I had a R-1000 back then (it was my gateway drug to ham radio) and my dream rig was the NRD-515. Sadly I never got one. I noticed that the price back then was $1450.
Zack
Mine was the TR-7/R-7. A high school/CB radio friend's father had a complete 7-line (minus receiver) for his operating position. That was a tall chunk of change for someone doing odd jobs while studying.
Fast forward to today: There are 8 R-7s and 3 TR-7s in attendance. Two of the R-7s came from FCC Field Offices and apparently were fitted with a series of mods at the plant. One of my buddies/ex-coworkers was an engineer at Miamisburg during the days of 7 and 5-line design and production; upon viewing the rigs he commented they appeared factory-modified to contract spec.
I'll give the performance edge to the Drakes at this point, but that may change once I've modded the '515. Where that radio shines is the synthesizer and overall stability plus memories. In the works is the addition of DDS VFOs to some of the R-7s (I use RV-75s with the transceivers) though it would be nice to have more than just an A/B VFO function in terms of frequency flexibility.