I have friends with classic cars, and others with high perfomance cars with thousands in them for upgrades. Without an appraisal getting more than book value is tough to prove EVEN with receipts if you deal with your own insurance company. Do a web search for private autombile appraisers in your area. In the case above if his car was indeed in exceptional shape the higher end value may be possible to recover if he had it appraised, and documented. The highest value he is looking for is for a car nearly in factory delivered shape. This is hard to prove without the appraisal done and the photgraphic proof in the form of a small portfolio on his car for want of a better description. A private appraisal is just another tool to help protect you from a total loss. My 1987 Mustang has thousands in parts for new balanced motor, aluminum radiator, ported aluminum heads, cam, roller rockers, injectors, suspension mods, disc brake conversion, 31 spline Moser axles, custom body work and much more. I just had the new factory floor pans installed, new front seats with harnesses, new front 1/4 panels, Cervinis hood and body kit and more. The book value for a 1987 Mustang is around $2,700. But with my receipts I can easily prove that my car is worth far more than that amount. As the other person stated you will pay more for car insurance but the risks and headaches of spending months fighting with them in court is offset and well worth it to me. If you have your car already appaised for the actual value of your car and are paying insurance for that amount it is FAR easier to collect for damage if your car is stolen for parts, or damaged in an accident. Does this help any? Below is one link. I have others and you can search in your own area for independent appraisers who can do it for you for a fee. John

http://autoloss.com/insurance.htm?OVRAW=Auto%20Appraisers&OVKEY=auto%20appraiser&OVMTC=standard