It's funny to read this thread and see the same poor logic over and over again. I tripped over it looking for something else, but I see this a lot, people find something they have a problem with and post on a board to whine about it.
First of all you can't compare apples and oranges - what you're saying is "I got this old car for cheap so all old cars should be cheap" then you list off a bunch of cars no one cares about, like 46-54 Mopars, Rambler anything, or a '53 Willys, plus throw in an AD Chevy dump truck you paid scrap price for because it's too darn big to haul very far. (Rambler?? Ever visit an old junkyard? They were picking on those to scrap when they brought $2 a ton over the scales, the only yards with any left are the ones that never scrapped out).
It just doesn't work that way - why don't you try that argument on a new car: "Mr. Chevrolet dealer, I can buy a new Hyundai or Kia for $14,000 so I think you should sell me a new Camaro or Corvette for that money." See how fast your behind hits the pavement when they throw you out the door.
If those cars had been a '50 Merc coupe, '57 Chevy Nomad, '59 Cadillac convertible, or a '32 Ford coupe - they would not have been cheap. Even a piece of crap '32 body shell brings a couple grand. One of those cars you're going on about is a real steel '36 3-window coupe - didn't a guy overseas somewhere and a guy here each build one of those from SCRATCH because they couldn't find a real one? Both were chopped, dark red, and in the magazines a few months apart. One was a Rod & Custom cover car.
Next, it's "I got this old car in nice shape for cheap, so all old cars that look ugly or don't run must be worthless" (and often "and should be scrapped" follows that). Sometimes the same guy will brag about the money he made ruining the car by parting it out. Again it just doesn't work that way. Just because one guy had a '57 Chevy FI ragtop in a barn and sold it for $1500 doesn't mean they're all only worth $1500. Some people just want to get rid of stuff and don't care, some people don't make any effort to check into value, and all you were when you buy it is the guy who was in the right place at the right time. It has no bearing on the value of a car, because it might sell for 20 times that the very next day.
The ones who go on about should be scrapped are apparently too dumb to understand even the roughest of carcasses can often yield impossible to find, not-reproduced parts; they just want to cut their nose off to spite their face.
And anything can be restored. I've seen a lot of cars that were just as bad get built - convertibles that were broken right in half, or so close to it only the door latches held them together. One that was wrecked, then flipped upside down in the junkyard and the front frame torched off, then left to rot for 40 or 50 years - it took the guy about a year and two more parts cars, but he had it in primer ready to paint. Some people aren't afraid to take a car apart to the factory stampings and rebuild it from the last nut and bolt, and fabricate parts from scratch if necessary. A guy who's idea of a fuel pump repair on his GMC truck is to drive around all summer with a boat tank strapped to the cab roof gravity feeding the carb, is never going to understand that.
The same guys complaining about price have no idea how to negotiate a purchase, either. They don't even try to make an offer. Often it's because a lot of them are so broke they can barely afford to pay scrap money for a car. It doesn't matter that you could waive half an asking price in front of a guy and probably buy yourself a vehicle, if you have no money in the first place. They're also too dumb to try a trade. Sometimes the same $500 running clunker you use to justify the "all old cars should be cheap" opinion could be swapped for the more expensive car you really wanted in the first place. All you have to have is something the other guy likes better than what he has now.
These complainers also never seem to realize that not everyone is in dire need and must sell that old car so they can eat tomorrow. Not everyone with something for sale needs to sell it. I know I have things I like, but they're all replaceable, if you wave enough money at me I'll sell and go buy another. So I set the price based on what it would take for me to let it go, not what a book says it's worth. If that's too much for you, buy a different one. And not everyone is completely ignorant to what their car is worth, or what the parts on it are worth. So what you don't think it's worth what he wants - again, buy another one. Why should he sell for less just because you don't want to pay what he wants? There is nothing wrong with making a profit. Sometimes the accusation is that a guy is trying to rip someone off - which is also funny because no one's holding a gun to anybody's head to make them buy that old car at that price.
I've come to the conclusion that it's just a bullying game - these guys see something and they're so bitter and emotional they just get all ticked off about it, and post it on these boards to try to get other people to join in, thinking that maybe they can drive the guy with the high priced old car off the internet by bullying him enough with nasty and stupid comments. Or maybe they just want a couple parts off a car and hope that by constantly telling someone a car is junk, he'll give up and take it apart and sell what they want. They never stop and think or give any consideration at all to anything but themselves and either satisfying their emotions, or getting that part they want. It's hard to blame a guy for not being nice to selfish jerks like that.
The reason I know it's a game is because you can look and see people saying the same nasty things about cars be they rotted, broken in two parts donors, or complete cars that run and move. And because I've seen the same people fooled - they say a car that the paint's worn off from and is all surface rust is junk; a guy takes the time to throw some primer on it and suddenly it's a great restorable car. That's when you know you're dealing with someone that's a few bricks short of a load.
