I'm looking at the color change dilemma from another angle, considering all of the non-original changes I have already made to my car, and hoping for some 914World feedback. I know the common consensus is that a color change car will always lose value compared to an original color - there's plenty of threads on that. But I also buy the argument that a bare-metal color change can help to negate that loss.

Here's the thing, the original Malaga Red my car came in is a pretty color, but I'm not just "in love" with it. I'm putting all of this effort into the restoration of my teener, and when I'm done, I want it to be noticed and scream 70's sports car. Plus, when I walk out and see it in the garage, I want to be blown away. If I could pick any color that I wanted, it'd probably be L50E, Adriatic Blue. (Of course, this is not a 1975 color.)

The other side of this story is that my 914 will be no means be a concourse car anyways. I have remove the side warts, shaved the antenna hole, backdated the bumpers, upped the engine to 2056 (and removed fuel injection), will paint the sail panels, plan on using an aftermarket wiring harness, and will be trying to add some small custom touches to the interior.

So here's my question - with all of the changes I have already made, is the originality value already negated? In other words, will a color change be the straw that broke the camel's back? I'm not building this car to sell, but I also don't want to want a color mismatch to be a fatal flaw if I ever need to sell my car.

If you have an original, numbers matching all perfect condition 914, then by all means stay with the original colour. anything else will affect the value.

If you are restoring a car that needs rust repair and body work then make it your own. If the car has been properly repainted (just not the outside) but inside and underneath then I dont think a colourchange hurts the value at all aslong
as you stay away from the really personal colour choises.

I changed the colour on mine and I went with a modern white Porsche code because I didnt like the Light Ivory stock colour which is too much beige too my eyes.

As Always, build the car you want to own.

Thanks for the feedback, Mats. I was actually just reading your build thread and love the stripes

Adriatic Blue is my favorite color.

You have my blessing, go forward and spray!!!!

I am in the same dilemma - my car was the color which I will not speak (metallic gold) and neither my wife or I could stand it. (sorry everyone). However, since we stripped the entire car to nothing and had it media blasted, when it gets painted, (summer of 2017 according to Scotty B) it will be a different color. It will remain a stock '71 Six color however. My car is being slightly modified, not going to be a trailer queen show car, and I wanted to see it sitting in my garage and love the color. I have to say Adriatic Blue is one of our final choices. Beautiful color. But there are several that speak to me. Good luck.

Paint it the color that you like. The value of the car is in making you happy, not trying to figure out what the next person might like.

Visit an art store and take a look at paint colors. That might help you decide what to change it to

You should be IN LOVE with your 914, so paint it a color that leads you to that end.

And the best post of the year goes to Mepstein
:

My signature line over on the bird is:


Same can be said about paint, unless it's an original 2.0 AG, LE or six and you plan to keep it a long time I'd do it in any colour that floats your boat.

The young lad is wondering about this as well, he hates yellow. He's doing a bare tub resto and it's a '73 1.7 so now's the time to change it.

Assuming it IS a numbers matching car, & you're going to bare metal for a repaint, then the best value would be to return it to the original factory color - whether or not you do rust repair. For a modified car or with replacement engines, etc. - the following won't apply, or not as much so.

Despite any opinions either way on here - the real world classic/vintage/sports/exotics car market valuation factors are pretty clear, so read from the experts at Hagerty's website & in their & Hemmings' publications' articles on the value differences on restorations original vs. color changes, & that holds for really any classic/collectable car/vehicle across the board (maybe 914s are so scarce in Sweden that they won't care).

That said - it's your car & your project & your dough, so in the end you have to be happy, & the ultimate value loss may not be significant to you personally. If you can find one of the factory 914 or 911 colors which work for you, then I think that the value difference will be less.

You can see actual 914s in the various factory colors for every MY at the link below by clicking on each color silhouette ....

p914.com (you may have to manually change to .org or .net if some link still aren't fixed)

Now this is coming from a serial color changer on my `73 914 2L since I bought it in 1975 (oh, the impetuousness of youth! ) - I did the 914 Copper in `76 with a rustoration repaint, then the current Anthracite Grey in my 1980 rolling resto/rusto (see avatar pic) - & that was on top of what turned out to be 2 other color changes by the dealer &/or prior original owner from L80E Light Ivory (white) originally, to Sahara Beige then Gold (both 914/911 colors.

