I have the original hatchet that George Washington used to cut down the cherry tree.

However, the head has been replaced twice,and the handle has been replaced 6 times.

Aside from these minor concerns, it is original.

It is for sale.

Why in God's name did they 'total' the car? There are so many car collectors that would have happily stripped the thing down to the frame and restored it to factory new like condition with loving hands. Older cars are a lot easier to repair after flood damage because they have much less electronics and wiring that is troublesome after flooding.

Not that I'm one on them, but they are out there. Lots of them.

"Why in God's name did they 'total' the car?"

It's the way auto insurance works, if the cost of repairs exceeds the 'fair market value' of the car (aka, the 'blue book value,' measuring it as a drivable vehicle, not as a collectible), then the car is written off as a 'total loss.' The insurance company pays you the amount specified in the policy (typically about half what you'd need to get a used car that just barely passes the safety inspections) and takes the 'wreck' for 'disposal.'

The company then sells the car to a junkyard on their 'preferred customer' list as scrap metal, and the junk yard then parts it out for something like 2-3 times what they paid, more if it's a rare vehicle with a higher demand for the discontinued parts.

One of the disturbing trends I've heard is that some insurance companies are considering a car 'totaled' if it deploys its airbags, on the assumption that the impact 'must' have damaged the frame. Someone rear-ends you just hard enough to trigger your airbag, and the insurance company takes your still drivable, still safe car away, and gives you a check that barely covers the price of a rolling deathtrap car.