If it ain't broke.......Part 2

I don't understand why people think "restoration" means replacing everything on the car whether it needs it or not.  I sold a 1966 Mustang to a guy a few years ago. Mind you, the 225 hp 289 had good oil pressure, good compression on all cylinders, didn't smoke an ounce, didn't use or leak a drop of oil, and ran like the proverbial scalded cat.  The C4 tranny didn't leak, didn't slip, shifted glass-smooth at part throttle, and would bark the tires into second at full throttle. The front disc brakes would stop the car on a dime, and the car handled great. It did need a paint job, and the buckets seats needed recovering, but otherwise the car was a diamond. The body was remarkabley rust-free, and all the chrome was intact. I saw the guy a year later and the car looked great. It had a new paint job, and American Racing Torq-thrust wheels on it. I said hello to the guy and said how nice the car looked, and said "See-I told you it wouldn' take much to make that car really nice."  "What are you talking about?" The guy responded. "I've got over $10,000 invested in this over and above the price I paid you."  "How?" I asked, incredulous. "You spent ten grand on a paint job, seat covers and wheels?"  "No, I had the engine and tranny rebuilt first."  "Why?" I asked. "The car ran like a champ."  "I also completely re-did the brakes and suspension." "New rotors, drums, calipers, wheel cylinders, hoses, master cylinder, everything." "Why?" "There was nothing wrong with the brakes."  "I could understand maybe some KYB or Monroe shocks, but there was nothing wrong with the suspension." I said.  "I replaced all the bushings, the tie rod ends, the ball joints, everything."  The guy responded.  "I wanted everything new."  "If you were going to replace everything on the car anyway, why didn't you buy a beater?" "Why pay top dollar for a nearly perfect, numbers-matching original car, and then replace everything on it?"  Whether he wanted it as a driver or to sell it for a profit, he'd have been way better off just painting it and fixing the seats!!  And now he had almost $25,000 in a car that he'd be lucky to sell for $15,000!!  A similar thing happened when I sold another guy a 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo. This time, I had even put a new paint job and vinyl top on the Monte before I sold it. This car was an awesome driver. The 350 ran great, the A/C would form an icicle on your nose, the seats and the dash weren't cracked, I mean this car was again, a diamond.  I saw the guy a couple weeks later and asked how he liked the car.  "I'll love it when it's done"  he said. "What do you mean when it's done?" I asked. "What could that car possibly need, unless your swapping in a big-block?"  "I'm doing a frame-off restoration." "Why?" I asked, stunned.  Again I had to ask- "If you were going to do that, why didn't you start with a clunker that you could buy for about a 1/5th the price?"  "Why buy an already restored car, and tear it completely down?  "You only half-restored it." he sneered. "Im replacing everything."  I guess there's a lot of people with more money than brains.  But the rest of us don't have to fall in that trap. Again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Mastermind