To colour or not to colour, that is the question

[jedwards]

To colour or not to colour, that is the question

Gentlemen,
This is an age-old question for which there is no definitive answer, but I would appreciate the collective wisdom of this forum anyway.

My 71T was originally supplied in Silver Metallic 8080.
This would have looked very sharp in 1971, when silver metalic was rare and special. However these days, half the cars on the road seem to be metallic silver, so I was hoping to benefit from the collective wisdom of this forum on the value of keeping a car its original colour.

It is my opinion, much of the visual appeal of the early 911’s stems from the lovely chrome detailing, as in the image below, and again, in my opinion, a darker colour lets these features stand out.

So just how evil would it be for me to paint 71T in one of the lovely Porsche dark blue tones?

[mr901]

Jeff,

I don't like new cars in Silver either however your car is an aging Porsche & will wear it beautifully. If you have to spend the money & repaint anyway I'd go with the original 8080.

Three questions people will always ask are (1) is it converted, (2) is it matching numbers & (3) is it original color. In terms of resale the more of those boxes you can tick the better. My 912 only ticks one box (#2) but I didn't buy it for the resale so don't care....ha ha....if you're worried about resale 8080 is the only choice. A great color anyway so no down side as far as I can see.....

Cheers

[Classic]

I think they look great in any colour.

Having gone through the same deliberation, IMO I'd go original.

PS. Insure the 19YO at the DOT processes the paper work correctly for the colour change!!! Ask me how I know......

Apparently I can contest it in court.......or pay the $200 fine

[Fishcop]

Sensible advice from Matt. But you need to be able to "live" with the colour... You are lucky that silver is certainly not hideous. If you can't do silver (and I also agree it's a bit of a 911-generic colour), then do a colour that you love.

Blues are great, and Porsche did a lot of blue variations... so there will be one you're bound to love - but stick with a 'period correct' 911 colour code.

If you're going a little bespoke to suit you yourself, chase down one of the rarer 911 colours such as "Ultra Blau" (Tony Campbell's is the only one I know of in Australia), or Royal/Montecarlo Blau - which is Arrow Blau in later cars.

If I was going to pick any period correct colour though, for me it's Golden Green. Rare, cool, desirable

[Fishcop]

I think they look great in any colour.

Having gone through the same deliberation, IMO I'd go original.

PS. Insure the 19YO at the DOT processes the paper work correctly for the colour change!!! Ask me how I know......

Apparently I can contest it in court.......or pay the $200 fine

Tony, I meant to call you back today. I will talk you through getting it waived...

[Bremith]

Depends on motive for repaint.

If it needs re painting regardless then as above.

If is just a question of cosmetics I would recommend exploring vinyl wraps. Best of both worlds - colour you want, original colour underneath and protected by vinyl. (Broadly speaking) also cheaper than a repaint. And a finish that is more durable than paint.

And if you get it done in carbon fibre finish the car will weigh less too.

[JulianG]

or buy a 69 so the colour change can be done w/out removing much

[CS911E]

If I was going to pick any period correct colour though, for me it's Golden Green. Rare, cool, desirable

My favourite as well but probably best on a SWB

For me, if you have Aussie delivered, matching numbers, etc, etc then I would go the factory colour. Otherwise choose the colour that makes you smile more every time you look at it

[CamBiscuit]

Another vote for original silver from me. If it was me I'd be putting in some red seats, dash & door trims - I love a silver car with a red interior!

I'm also a fan of Golden Green though

[Bremith]

Can see myself wrapping mine in Slate Grey at some point...

[mr901]

Hypothetically how much is a wrap….I could live with Golden Green for a while

Cheers

[Bremith]

Don't hold me to it as I ain't no wrapper, but from preliminary enquiries and depending on what wrap is chosen and how much work you do yourself (eg whether you remove trim, panels etc) $4k give or take

If you were REALLY keen you could do it yourself for vinyl cost which (depending) might run $1-1.5k

[Terminator]

Don't hold me to it as I ain't no wrapper, but from preliminary enquiries and depending on what wrap is chosen and how much work you do yourself (eg whether you remove trim, panels etc) $4k give or take

If you were REALLY keen you could do it yourself for vinyl cost which (depending) might run $1-1.5k

Yeah right, your going to do that to your Tangerine S...not likely

[Bremith]

Not the reason I know about it Clyde but why not?

I LOVE my S but all other things being equal I would choose Slate Grey over Tangerine.

A couple of years driving it around as is then change it up and protect that original colour as is for years? Or protect it now before it gets any more stone chips etc that it will get as a car that is regularly driven?

Eg someone could buy Phil's car in yellow then wrap it in original Eggplant. A new twist on 'original colour'.

My guess wd be that a 911 would be an easy and relatively inexpensive car to wrap - small car, simple shapes, minimal trim and easily removed. The vinyl itself is pretty cheap. Perfect for R Gruppe-ing - you can wrap bonnet, boot lid, bumpers in a different colour etc.

Or offend everyone in the early 911 community by wrapping the whole car in chrome. Or suede. Or camouflage.

I think an otherwise standard 901 in those black and white patterns that the car companies use to disguise new models at the Nurburgring would be cool.

Or what about this on a 901?

[Bremith]

Like this