DWinTX

I bought a 70 L46 4-speed coupe about 7 months ago. It is a running project with no paint (in primer). It had some aftermarket parts on it, but came with all the original parts except the exhaust manifolds. I'm building the engine on my son's car now, but plan on painting this one and redoing the interior as my next project.

The car was originally Marlboro Maroon. I've never cared for maroon myself, and was going to paint it Ontario Orange. I have a certain affection for that color as I had an Ontario Orange 72 convertible back in the early 80's.

However, I have decided to build a second, detached garage because my 2-car just ain't cuttin' it anymore. I have 5 project cars to do! I may have to sell the Vette to finance the garage, I'm not really sure yet. I'm going to try not to, because this car is just plain fun. But I also have a son in college that I'm cash-flowing the tuition for, so I may not want to add payments for a garage on top of that.

So my question is, given that the car is otherwise original or will have the original parts as part of the deal, will a non-original color hurt me on the sales price? The car should be pretty nice when I'm done with it. Not totally restored, but a very nice driver. If it would only cost me a couple hundred to be non-original, I could handle that. But if it would cost me a couple grand, that's different.

What do you think?

Easy Mike

You can speculate about a third of potential buyers will not want the color change and pass on the car. Another third won't mind as long as they like the orange. The final third will not know the color is incorrect and will not care.

Another option is to leave the car in primer and let the new owner select the color. That will appeal to some folks, but certainly not all.

Good luck.

tokim

I would (with the understanding you may sell it) paint it the factory color, and advertise it as such.
Your list of perspective buyers should be larger.
Orange on the other hand, can be polarizing (orange is not for everyone).

tak82

Not to steal the post, I'm sort in the same boat. I don't plan on selling the car but the 82 needs paint. Have been considering changing the original red to black...tough decision

DWinTX

That would be interesting, but probably would get me in trouble. I have a paint booth that I set up in my garage to paint another of my projects before I bought the Vette. That's part of the reason I have space problems. I never got around to painting that car, so the Vette will be my virgin painting attempt. I've done a lot of research and bought some decent equipment, but I really don't know how it's going to come out, so I probably shouldn't advertise it with promise of new paint. If I paint it and screw it up, at least the buyer will know what they're getting ahead of time.

Yep, color can be polarizing. I love the OO, but I've read not everyone does. Is the MM a generally-liked color? I think I read somewhere that they built more MM cars than any other color that year.

DWinTX

Well, at least both red and black are pretty universally liked. You should find a bunch of buyers that like either.

qwank

I'd paint it the original color

Sunstroked

It's easy to go with Mike on this one, pun intended. Echoes my opinion.

Easy Mike

I agree. Some folks will not want the primer and the expense of exterior paint. Other folks might actually be looking for a car in primer.

Who can say? The point is the maroon is the original color.

vettebuyer6369

If you think there's a decent chance you could sell the car in the forseeable future, changing the color might not be the best strategy. It will reduce the value by the cost of a re-paint in the overall market, although there will be some buyers who won't know or care.

If it was an NOM car or something you definitely planned on keeping for a long time, it would be a different conversation.

mad pad house

Colour is about personal taste.Primer will get the lest amount of money.Myself a had some fun with my 69.My wife told me to paint it like a Hot Wheel and I did.So far no bad comments.The car was org.green,not my taste.Go with what you want.

blueray72

^^this

Corey_68

Of you plan to sell it soon, paint or the original color.

Priya

Well for me I equally dislike both colours so it'd be a toss-up. If you can find a breakdown on how many cars of each colour were sold in different years that would give you an idea of which is more popular.

I don't think I'd leave the car in primer as if I was looking at it I'd wonder if the bodywork was crappy and not visible with the flat primer on it.

DWinTX

I thought I ran across some production stats somewhere that said that Marlboro Maroon was either one or two for 1970. But now I can't find it so maybe I'm imagining it.

I'm definitely not leaving it in primer, I plan to sand most of the existing primer off and lay a few coats of build primer to block it out nicely before I paint it. I have done that before and it came out well. It's just the paint that I haven't done.

But I wouldn't want to sell it in primer. Frankly, I don't want to sell it at all, but if I do I want to get as much as possible for it to offset the cost of the garage.

540 vette

I bought my corvette to enjoy it and not worry about when I sell it. If you bought it to sell it paint it original, but I would paint it the color I want.

DWinTX

I didn't buy it to sell it. It just may, I stress may, become necessary. I really like Ontario Orange better, and my original plan was to paint it that color.

Really, I'm just trying to determine, and I realize it's just speculation, how much less I would get for it if it wasn't the original color. But you guys have been in the early Corvette world much longer than I have so your speculation is probably more accurate than mine. I promise I won't hold you to it.

Like I said in the first post, if it's a couple hundred, I'd risk losing that to get the color I want. But if it's a couple thou, I probably wouldn't.

Jeff_Keryk

There are no hard and fast rules. If a car is very original, it seems as though the original color helps. My 68 L36 Roadster was Cordovan Maroon from the factory. I wanted to paint it 69 Cortez Silver; my wife and the painter told me the car had to be black black black black. It's pretty hard to predict what a potential buyer wants. Maroon ain't for me, but that's just me. I would paint it how you want it. These cars are not investments.

persuader

The folks that are into the chrome bumper C-3s are from my experience a funny bunch. Most of them it seems, Lean more towards originality than not. I would paint it the original color just for that reason alone. Especially if you think that you will be selling it in the not to distant future.
If I were building a Chromie it would be as original as possible. On the other hand if I (Which I am) were building a rubber bumper C-3. Than the sky is the limit. Thats how I see it anyway. My most humble opinion.

LS4 PILOT

Just don t paint it red

Please. ..the world doesn't need any more red corvettes.

I like the orange better too.... But as others said ...of you are not keeping it ......then paint it back factory color . The original color looks pretty good if it's fresh .

Buyers deduct from custom work .....what will it cost to return the car to its correct form. ..

Personally I d rather restore a total ragged out original car , than undo a custom car. Custom s most of the detail parts have been lost , so,it's a major pain to fix it right.