It's ok to buy a car that's already done!

I know a lot of us want to build cars our own way, and some even enjoy it, but if your in the market for a musclecar sometimes you run across a car that's already done that's a screamin' deal. I ran across two the other day-and If I'd had an extra 30 grand laying around I'd own both of them. One was a 1979 400, 4-speed, WS6 10th Anniversary Trans-Am with 66,000 original miles that was priced at $14,900!!  This car was a steal. If you bought a "rough but running" '79 T/A for say 3 grand, it would cost you a lot more than 12 grand to make it as nice as this one was.  The other one was a 69 GTO made to look like a Judge. It was a for-real GTO, it just wasn't a real Judge. However it was very nicely done, and the price was $16,500!!  It had  the 400 / TH400 powertrain, a hood tach and factory air. $16,500 was a screaming bargain. Whether you agree with it being done that way or not forget the Judge trim; regardless of  paint that's a steal for a rust-free well restored, well-optioned '69 GTO any way you look at it. And again-a basket case '69 GTO body will cost you 5 grand; then you have to fix everything and maybe dig up an engine and tranny. There's no way you could replicate this car for 17K. There was a GTO club in town, so I also saw a gorgeous 1973 GTO for sale. It was black with white interior-a rare and neat combo-and it had the 400 / 4-speed powertain with Rally II wheels and new BFG Radial T/A tires. The guy was asking $12,500 which I thought was eminitely reasonable. A lot of Pontiac purists snub the '73's because everyone likes the 68-72 body better; but it was one of only 4,806 built, and one of only 923 with a 4-speed. I bet if you offered the guy 10K he would probably take it, and that would be a steal. Because, again-you couldn't buy a beater '73 LeMans / GTO and make it this nice for 10 or 12 grand. No way. I also saw a 1972 Corvette for sale-a numbers matching, 454, 4-speed for $4,500!!  This baby was rough-but it did run, and the guy had a clear title. This one was the opposite-even if you had to put 20K into this one and had 25 grand in it when it was done-you could easily double your money at auction. 50K for a numbers-matching, 454, 4-speed resto? That'll go in a heartbeat. I also saw a 1978 Indy Pace Car Corvette for sale for $8,500. Granted, it was an L48 / automatic, and nothing special, but that's a deal for any decent C3 'Vette much less a Pace Car / Silver Anniversary model. I understand the allure of wanting to build something from the ground-up, and the satisfaction you get when it's done. I've done it. But it's also nice to buy something that doesn't need thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of work and just enjoy driving it right off the bat. Maybe I'm getting lazy, but I think I'll do it that way the next time I buy a musclecar. Mastermind