Moreover, it was common for P+A dealers back then to do color changes for buyers - especially when they were moving hot & special orders were backed up or long waits, & for the opposite to move a slow selling car (mine was built 8/31/72 & first registered 11/6/72 - so probably the former).

However, after my 2 prior restos/color changes & 2 prior repaints - in my current resto I'm going to take it back to the original L80E on my bare metal resto since mine is numbers matching, I have all records since 1975 (2nd owner), & it's going to bare metal - essentially erasing the sins of the past. So I put myself on a white 914 desensitization program to get myself used to it in the original color - the dealer sold "PORSCHE" positive side stripes will help, & think that I've gotten over my "white cars look like refrigerators" mania!

Believe me - I would MUCH prefer, as would my wife, to repaint in either Alaska Blue or Marathon Blue metallics - always my FAV 914 factory colors from `73 MY

- but the reality is that:
1.) I'm putting a ton of dough into getting my "ole gal" fixed/rusto'd/restored, &
2.) In my mid-60's, I have to face reality that at some point my wife &/or kids will need to sell it, & will probably need to get top dollar out of it when I'm gone.

It ultimately comes to your choice as to whether you'd prefer to have your fav color, or to have a few $1000s or $10,000s in value if/when you sell - it's each persons' choice.

Who knows, I may get a last minute "wild hair" & push from my wife, to make mine blue anyway!?

I've heard that some just flip a coin!

Good Luck!
Tom
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There are (sort of) two types of people here. Those that want to drive their cars and those that want to show their cars. If you are in the latter group, I don't think you will be wondering about it. It takes a certain level of obsessiveness. And in a practical sense, when you buy the car you have to have that end goal in mind. If you were not thinking about that from the beginning, consider yourself a driver, don't sweat the details and paint it the color that makes you happy.

PS Aggiezig -

If it helps your decision making any, then you could try to contact Hagerty or Hemmings or an Appraiser of classic Porsches (preferably with 914 experience) to give you a professional's opinion of what the value difference would be, but this would probably come in the form of a range of percentages, which is really more useful since 914 value are rising. It will be X% of $YY,YYYs today, & more $Y's in future years - assuming the trend continues.

But it still comes down to what makes you most comfortable & happiest in spending your money & time on your resto, not anyone else's opinions.

PSS - The value difference holds for DD, weekender or CW cars of any make, but the more use, the more dings/chips & wear collected, which will affect any classic/collectable cars' base value, to which the original vs. color change paint value equation applies - with lesser difference on an original color, vs. some other color, & more for a really "out there" color choice. Market factors are not a matter of whether one is a driver or show person for the % differential, only on how much wear-n-tear will go on the car, so consider that too.

Here is a link to the Hagerty Values tool - make sure to read the descriptions/definitions of their condition levels, to know what each color/condition curve really means.

https://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools


Tom
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I've had this dilemma on my mind too. My 73 was factory black, which means my body work would have to be primo, and I'm not really a fan of owning black cars. Anyways, to me the option came to this line of thinking: If the car is completely original, you're crazy to change it. The more original, the more crazy, the less original, the less crazy. If you're going 100% bare metal, it doesn't hurt a value as much. If it's an Bumblebee, LE, etc, it's pushing crazy. If you're doing some high dollar professional resto, it's crazy to change color. But for me, I'm doing extensive work in my garage, the car has evidence of several wrecks, and will never be original or perfect due to my amateur status, so I have no problem modifying and painting it whatever color I wish. Though I do think my paint scheme will still be appealing to some future buyer for at least the life of this rustoration, perhaps some future one will be best to go original if these cars become like Auburns or something.

I'll add a second thought I just had. If you're modifying the car anyways, it may actually help the value. Look at the whole hotrod world and even people like Gas Monkey's work. There are times and cars when original is best for value, and other times/cars/models that an outlaw brings in more.

+1 to the color change. My new to me '71 1.7 got color changed from blue to some weird shade of yellow at some point and while I like yellow, this particular shade left me cold. I'm planning of repainting to a correct 914 shade of yellow once the the rust is taken care of, although even at that point, it will not be correct for the MY year of my car. It will however, be a shade that pleases ME and that's what's important, isn't it (lol).

I strongly agree with these guys.

