I didn't by a nice '72 Bonneville convertible with a 455 that was for sale at a small place. It was only $5,000 and I had enough over a couple of bank accounts to do it. I figured if it was still there in a couple of days I would get it, as I wasn't real sure as I was driving by I had all the cash together. It was gone.
This was when I was still single, so there would have been no one else to think about. I should have pulled right in and put everything I knew I had down on it.
Now, I'm not a real sports car guy, so a big comfy ride like that is up my alley, and I could have put a hitch on the back and used it to tow anything with that big engine, like people did back before everyone thought you needed an SUV or pickup truck to move a trailer. Sure it could have had some bondo or other 'hidden' problems, but I would have driven it, not shown it.
I sometimes wish I had saved up for a more complete Pacer, one with A/C and front disc brakes, but it was a standard, under $1,000, and almost rust-free sitting right here in Pennsylvania. I was able to drive it home and fix it up. You know what? I've learned to love the 3-on-the-tree, it's not anywhere close to it's reputation for problems and it adds to the uniqueness of the car.
I had one of those boxy 80's Subaru wagons that warped a head. That was a great car as well. I should have gotten a new head on it, because as beat up as it was (and it would have needed a new transmission at some point) it had lots of space, got nearly 30mpg, and there's something really fun about pushing a tiny engine for all it's worth to get the car up the mountain at 65. It was the transmission that pushed it over at the time. Oh, and the A/C blew like ice.