The Official 356Talk Forum

Hi all,
I truly value and respect your insight and opinions and I am looking to get a consensus regarding casting the widest net of interest when my time as care tacker of '58 Speedster ends down the road years from now.
Please chime in and vote for option #1,#2, or #3.
Quick recap; car was stolen and recovered in '74,shop in Santa Cruz, CA flared the rear fenders did a good job and repainted the car a early '70's Mercedes Dark blue it still retains today. Front of car is peppered from driving and sun has done a number on the top of car.
1) Do I leave it the way it is and just drive it? When I display or show car I feel bad with all the nicely painted cars around me.
2) Pay to have flares only brought back to original and matching blue paint shot over flares?
3) Pay more $ to have flares and other minor body work done, car stripped to bare metal and re shot in original Ruby Red?
This cars motor is not original,later snifter,larger front sway bar,disc brakes, etc.
Which option would get the most people interested in possibly buying this car for the strongest price?
Whatever I spend on body and new paint, I feel I can get that back perhaps at time of sale.
Pictures show car in original Ruby Red, the Tangerine Orange when it came into my family, and the dark blue it has worn for 43+ years,under overcast sky's not bright sun which really shows the flaws..
Thank you for insight pros and cons. I was this forum mostly as a tool for information and opinions from the Faithful.
Regards,
Steve

#1
Leave it as it is and let the new owner decide. The percentage difference increase you may get on the selling price is unlikely to make much difference as the car will never be original again .

Agreed with David, unless you can do all the work yourself and to a high level, you will never make a profit off of the restoration.

Just my opinion, but I would bring the rear fenders back to original and leave the rest alone.
Looks too much like a after market to sell as is.

John Wurner wrote:Just my opinion, but I would bring the rear fenders back to original and leave the rest alone.
Looks too much like a after market to sell as is.

+1. The flares make it look too much like a replica, and the unknown is how much of a price hit you'd take by potential purchasers being put off by the prospect of doing metal work on day one. IMO.

Steve leave it as it is and drive it. I really like the way she looks now so if you like it that is all that really counts plus you start changing one thing it will lead to another ie body work means fresh paint job which means and new rag top and so on. Good Luck on what ever you decide.

George

#2

Mike

jim nelson wrote:

John Wurner wrote:Just my opinion, but I would bring the rear fenders back to original and leave the rest alone.
Looks too much like a after market to sell as is.

+1. The flares make it look too much like a replica, and the unknown is how much of a price hit you'd take by potential purchasers being put off by the prospect of doing metal work on day one. IMO.

Agreed. Those flares will scare off some buyers for exactly the reason Jim mentions. A new owner won't necessarily appreciate other enthusiasts thinking his car's a replica. Have the flares removed and the paint blended in if resale is your concern. Then enjoy it until it's time to sell.

#2 !! For the above reasons. Otherwise, you will end up restoring the entire car and not be able to enjoy the car as it sits in a shop for 1-3 years. Then, it will be too nice to drive and then one might wonder why did I do this in the first place ........ George

I'm also in the group which thinks you should remove the flares, blend the paint and enjoy it until it's time to sell. You can let the new owner decide what he wants to do from there.

My 2¢:

Those fender flares will scare off some potential buyers.

+ ? (I lost track of the vote count).

Then there's always the problem of matching the paint. Perhaps you should try to sell it as is down the road and see if you can get what you want, then make your decision.

ChuckJ

I've never had a problem with a shop matching paint well enough to blend. Computers do a great job matching even faded colors. Maybe not perfect, but close enough that when it's blended into the old paint you can't really notice. I'm sure there are exceptions.

I don't especially like the flares, but still it is a great looking car the way it is. Just keep driving it. It accidently turned into an investment, but remember what it really is - a car. Enjoy it! And it is true, anything you fix now will make the rest of it look bad by comparison. I think it was your father's car? You can keep it like this in honor of him.

I like Martin's post as many know my Speedster was modified by my parent while I was go in the Army and for that reason I will not change anything on the car as I honor my parents work and love. My car is either a love or hate it as in most cases with all cars there is the personnel like and dislikes. So leave it as you might and drive the wheels off it and enjoy.