"Day Two" options add value as well.....

In the last post I talked about how adding a Tri-Power setup to a '60s GTO or a Six-Pack setup to a Mopar would add to a cars value, not hurt it. We also discussed how changing from Rally II wheels to Snowflakes won't change the value of your '70's T/A and so forth. When I was young all my friends drove musclecars and not one of them was bone-stock. They all had aftermarket wheels, Hurst or B&M shfiters,a Sun Tach on the steering column, headers, traction bars, etc.  As gearheads we were always looking for ways to increase the car's performance or it's "Cool" factor. And that hasn't changed over the years. If you bought a new Mustang or Challenger or Camaro right now, would you leave it bone-stock for the next 20 years?  No-chances are you'd add a K&N air filter, a Flowmaster Cat-Back exhaust system, a Hurst shifter, and maybe some aftermarket wheels. More adventurous sorts might even add an Edelbrock or Magnussen blower. And once it was out of warranty-if it blew a radiator hose on a Friday night-would you park the car and wait until Monday and go to the dealer to get a genuine Ford or GM or Chrysler hose, or would you go to Autozone and get a Gates or Dayco replacement and be able to drive the car all weekend?  I saw a couple of great examples this past weekend. One was a '67 Camaro that had a warmed-over 327 and a 4-speed. It had headers on it and a Holley 650 Double-Pumper on an Edelbrock intake. The owner told me it also had a Comp Cams solid-lifter cam. The interior was clean and stock, except for two things to snap you right back into a banzai mode: a huge Auto Meter tach on the steering column and a T-handled Hurst Compettion Plus shifter protruding from the console. It also had Competition Engineering traction bars. This was exactly the kind of hot rod that millions of people had in the '70's and '80's and that magazines used to feature. Stuff the average guy could build in his driveway not the megabuck one-off stuff they feature now. The other one was a '68 Dodge Coronet R/T. It had a 440 with headers on it and a two 625 cfm Carter AFBs on an Edelbrock dual-quad intake. It had a 4-speed and the owner had installed a "Pistol Grip" Hurst shifter. It had Lakewood traction bars on it and Cragar S/S mags with skinny front tires and big meats on the rear. The owner said at full-throttle the intake roar of the AFBs was louder than the exhaust, that it sounded sweeter than the "Bullitt" or "Vanishing Point" soundtrack. I believe him-my Judge had two AFBs on an Offenhsuser intake and that sound is awesome. Both these guys had nailed the quintessential '70's street machine-a car that looks and performs better way than stock, but can still be driven to work every day. Now some people are going to rail that these guys "ruined" these cars with their modifications. How did they "ruin" anything?  1st off-the cars were a 327 Camaro and a two-door Dodge Coronet that originally had a 383 in it. One of many thousands.  Not one of the 602 '67 Z/28s ever built or a Hemi Super Bee. And even if it was one of those, what did they do that's irreversible damage?  Headers and an aftermarket intake are easy mods that almost everyone did to their cars in the '70's and '80's. If someone wanted it stock, it wouldn't take much to put stock intake and exhaust manifolds back on. Traction bars bolt onto leaf springs and can be easily unbolted. You think an aftermarket tach hose-clamped to the steering column is ugly? Unscrew it. It's not like they took a Judge convertible or a Boss 302 and cut up the trunk for wheel tubs and 4-link rear, and cut up the hood to clear a tunnel ram because they wanted a "Pro Street" look!!  I've said it before and I'll say it again here- '69 Z/28 Camaro with a LS3 / 4L80E powertrain, rack and pinion steering, and 20 inch Center Lines is an aberration and it's owner / builder should be dragged out into the street and shot. A '69 Z/28 with a 750 Holley Double Pumper on an Edelbrock Tarantula manifold and headers on the 302, with traction bars and 15 inch Cragar S/S mags is just as "Right" now as it was in 1971. I have no problem with modifications as long as their period correct. Like I've said before-if you were a gun collector you wouldn't buy a WWII vintage Colt .45 and put laser sights on it!  If it you were a motorcycle enthusiast you wouldn't buy a 1965 650 Triumph Bonneville and put the fuel-injected 1200cc engine out of a 2016 model in it!!  So next time your at a "Show&Shine" and you see a Firebird with a Hurst Dual / Gate shifter protruding from the console or a 'Vette with chrome sidepipes on it, smile instead of screwing up your face like you just smelled a rank beer fart. Mastermind