Even a fully restored / sorted 38 year old car will need work at times. Are you going to be willing to put more into a $6500 dollar car if you bust a taillight or the dashboard cracks etc.? Tough choice.

$3500 seems like a lot to me too for the '73.

Whatever you choose, be sure you have acess to spare parts. They're out there, you just have to know where to find them. They are tougher to find than 544 or 122 parts. A lot of us who are 140 series addicts seem to have a parts car (or two!) lying around.

As an aside, I have an '84 Prelude w/ 45,000 miles. Still has the new car smell when opened up in the spring.