Interesting point you raise Lucky, £5k in the 80's was worth about £20k today, which you can easily spend on a kit car these days. Two of my 'attainable' dream cars were the RSK 718 Spyder and the 356 Speedster and I've wanted to build one or t'other for more than thirty years. I even bought a VW Squareback (WEL 9J, where are you now?) as a donor for a Covin Speedster but the company went bust while I was still getting the money together for the kit
Since then I've never been able to justify the budget needed to put a decent Porsche replica on the road. As my forty-ninth birthday loomed I looked at what was available and worked out that I needed a minimum of £15k to do a decent job of a 718 or Speedster, the Martin and Walker bodyshell alone is over five grand. So, I was idly looking for an abandoned or unstarted project on ebay and put the word 'Spyder' in a search, when out popped the Sammio Spyder. Two years and about five grand later I had a car on the road that, not only do I love, but my wife, who doesn't give a toss about classic cars, wouldn't let me sell when I said I might do because she loves it too.
Anyway, I now have just over twelve months until I can afford to buy and build a Tribute kit and I just can't wait.
