Does changing leather/vinyl devalue the car?

[lanceogrady]

Hi all

I’ve recently bought a 1981 911sc in silver, which originally had a brown/tan interior.

Brown dash, rear parcel tray and trim along the top of the door panels with tan carpet, centre console, front and rear seats. See attached for a few pictures.

The previous owner has put a black carpet kit in, along with some cobra seats.

My goal is to get everything back to original spec, but due to the aging of some of the leather, I’m looking at keeping the carpet black, and dying all the leather to match the brown of the dash. The rear seats are wool so those will stay as is.

The brown leather/vinyl seems to be a nice colour combination from what I can see.

Does changing tan > brown devalue the car? I have no intention of selling but like to know these things up front!

[lanceogrady]

[AaronLewis]

From my experience, a true “purist/enthusiast” (where the big bucks are) in the market for a 911SC would likely not consider a car with dyed/changed/or worn pieces as they strive to find perfect factory original and low mileage examples. With that being said, in my opinion to answer your question, it would only devalue the car to a true diehard purist who would rather have perfect factory spec as opposed to “making it their own”. To the average “everyday” vintage Porsche buyer who just is dying for the opportunity to own one, I personally believe it would not make a difference as most owners who are not purist will end up making it the way they want to see it anyways, very similar to the pervious owner of your car. So if I were you, and you plan on keeping this car long term, I would make it the way you want to see it!

[grando]

Make it what you want it to be and enjoy it. Most of us are not worrying too much about devaluing their car by personalizing it. Your plans sound great!