I have 4 vintage bikes, in my sig. They are mostly intentional purchases. Brief stories, in order of how long I've owned each:

1987 Mercian Professional: Purchased new in 1988 as a bare frame and fork to replace my Zeus Pro. I was passing through Colorado Springs on my honeymoon. At the time I was beginning to think I might enjoy a sports touring frame. Knowing that the Olympics training center was there I stopped into a big bike shop, maybe it was called World Cycle? There it was. As my ex-wife wrote in a diary we kept on that trip: "From across the room, their eyes met. He knew it was the One." It's a stiff criterium frame, the opposite of what I thought I wanted. But the lugwork and finish floored me. Currently in it's second major configuration, running an Ultegra group.

1966 Raleigh Sports: About 10 years ago I wanted a bike I could use for local errands and short rides that didn't require changing clothes for. I had a Rudge Sports as a kid and thought that would be just right. Found on Craigslist in the Metrowest suburbs of Boston, it was a bit of a barn find but it needed little more than a heavy cleaning and polishing. It's mostly original, and true to purpose it's my commuter, grocery getter and shorter fun rides around the city, particularly when my wife joins me on her '74 Sports.

1971 Peugeot PX-10: This is a very special bike, although I don't ride it now for various reasons. I've had it for about 5+ years, but my history with it goes back to 1972. I learned how to ride and wrench in a class setting in high school when I was 15. This was my teacher's bike and it was became of my grail bikes, as it is for many. Over 26 years my teacher logged over 87k miles on it. I hadn't seen him since 1975, but I got back in touch with him in 2011 to thank him for giving me the gift of cycling. Not long after he asked me if I would take his Peugeot, since he hadn't ridden it for many years and he wanted someone (me) to take care of it.

1971 Raleigh International: My other grail was the Raleigh Pro Mk. IV. Blue Mink. A little while back I saw a Pro frameset hanging in my LBS and checked it out. It needed refinishing, and as I considered the work involved a funny thing happened. The 'grailness' kind of vanished. It had no more mojo for me than any other good quality 531 frame and I realized that it wasn't going to be much different than my Mercian, which I love. I was telling Tom [MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] about this, and he suggested looking at an International. Having just finished his epic build he was very keen on it's qualities, and he kept forwarding me links when they came up on the 'bay. I scored a frame and fork in November of '16. I had most of what I needed to do a build that's very close to the original spec. It's perfect for longer riding around the city with it's long wheelbase, stays and comfortable geometry. So the sports touring frame I thought I was getting 30 years ago has come to pass.