Buying Your Holy Grail Car Is Something You Never Regret

Almost everyone likes to give advice, myself included.

So here’s my simple advice, informed by personal experience: Always buy the best car that fits your needs, desires, budget, and garage. And by “best” I don’t just mean condition. I’m talking about a car that, by your definition, has the perfect combination of colors, equipment, options, history, and condition. In the watch world people refer to Holy Grail watches, or “grail watches.” I’m telling you to buy your grail car.

Only you can define what your grail car is. Not your co-workers, your buddies, the guy who runs the shop where your current car is serviced, or a “Ten-Best” or other list.

I have made more than my share of bad automotive decisions over the years, but I’ve also made good ones, and have discovered a few things. One of them is this: If you buy with as few compromises as possible, your chances of being happy increase immeasurably.

Without going into the gory details, a couple of years ago I bought a car that was always, for one reason or the other, unobtanium my entire adult life. It was a perfect combination of all the factors I was looking for. Purchasing this one, single car put to end my pursuit of lesser versions of what is basically the same car, but without one super-important (and expensive) option. To me, this defines a grail car. It’s the best example of the best version of an automobile I’ve loved, bought and sold for years, and there’s a sense of achievement in that ownership.

This is actually the second time this has happened to me, so I just might be proof positive of my hypothesis. Back in 2015 I fell in love with what was then a brand-new, special version of a high-performance import. Only 99 were built for the U.S. market. I wanted one with low-ish miles, “No Stories”, up to date maintenance, and in one of two choices of colors.

I had to wait until it became more affordable. Then, when it was three years old and I decided to buy, it took me close to two more years to find the best example (again, as defined by me).  Now I am the owner of two collector cars that completely cured me of any itch to buy a “better” example. The feeling is actually quite liberating, knowing that, should all other factors remain equal, I can enjoy these cars until I am (shudder) unfit to drive, or, well, have left the (metaphorical) building, in Elvis-like terms.

With regards to what your grail car is, let’s start by talking brand. Ford or Chevrolet? Porsche or Ferrari? Cadillac or Packard? MG or Triumph? Stanley (steam) or Detroit Electric (electric, obciously)? With brand vs. brand, you are the only one who can define what will make you happy. Will driving BMW when you always wanted a Mercedes-Benz, or an Oldsmobile when you’d really prefer the Buick, eventually to compel you to question your choice? In the appraisal business, we talk about something called the principle of substitution. Briefly, that is “If Mr./Ms. Buyer can’t find/afford/wait for a Model Z, what others will satisfy their wishes?” While it often works in real life, for some buyers of collector cars, it might not. We are talking that one, that Holy Grail, after all.

If colors and options factor into your Holy Grail, then holding off until the right combination comes along can be a nearly impossible task. This is particularly true of classic muscle cars and Corvettes, where the color range is wide and the list of original options long. If you have a very specific combination in mind, this is where patience, and maybe a small compromise or two, start to come in.

Condition can and should be a factor as well, of course, and again this depends on the person. I’m not a skilled mechanic. My wrenching skills are legendary, as in legendarily bad. That knocks me out of the market for a good number of cars that I will see in my search for a grail car, but the same need not be true for you. If you are able to make a car better with your own hands and tools, then your choices have expanded. Like that house-hunting couple on TV, if you are looking for a fixer-upper, you can save money by doing it yourself. Do not, however, follow in my well-tread footsteps and buy a car thinking it’s a bargain because it “only” needs (fill in the blank). I have spent thousands on such mistakes, and have come to the conclusion that restorations are expensive for a reason.

There are all sorts of considerations outside of the car world to consider, too. For example, I’m 6’4, so that is a consideration, as is the fact that getting in an out of some cars is a strain on my high-miles body. There may be some small, low-slung cars that I love, but if I can’t really enjoy them then they’re not perfect for me. Your results, as they say, may vary. Your Spouse, your bank account, or even your credit rating could all be a limiting factor. Buying wrong while pissing off a significant other or draining a bank account will bring a different kind of feeling, the opposite of happiness.

The quotable Sir Henry Royce (one half of Rolls-Royce) had a few things to say on this subject. The first: “The quality will remain when the price is forgotten” and finally “Accept nothing nearly right or good enough.” Dude might know something, as the company that he and Rolls started is now 120 years old.