Some really good points in this thread. This is exactly the description of how this goes.
It applies to all hobby cars. Correct, most of us cannot afford a nice one, but can fix one a part at a time. I went that route with my 5.0 toy. When I started 8 years ago, wadded up 5.0 cars were $2500, runners much more. So I started with a $50 shell. Now it's a fairly decent, carbed, 13 sec bracket car. Full circle though. If I had bought in to a decent 5.0, by now I would have thrown away most of the parts that made it a 5.0, so I am now ahead just getting the aftermarket stuff I wanted anyway.
It has always been risky to sell a modified car. Even on Barret Jackson, some cars that cost 1-300k to build, sell for 60 to 70k.
Same for my Turbo coupes, both were for sale for over a month, and the second guy actually lowered his price to me, because I had just not got around to looking at it.
The 87 is a nice car, or was and could be, but I doubt anyone would spend the time and money to fix it.
It does just come down to money in the end, and how much someone is willing to pay for whatever.
Wish I had bought that 58 Corvette for $800, or the 66 Chevelle and GTO I found for $400.....And not sold my 65 Mustang for $400....
And if you think its bad with SVO's, how about people that buy $20,000 Model A's just to build a "real steel" hotrod....