Making classics act like new

I was thinking about this last week. I fear the day that I cannot buy a car without a navigation screen cluttering up my dashboard. I fear having a "central control knob" that will control everything in the car for me. I fear not being able to DRIVE.  I really want to start taking some unloved 80's iron and update them for everyday use. Get an '86 IROC, throw in bigger brakes, a new LT1, refurbish everything and you'd have a "new" car without many of the baubles that are making cars today too overboard. This story goes into the whole idea, but just what classic car fans have been doing for years to make their cars more of an everyday thing, getting rid of the bias-ply for radial, upgrading brakes/master cylinder, etc.