Did you marry your wife because you thought she'd give you an easy divorce??

You may laugh at the title of this post, but I ask that question a lot. The reason is I am sick to death of people making decisions on whether or not to buy a certain car, or paint it a certain color or change the wheels or whatever based on how it impacts the cars resale value. Why is everyone so damn worried about what the car will be worth if or when they get rid of it?  And you know what? Barring major butchery-like the idiot that "Pro Streeted" a '63 Split Window Stingray, or the guy who put a 389 Pontiac into a '57 T-Bird-pretty much anything you do isn't going to affect the value of the car that much. Think about it-if your looking for a '69 GTO is the fact that it does or doesn't have the hood tach a deal breaker? What about a vinyl top? What if it has Cragar S/S mags on it? Are you really going to not buy a numbers-matching, 4-speed LS6 Chevelle because it has a Hurst shifter instead of the awful factory Muncie unit?  Or an HEI distributor instead of a point type?  Are you going to turn up your nose at a documented, for real Boss 351 Mustang because it has a 750 Holley Carb on it instead of the awful Autolite 4300 4bbl??  Or a set of headers?  Probably not. I've touched on this before-but is a '65 GTO worth more or less with a Tri-Power setup on it, even if the car didn't have it originally? 999 out of 1,000 people would say more. So screw the one guy who says it isn't. Then let him either chase down an iron Pontiac intake and a Carter AFB with 1964 or 65 date codes and put it back to original if he buys the car, or he can just not buy the car and keep searching for one that meets his exacting standards!!  Here's a few cases of this insanity. A guy I knew had a '79 Trans-Am with the 403 Olds / TH350 powertrain. We were looking at an issue of High Performance Pontiac magazine and they had an article on the "Macho T/A's". "Man I love the graphics and color scheme of those cars."' he said. "Even today, they look badass just sitting still." "Dennis Mecham authorized Phoenix Graphics to sell the stencils for people restoring a "Macho" or anyone who just likes the look." "You could paint your car like that." I said. "And ruin it's value??!! he said, aghast. "I hate to break this to you-but nobody cares that much about a 403 / automatic disco era T/A that it's going to matter if it's painted a non-original color." "I'm not trying to insult your car-I had a 403 T/A I really liked, that was originally blue that I had done in black and gold SE style-but it's not like it's a 400, 4-speed, 4-wheel disc braked, WS6, 10th Anniversary model." "Or a white and blue 1970 Ram Air IV, or a Buccaneer Red SD-455 '73." "Those I wouldn't change the color on, any others, who cares?"  Another guy had a Verduro Green '69 GTO. I hated that color back in the '60's. That's about the ugliest color GM ever came up with, and unfortunately a lot of GTOs and Firebirds got that color in the late '60's. My cousin has a '67 Firebird that was originally a 326 and was that color. It's now red and has a 400 under the hood. He likes it much better now, and so do the people who offer to buy it every Hot August Nights, even though it's not "just as it left the factory". Anyhow, back to the guy with the green GTO. He was saying how much he loved the look of a Carousel Red Judge that we saw at HAN. "Your cars's got black interior, and Year One sells the spoiler and stripes and emblems." "Do yours that way." Again-he acted like I'd slapped his mother. "And ruin it's value?"  "You'd actually increase it's value." I said. "Trust me-I know a ton of Pontiac enthusiasts-and every damn one of them would much rather have a Carousel Red GTO in full Judge regalia-even it's not a "real" Judge over an "original" green one." "I wouldn't." he sneered. "Then you one out of a million." "Personally, I wouldn't drive around in a car painted a color I didn't like, just so some asshole who may or may not want to buy it will deem it "correct". I've also seen people pass up cars they loved, because again-some asshold told them a different model will be worth more at resale time. That's shrewd-spend thousands of dollars on a car you don't really want-so you can recoup your investment when you get rid of it!!  Idiot # 1. fell in love with a gorgeous 340, 4-speed red and black '71 Dodge Demon that had bucket seats, the "Pistol Grip" Hurst shifter, a "Tuff" steering wheel, the Go-Wing spolier, and brand-new T/A radials on Center Line Auto Drag wheels. It was a great-looking car. And it had headers on it, and a "Six-Pack" setup, and sounded nasty. On the advice of his asshole buddy who claims to be a Mopar "expert"-he isn't-he passed on it and bought a drab brown, dog-dish hubcapped,bench seat,column-shifted automatic,383 '69 Road Runner. Because his buddy told him that "B" bodies are the most valued Chryslers-and the "A" bodies aren't worth anything. Really?  Then why do I see restored 340 Dusters selling for $30,000 in Hemmings? Or 383 Darts for $50,000??  Anyhow-for months afterward-we'd see the red Demon driving around town, and every time he'd say "Damn!" "I should have bought that car." "That is the coolest looking little car." He was really crushed one day when we pulled up next to the guy at a light, and the Demon outran his "high value" Road Runner!  "Why did I listen to that asshole??!! he said, pounding his fist on the dash of the Road Runner,which did nothing but bruise the side of his hand. "I asked you that question back in August". I said. F%6k you! was his response. Idiot # 2. Passed up a gorgeous 400, 4-speed, T-Topped '77 Formula and paid more money for an automatic, hardtop '403 Olds / TH350 '78 T/A-because some "expert" told him that T/A's are always worth more than Formulas. Idiot # 3. Wanted a red and black 71-73 Mach 1 Mustang with Magnum 500 wheels, and a two-tone red and black interior. He passed up a nice blue and silver, 4-speed,Q-code 351CJ '73 because he just "Had" to have the red and black combo. We actually found a '72 Mach 1 with that exact color combination and interior on a "U-sell it" car lot. We called the number and the owner came over, and the price was quite reasonable. He didn't buy it, because the engine was a 351C with a 2 barrel carb!!!  I tried to talk him into it. "For god's sake" I said. "An Edelbrock Performer intake costs about $200 through Summitt,and a Holley or Edelbrock 4bbl costs about $350." "For less than $600 this car will really rock." "Where are you going to find another one with this exact color combo in great condition at a fair price?"  "It don't get better than this." He passed it up!!!  And then bitched about it for about two years after. "I should have bought that car." You think???  So use your head-and get the car YOU want-not one you think some other asshole MIGHT want to buy down the road!!!  Mastermind