What does "Original" mean?

[ossiblue]

Saw this ad on eBay for a nice looking 73T. (Porsche : 911 - eBay (item 130483403011 end time Feb-15-11 13:48:18 PST)). What got to me was the description, a portion of which is quoted below:

"First, this classic 911 has not been restored. It is original from the first and only owner of 37 years! It does not have any apparent rust, nor does it look like it ever had any. Second, the jack points are in perfect condition and do not seem like they have ever been repaired. Third, the floorboards are also rust-free originals. The car even has its original factory undercoating. Fourth, the battery trays are as perfect as one can find. Finally, there are no traces of prior accidents or repairs (the alignments and gaps are excellent). The icing on the cake is the original Porsche hood crest! This car is just in remarkable condition.

The car was repainted in 1988 in the current color called White Gold Metallic (we have the invoice). The original delivery color was a factory special order, Metallic Green (#230). The paint was well done and probably with most glass out without overspray (except slightly on top of the rear window gasket) and has held up very well. But then again the car was always garaged…

The engine had been through a complete rebuilt (and converted to new 40’s PMO from the original CIS) when we purchased it from the original owner. This work was invoiced at $15,500. Furthermore, we have in our possession quite a few receipts dating back to 1974 as well as the original delivery papers and manuals.
The shop who did the engine work was not a Porsche specialist and the car ran poorly. We took it to our Porsche mechanic who did some tuning and made it run right.
At the same time we pulled the engine down, we changed the main engine and transmission seals as well as the throw-out bearing.
Also, we suspect the motor has high compression pistons since the power comes on really strong. This engine has torque all over the place and is a pleasure to rev. Furthermore, the PMO’s give a superb growl out of the exhaust. The clutch is nice and easy and there are no syncros issues wit the original 915 gearbox.

We also had the seats recovered and changed all of the carpeting with NOS carpets. We also installed new H4 headlights. The front bumper was repainted (with the removal of the ugly big bumperettes) and we installed brand new bumper trims as well as rocker panel deco trims and moldings.
The Michelin tires are new and the original Fuchs wheels just came back from refinish."

Now, I'm not criticizing the car but to hype the car with the claim it is unrestored and original then list all the above, makes me wonder if I am the one who misunderstands the meaning of those terms. The changes are not to wear and tear items, they are changes to what was original to the car (body color, induction system, e.g.) and restoration of worn components (carpets, Fuchs, bumper trims, e.g.) I can even begrudge the seller the semantic interpretation of his opening line, "It is original from the first and only owner of 37 years!" and allow that he really means the car is from an original owner but even with that, the car has clearly had restoration done.

Am I off base here?

[chaozz]

guess he has a different meaning of restored.

[Fredie]

I'm a little concerned by the lines; "We took it to our Porsche mechanic who did some tuning and made it run right......" At the same time, we pulled the engine down, we changed the main engine and transmission seals.... "also we suspect the motor has high compression pistons..
IMO tuning is done after repairs. Also, any mechanic worth a nickel should be able to run a compression test and visually inspect (preferably with a bore scope) the piston domes to "guess" at a compression ratio.
As far as originality/ restored is concerned. Some marketers are on a different planet.
Run Forest, RUN.

[racer]

It does seem full of contradiction, doesn't it.

[Macroni]

wow........ marketing at its finest......

[pete3799]

It's all original........except all the stuff that isn't.

[Fredie]

Hey look there's a car Shark talking, He must be telling the truth; because after all, he said it. And he must be the expert.

[Danny_Ocean]

"Original" is the new "rare"...

[McLovin]

lol, funny.

Another good one is "One owner," when it's being sold by the *second* owner. I've seen that more than a few times on this board.

Some people, oddly, don't count themselves as an owner when selling their used car. It's weird.

[geshaghi]

I listed and sold a car recently that I described as "refreshed/restored to an original standard." My point was to try and convey that, while work had been done to the car, it was executed in a way that was comparable to how the car left the factory. For the car mentioned above that is listed on eBay, it seems that there is plenty that was done that wasn't quite how the car left the factory, so it seems like a stretch to call the car "original" but semantics aside, at least the seller is describing the work that has been done. As such, we can all make our own determination if we agree with his definition. Doesn't seem like there is any attempt to mislead, so what does it matter?

[dienstuhr]

Ha ha, that's awesome. Like Caesar's dagger... "totally original... the blade has been replaced twice and the handle three times, but it's totally original..."

d.

[whiterabbit]

In the original color and without PMO's the care would be very interesting and worth the BIN.

But as it isn't original spec and has a bad color change IMHO it would take 25k plus to bring to original spec.