Yeah I think that's a lot of it right there Gary, and I understand the attraction, I get it, I completely understand where people are coming from. I'm probably the most die hard classic car guy someone would come across, people that know me would tell you that. I drive them daily, prefer carbs over computers, don't need an overdrive, etc...so I hate to see one turned to scrap.
However it would be much easier to wrap my head around a project like that if the asking price was....say....$500?? To pay $18,000 for something like that is beyond crazy in my eye's knowing what I know. I can buy a rust free muscle car that runs for that kind of money, or better yet, by the time that car is brought back from the dead, I could buy a nice restored example for 1/2 the cost. Just one example, I know of a nice rust free 69 Z that's been in AZ all it's life, needs restored but it's there for $20k I've been kicking that one around so it's under wraps. You can find a lot of car with $20k if you're patient, and stick to the rust free belt to save yourself a lot of grief in the long run.