Here's my opinion:
Most of us got into these cars because they were factory hot rods with awesome styling. I'm sure that anyone on this board that did not beat the ragged shit out of their first musclecar would be in a tiny minority. In my case, most of my life I've driven muscle-era cars if not actual musclecars. I literally nearly broke my first car in half, and that was a '75 Trans Am 455. The argument can be made that back then, they were "just cars" and not that hard to find nor expensive when you did. As my friend Kevin said in the video I posted of his 1-of-330-something '71 R/T, paint chips and door dings are badges of honor that he's not afraid to drive the car, beat on it, or leave it in a parking lot. He let me pound on it, badly, literally hours after he got it back from paint & body. We got into a drag race with it on the way to his wedding, both of us in tuxes. He finds no terror in driving it the nearly 40 miles to his job and leaving it in the lot all day. He bought that car in '94 and has broken a lot of parts on it in the meantime. Yeah, it's rare, but he's driven it the way it was intended, too, and he's not ashamed of it one bit.
Stretch isn't afraid to whoop it up in his mostly-original '73 Charger, either, nor is Paul afraid to beat on his restored '68 Hemi Road Runner. All these guys are my friends, and they've all taken each others' cars out and driven them as intended back in the day. I was with them. It was one hell of a fun day. :dance:
I don't mean to sound like a dick, Manny, so if I do, I apologize but the simple fact of the matter is that if you worry more about the car's worth than you do the enjoyment you get from laying black stripes on pavement you've either got the wrong car or the wrong hobby. To be honest, I couldn't handle the pressure that would've come from restoring and owning a one-of-one car, so I sold it. I would've been terrified to take it out... yet I know I would've anyhow. I doubt I would've had as much fun in that car as I did in the fast cars I had that looked like I dragged them out of a barn or swamp, though.
I think it's a beautiful car at a fair price. If I had the money, I might even bite... but I'd leave your driveway sideways in a scream of exhaust and a blaze of glory. That's just me.
