Originality-does it matter?

Around 1990, I needed a car for college. Mom found a 1975 Dart Custom 4 dr with a slant 6 and only 22K miles, perfect condition. Looked good enough to me and thought it would be good on gas. Paid $1500 for it. At the time, I really wasn't into cars much, let alone classics. About 2 years later, guy darted (no pun) out in front of me and I t-boned him. Crunched front end pretty bad. Got radiator fixed and sold it for $500. Ever since then, been loving the Mopars, but esp Darts. My current one (for sale in classifieds) I found in FL. Wanted one in as original condition as possible. Didn't have to be mint, but wanted it to be clean and look good. This one does. Extremely clean, but not restored. I WAS a stickler for 'originality' but after getting this one, I would not have been unhappy if some of the original parts had been upgraded, or just simply replaced. I like seeing a car's history in the paint, etc., but while replacing a cracked dash, ripped up seats and headliners, etc. makes the car look great, it removes its history. A completely restored car looks beautiful, but it has no 'visible' history. No evidence of what the car has lived through, "All original" or nearly 'all original' seems to be becoming more and more rare.