Generally, as these cars were sold in large numbers, at those prices you are buying the restoration, not the car. In other words, cars restored at a certain shop, to a certain standard, are worth $55K, not the particular car. Every time an auction like this occurred, people would drag out there "somewhat-less-than-fine" cars out for an appraisal. How come my (insert pile of poop) is only worth $2K when one sold for $55K just last week? No problem we'd say. Just spend $100K and your car will be worth $55K too.