Sometimes something "Butchered" can be a deal....

I talk to a lot of people who pass up screaming deals on great stuff because in their opinion the car is "butchered"-i.e. doesn't have the original engine, or has bodywork or modifications that they don't like. On one hand I agree that anyone who even thinks of cutting up the trunk of a Hemi 'Cuda for wheel tubs, or putting a Coyote into a Shelby GT350H, or an LS engine into a '63 Split-Window Stingray ought to be drawn and quartered and have his entrails cut out and burned. Absolutely. But 99% of these cars I hear about and see are not nearly that offensive. In fact-sometimes the "offenses" are so mild I'm scratching my head and thinking-"Your griping about that??"  Really?  Here's some examples. # 1. 1964 LeMans. I thought this car was way cool. It had a sinister black paint job, American Racing Torq-Thrust mags and radiused rear wheelwells to clear big tires. It also had a snarling 425 Olds V8 backed by a TH400 with a transbrake. The guy had timeslips showing that the car ran 11.30's. In my opinion a cool, badass hot rod. The guy that was considering buying it turned up his nose because of the Olds engine and  the radiused rear 1/4s. Puhleeze. I told him-1st off-"It's a LeMans, not a GTO." "So it's modified." "It's totally badass and runs 11.30s!! I'd buy it and drive it the way it is!! "However-"If you want to make it a GTO clone or just convert it back to Pontiac power-it's pretty easy." "Buick-Olds-Pontiac engines have the same bellhousing bolt pattern, so you don't even need a new trans." All you have to do is find a Pontiac-any Pontiac in a junkyard that has a 400 or 455 under the hood and get everything." "By everything I mean the alternator and power steering brakcets, belt pulleys, etc." "It wouldn't be that hard to do." "I Like the radiused rear wheelwells." "Very period correct, gasser style looking." "But if you hate them-Year One and a zillion other companies sell '64 LeMans / GTO 1/4 panels." Not that hard to remedy." "And the price is dirt-cheap". "If that car had a 421 Pontiac in it, you and all the other people who have passed on it would be fighting with machetes to give him double what he's asking." "Recognize a steal when you see it." Nope. He passed it up, and paid way more for a 326 / ST300 powered '66 model that wasn't as nice because it was "original".  #2. 1965 Cutlass. Same deal-a '65 Cutlass with a straight, rust-free body, and a 454 Chevy backed by a Muncie 4-speed. The car was awesome, and quick. Again-it was an F85 / Cutlass post coupe-not a 442. I'd have drove it the way it was. I told the prospective buyer-"If you really want to convert it back to Olds Power-all you'll need is a Lakewood BOP bellhousing, and a flywheel for a 455 Olds." "Again-go to a junkyard and it doesn't have to be a Cutlass or 442-any big Olds 88 or 98 or Vista Cruiser wagon-get the 455 and all the brackets and accessories.". "You can sell the 454 Chevy and make some money back too."  Nope. No deal. # 3. 1987 Buick Grand National. This guy really needed his ass kicked for passing up this car. It was a for-real GN, with a pumped up Turbocharged 4.5 liter motor. The previous owner had spent a ton of money-and located a 252 inch Buick V6 block. He had Kenne-Bell bore and stroke it, and it was 270 inches. Quite a step up from the stock 231. It had a bigger turbo, ported and polished and o-ringed heads, a special wastegate, a Jacobs ignition that was adjustable from inside the car, a Kenne-Bell prepped TH200R4, and it had radiused and flared rear fenders to clear 275/60R15 drag radials, and Lakewood coil spring traction bars. It ran 10.60s in the 1/4. If Darth Vader or Satan drove a car, this would be it!! If I'd had the money at the time, I'd have bought it!! I even tried to get a quickie home-equity loan to buy it, but it didn't work out.  Did the ass-clown buy it? No!! He paid MORE for a stock one because it wasn't "Butchered".  UGH!!  # 4. 1979 Indy 500 Pace Car Mustang. This one was cool. It was originally a 4-banger model. The seller had bought this one not running. He then took the 205 hp Turbo engine, 5-speed tranny, disc-braked 8.8 rear end, 16" wheels and tires, and Recaro seats out of his totalled '86 SVO Turbo Mustang and put them in the '79 body!!  He drove it for a year or two, and when he got married and had kids decided to sell it and get an SUV. But the car was awesome-it had the cool Pace Car Paint Job and graphics, and the badass SVO powertrain. The propective buyer turned up his nose because it wasn't "original". I was incredulous. "Who in the hell wants an "Original" '79 Mustang??!!" "They were dogs!!" "You'd rather have a normally aspirated 2.3 liter 4-banger that wheezes out 85 hp, or a 2bbl 302 that wheezes out 120 backed by that crappy wide-ratio manual 3-speed with an overdrive that Ford gratuitously called a 4-speed or a C4 slushbox-I mean that's the two powertrain options for '79 Pace Cars-instead of the state of the art 205 hp, high-winding SVO / Close-ratio 5-speed setup." "Yes."  Like Ron White says-"You can't fix stupid."  # 5. 1974 Camaro. This car had Minilite wheels on it, and a rip-snorting 396 Rat Motor. It had a two-tone paint job like the Baldwin-Motion cars, although it wasn't a Motion car. It was however, a great looking Camaro that really ripped. It would smoke the tires as long as you wanted to stay on the throttle. The prospective buyer pooh-poohed it because it had an aftermarket flip-up sunroof.  I'm not kidding. That was the major objection. These stupid little flip up sunroofs were immensely popular in the '70's and '80's. I don't particularly like them either-but their are a lot of '70's and '80s Camaros, Chevelles, Firebirds, Mustangs and Dusters, etc that have them, unfortunately. You could live with it, if it doesn't leak-or check with a reputable body shop about patching the roof-if you really love the car otherwise and it's cheap enough. Anyhow-I didn't see any of these previous owner mods as irreversible or a deal-breaker but these other people did. You have to decide for yourself on the individual car. But think hard before you blythely dismiss something that may be deal of the century because of one little thing.  Mastermind