What's the deal with 356A's?

Now understand, I deal in old Porsches. Typically, my father and I work on the later cars in this model series, as they are more drivable than the a's (They handle better, they brake better and typically make more power, from what we've seen. I also think they look better, but that's subjective) And yet, the last few times we've had an A car come up for sale, All logic and rational thought seems to go out the window when the buyers come calling. Case in point, we recently sold a rather ratty specimen (flintstone style floors, bad rockers, bad panel gaps, etc.) for $25k, while for the same price, you could snag a running, driving and more or less solid b or c series car for the same price...basically, what I'm asking is, what's the appeal of the older cars and how does that make them worth the ridiculous premium people seem to pay?