ONES THAT GOT AWAY

THE CARS WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT OR ARE DELIGHTED WE DIDN'T...

- CLIFF CHAMBERS

Tell us in 60 words the car you should have bought, or were lucky enough to buy! Send your tale to [e-mail] with 'Gotaways' in the title

FIAT 124 Dad owned a mustard coloured 124 in the '90s, gee he loved that car but boy was it rusty in the quarters and doors. He went to our local panel shop at the time, but the $3K quote for rust repairs and fresh paint was "way too rich" for dad, and the old Fiat was sent to the wreckers... I haven't seen one driving on Aussie roads for years.

TONY RICCI

MAY 1994 HILLMAN IMP

This may have been the last Hillman Imp advertised in Unique Cars, because these innovative cars disappeared at a prodigious rate during the 1980s and '90s. Body panels were difficult to source even when Imps were near new and breaking a windscreen could sideline your car for weeks while waiting for one to arrive from overseas. If this one, some 30 years into its life, still needed work then $2499 was excessive and $1500 more realistic. If it has survived or you find another Imp in good condition today it could make $10,000.

FEBRUARY 1997 HSV VN LE WAGON