I knew an aviator with a collection of 16 aircraft, said he was going to restore them all. I watched airline pilots flying in from all over wanting to buy one of these collector birds of their dreams (all basket cases, and they wanted to restore it or have someone do it for them) and he wouldn't sell anything. Big sale after his death, all were sold in lots by type, and many had gone to seed beyond repair, it was in a way sad. He sold only one of them while he was alive and it is one of a handful of "Kinner Low Wings" and I am not sure if the hulk he had went on to fly or was used as parts, it went to someone affiliated with the a major museum....
I’ve seen a lot of car projects like that. Guys buy old cars thinking they’ll fix them up and then loose interest or can’t afford it. The cars sit in fields or barns and rot away. When I was a teenager I tried to buy an old 1920’s school bus that was abandoned and the guy wouldn’t sell it. 20 years later the bus was still rusting away and beyond help when he died. I also knew a woman that had a farm and had a ‘57 chevy pickup that sat in the field and hadn’t run in years. I offered to buy it and she wouldn’t sell. It rotted away.