Devalue? Yes. Silly to do? Only you can answer that. Sent from my SM-G981V using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Yes. On a relatively modern car it does devalue. Apart from anything else, many people's first thought will be "what is that hiding"? Some sort of accident history perhaps? On a classic it doesn't because no-one expects a 40 or 50 year old car to still have its original paint.
Sorry to disagree. "No-one" doesn't include me as I do expect a 40 or 50 year old car to still have its original paint. Also, I believe the original question was not about a repaint (in the same original color) but rather an actual change of color, a different one, say from blue to now red, or the other way round, etc. Marcel Massini
In fact, if you decide to repaint or change the color of a 50 year old car, they will all be technically considered as a change if you choose water paint. I don't know if oil paint is allowed for old vehicles
Here in the US. Most paint shops don’t use (or it is even illegal, see CA...) to use certain paint types from 40-50-60 years ago. So you’re right, water based vs lacquer for example, completely changes the car IMO. If you want to paint change withOUT killing value on something newer (360, 430) just wrap it, but be aware you’ll need a decent paint correction if you remove it.
Fair enough but expect or wish? If you expect it then unfortunately most of the time you will be sadly disappointed. I wouldn't like to guess what proportion of 1960s Ferraris (for example) still have their original paint (i.e. have never been repainted even if notionally in the same colour) but I imagine it would be quite small. My point about expectation was really that on a newer car most potential buyers will consider a change of colour suspicious and be much less likely to buy whereas on older car it would be considered normal. You are quite right about change of colour. I wasn't particularly distinguishing but I did certainly interpret the original question to be about changing colour not just repainting.
Definitely do a wrap if you want to change color. It will cost a small fraction of a paint job, and it isn't permanent. If you do decide to paint it, don't strip to bare metal, just strip the color coat and repaint over the factory primers. A color change from factory original will always devalue a car, whether new or old. If the car is old enough to reach collector status, this is doubly true. The cheapest way to change color on a car is to sell it and buy another one in the color you want.
Changing the color on a Ferrari is like a woman having breast augmentation. Sure, she might look better from a distance but get up close and the mutilation becomes obvious and sad. A wrap would be more along the lines of a padded bra...
People do expect it and look for them, I only buy original cars with original paint for my collection, I have a 1973 365/GTB4 which has original paint, they do exist.
It's only repainted from another color to resale red once! Edit: I say this as someone who has had a red car stripped to paint it non-red, at which time we discovered that it had originally been silver..... AND as someone who bought an original paint car from a well-respected dealer, only to find that it had six distinctly different shades of "original" paint around the car.
Can you expand on needing paint correction after removing a wrap? Do you mean the need to get the residual adhesive off or something else? I'm expecting to need to wrap a new Tesla when I get it since they don't have any interesting colors, so I'm curious if there are any bad long term effects?
As long as it is a factory color why not? IMO it doesn’t devalue the car if it’s done right. Especially on a modern car. It might be different on a rare, vintage car but then IIRC Classiche even allows the color to be different than original as long as it is period correct.
Expect on any modern car that any change to the car from factory is going to hurt it's value. Now... If you had a ratty 355 spider... And it was worn out and you fully sorted it mechanically did headers and heads etc... Then repainted it from say yellow with black and changed it to white with cuoio or red or something you might not have a big change in value as an undesired car has been made desirable. If you repaint a 20k mile 458... From Rosso Corsa to Rosso rubino... Dont expect it to be an easy sale.
I have a '75 308gt4 that came from the factory one color but was repainted at the dealership in the Boxer color combo. when rebadged as a Ferrari from a Dino. as a lot of these car did. Not sure my car would be devalued based on this particular set of circumstances?!
I guess I'm out numbered. I'd much rather have a fly yellow dino, or Verde, than brown. I would not be interested in paying $300,000 and drive Doo Doo brown.
My former 275 GTS (S/N 6805) was on the Ferrari stand at Brussels in 1965. It’s color was a brilliant red, not the common “Rosso” of the day. Yet the car came with a small, unlabeled tin can of “Rosso” in the trunk, which I soon discovered didn’t match the car’s more brilliant red! Big mystery! Years later I learned that apparently to prepare the car for the Brussels show, a coat of white primer had been sprayed over the original “Rosso” and the more brilliant red color applied on top, but it was not a particularly heavy coat! So unfortunately, even mild polishing began to reveal some of that “white” primer at the sharper edges of the hood and trunk. After 13 years of ownership I wearied of the continued appearance here and there of that “white” primer, and had the car refinished in its brilliant red, which we discovered was extremely difficult to match. That was when the paint shop tech and I discovered the “factory” (Pininfarina?) repaint that had been applied on top of the original “Rosso”, apparently so that the underlying “white” primer together with the more brilliant red topcoat would really “pop” under the indoor lights at the Brussels show.
Of course it devalues it. If you had two otherwise exact cars, the car with the original color (Even if both were repainted) would be more valuable. In the Corvette world, cars are judged by how they left the factory, including the original color. In Ferrari judging color is not a deduction. It is probably because when the Ferrari judging standards were being developed there were so many cars that had already been painted resale red. If the factory required original color for Classiche certification that would change everything, but they have just gone along with everyone else.
There are four things never to be done to a valuable classic: 1. Never drive it. 2. Trash it when stone cold. 3. Forget the dipstick. 4. Repaint "because it has some spots " or " I don't like the colour ". My 328 had a repaint eight years from new. The previous owner killed it.
Meh, do what you want. It's your car and it's not going to skyrocket in value like a 250 GTx. You may make money on it but that's doubtful. Purist? Customizer? Or simple mods, it's all your choice. Don't save the car for the next guy, do what makes you happy. I like to change the wheels if the car warrants it [california]. I didn't touch my 355 visually but I put the Novatec suspension on it, fab speed headers and tubi exhaust, do what you like....it's yours.