Keep the Patina
Fix the chips and scratches, but otherwise keep it untouched
There’s a fine line between a car with patina and a car who’s owner is too cheap to paint their car.
I like an 80’s car with decent original paint, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Once it gets past the point of “a little wear from experience” it’s time for fresh paint.
My ‘83 had perfect paint 15 years ago. It’s no longer perfect but still looks good. If anyone ever tells me it has patina I’ll be heading to the paint shop.
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People use the word "patina" for anything and everything that is not completely 'perfect' body/paint. When I hear the word I just ignore everything said thereafter.
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I think you've pretty well said it there...newer cars just don't look good with bad paint on them, but older cars that still have their original paint on them are special in their own way, just because they're the way they came from the factory, less some years of wear and tear. If I'm looking at an older car, original paint is a huge plus to me, even if it's not perfect, because I know the car is honest and isn't hiding some poor bodywork under nice shiny paint. But driving a newer car with bad paint just looks like an old beater. I don't mind surface rust on an old truck, the steel is super thick on those 40s and 50s models so you don't need to worry about protecting it as much if it's stored indoors. I totally don't understand, though, new paint jobs that are made to look bad as if the truck has rust on it. If you're going to the trouble of painting it, make it look new!
That said, I think the paint on the car from the OP looks fine as an original car, I wouldn't paint it. It is increasingly rare to see original paint on a 30 year old car. Once it stops looking presentable from 10 feet or so, I'd paint it.
Its not an easy choice, paint is very expensive, and as much as we all like these cars, most of them don't hold enough value to spend $3,500 on a decent job. So to paint or not to paint is often a matter of financial sense, or frankly just being able to afford to do it. This kind of work is through the roof these days, labor has always been expensive, but the materials are very expensive these days too.
That is so true. I don't think it's the proper word to describe original paint that still shines but has some imperfections from driving it. When my car was appraised the original paint with the imperfections, increased the value. It is getting extremely hard to find a original paint 4 eye in Canada. Perfect paint and original paint has an upside and downside.
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