quote:Go and see any/all Panteras for sale within reasonable distance from home or work, better spend a few hundred in gas than over pay for the wrong car you bought on evilBay or some mag.
When I was searching, I checked out the local cars for sale, made a trip to PIM in Orange to view their offerings (actually had an offer on one of their cars), flew to Vegas to look at cars, made a trip to Phoenix to look at a 71, and had airline tickets booked/reserved for Seattle and Ohio to look at two more contenders before I found mine. A few hundred dollars (or even a grand) in gas or airline tickets is cheap compared to the cost of buying the wrong car that needs LOTS of work. As for evilbay, most auctions require a $200-$500 deposit. View the car BEFORE paying for it!!! If you show up to inspect/pickup a car you bought (deposit only) through ebay and it turns out to not be as described (read: rust-bucket), you can just as easily walk away! The lost deposit is nothing compared to the cost of correcting a rotting car. Always inspect a car before buying!
Check out as many cars as you can, even if they're not exactly what you're looking for! Look at them, drive them, inspect them! You will learn a lot! You will develop a sense of what's acceptable to you and what's not. AND, you will then KNOW the right car when you do find it.