Affect of mods on resale value Options

[bbrock]

I have a couple decisions to make soon on my restoration that could affect resale value of the car. So I'd be interested to hear opinions.

The car is a numbers matching (I'm pretty sure - need COA) '73 2.0L so on paper, very desirable. But it is currently a rust basket case, but becoming less so every day. I'm trying to restore it to a very high standard but it seems silly to think such a Frankencar would ever be a concours contender. I certainly have no interest showing it. But I am kind of a fanatic about originality with a few exceptions. I'm keeping the car very near original with a few "bolt-on" mods that are easily reversible like euro signal lights, reproduction parts for budget (no thousand dollar OEM interior light going in here), etc. The biggest mod is that the engine has been converted to carbs, including cam. But I still have the original FI and may start working on restoring that down the road. I'm contemplating a couple of mods that won't be so easy to roll back but I don't want to sacrifice potential resale value of the car. Below are the mods and my twisted rationale for doing them:

Delete Fender Warts - this is the biggie. I hate them and the warts I have are in bad shape. I hate to think of spending money to replace something I think is ugly and Porsche didn't really intended to be on the car. My rationale is that no warts and euro lenses ARE original in European markets. But if I sold the car, would that kill the originality premium?

Late style fuel pump location A PO relocated the fuel pump to inside the steering rack and did a crap job of it. I recently picked up a 75-76 fuel pump blister with the intention of cutting the firewall to relocate the pump the way the factory did. Makes sense to me. It's a factory improvement, right? But what would a buyer looking for an original car think?

Black anodized trim My car is performance group, but not appearance group so it has black bumpers which I like. Decades ago, I lightly sanded the scratched up window and targa trim and painted it satin black. I really like the look and am thinking of having them black anodized as part of the restoration. Or would it be smarter to go back to bright anodized to preserve resale value? Seems like this would be an easy one to reverse if someone wanted to.

I have no plans to sell this car but never rule it out. Just curious how far a person can deviate from dealer delivered original before the car loses that "all original premium"... And realizing that such things are impossible to predict.

[Dominic]

I actually asked this question at a Valuation seminar that I attended during the Porsche Parade in Spokane. The presenter was a very well versed in Porsche's new and old. Since I have a steel flared 914-6, I was curious as to the overall effect on the value.
The term he used was "Acceptable Modifications". If you have a car with what the Porsche community considers "Acceptable Modifications" you probably didn't hurt the value too much. For our 914's, steel flares and -6 conversions (for example) are welcomed with open arms. When you stray from the "Acceptable Modifications" rule of thumb and start to cut/chop/personalize, etc. you now have a hard time placing a resale value on a car that others may not appreciate.

In the end, it's your car. Have fun with it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[Coondog]

For our 914's, steel flares and -6 conversions (for example) are welcomed with open arms.

In the end, it's your car. Have fun with it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) because no one else wants to spend the money it takes to do these conversions......