Hey, money talks. Original or nearly original cars are worth more than personalized cars, simply because there is more demand for the originals, more rejection for the personalized ones.

Maybe it's just me, but when I see aftermarket valve covers and air cleaner, I just wonder how badly it has been thrashed, and what else have they mutilated? When I see an original looking engine compartment, there's no proof, but I generally tend to think the car has been well treated and that it is in excellent shape, that the owner has respected the car.

Nearly every day I see yet another Prius with clear plastic tail lights that just look different - well, dumb - but not better. Not to mention the many 18-wheelers that have those bullet caps on their front wheel lugs. Now that's wicked. That's personalizing through conformity for you.

Nobody did muscle cars better than Mopar. The factory way is the coolest way. The real Mopar muscle cars from the factory, the sporty ones with shaker hoods, the A12s, the wing cars, the Cudas and Challengers with big engines, etc. are worth keeping original, if they are mostly intact. Minor personalizations like electronic ignition and a modern radio that can be reversed don't count.

If a car is too far gone, or if it was never from the factory a muscle car, well then, I say put a big engine in it, clone it, and personalize it as you wish. I might do one of those someday - the muscle car that I should have ordered but didn't. But it will be a copy, a clone of how Mopar designed it.

As the original owner of an unmolested 340-S, I am restoring my car to the way it was when I took delivery from the dealer. That was one of the happiest days of my life, and even though it is just a low end muscle car, not a HemiCuda, I think it needs to be original. BUT... over the years I exchanged the original starter, distributor, carb, fuel pump, and alternator for cores to buy rebuilts. Now that those originals are long gone, I won't be paying big bucks for factory correct ones.

Well, maybe if I just happen to run across a bottom carb casting with the right date code, and it doesn't cost too much...