Is it possible that all the affordable project cars are now taken?

one huge, glaring problem is correlation. people see 383 road runners at near six digits so then they consider their 318 coronet to equate at near value.

the other side of that coin is the disconnect of what it actually takes to build a car. case in point of that ask of 25K on a clapped out roadrunner. sure that could go for high five figures, but you're going to put 30+ K to get there.

one other piece of the puzzle is understanding. yes, your 68 barracuda 318/2v AT is very nice, but it's not worth 340 S pricing; and a lot of people don't understand that apples to oranges comparison.

there are subtle, granular details most people just glaze over. but again, most people are trying to cash out and squeeze the maximum out of what they've got or invested and it's a simple case of not wanting to take a loss on what you put in, or being lazy or ignorant on what real world pricing is currently at.