Like lots of older cars, my ’88 3.2 has a small number of tiny paint chips on the front end and on the mirrors. These are not particularly noticeable; at 8 -10 feet she looks great. The dilemma I have is - do I paint and aim for a perfect car or do I leave her as is, which is totally original but remarkably fresh for a 20 year old? One of the main reasons I opted to buy her was that she was original and needed no work of any description plus the history file that came with her. But - there is a niggling doubt that has me seesawing from painting her to leaving her. Is minor cosmetic paintwork regarded as ruining originality? One issue is, that I can’t find a touch up paint in Venetian Blue to do some very localised touchup so it would mean having paint mixed and probably applied in a shop.
Is there a value to maintaining a totally original car? I don’t just mean monetary value as I have no intention of ever selling, she will become something for my kids to fight over when I am gone. In fact that fight has started already with questions being asked about who will inherit her when the time comes. I have told them that I expect to drive her until they pull my licence and hopefully I will manage a bit longer than my own Dad who drove until he was 89, which still leaves me 30+ years, so I want to do the right thing now. I wonder will there be many 50 year old cars running then.
Noel
'88 3.2 Venetian Blue
