What a great question this is.....what's more desirable (.....valuable) to a collector? preserved and original or repainted and restored?
When I was younger, I was all about speed, racing, modifying, etc. But here's my current $.02:
Unrestored, original cars that are well preserved sell for significantly more than an identical, but perfectly restored cars. The difference is in the range of 20-40% more for the "original, unrestored, well preserved car. This is true of cars in any price range: Corvettes, Porsches, Mustangs, Packards, Ferraris, Studebakers, AC Cobras.....you name it.
Here's a link showing a great example (in this case 35% more valuable for unrestored....especially considering how ratty the unrestored car looks!):
http://barnfinds.com/pristine-or-patina/
Here's some first hand info.......10 years ago I bought a beautifully restored 1967 car. A short time earlier, another man I've spoken with bought a very similar original, unrestored but well preserved one owner car (same year, make and model, but not as desirable a color as mine) from the same individual for 25% more than what I paid for the restored car. Today the same difference in value holds true....or maybe even a little more. Part of the reason for this is that my car has aged and is no longer quite as beautiful as it was 10 years ago....even though I've only driven it 5000 miles in 10 years. My car's no longer freshly "restored" and it's certainly not "original" either. It's somewhere in between.....in a no-mans land. But it's still worth more than what I paid for it. As long as the other man has continued to use the car gently and preserve it well, his car has continued to gain patina (wear that's consistent with age and usage) and more value.
Some might say there's a difference based on price range or age, but once a car reaches collectible status, the idea is the same for a collector. The ideal is a "wrapper" car.....one that hasn't been used at all, and has been exquisitely preserved exactly as it was when new. Originality is a "must" in either case. The more a car deviates from original, the lower the value. Very few cars are ever preserved as wrappers, so they're the most desirable, rarest and most valuable. The next best thing is one that has as little use and wear as possible. The less use and wear, the higher the value. Therefore, "lightly used" is better and more valuable than "heavily used"......especially if use and wear are excessive for the age of the car. Wear that's consistent with age and amount of use is o.k., but the less, the better and more valuable.
Documentation is obviously important. The more, the better and more valuable. Documentation the car isn't a fake or clone. Documentation of the car's originality......that it hasn't been "reconstituted" from a bunch of NOS or reproduction parts. Done through matching numbers on major components and correct date codes on smaller parts and assemblies. Maintenance and service records, etc. Documentation that the wear is consistent with the amount of usage the car's had. Remember the old trick of checking brake pedal wear to see if it's consistent with what the odometer says to see if it's rolled over?, how many times?, has it been turned back? ....that's the idea. Documentation of the car's use......anything that confirms the mileage shown is accurate. Official inspections, etc.. Again, the more the better....part of the reason I keep a log of gas fillups.
As they say, they're only original once, so keep 'em that way. Consider this: Our '93 Cobras are 21 years old today......some day they'll be 30....40.....even 50 years old. What they'll be worth then will depend on the same factors which determine the values of the older cars today. People who will appreciate '93 Cobras in the future (as we love 'em today) will want to look at an old car and imagine (or remember) what is was like living in 1993 and to enjoy a brand new Mustang Cobra. The closer the car fits their ideal image, the more valuable. To most collectors the knowledge that something isn't right (or original or has been repainted), even if it looks right, devalues the experience. Best is unused and perfectly preserved, next is lightly used / worn but correct, last is heavily worn compared to the amount of use with incorrect / non-original parts. Somewhere between the extremes are the perfectly / freshly restored, repainted cars.
P.S. Quoting: "I bet a ton of our cars have been "touched up"...
If it's done right you would never know."
Actually it's quick and easy to tell if / where a car's been repainted or touched up if you have a paint meter to measure thickness. Many serious collectors have 'em so they know if a car
really has original paint the seller claims. Factory paint's different than a respray.
