Watch out for "Special Editions" that aren't special!

 We all lust after Shelby Mustangs, Superbirds, Judges, etc. Everyone wants a unique car. However, salespeople or just an individual selling a car try to tell buyers their looking at something really special. Here's some good advice to avoid paying way too much for a car that is neither rare, nor special. A few examples- Someone is selling a really nice 1967 Impala SS. It has bucket seats, full guages, tilt wheel, and the numbers match on the 327. That's great. However, Chevrolet produced 75,600 Impala SS models in 1967! Not exactly a moon rock. Now, if it was an original 427 version, of which they only built 2,124, and it had the original engine intact, that would be worth major bucks. But the small-block version? Uh-uh. Especially since the 1968 models were virtually identical and Chevrolet built another 38,210 that year! Another is black and gold "Special Edition" 1977-79 Pontiac Trans-Ams. Pontiac built over 250,000 T/A's in these three years, and largely because of "Smokey and the Bandit" thousands upon thousands had this color scheme. Of the 68,000 T/A's built in '77 alone, Over 15,000 were Black and Gold "SE's". Except for the paint job, and the gold dash panel, nothing is different from a regular T/A! Ditto for "Silver Anniversary" 1978 Corvettes. Thousands were built with the two-tone paint and silver leather interior. Otherwise, they are just a regular 'Vette. No special engine or anything. Another is the "Starsky and Hutch" Torinos. Because of the popularity of that T.V. show, Ford Dealers across the country painted 74-76 2dr Gran Torinos red with the big white stripe and put slot mags on them and sold them for exorbitant prices, but there was never an official version released from Ford!  The bottom line is, do your research and know what your looking at before you pull out your checkbook. Mastermind