AM I that far off?
It's all about supply and demand. I wish my cars were worth a fortune but they're not. No matter how pristine a Chevy Vega might be, it'll never get people to pay big bucks for it. Even if someone spent $30,000 restoring it - it still wouldn't be worth the big bucks.
If for some reason demand for Chevy Vegas shot upwards, the value of the car would increase.
It doesn't matter how much we personally love our cars. Their value is controlled by how desirable they are to others and how rare they are.
A-bodies rarely bring as much money as B-bodies even though they cost about the same amount to restore. 4-doors don't bring as much money as 2-doors.
I don't know what the current average market value is on '73 Dusters. $2500 sounds extremely low for a nice car. My guess would be that it should be at least 4 times that amount. If extremely nice I would say possibly 8 times that amount. But if the demand isn't there.... - then it comes down to finding someone that really loves the '73s.
I own a 'Lil Red Express. They're fairly rare. They're not cheap to restore. They don't bring big bucks either. After restoration I'd be lucky to sell it for as much as I put into it. Apparently there isn't that great a demand out there for them either.