How to choose a Musclecar? How do you want to drive it?....

Someone asked me this question yesterday. Usually the questions I get are Marque specific-I.E.-what to look out for when buying a Mopar, or Pontiac etc. But this guy was asking for general advice, regardless of make.  The answer to this is-"Do you want to drive it?"  Most people would answer with a resounding yes, but you'd be amazed at the number of cars that aren't driven 100 miles a year.  Their owners are content to trailer them to shows, and are afraid of putting a dent in it.  If your going to drive the car-that brings up the next question. "How do you want to drive it?" While very few people use an old musclecar as a daily driver, what you want to do with it and where you live should play a big role in your decision on what to buy. If you live in a state that has harsh winters, I wouldn't recommend a car with T-Tops or a Convertible. If you live somewhere that's hot year round-Arizona, Las Vegas, Florida etc- I'd recommend looking for something with functional  ( or at least repairable ) A/C.  If you live in a large city like San Francisco or L.A. that has a lot of stop and go traffic, an automatic transmission might be a better choice than a four-speed.  If you live in a rural area-4.11 gears will get old real quick-the motor buzzing at 3,500 rpm and the extra fuel usage might not be worth the blistering acceleration off the line. My cousin lived in rural Missouri-30 miles from Fort Leonard Wood and 90 miles from Springfield. All of his driving was high-speed, highway driving. He loved his '70 Firebird Formula 400 with an automatic and 3.08 gears, he loved his '78 Trans Am with 2.56s, and he lovd his '71 Mach 1 Mustang with 3.00:1 gears. All three of these cars could cruise at 80 or 85 all day, and like the cop car in "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" had an almost "unlimited" top end.  When he bought an L82, 4-speed, 3.70 geared '74 Corvette, he was disappointed. In his words-"This thing is great for jackrabbit starts, and it's fun to run it up through the gears, but man it uses more gas than either of my 400 Firebirds did, and I always think I'm going to burn the engine up buzzing 4,000 rpm all the time on the highway." "It never overheats or anything, but I'm sure not comfortable driving it that way."  I suggested he change the axle ratio to a 3.08-"The L82 has enough torque that you probably won't notice a big difference in acceleration, but it will really lower your cruise rpm on the freeway. "  I also suggested a gear vendors overdrive. He ended up selling the car.  Be really honest about what you want-Don't search the galaxy and mortgage your house for an LS6 Chevelle or a Hemi Road Runner if you'd be just as happy in an SS396, or a 383 Super Bee.  I admit I'd be much too afraid of blowing a rod out the side of an irreplaceable block if I had one of the 88 1970 RAIV T/A's built to drive it like it was designed to be driven.  No way would I drop the clutch ar 4,500 and powershift at 6,200. ( Christ, what If I bent one of the extra-long pushrods and damaged the head?!! )   No, give me a disco-era T/A that's one of hundreds of thousands, and I'll put Edelbrock heads and the matching RPM cam-( Their RAIV spec ) on it, and I'll drive it like I stole it, and if I grenade the motor, I won't care. There's enough 1970's 400 blocks out there that I can find reasonable enough. Hope these guidelines help out in the decision-making process, whatever you decide to buy.  Mastermind