Color change on muscle car
 

Hi guys, I know this has been discussed here before but what kind of percentage value wise does a color change affect a muscle cars value? I know there are variables but let’s just say a vehicle is valued at $50000.00 on Hagerty but it has had a color change from the trim tag. Everything else is born with drivetrain and has real documents. Thanks for any opinions. Shane

My opinion. It’s a subjective value depreciation that any particular potential buyer is only able to determine. Yes, we can all GUESS and give opinions and ballpark estimates but I’ve had clients hire me to find cars or to help with valuation before buying or selling and it is something that the buyer decides. I have guys who I’ve located THE CAR only to say no thanks once they see color change. Others could care less because it’s the COLOR the have always wanted.

That said. Color Change to a FACTORY Available color that year for that particular car is better than one not offered.

In General. There’s a drop in value by most buyers but is it 10%? 25% ?? Hard to say.

For me. I am not interested in buying it if nots the factory color it was born. Price won’t change my mind.

It really depends on the car and whether or not it's a car of true significance. For instance, a solid lifter muscle car (i.e. L/78 or Z/28 for example) is always going to be priced above that of a lower horsepower hydraulic flat tappet muscle car (i.e. L48 or L35 etc).

IMO...a true numbers-matching muscle car is going to suffer a 25%-30% hit in value right off the bat. That's due in part to the fact the entire car would need expensive paint and restorative work to bring it back to its original color, should it truly be a car significant enough to save or bring back? It's getting more and more costly for a complete paint job with quality materials, and those guys who do nice work on these older cars are becoming harder and harder to find nowadays.

Now if it's a simple coupe or hotrod car with a swapped engine, trans, and diff...then none of it really matters. Paint it up in whatever style or colors you like and never have another thought about it again.

I think these guys are spot on.

Yes I totally agree with being spot on. Thank you guys for your input,as it is valued. Sometimes wrong color with the right options makes you want to steer towards a color change but may be the wrong move after all.

Depends on the person and the exact car in question. For example I want a Monaco orange 70 chevelle. I wouldn’t buy a color changed car that was just painted Monaco orange regardless of how nice it was or the price point. I would however buy a real Monaco orange car that had been repainted another color with the intention on taking it back to orange even if it was priced at correct color value. If it was a more common color like say I wanted a cranberry car, id prob only buy if it was discounted enough to offset the price and time to take it to the correct color. And I’d prob just hold out to find the right car that’s done unless the price was good enough to justify the labor of love.

Great discussion, but to take it a step further, if a car was originally equipped with a vinyl top and subsequently removed during repaint/restoration, how does this affect the value? I would guess no decrease in value if the color was also changed, but what if the color remained as per trim tag...just the vinyl top removed?

On most cars I don’t think it’s a notable decrease since vinyl tops are polarizing and can be added fairly inexpensively and without causing harm. Removing a vinyl top from a car not coded for one is obviously much more problematic and would probably affect buyers more. I would make an exception for 1969 Camaros in this argument because adding the correct trim mounts to an already nicely painted car is a really intimidating prospect, and don’t forget the changing stripe color implications on HO or LB Z/28’s.

But some color changes will increase the mass appeal of the car.

Green Camaro to Cortez silver... More people will be interested.

So it's situational.

How about a 1969 Cortez silver Camaro with a black vinyl top versus without? I saw a 1969 Cortez Silver
Camaro with the black vinyl top a member on this site owns and it knocked my socks off. I never liked the vinyl tops on 1969 Camaros till I saw his.

All these answers are spot on IMHO. I for one always pass on a color change car and as said it's even more costly in the present to correct a car back to original.
The other situation we didn't touch on is a custom color like Viper Red or a Indigo Blue ETC... That makes me not even read the ad!!
Ron

Paint
 

HI it's your car selling ???? you only live once paint it your couloir my 2 cents

I’d say that’s a valid opinion, and I certainly agree that you only live once and enjoy what you have how you want. However the question was how much will you lose and that’s relative to the situation but as a question of average loss across multiple cars I would bet a color change is 20 to 30% of value lost.

