Within reason, just get the car you want!!

I get a lot of things I say quoted back to me, usually when people are pissed off or trying to prove me wrong. "But on July 23, 2012 you said..."  Lately it's been that in some posts I've told prospective first-time musclecar buyers to lower their sights so they can find a car at a reasonable price. In other posts I've said-"Just get the damn car you want."  The question is which way should they go?  The answer is "Both". When I said  "Lower your sights a little" I meant that unless you had Jay Leno's bank account it might behoove you to "settle" for an SS396 Chevelle instead of trying to get an LS6 454 model; If you want a '69-70 Mustang it will be a lot easier and cheaper to get a 351W / 351C model than it will a Boss 302. A '68-'70 GTO with the base model 350 hp 400 is going to be a lot easier to find and much less expensive than a Ram Air IV Judge!! Those are irrefutable facts. A lot of you are probably going-"Well, duh anyone knows that." In addition to initially lowering your sights, my second piece of advice is lower them some more. Here's why. Our Chevelle enthusiast has come to grips with the fact that barring a lottery win, he's never going to get an LS6. But is he still stuck on the 1970 model?  Granted-Chevrolet made 49,826 SS396 Chevelles in 1970; exactly 10 times-( 4478 ) the production of the LS6. However-If he'd consider a '68-69 model he just increased his chances of finding a car by 58,000 ( 1968 ) and 86,000 ( 1969 ) units. And what about '71-72 models? They were basically the same bodystyle, except for the grille and taillights. The only other difference was the 402 and 454s had low-compression engines. But this will make the price substantially lower as well. Would this guy really pass up an LS5 454,M22 4-speed, 3.31:1 posi rear end, cowl induction hood equipped '72 model at a great price because he just "Had" to have a '70 model?  Or an L78, 4-speed, 4.11 geared '68 model? Remember-the L78 396 had everything the LS6 454 does-11:1 compression,forged crank,rods and pistons,hot solid-lifter cam, aluminum intake with a 780 Holley, etc, etc. Is that 1970 front clip that godamnded important???  See what I'm saying?  What about a Mopar guy who's searched far and wide for a "Bullitt" Charger or "Vanishing Point" Challenger?  Because he's "Gotta Have" a 440-how many spectacular deals has he passed up on 383 models?  If you want a 455HO or SD455 Trans-Am your pretty much out of luck without a powerball win. Pontiac only built about 4,000 of them from '71-74. ( 2,116 in '71, 1,286 in '72, 252 in '73 and 943 in '74 ). However from 1974-79 there's over 400,000 Trans-Am and Formula Firebirds out there, nearly all of them with 400 power under the hood, that with very little work-intake and exhaust and an axle-ratio change-could easily equal or surpass the performance of the earlier, much more expensive models. Think about it-a 400, 4-speed, 3.42:1 geared '78 model will rock pretty good with an Edelbrock Performer intake, matching cam and a set of headers. Edelbrock claims 387 hp and 439 lbs of torque with this package on a 400; that's a bit more than the 300 / 310 hp of the vaunted 455HO / SD models!!  I think your getting the drift on "Lower your sights". How do I reconcile that with "Just get the damnded car you want."  Here's how. Let's say you've decided on a "Smokey and the Bandit" era T/A. Ok. If you want T-Tops, why even look at a hardtop model?  I mean if one thing really, truly is a deal-breaker, then don't compromise. If you "Gotta Have" T-tops, then get one with T-Tops. There's enough of them out there that you can find one. Same thing if you wanted a 4-speed. Yes, it'll cost more than an automatic model, but their still affordable. And you definitely don't want to buy an automatic model and try to convert it to stick. Our previously mentioned Chevelle enthusiast-in '71 and '72 for some insane reason the "SS" package was available on any V8 Malibu. Which means you could have a badass-looking machine in full "SS" regalia with a 2bbl, 130 hp 307 or 165 hp 350 under the hood!!  Now here is where the "buck" would stop. I would continue searching for a big-block model. I'm a mechanic with 40 years experience, and I've swapped dozens of engines, and I wouldn't buy a small-block Chevelle, no matter how cheap it was with the intention of  "Someday" "dropping" a 454 into it. Because "someday" will never come. You'll never do it. Our "Vanishing Point" enthusiast-would he accept a 340 Challenger? Many people say the 340 models are the best handling, best balanced, best all-around performing models. If he'll accept a 340 model, he might find happiness for way less money than he'd have spent on a 383 / 440 model. But should he buy a pristine, dirt-cheap 318 model?  No!!!  It won't run near as strong as the 340, he'd have to swap in a 340 / 360 to get that level of performance,and if he wanted a big-block he'd have to change the crossmember, the transmission, the torsion bars etc, etc.  See what I'm getting at?  And be honest about what your going to do with the car. If it's a show car or a race car-then do anything you want. But if your going to drive the car at all-you might want to give some thought to certain options. We've all seen stripped-down, badass street fighters. No power steering, no power brakes, no a/c. That's fine if all your doing is drag racing. If you live in a city and you have to parallel park a lot-you really appreciate power steering!!  If you live somewhere where it gets to be 100 degrees in the summertime, it might behoove you to get a car with working or repairable A/C!!  If you live in a big city like San Francisco or Los Angeles that has a lot of stop and go traffic, an automatic might be a better choice than a 4-speed!  If you live in the country 30 miles from the nearest town, a car with 3.23:1 gears might make a lot more sense than one with 4.10:1s; unless you enjoy the motor buzzing at 3,800 rpm at 75 mph!!  Hope this clears things up. Mastermind