Amervo wrote the below in another thread, I considered it kind of thought provoking so I thought I'd start a driver/show thread.

"All I want is to see if I can upgrade to lessor junk than what I already have. If I had the burning desire to look at the car as something that one cannot throw too much money at, I would simply buy a set of preped aluminun heads. The car isn't used enough to justify dumping a lot of money into it. I see some of the guys at the local show. Yeah, they're hot cars but they only drive them to the show and home. Other than that, they cannot move them.

They never drive them up and down the street. I don't know whether it's a case of too expensive to move, meaning that they have burried themselves so finincally deep into the car that they cannot afford to start it, up or the wear tear factor or a combination of both.

All I seek is to make it look as good as it can and run as well as it can for the least amount of money. That way, I can drive it up and down the street a few times."


A very, very good point Amervo, but I guess each person has their own line to cross?

I just got back from the body shop, we're heading toward 10 grand by the time it's painted and returned home. By the time I do all my stuff to it we could be approaching 20 G's easy, and with a fairly radical engine this car will no doubt be a weekend cruise in toy with the occasional commute for fun. I just don't see a real daily driving opportunity here.
But it's also hard to figure why we would consider 20 G in an old restored car to be expensive when it will only increase in value, but we'll spend 30+ on a new car that will go down in value.
Other than milage, depenability and creature comforts I'd prefer the old one, oh right, that covers about everything

Once I get the convertible restored it will probably be more of a driver since it's an OHC-6 car. Very fun car to drive, but I'll probably have about the same amount in it as well, and it's still a 40 year old car with limited safety features.

I suppose if you bought a decent driver that only needed upkeep and replace the parts as needed one could drive it daily and not think twice about cost, investment and wear. However, a restored car is a significant investment in time and money.
But as I tell the wife, "You can't drive a mutual fund and a CD doesn't have a killer 2nd gear"

What's everyones take on a driver vs toy?