (really only 6"...), but I'm going to have a terrible time getting to you! Besides, wouldn't you really like to drive that JEEP one more time in deep snow?"

The guy brought the Jeep, Tom took him home and then used the Jeep to go collect the rest of his morning haul, but this time taking a helper with him to get the newly purchased cars away from the sellers so they couldn't back out of the deals.

The Sunday want ads were great, but the highlight for me was getting "Speed Sport" and reading about all the racing going on elsewhere in the country! Living in South Dakota in the winter, at times it was our only chance for a glimpse of how the rest of the racing world was doing!