I think it comes down to what you have a personal attachment to.  My buddy collects and restores old Fiats because he has a thing for them, to each his own.  I have a thing for 1st gen's so yeah I see what you are saying because I cringe sometimes when I see a build up that starts with a very nice truck and by the end is a bobbed, exoed, dovenosed, sawzalled rolling dent.  But if they did it to an 84+ wouldn't bother me because I don't have a thing for those.