Now I’d also say that varies by kind of car a Camaro, Chevy guys tend to care a little less than say Pontiac guys who are purists to the core . (Evidenced by day 2 pervasiveness)

Camaros are. A little harder to document (no phs or marti report ) original equipment and I think that has lended itself To a Little more leniency in many changes.
Although a color is easily present and verifiable on a cowl tag where many other changes may not be quite so in your face.
Just my 02 that’s probably worth .01 or less .

ipdate
 

Hello Shane.
I have a few questiions.
What was the original paint color?
What is the present paint color?
What make and model is the car?
Thank you,
Drew Papsun

Around 2011 I bought a '69 Chevelle SS396 300 Deluxe sport coupe. It was 396/325 automatic on the column.. nothing special. Car was clean and had all of its original drivetrain and was a great driver. Car was originally burnished brown with a champagne painted roof and black interior. About 10 years prior car was repainted red including the roof. They did leave the top moldings in place. It kinda looked like crap so I added a black vinyl top. I sold the car about 3-4 years ago. Though I am not a fan of color changes. I feel in this case it was beneficial when it came time to sell it.

My '67 Elcamino was originally red. Previous owner repainted it black. I like black.... but they should have left it red as red is a good color and original to the car. The Elcamino is a prime example of why I hate color changes. There are spots in the jambs where the black has flaked off and you can see the red. I'll eventually get around to respraying the jambs one of these days.

My perception is:
Color change = good if it's a "run of the mill" car and should add value if popular color chosen
Color change = bad if it's a rare car that is restored factory-correct. Buyers of these cars want it all just like the factory built it. They will either not buy or pay 20%-ish less if not the correct color for the car.

Here's a current example.

A 70 Chevelle L34 396/350 Super Sport. The original color was Cortez Silver (12,959 built) and it's been changed to Fathom Blue (22,388 built) w/ a black vinyl top. The 350hp Chevelle has become coveted in recent years with their prices steadily rising. This one is currently sitting near to 50K on eBay with 16 hours to go...but something tells me the bidding would be stronger if the car was in factory Cortez Silver.

Whatever it sells for, the buyer will now need to appreciate Fathom Blue or go through the expense of stripping the car to repaint all of the jambs and inner structure back to silver if they should decide to correct the car. That's likely a 20K procedure these days.

Note: Silver was a much rarer color according to production numbers noted above

On the flip side, someone who truly prefers fathom blue may be hoping to score this L34 car at reduced costs and may want to leave it that way, and simply enjoy it.

:biggthumpup:

Car in question is a fathom green 325hp convertible 1969 Chevelle SS.

If all the numbers match - ALL components. And the only thing "wrong" with the car is it isn't the original color as seen on the Tag - then that's going to definitely affect the value. IMO - 15%/20%.

What color's the interior?

Color change is brought up in this video around the 8:00 mark. The “Boyette” JL8 car was nicely restored but was finished in Rally Green/Black instead of its original Fathom Green/Med Green and was not selling at auction when it was offered in 2013, even though it was matching #’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTnV-okOpPE

Black interior

A "collectable" car, like the JL8, is really, a whole different ball game than a rather standard production L35 SS car. The JL8 is going to attract the high end, "investment" group, where a standard "order me an SS" Chevelle, even as a convertible may well not.

With black interior as ordered, I wouldn't have any problem painting the car whatever color I like and not be concerned about resale value. The resale value of convertibles always seems to hold higher than a hardtop anyway and if it's your car, do as you please.

There is absolutely no Chevrolet or Fisher Body records that show how many total 1970 SS Chevelles were in these painted color completions,none.
"Cortez Silver (12,959 built) Note: Silver was a much rarer color according to production numbers noted above."
"Fathom Blue (22,388 built)"
These are guesstimates based on extrapolation,as they didn't keep track of how many colors were assembled back then.

The number by color are true in aggregate for 1970 Chevelles through March 1970. They are not extrapolation but actual numbers that don't reflect total production. The only handy part about them is seeing the hierarchy of colors, as I'd bet they'd be similar or exact by the time production ended in July.

How about if the car was a special paint (- -) car? Would a color change affect the value since there no proof of the original color on the tag?

Some guys see “- -“ as carte blanche for era correct color choice. I personally look at it as an open issue of sorts if there isn’t some forensics (pictures of old paint, paint code formula written on build sheet, etc) backing up the color on the car.

Painting a car to remove ALL evidence of the original color would require a complete disassembly and every bit of original color removed or covered. Without that, there are places the original color can be found and determined from.
Even with a nut and bolt, complete, to bare metal, restoration in a color of the owner choice, as Tom said, without original documentation or historical records, the color could always be in question as original.

