Survivor or Restored?

[LETITBE]

I have been buying and selling cars since I was a teen in the 60's. I have pretty much stuck to the muscle cars and occasional european sports cars. I have stuck to a rule of original only cars and have done well. This is not something I do to make a living but really as a hobby because I just love cars. I have never bought a car that was restored although I have looked at many nice ones but I just like the idea of originality. Chances are when I buy something i will just do a light cleanup if that and offer the car as is. My question to you people is what do you think (Porsches only) would you rather have an original survivor in good condition or a well restored car?

[N11Porsche]

I would prefer the "patina" of an original car over the pristine look of a freshly restored car.....

[DasBoot]

I'd prefer "well restored" = someone has already spent the $$$ and they can take the depreciation hit.

[teamfee3]

You can never re-create an original car and they will always be worth more in the end. When ever you can preserve over restore. Nothing wrong with restored cars but anyone can make one, some better than others. I appreciate perfectly restored cars but always favor the patina of a survivor. I also really like resto-mod cars - it all depends on what you are looking for.......

Here's a '65 SWB a friend is considering, it has needs and a few items to make it correct but really nice.

[Macroni]

Survivor would be the way to go for me.

[t6dpilot]

Survivor for me too. And I've got one.

[Neal Boysen]

I bought mine from the original owner and boy does it have patina, rock chips, door dings and scratchs.

So I have to vote for patina!

[Dantilla]

I don't care about originality, I care about the current condition on the car. I have no desire to show my cars, I like to drive the snot out of them. That's why I stuffed a 3.2 into my long-hood.

[LETITBE]

It seems to me you guys and gals think the same as me. Original, driving and in good shape. This car had all the records, owners manual, tools, service records, keys, factory undercoat, no rust with an engine rebuild around 2k miles ago. 102K total miles and verified. I am very pleased to find a car of this caliber that is 33 years old. Yes, it does have a nice patina on original paint but I need to do something about the wheels.


Now all my buddies here are asking me what it's worth and my answer is "let's go for a ride and you tell me."
1975 911S Targa

[robmog]

depends on what you're looking for.
nice early original cars are big $.
even fixer uppers cost dough.
its always cheaper to buy someone else's restoration.
but that's a sweet ride

[Zeke]

I prefer whatever costs less and has had the most spent on it. As an example, I paid 11K for my car and have receipts for at least that much work done on it within the last 4 years of the PO's ownership. And more before that.

Now, isn't that a survivor? One that has been maintained and fixed as necessary? No engine work has ever been done.

[Hugh R]

I have a totally unrestored 1930 Rudge Whitworth motorcycle. Most of it's value is from it being unrestored.

[the]

Both have their plusses and minuses.

I've had both, at extreme ends of the spectrum. Very low mileage, completely original, as it rolled from the factory, and fully restored to national concours level.

I'll probably never own at either end of the extreme like that again. From now on, I only buy cars that I will drive. I enjoyed the concours stuff while I had it, but am done with it.

But if I had to pick between survivor or restored, I personally would get restored. Given that it is going to be a driver, I feel more relaxed driving a car that has already had some restoration work done on it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing unrestored, original cars, and am glad people keep them that way. I just find it a little stressful, esp. when talking about 30+ year old all original paint. Hard for me to leave that parked in a modern tiny parking spot in a crowded lot, and if you can't ever park the car, it's hard for it to be a real driver.