I have often heard the, don't do this or that, it will hurt the value. But I have never worried about the next guy.
That said, I did paint my car the original color because I liked it. With some things I tried to stay true to original, other things I changed considerably.
I actually had a friend say to me " I don't know why you are putting all this work into that car, they really aren't worth much" Again I'm not building it for anyone else. If they don't understand...... Well, they just don't understand.

Oh my God! Don't Do it! You'll kill the value of your car!!!

Just kidding...

Watch car auctions on television sometime and you'll often see that nicely done custom cars will sell for higher prices than original cars. It depends on the level of originality vs. the level of customization.

Life is too short to drive a car that isn't perfect. Let your Heirs and Successors deal with selling it.

A color change will always be worth less when you go to sell. You said it, and it's true without question. Always.

But it's your car, paint it however you like.

My buddy build a crazy awesome custom Thunderbird and painted it a metallic purple. I thought it was beautiful, but when we went to sell the car he ended up losing a CRAP-TON of money on it because of the color. Nobody wanted a purple car. Do what you want, but don't be surprised if it bites you later.

If you're not choosing Adriatic Blue because it's not correct for your year, consider L97B Anacona Blue Metallic. Here is a link to a picture: http://p914.com/p914_paint_L97B_76.htm. It's a great color and correct for a 75.

Hi, this is a nice thing to think about....and hard ! Yoy will for sure hesitate many times, and maybe switch your choice once (or twice).
It is hard to choose from a small sample, color is different on a small flat sample than on a car with lines and some curves like a 914.
My tip would be to stay with a 914 color or maybe (if you like it better) a 'bigger brother' color (other, newer Porsche-color) Check other 914's in real live and pick a cool color. If you want something that screams sport and 70's, maybe try one of the Orange 914 colors ?

No matter what color you paint it someone will always say I had on just like that!

I considered this subject when I had Mistress's exterior repainted a couple of years ago. But a pristine "all original" car with trashed original paint will never have the value of delighted ownership. I did repaint in original factory L99A Delphi Green so all the parts would match, and I've grown to love the fact that other drivers/cars can see us coming!

Is the car your love, or investment?

I have an original paint color on Dad's car - Olympic Blue, but I love the feel of a tight suspension so I ditched the original parts and put in a tarret bar, eiback springs, at 2056 and other non stock mods because I WANTED IT that way. Its worth more than any check anybody on earth can write because it was my Dad's car, and he lives again every time I drive it.

That said, I had a 73 2.0 that a member here now owns, which was olympic blue, red, and then a beautiful gray color (see attached), I would never have wanted any other color for that car. I got compliments often, drove it like I stole it, and I just loved the color. It should have been one that Porsche made. Also, a really cool 914 guy owned it before me, and his widow cried when I drove away. He built it, I raced it. I liked it.

The point is, do what the BK slogan says - "Have it Your Way." No one can tell you the path ahead for you, but I can ask the question, is the car your love, or your investment? No judgement either way.

Who are you building the car for? Yourself, or the next owner?

Build it how you like. Whatever makes you smile. And realize that if you ever sell it, you will get pennies on the dollar for what you put in. If you're all right with that, you can make the car that you want.

--DD

My first 914 was a new 1975 Anacona Blue Metallic 1.8, loved that car. Had to sell it in '79 when I was transferred overseas.

Wow! Thank you all for the overwhelming feedback, I really enjoyed reading what everyone had to share. I think hearing all of your feedback has reassured me in the decision to make the switch to Adriatic Blue. I want to fall in love with this car again every time I drive it.

Make sure you go high quality single stage German paint.

You could always Dip it.

I have seen many cars at Barrett Jackson sell for less, all original, than a car with a color change MANY TIMES. Why? The original color was not desirable. Example, at the same auction an all original big block Chev in green sold for less than the same exact model car that had been converted to black, a desirable color. I have seen this many times.

If you did a full stock colour change and bought a new door colour number plate it would look quite factory and shouldn't diminish the value much.

That said I'd still disclose that it's a colour change if you plan to sell.

I too love the Adriatic Blue...so go for it. However, if you did want to stay with a 1975 color, the Anacona Blue Metallic is also a fantastic color.

Note: I have a 1974 Alaska Blue Metallic.

Pic: (Not my car, but also a big wowza to that white interior!!)

http://car-from-uk.com/ebay/carphotos/full/ebay1020368.jpg