Well said, you took a beating here!
I appreciate any car where work has been done well. Jeremy (goatless) has a 69 convertible that is a beautiful car. Any of us would be proud to own and drive it......it's a Lemans. I have some cars, that when I finally get a chance to drive them, I may be too afraid to, and that's wrong. Like others have said before, we may be putting too much into the pedigree and loosing sight of what made them cool to begin with, hopping in, standing on the gas pedal and getting pushed back in your seat.