Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: Zazozazo on September 06, 2021, 18:06:31
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Hello all
If one had to order a body off and nut and bolt restoration with a reputed firm , a matching numbers ( mechanically ) Pagoda, but decide to change original colours to suit one's taste, does this impinge heavily on the actual resale price if the new colours were gorgeous ?
Is there a standard percentage of resale price ?
Or non at all, if it was absolutely gorgeous ?
Thank you
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About a thousand posts on this topic on the Forum. You may want to do some search on this.
Net net - yes, it may affect the value a bit. What if you find someone who will fall in love in your colour combo?
Will you enjoy it more if changed - do it.
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Ordering a W113 to suit your tastes sounds like it may be a bespoke shop in the UK. Regardless of who it is find a judge for the 280SL to look over some pictures of their work. There are many high end restorers that charge very good prices and deliver cars that are pretty but very far from accurate. Some "bespoke" shops go so far as to actually destroy parts by their methods. An example would be polishing parts of an engine. Once polished you will never be able to get back to the correct "as cast" finish. If you had said you didn't care about resale value I would have said nothing but since you do I suggest you do a little homework before buying. Stickandrudderman here just finished a very accurate restoration. Use his pictures as a general guide as he has restored a 230 this time and it is RHD but the overall feel is the same.
https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=27688.25
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Over about 60% of all 280 SL Pagodas went to the American market, with headlights, that are ugly in my opinion, different gear ratios etc.
Today in Germany for instance the European Pagodas are more desirable. So many restorers change the lamps, door panels etc to the European version.
Additional to this changes to meet the modern taste - in many cases are changed also the colors.
So the final effect looks great, but do we have still to do with an original Pagoda?
And now the question is how will this affect the price?
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While it makes you somehow "feel good" to know that you have a car/vehicle that is of great value, I have never really cared about the price of anything I own. I own it, because I have a passion for it. If nobody else values it, so be it. I do try to keep it in close to original condition as long as proper function is not diminished. That being said, I own several pieces that are worth significantly more
than what I paid for them. Others not so much. But I don't do repairs and/or changes with the first though of maintaining originality. I don't take anything to shows anymore and I don't try to please the "peanut gallery" . It is all about proper function and my personal taste. I have polished parts that should not have been polished, I changed components to carbon fiber and added billet aluminum. I changed wheels on cars and motorcycles and customized interiors. I do like the looks and it all works great.
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If one had to order a body off and nut and bolt restoration...matching numbers...change original colours...
does this impinge heavily on the actual resale price?
People change colors all the time, to suit their tastes. Color is a very personal preference, and certain people and in fact certain parts of the world don't like certain colors. For example, 568 Signal Red isn't as preferred in Europe as it is in North America, as such a bright red color just isn't appealing to Europeans as much as some other colors are. Along those same lines, whitewall tires are more prevalent in North America than Europe.
I changed my car from what I considered to be a ho-hum 050 White to 568 Signal Red. It's a stunning color, and a well done job. Would I do the same color again today? No...tastes change as well, mine included. I would probably go for a dark blue. No wait, that Tunis Beige has always looked fabulous...If you ARE planning on a color change, what will be valued is if it is done properly. I've seen too many done haphazardly where the dashboard metal is the original color, and the outside the new color. I've also seen some clearly un-original colors, such as an "Electric Lime-Green Metallic" I once spotted at Dan Caron's place belonging to Canadian singer/songwriter Ian Thomas. That would raise the hackles of "the peanut gallery" at a BaT auction!
I changed the interior on mine to all black, mostly for one reason: the vast array of interior colors once available when our cars were new had been whittled down to nearly black only when it came to some interior bits. So, I went with something that would be easy to source. if you seek out posts from AlexD, or look at his story on his struggles (and eventual success) in sourcing a gorgeous turquoise carpet, you'll get the idea of what I was trying to achieve by going with a black interior: avoiding Alex's efforts.
As for "numbers matching" this has not been as much of an issue as it has been for certain cars, particularly some American Muscle cars. What IS important, is the right engine in the right car. A Ford small block V8 engine in a Pagoda? Kind of frowned upon. A sedan engine? A 230SL engine in a 280SL? Those are the kinds of things that can raise a flag. Remember, the newest of our cars is 50 years old, and somewhere along the line there might have been a dealer engine swap with a reman from MB. Now the "numbers" don't match. If it's a 280SL with a proper M130 motor, probably not a big issue.
There's a school of thought where "all original" (meaning unrestored) is highly valued, but if someone values that they'd probably never consider a fully restored car in the first place. There are these things called "sympathetic restorations" where only the barest minimum is done in order to preserve the age, the patina, the signs of a 50 year+ life, but making it safe to drive.
Before you invest the big bucks in such a bespoke restoration, regardless of color choices, may be a good idea to live with the car for a while. Maybe you will not like it at all, maybe you'll learn a lot about it as you drive it and maintain it. You can always send it away for restoration.
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My understanding for collectibles in general is it doesn’t change the value much as long as it’s changed to an original factory color.
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Thank you very very much :-)
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If the original color is boring/ugly, change it.
But only change it to a color that was offered for the W113 that year it was made.
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IMHO, if you are starting out with a very original, straight, unmolested, (no rust and no accident damage), car, then keep it original. Cars like that are getting harder to find and will have a higher intrinsic value. I would be more inclined to change colors on a car that has already had substantial body work. Overall, I prefer originality. Give me a straight, factory panel car every time. To me, value drops when body panels and colors have been changed. To others, there's no drop in value if it looks good.