Heck, it's all relative..... Some think it's ridiculous folks spend 10, 20, 30K + on a 40-50 year old car, when buying something newer would get you better handling, better braking, more fuel efficient, more comfort, more safety and quite possibly a faster car. So if you look at it from the outside in, us guys driving these expensive toys could also be considered "fools and their money". Like mentioned....People really want something, they'll spend the money. Can't really hold it against them because it don't meet our own line of thinking.
Very valid point, but how many of the folks paying $10k to $30k+ on an old car today do so with the full understanding their car will be worth about $500 to $1,500 if they decide to sell it tomorrow?
Maybe it shouldn't bother me, but back in the old days, we had a finite number of options. If you ponied up the unheard of sum of say $100 for a new set of Cragars, you knew that if you changed your mind at some point and wanted slots, there would be a couple dozen guys you knew who would snap those Cragars up from you, and there's a good chance you would buy your slots from a guy who was wanting to change to something else. That's totally different from the situation today.
Now, you can go on wheel seller websites, and see 30-40 different wheel makers, with from ten to 30 or 40 different models each. And... now they're offering specially painted and coated wheels, different back spacings, different finishes, etc., and to 747's point, all these options do allow an owner to order a set of wheels that exactly meet 100% of his/her wants and needs, but that's a double-edged sword. Anyone who's ordered anything custom to them knows that what they like probably isn't what anyone else wants or needs, which is why these guys are having such a hard time unloading these wheels and losing most all of the money they put into them.
Speaking for myself, I have no problem whatsoever dropping lots of bucks on something I really want for my car, but I also know, as does my wife (I think), that what I buy enhances the value or usefulness of the car. For example, back in 1984, I took a large ration of crap from the wife for blowing $75 on a single-four STR intake for my 72 Road Runner, but I told her I could resell that intake tomorrow for $75 and I was going to get a real performance boost, and since we used the car for street racing, there was a value there. And just like every other guy or gal I ran with, I would drop lots of money into performance upgrades to make the car faster, handle better, etc. But the concept of spending $1,000 (in 1984 bucks) on wheels??? That would have had a LOT of folks shaking their heads.
