To paint Sepia Brown OR NOT ??

[hbrand]

My 1973 Sunroof Coupe is getting closer to think about - should I paint the original color of Sepia Brown or not.
I will keep the car for a while till I find another project.
Thanks for your thoughts.

[Jerome74911S]

This is really subjective, but I love Sepia. If you like it, do it.

[DeRRis]

Not a big fan of Sepia and I don't care about originality. But it's your car so paint it what you like!

[Joe Bob]

When new and kept up....otherwise, YACK!

[Canada Kev]

Sepia is kind of cool, more so now that people are intrigued by the Crayola pack of shades that cars were painted back then. But trends and desires change.

So find an original(ish) colour and paint it something YOU like, not something a judge would. Unless you're doing a balls out full restoration. A non-original colour doesn't necessarily mean lower value. It's all in the execution and it looks like you're doing it right.

[zedsn]

My 356 was originally Irish green and I don't like green so I had it painted an earlier 356 aquamarine blue color. I thought about how much value I was taking off of the car by a color change but I plan on keeping the car for many years and settled for a porsche color of the period that I truely liked. My 2 pennies.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Keep it the original color if you wish to maintain its value.

[deguitars]

I'm always torn about keeping "original" colors. I happen to love Sepia brown so if that were the car's original color the choice would be a no brainer for me.

If it's a bare metal respray done in an original color that was available for your car when new then I can't see why that would affect the value to anyone other than someone on a mission to be "correct" at all costs. There is a certain amount of mojo to keeping the car the way it was when it was born but that's tough to put a price on.

I am FAR less liberal of painting a Porsche a color from another manufacturer's palate.

In the end it's your car, you have to be happy when you look at it.

cheers

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by Steve@Rennsport

Keep it the original color if you wish to maintain its value.

And it's a 73, so that would go double. Sepia Brown is one of those colors that looks fantastic when perfectly clean and shiny on a perfect car with a mile deep finish.

If you have your heart set on something else though, don't let us stop you.

[rwest]

Old guys really like the Sephia color- my brown car is growing on me, probably because I'm getting old now too.

[Walter_Middie]

You didn't say how close the rest of the car is to stock. If it's all stock, then keeping the stock color makes more sense. If you don't have the original engine or are deviating from stock, then it probably doesn't matter what color you paint it. But the market loves the crayola colors from the early 70s (don't paint it red).

[Tremelune]

They're only original once, and this car is not.

If it were mine, I'd paint it something unique...It won't be much fun parking next to someone else's Sepia '73...especially if theirs is an all-original concours winner...

[shaunmbenson]

I like Sepia and if I were going to sell in forseeable future I'd go that way.

That said when my original paint Prussian Blue Targa is up for a respray -- I'll have fun with it cause it's my car and I wanna see it in Dolphin or Meissen -- but I could see myself in 20 years then bringing it back to Prussian - - and as a frame of reference I've driven about 30k miles in just over 2 years so needing resprays will be a matter of course due to using the hell out of it.
If it were a garage queen I'd probably never change colour

[KNS]

If you're concerned about originality I would paint it Sepia. But... I couldn't own a brown 911 (it sounds like you are hesitating) and you are in the perfect spot to do a full body respray.

The next best thing - and Porsche market guru Jim Schrager agrees - is to paint it in a period correct color for that year. There are some nice colors from 1973 to pick from.

[bbturbo]

+1 for Sepia. I like it!

[GT3DE]

Sepia = no sale (or very low price sale)

[GT3DE]

rare porsche colors

[RSBob]

Had a '72 Sepia targa and no matter how shiny the paint it never grew on me. I was relieved when I sold it because I didn't have to fret about the color. That said...

If you bought the car for investment reasons, a color change will have a major impact on resale value. My non-numbers matching tranny in my 73 S cost me dearly.

If you bought it with the intention of keeping it, and making some mods to make it yours, then by all means change the color and never have to be unhappy about the color again.

[Reiver]

If you like that then paint it...if not then do not...if you have to ask......

[timchar]

My 75 was originally brown then painted red, I just painted it slate grey. A small part of me likes brown, but at the same time, it almost makes me nauseous. If car isn't completely original, I'd go another color. Tim