The vintage 'crossers, I sure, still exist, but never had the general sentimental value in the cycling community that vintage road bikes had. Granted, there were some lovely 'cross bikes in the 80s, my favorite being the Alan and Geurciotti 'cross bikes. I still have magazine cutouts of Paul Curley's machines from back in the late eighties, when his bike had amongst its unique componenty a plastic BMX saddle. Another cool bike was the custom Marins the Don Myrah rode with neon touches (late eighties, early nineties).
It's a worthy pursuit to dredge up the old 'crossers from the vaults of obscurity, but if you commit to digging deep, I'm sure you'll unearth some real beauties, and I for one would love to see some old barcons, canti's, and plastic BMX saddles.