What happened to common sense?

Saw a joke obituary on the internet about the death of "Common Sense". It was hilarious, but I think common sense left car restoration behind years ago. People even advertise their stupidity. Saw an ad in Hemmings for a 1971 Boss 351 Mustang, one of 1,806 built. The asking price was 59K, which I thought was a little high, since the same issue had two other pristine examples priced at $39,000 and $42,000. The guy asking 59K said in the ad that he'd paid 4 grand for a "correct" carburator. Hello? First off, the Autolite 4300 was about the worst carb ever made. They didn't work properly brand-new. The cars wouldn't start, they got horrible gas mileage, and wouldn't run worth a damn. My dad was a master Ford Tech in the '70's and if you had a new car or truck with a 351C or a 429 / 460 4bbl, and you bitched hard enough, the dealer would install a 600 Holley and the factory would warranty it. Now, wouldn't a freshly rebuilt Boss 351 run a lot better with a vacuum-secondary 780 Holley or a 750 Edelbrock carb? And, if you really, really wanted a documented, blue&silver Boss 351, is it worth 4 grand less because it had a non-original carb on it? Of course not!!  I told you about the guy that paid 3 grand for a Shelby steering wheel. The worst one was a guy that paid $14,000-that's not a typo-I said fourteen thousand, for a "Correct" rear end for a Yenko Camaro that he was selling for six figures. Are you kidding me? First off, it wasn't THE original rear end out of THAT car. So if it's a replacement anyway, would this pristine 427 / 4-speed Yenko Camaro be worth any less if it had a new Moser 12 bolt in it, or one out of say a '68 Firebird? Is a rich guy honestly going to say-"Well, the car is immaculate, and your asking price of 150K is certainly reasonable, but my mechanic says that's an "Incorrect" 12-bolt posi rear end, so I'm only offering you $136,000."  Puhleeezzze.  A friend has a pristine SS396 Chevelle. It's a 4-speed model, and it has a Hurst Competition Plus shifter. This is what we call a "Day two" modification. I.E,- so many people did it immediately after buying the car, that some people think it's standard equipment. GTO's and 442s had Hurst shifters from the factory, but Chevelles had the horrible Muncie shifter. The difference was the Hurst shifters were mounted on the trans, and had positive stops. GTO and 442 owners could powershift to their heart's content. The Muncie shifters were mounted on the body, and when the engine was under load, they would bind up. Forget  powershifting, you couldn't even shift them at all above about 4000 rpm!!  So just about everyone trashed the Muncie shifters and replaced them with a Hurst or Mr. Gasket unit. If you want a 1968-72 4-speed, big-block SS Chevelle, are you really going to pass on one ( or several ) with a Hurst shifter, and pay more for one with the crappy Muncie unit?  Of course not! Apparently, you have common sense!!  I have a 390 hp 428 HO Pontiac in my garage. My brother bought it several years ago for his GTO, but never did anything with it, instead he built a killer 400. I was recently negotiating, ( unsuccessfully, unfortunately ) to buy a 1969 Gran Prix SJ with a blown engine, but a factory 4-speed. If I had bought the GP and put that engine in it, and decided to later sell it, is it worth less because the Quadrajet carb I bought from Summit doesn't have the right serial numbers on it?  Or the Rally II wheels actually came off a '72 GP and not a '69? Get real. A hardcore Pontiac fan would give blood and a first-born child for that car, regardless of where the carb or the wheels came from!!  Think about the total package before you fall into the "It's not original" trap. Mastermind