Comparing it to "saving everything" in my opinion is somewhat silly. Not everything is made available on craigslist. There was a clean '78 M-body sitting in the local Pick-A-Part. This car had a 24 hour tag from local code enforcement. Other cars might be part of estates where the kids just want to get rid of the "junk" and make a quick dollar. And for some, the quickest dollar is selling it someone who has cash on hand and a wrecker there the same day without the "hassle" of placing an ad somewhere and hoping not to get barraged by spammers. And a lot of times that means the local you pull it parts yard.
There's been three M-bodies in my local junkyard that I had no idea was even available! And I don't have time to drive the back roads constantly looking to score that one deal in a thousand.
Sorry, guys, but back when I had the room, the time, and the available discretionary funds I could - and have - bought M-bodies before the demo guys had a chance to get their hands on 'em. A buddy of mine used to call me to see if I'd be interested in 'em before he started making calls to the local derby guys. The cars weren't salvageable, per se, as buildable projects, but donated some clean parts. I now have three sets of doors to chose from when it comes time for Penny. Four Sure-Grip 8.25's. One of which will be winding up under Clifford. I had three header panels in perfect condition until the wife's old '87 5th Ave started attracting deer (two inside a month!). More 360 heads and intakes off of 318 4-bbl cars than I can count.
Guys, this is going to be something we're forever going to disagree on. You get a rush on smashing 'em? Some of us get a rush on seeing 'em preserved. M-bodies will never have the attraction to the crowd that, say, that Charger R/T or that Hemicuda will have. We'll hardly ever argue over low build numbers or the such. But when I see an M-body on a local show field I make a bee line for it to talk to the owner. It's usually the only one there!
And that's just talking M-bodies. It doesn't really address the attitudes involved a lot of times. I had a derby guy make an offer on my '69 Sport Satellite more door 383-4bbl car. He got pissed when I turned him down as it wasn't for sale. Depending on who you talk to this car may be as rare as a couple of hundred built or as rare as less than 30 built. It may well be the only one left in existence at this point in time (I've yet to find another one or even hear of one.) Yet all this guy could do was think of smashing the hell of it. And get pissed when I wouldn't take his money so that he could!
Don't get me wrong, I understand the reality of the situation. Derby guys aren't always car guys. And I understand the reality of parting cars out. It took me a long time to get my head wrapped around the idea "you can't save 'em all." And I thank the salvage yards that buy the old '69 4-door Belvederes that will one day donate clean quarters and rockers to my Sport. But because they bought those Belvederes before the derby guys swept in I'll have a shot at buying a set of clean quarters.
