I thought you totaled that.
Oh, it's totaled, all right, in that the repairs will cost at least five times what I could sell it for after the repairs are done. That's not going to stop me from fixing it, though. The car is quite literally irreplaceable, one of perhaps 10 ever built, and there are probably only one or two still running.
In this case, rarity doesn't translate into dollar value. There are not many nut cases like me who want a 16 year old hopped up "sleeper" station wagon with a big-bucks stealth-installed stereo system. Nonetheless, I would have to pay at least six times what the repairs are going to cost me to purchase a new car with the same degree of performance, luxury, and economy of operation. That car is much more than just transportation to me.
tanstaafl.