Fabs don't judge your dream car price by the that auction you spoke of. I have seen a lot of cars on there go for way, way, more than what they go for on the street. Lots of big money collectors at those auctions that run the prices up. You need to keep your eyes and ears open and find one that someone has tucked away in a barn somewhere and steel it for a nice price.... They are still out there.
I blew my chance to buy a Mustang with the 427 or 428 (don't remember which).
I was about 19 or 20 years old and a guy had one for sale. All numbers matched but the car had been partially restored.
It had some backyard body work that was rusting back through and a cheap paint job with quite a few flaws but the interior was nice and the car was drivable and in relatively good shape.
Don't remember the exact price he was asking but it was in the couple thousand $$ range and I didn't have quite enough money in the bank and couldn't talk him down any lower. So I passed on the car and a few months later in general conversation the car came up and my Great Aunt pulled me to the side away from the other relatives and told me that I was an idiot and if I ever found something like that again that I wanted but didn't have all the money that she would loan me the $$$.... all I had to do was ask......
Well knowing her, I know she was only trying to make me feel better but knowing that I let that car slip through my hands and could have bought it with just a phone call made me ill......
Had a similar experience with a Coyote Kit Car (like the one on the TV show Hardcastle and McCormick), seen it for sale and kept putting off going to look at it and didn't call and not only did it sell before I got off my ass and checked it out but it sold a lot cheaper than I figured it would.
Fabs on a closing note... If you do ever build a Shelby AC Cobra kit car and build it with the 427 or 428 I want a ride in it.......