Span Can Part 2

My Piper PA-28 140 is a spam can. Yes. In fact it, along with the 150 Cessna, is the quintessential spam can. Or you could say the "classic" spam can. Now we have an oxymoron of sorts. "Spam can" is certainly a derisive term. Yet "classic" is a complimentary term when we speak 0f airplanes and cars. The Hershey bar wing 140 Cherokees are actually becoming so old, that they are becoming cool. A lot of boomers, including me, had their first solo in a Cherokee. I know my airplane is slow and unsexy and vanilla boring. But it suits. I wound up using the tiny rear seats again last weekend. I gave 4 rides to the neighbor's grandkids. Used all four seats on all four rides. Then after that, wife and I went to refuel at CGE. And eat at the restaurant. We took a friend along. So again we used the tiny back seats. I know when I transition to light sport I will miss those back seats. I can't afford a sexy plane. But the 140 is great. My fantasy back yard Cherokee is this: A 180 Cherokee with a nice mid time engine. Hershey bar wing. But the large interior which comes around '72 to '75 before the taper wing. Leather. Tuned exhaust. A basic auto pilot. Decent avionics with dual GPS. 4 place intercom. A collision avoidance system. No wheel pants. State of the art wing tips with strobes, LED navs, and landing lights. New paint in the original factory style. That's it. Hey I wonder what it would cost? You buy a 50K 180 that has the big interior and the auto pilot. Put up another 20K for the TCAS and juice up the comms etc. Another 2K for the wing tips. Another 2K for the leather. Add 8K for the new paint. I forget how much the tuned exhaust is. 3K? So for 80 grand or so, there you are. Folks my dream plan is a SPAM CAN.