Original colour or not, that's the question.

My 230 SL is ready for the painter but I'm still struggling to choose the colour.
Originally it was 332 G (dark blue), but I think I like 396 G (a lighter blue) more.
The car will get a full nut and bolt restoration and we will keep the car for ourselves, but of course not for ever.
Many people including Mercedes specialists advise to keep it in the original colour, because it will be worth more than with a colour change.
I know it's hard to predict, but is it really worth to paint it in the original colour?
The rest of the parts have matching numbers.

it is
Datenkarte rules

Hey, man,

it's your car. Choose the colour, you like!
Many top pagodas restored by Kienle, Brabus or all the other top adresses get the colour, the new owner wants to have. These people pay a lot of money and they don't care about this question. If the rest is top, the colour will not be the problem, if you want to give it away later. And at last, who knows, what will be many, many years later. Enjoy it now!

Greets

Ulli

Eric,
I fully agree with Ulli. Its your hobby. You should like it, except you are keen to sell it and use it as money deposit. I cross the fingers, for all people who believe, that old cars keep the today value, this will happen. I don't think so as soon as our generation disappears.
Nice evening

I agree with the two above, a full restoration and an original quality paint job are keeping the value as well and it's not just an overspray in a different color. This is better than a boring original color and it's still matching numbers, just not colors. There were many undesirable color combinations in the 60s and 70s. Many highly priced and top of the line restorations have changed colors and I don't see a drop in value here.

Folks,

I have to admit a big crime too:
Changed our original hubcaps from white to black.
See you in hell one day.

Happy spraying!
Remco

Hi there,

a car which hasn`t the original color I wouldn`t buy at all, no matter what the price was.

Ale schrieb:

... a car which hasn`t the original color I wouldn`t buy at all, no matter what the price was.

Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

A matter of taste like the hair color of the adored woman…

In my opinion in the end it's all about personal preferences, only a contemporary availability according to the ancien lists is relevant for me...

Michael

ursodent schrieb:

A matter of taste like the hair color of the adored woman…

In my opinion in the end it's all about personal preferences, only a contemporary availability according to the ancien lists is relevant for me...

Michael

Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Mal nur so gefragt, bin ich hier im amerikanischen Pagodeforum ? Ich verstehe kein Wort.
Gruß
Rainer

Ist jedenfalls besser als mein Niederländisch, soviel Entgegenkommen zu unserem Nachbar-Pagodenfreund scheint mir taktvoll...

Aber ich gelobe Anstrengungen in Zukunft, meine neue Heimatgemeinde grenzt direkt an "NL".

Solange Du nicht anfängst, Platt zu kür'n...

Mien Bessvaader wär stolt op mi...

Dat glöv ick bestimmt. Hi had sien reine Freud an dien Utsprog.
Zurück zum Thema.
Original ist immer am besten, aber manchmal ist man gezwungen umzudenken.
Schöne sonnige Woche noch.
Wolfgang

ursodent schrieb:

A matter of taste like the hair color of the adored woman…

In my opinion in the end it's all about personal preferences, only a contemporary availability according to the ancien lists is relevant for me...

Michael

Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Ou there are many beautiful women, blondes, blacks, redheads or brown haired with green eyes, I like them all!

.. und ich hörte mal, Gentleman prefer blondes. Aber letztendlich nehmen sie doch das, was sie kriegen können..

Grüße
Ingo

Bei einem geschickten Friseur und fehlender Datenkarte ist es häufig sehr schwierig, die bei Auslieferung originale Haarfarbe zu erkennen, deshalb lege ich hier auch weniger Wert auf Originalität als bei der Pagode. Die Datenkarte bringt es an den Tag!

Grüße, Felix

Die Datenkarte zeigt 332 an.

If everything has realy matching numbers, i would choose the original, matching color...

Sure, Eric,
It is << your>> car and you can choose what you want.
But consider this please:
1) Dark blue 332G is one of the most beautiful colours ever, almost identical with DB 904. Many owners choose this colour because of it's beauty, see the pics attached.
2) The paint of your car as you bought it was heavily faded and then all paint codes look bad ...
Much different with new paint
3) Today's colour choices from the available colour codes back then are mostly influenced by our today's taste.... And those change, trust me! In a couple of years you are asking yourself 'damn, why did I do that?'
I am Pagoda-maniac for almost 40 years and I can very well remember when all the SLs were white (or whitish), the I remember the "all signal-red" phase in the early 80ies, not to forget the "all-silver" phase in the 90ies ... and so on.
Today people often choose those colors which are also fashinable on the modern cars...; these are exclusively metallic paints, mostly in those colours as available for the modern cars.
And as I mentioned ... it's your choice but I recommend - go with original and that is DB 332G in your case.
4) OK we are here in Europe, not in the US. A US friend of mine is just restoring and respraying his 280 SL. Since the US people are much more crazy about "originality" than we are here ....,
well he told me, if his car turns out to be perfect, a car with wrong paint code (i.e. not in line with the data card) would be $$ 20'000 less worth.
I think that's aready an amount, isn't it?

In summary,
it's your choice but if I were you and you once intend to sell the car again (what most people here envisage at a certain time) - go with the original paint code.

Best,
Achim
(4 x MB 230, all with original paint code)

Dear Achim,
Thank you very much for your answers with substantiated facts.
It helps me a bit more than other people who only are declaring what they should do.
Of course I will sell the car some day, but I hope that day is far away.
You claim that 332G is one of the most beautiful colours ever, is that subjective or is it one of the most sold colours may be?
Indeed this blue colour will look much better when it's very shiny than the dull paint as it was.
I though I had decided to paint it in 396G but you make me doubt again.
Fortunately I don't have to decide yet.......

Best regards,
Eric

Für diejenigen, die nur Deutsch verstehen:

Lieber Achim,
Vielen Dank für Ihre Antworten mit fundierten Fakten.
Es hilft mir ein bisschen mehr als andere Leute, die nur erklären was sie selbst tun sollen.
Natürlich werde ich das Auto eines Tages verkaufen, aber ich hoffe dass dieser Tag weit weg ist.
Sie behaupten dass 332G eine der schönsten Farben überhaupt ist, ist das subjektiv oder ist es eine der meistverkauften Farben?
In der Tat wird diese blaue Farbe viel besser aussehen, wenn sie sehr glänzend ist als die matte Farbe, wie sie war.
Ich dachte, ich hätte beschlossen es in 396G zu machen, aber Sie lassen mich wieder zweifeln.
Zum Glück muss ich mich jetzt noch nicht entscheiden.......

Freundliche Grüße,
Eric