The more money than brains syndrome again.......

Saw a "Street Rod" buildup on the speed channel the other day. The subject was a '55 Chevy. Of course-besides the requisite $15,000 LS motor and $5,000 six-speed automatic tranny, this one also had a custom frame, a narrowed custom 9 inch Ford rearend, Wildwood 4-wheel disc brakes, and rack&pinion steering. Yes, it was beautiful when it was done, and it was great handling, and fast. It also cost almost $100,000 in parts alone, not counting the hundreds of hours of labor putting it together and painting it. I'm reminded that a few months ago Hot Rod ran an article on a guy that built a brand-new '57 Chevy with all new parts from Woody's-( They bought the rights from GM to produce the bodies and frames.) This one was done in 60's "Gasser" style with a Pete&Jakes straight front axle. Including the Currie-built 9 inch Ford rear,BW T10 4-speed and Blueprint engines Rat motor-he had $26,000 in it. And that was using all new parts. If the guy had used a 350 small-block and TH350 that he had in his garage-he could have done it for about $19,000!!  If he had used a regular control-arm suspension with recirculating ball power steering it would have only cost a couple grand more. Now that's both cool and period correct-and he can definitely sell it for 25 grand all day long and recoup his investment if he needs to. How is the other guy ever going to sell his for over $100K? People that can afford 100 grand for a second, third or fourth car want Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston-Martins, and Turbo Porsches, not a '55 Chevy that some ZZ Top looking hillbilly biker built for a TV show!!  They also showed Jay Leno's '66 Toronado again. It pisses me off every time someone mentions this abomination. It has a custom built chassis to convert it to rear-wheel drive and it has a snarling big-block Chevy in it, 4-wheel disc brakes, blah, blah, blah. And it cost something like a quarter-mil to build, which Jay can certainly afford. What I don't understand from an engineering standpoint-is why didn't one of Jay's advisers or shop people suggest a '66-67 Buick Riviera? They have the same bodystyle as the Toronado-in fact I think the Riv is much more cleanly styled and racy looking. And they were rear-wheel drive from the factory!!  All you'd need for some serious Rat power infusion is Chevy motor mounts and a Chevy bolt-pattern TH400!! Using later-model ( '68 and '69 models had front disc brakes ) spindles they could have had front disc brakes easily and cheaply, or they could have adapted 1976-80 Cadillac Seville rear discs, or '79-81 Firebird rear discs. Or for a couple grand they could get a Wildwood setup. Bottom line- a Riviera would have been just as cool and fast-for probably $50,000-( and that's in cluding $15,000 for a 620 hp 572 crate engine )  instead of  $250,000!!  But-the more money than brains factor kicked in-"I want to do this, and someone told me it's possible, so now were damn well doing it, no matter what it costs!!"  It makes me sad for the sport of hot rodding. Up until the '90's-magazines featured stuff that guys built from used parts or junkyard stuff. Sometimes the cars were expensive-but by expensive I mean a guy bought a Nova for $1,500 and "Pro Streeted" it and had $15,000 in it-not 150K-the price of a house!!  Any one can buy a car-and put 100 grand in it and make it badass. It doesn't take any talent to write a big check. I'd like to see stuff featured that people actually built themselves that cost less than 30 grand-the price of a new Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. If the magazines want to turn it into a rich man's game like just about everything else-they'll go out of business. The blue-collar guy that's supporting his family on 50 grand a year but likes cars isn't going to keep reading-he'll never have 100K to put in a car unless he wins the lottery. Anyway-I'll keep fighting the good fight for us people that sadly-have more brains than money. Mastermind.