Selling a classic car is an interesting process. But keeping in touch with the car after the sale is perhaps just as exciting…
Back in 2017, I sold my gorgeous 1966 Derby grey BMW 1600-2. A truly fabulous little 02. In fact, if I must say so myself, this is the most unmolested and well-preserved first-year-of-production 02 left in the world. A proper reference car for all other early 02s. So when the 911-crowd get all worked up about a totally original first year swb 911, or imagine the reactions as a flat-floor E-type casually swings by a Jaguar event – well, this is the BMW equivalent.
Needless to say, selling it was not an easy decision. So much so that I needed to write about the process in order to come to terms with it all. Self-therapy. If you fancy, you can read that story here.
Subsequently, I stayed in touch with Steve – the new owner of the 1600-2. It felt good knowing the whereabouts of the car even though it was all the way across the pond in the USA. The feeling was further improved as it became apparent that he truly valued the importance of this early 02 and was set upon preserving it like previous owners had clearly done. However, approximately two years later, Steve reshuffled his collection of classic cars and the 1600-2 moved on to the next owner. But again, contact was made with the new owner and I could still follow the life of this charming Derby grey 1600-2.
But would you believe, that lovely little 1966 BMW 1600-2 is now up for grabs once again! In fact, as these words are published, there will only be roughly 12 hours left of the auction on Bring A Trailer. Sadly, I won’t be making a bid to regain ownership. I would genuinely love to, as I still miss the driving experience from an early 02 just as I would never tire from admiring all those early design details. But it is simply not to be.
Yet, I can guarantee you that I’ll be sat there watching intensely as the auction draws to a close. It’ll be exciting to see how the bidding develops in those final minutes. Will it sell? If so, for how much? Who will become the next custodian of this amazing piece of 02 history? And will it be possible for me to continue staying in touch with the 1600-2? Egoistically, that’s perhaps the most important question…
But this whole ordeal now has me questioning whether I’m simply prolonging the pain? I miss the 1600-2 and clearly regret selling it. So would I be better off by making a clean cut. Sell the car, forget all about it and move on. It seems a bit cold, but it might be easier to deal with? But oddly, staying in touch with my previous classics seems to be something I do fairly often.
I know precisely where my ’73 Sunbeam Imp Sport is despite selling it all of 17 years ago. Granted, that hasn’t taken much effort as the gentleman I sold it to back then, still owns it today. But I equally know where my old ’71 BMW 2000 Neue Klasse is and also my ’74 BMW 2002tii. I’ve become friends with the new owner of the ’81 BMW M535i which I recently sold, just as I’ve been able to track the ’69 Triumph 2.5PI mk1 Saloon which I let go back in 2011. However, I recently lost track of the wonderful ’77 Toyota Sprinter Trueno 1600GT which I sold six years ago. That’s another car which I sorely regret selling. So does it hurt less now that I no longer now who owns it? Naaaah… I don’t think so…
How about you dear reader? Do you stay in touch with your classics after you hand them over to their next owner? Is this a normal thing to do? Or is it just a silly and sentimental idea from which nothing good will ever come? Please do share your thoughts in the comments area…