Danny,
I talked with dozens of people looking for original parts and they said the same thing. That was a big point of conversation at the AACA meet and banquet on Saturday. I fear we are into the same pattern that Pre-War car owners experienced several years ago.
There were several well restored Camaros in the Saturday AACA show.
I know many of the dealers and individual sellers in the car corral do "inflate" their prices at Autofair. Usually, by Saturday afternoon the prices get more reasonable --time to go home and better to make a sale than drive it home. But that's been my experience in several places for years. Did you notice how the dealers were from all over the place. I talked with two at lunch on Friday, one from south Alabama and one from upstate New York, and both were looking for buyers. But both had outrageous prices on their cars.
Interestingly enough, the HNR treasurer told me that the club sold a record number of vendor spaces. The infield (blue and orange) were sold out and the outside fields (green and red) were close to sell out. Also, the speedway at least tied their record for Saturday attendance for Autofair (won't know if it is a record for a few weeks). I'm hoping that speaks well for our hobby.
You are right about new vendors. There were a bunch of them and practically nothing original. I worry about what that means for the future. I'm seriously thinking about buying a parts car.
BTW, thanks for sharing the pictures.