If my high curb appeal '69 is really worth $25,000 then I've made a good investment, though that was not the original idea. $14,500 for the car, about $1,500 in replacing missing pieces (power antenna, air cleaner) plus tuneup, exhaust, brake and suspension work. Still have to recover the seats, but then the car will look as nice as any non-frame off restoration.

What cars go for at classic auctions and on sites like volocars.com is not necessarily representative of the market. Some of those cars may be perfect enough to command such a premium, but I would say that is not typical of FGFs in general. I seem to recall limited response on some "overpriced" birds on the FGF for sale ads. Look at traderonline.com and gaspumpclassics.com for a completely different level of pricing. And a frame off, immaculate restoration of a '69 Firebird convertible done here in Michigan and featured in HPP (done by high school kids in auto shop) just sold for less than $20,000. I've seen the car and took pictures, it is incredibly clean but needs some detailing under the hood.

My old '70 'Cuda 440-6 was a far better investment...I had $1500 into it, sold it for $4500, and they're now going for $50,000 plus. Maybe Firebirds will shoot off the charts now that they are extinct, but how many of us will sell them to realize the appreciation?