Think hard about "Deals" on musclecars!

I said in a recent post that I was looking for a musclecar for a daily driver. I narrowed it down to three choices-two of them are Pontiacs-I really like '70's T/A's, and I really like '68-70 GTOs. No surprise there-I've talked many times about my long-lost Judge and the Disco-era T/A's that I loved dearly. The third possible choice-surprise-is a 1971-73 Mustang Mach 1. Although he worked for Pontiac in the '60's and we had our share of those when I was a kid-a '59 Catalina with a tri-power 389,a '62 Catalina with the two-tone red and white interior and 8-lug wheels, a '64 GTO, and a '65 2+2, by 1972 dad was working as a Ford mechanic and I can remember being 12 years old and watching him tune a Boss 351. With it's thumping solid-lifter cam, and red and back paint job, and matching red and black interior-I thought that was about the coolest car on the planet at the time. Also, my cousin had '71 Mach 1, and Sean Connery and Jill St John had a '71 Mach 1 in a cool chase through Las Vegas in the James Bond flick "Diamonds are Forever", Jan-Micheal Vincent drove a '72 Mach 1 in the Charles Bronson thriller "The Mechanic" and of course no one can forget the original "Eleanor" a yellow 1973 Mach 1 driven by H.B Halicki in the classic "Gone in 60 Seconds." Because of those influences I've always had a thing for the '71 -73 Fastbacks, even though Ford Purists kind of turn their noses up at them. Fine, that keeps the prices reasonable for the rest of us. Any how, in searching the world wide web and Hemmings Motor News, High-Performance Pontiac, Mustang Monthly and other sources, I've decided that there's absolutely no rhyme or reason to what people ask for these cars and condition or low-mileage isn't it. For example-some clown back east wanted $50,000 for a '69 GTO that supposedly had 53,000 original miles. EXCEPT-it wasn't a Judge, it wasn't a Ram Air IV, or a Ram Air III, it was a base-model 350 hp version, and it has been sitting in a garage since 1979!! Yeah, it has no rust or body damage and the paint looks ok, but the car hasn't been registered or driven or even started in 33 years!! How do you know the engine isn't locked up? And I guarantee if you do get it to start-you think the rear main seal, the timing cover, the front pump seal, the power steering pump, and the water pump aren't going to be leaking oil, trans fluid, and antifreeze like a sieve? What about all the fuel lines and brake lines? You think those aren't cracked and dry or maybe have rodent damage after 33 years?  Conversely-I found a 1968 GTO that had just had a full frame-off concours resto done it-I mean every nut and bolt and hose was replaced that was just flawless and this owner was asking $36K. This car in my opinion was worth every penny-it was PHS documented-the guy had the window sticker, the build sheet- and it was a loaded car-factory A/C, the Hurst Dual / Gate shifter on the TH400, everything. But this other clown WANTS 14 grand MORE for a clunker that had sat 30 years as opposed to this diamond. I also found a '68 GTO that was priced at $24,999 that also had a/c and the his/hers shifter and was in really good shape, and had just been restored and had new paint, tires, brakes, etc. I also found a nice '70 model with 95,000 original miles that they were asking $13,000 for. A screaming bargain,-as the '70 for 13K was in better shape than the '69 that the guy wanted 50K for!!  As for T/A's-same thing-I found a 1970 Formula 400 with factory air that worked, factory Ram Air hood that worked, tilt wheel everything for $19,800. This car was beautiful-in fact I'm considering making an offer on it to the owner-it's that nice. On the same website a guy wants $36,500 for a 1970 Trans-Am-and says in the ad that the a/c doesn't work!!!!  Hello? your trying to sell a 43 year old car for 36 grand and the air doesn't work??  I hate to break this to you buddy-but it's not like your selling your '88 Toyota Tercel for 500 bucks and you don't want to put tires on it!!  I also saw two 1979 Trans-Ams-both 400 4-speed models, both really nice, both even the same color-Nocturne Blue. Except one was priced at a very reasonable $18,900 and the other was priced at an are-you-out-of-your-mind-$ 34,500!!  The Mustangs were no different I found a 351CJ, 4-speed, great condition 1971 Mach 1 on the 'net for $12,500. This car appeared in the photos at least to be as nice as a '73 automatic model that the guy was asking $19,500  for, and equally as nice as another 4-speed version that the owner wanted $27,995 for. I found a fully restored Boss 351 that was priced at $42,000-a little out of my league-and another that wasn't as pretty for $58,000, and a gorgeous one for $79,000. The point I'm making is don't get excited or emotional-there's plenty of good deals out there-you just have to look. When I finally make my decision, I'll post pictures and and everything of the car I get. In the meantime-I'll keep slogging through these incredibly disparately priced ads that have no pattern. But I think it'll pay off in a great car that I can love for many years. That's what the the rest of you who are looking for a musclecar should do too. Mastermind