My Monaco orange ls6 has nothing on the trim tag thankfully the buildsheet is present a long with speaking with the original owner. After watching that boyette camaro video I wish I'd had him sign something proving it's the real deal

Color change is a touchy subject, but I'll offer my $.02. If it's a high dollar rare musclecar, stick with the original color combo unless 1. It's horrible AND 2. You're worried about resale value.

I had a 70 Ram Air IV GTO, M21, 4.33, manual drums and manual steering, poverty caps. It was Pepper Green/Black from the factory and when I had the restoration done, I went with the factory color. It looked phenomenal. Car won Best Concours Restored at 2013 GTO Association of America Nationals. Later went to Mecum Indy and didn't sell with an $80k reserve. I wonder what would have happened if it was black; I think it would have sold.

I remember seeing that car advertised. I like the color combo.. The bench seat would have been the deal killer for me.

Timely discussion for me as I've been struggling with this for three years and now that the car is in process it's time to make the decision. The car is a Build sheet legit ,71' LS5, M22 Chevelle that was born Mulsanne blue with Black stripes. The plan was ALWAYS Black with White stripes.
BUT, the part of me that has been collecting correct numbered thermostat housings and dated evap cannister is laughing at the idea of going that far with a rotisserie resto and painting the "wrong" color.

Previous posts are correct. It's about the buyer when it comes to valuation at the time of purchase.

I do agree that it can be a wash if the color isn't "desirable". The purist purchaser may devalue and walk but the ODDS of someone wanting Black or Blue is higher thus the pool of buyers gets larger...by a lot.

Which takes me back to mine. I really don't like many of the oe colors EXCEPT Black and Mulsanne. Hmmmm.

----Maybe I can help. Black with white stripes is the go to color change for a bunch of cars of all makes and colors. Mulsanne Blue on the other hand was a less chosen color new and way less chosen for a color change (I know that isn't part of this discussion). Choose the blue and you won't be sorry, or at least I wouldn't be as it's a gorgeous color! As a bonus, you won't see yourself coming and going to the cruise-ins......Bill S

Thanks for chiming in, you’ve had some great cars over the years! Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you going to go racing in that car originally and opted to put a bench seat and poverty caps in what was originally a buckets/console/Rally II car? IMO it likely would have brought more interest as a high level restoration outfitted like that versus black in the configuration chosen. Aside from that, the more understated ‘70 GTO’s seem to always suffer “not a Judge” at the auctions.

My own experience...

Many here have seen my Madeira Maroon with bright red interior '67 Chevelle SS convert. For the first thirty years I owned it my intention was to change the color to black. In 2009 it was ready for paint. I woke in the middle of the night in a sweat, "I can't do this!".
About a dozen spray-outs later an acceptable maroon was applied.

I would have very deeply regretted the color change. Mullsane Blue is a great color!! - Bill W

As said, black is an overused color as it is. I bought a 1970 LS5, M22 Chevelle in '73. Black on black, white stripe. BACK then, I thought it was the only color to have. Today ? I don't buy anything black or with black interior. I would walk right by a black car to see your Mulsanne Blue Chevelle. :smile:

Would an interior color change have the same impact valuewise as an exterior color change?

An exterior colour change is far more involved than an interior change say going from black to white. If you want to change the exterior colour of the the car, that would involve a lot of disassembly, painting and work. But anyone that ever looks at the cowl tag will be put off right away because the colour is wrong. The biggest colour change I have ever done is a black to white interior....... simply because it is only door panels and seat covers and a few details. Nothing that requires a trip to the body shop.
My experience is only with 69 and 70 chevelles.
I have 3 70 SS cars and after a few minutes of conversation with people.... they always ask if they are the correct colour. 1 of my cars is a numbers LS5 M22 autum gold car. Do I like gold cars??? Gotta say no, not one of my favorites but would I change the original colour??? No way...
So even if it is not a numbers car, at least the colour is correct.....
As much as you may not like the colour, chances are.... someone else will..... just sayin...

Color change
 

Everyone entitled to their opinion , to my eye all colors at least till GM stopped using lacquer (not sure of the year lacquer last used) but all colors till mid 70’s were awesome from all manufacturers and see no reason to change . Colors that used to be considered undesirable are now the most attractive in many cases .

Durney. You could stick with the original color blue and change the stripe color to white if you like white for the stripes. Then if the next owner wanted the original color back on the car as far as the stripes go, it would be an easy change. I know of an original 71 chevelle that is your blue with white stripes and it is killer!!