I'd love to have a ridiculously nice vintage road frame, build it up with single speed or IGH and all gleaming parts, tune it to perfection, and ride the hell out of it in all weather. Meanwhile, I've done the next best thing with much more modest frames and parts, and honestly given my level of conditioning and skill, I probably wouldn't notice the difference in a blind test.
On the other hand if it were an intact roadie like shown above, I wouldn't butcher it, but would ride it as-is.