RE: Are Alfa-chameleons Okay?

[John_Torello@domain.elided]

>>  I have a low-mileage, well-maintained '77 Spider.  The body color is
>>silver.  It's nice, but not that exciting.  The paint has come to show
>>the alligatoring common to Italian coachbuilders who relied on thick
>>coats of primer as body filler, so I'd like to repaint it at some point
>>soon.   Years ago, I saw a red Spider . . . "in person" (should that be "in
>>carriage"?) . . .  I was smitten.  I've always thought it was best to
>>retain the original color on a collectible car.  But I'm wondering . . .
>>red would be . . . well . . . how can you beat a red Spider?  Lady in
>>red!   I'm wondering how true believers feel about changing the body color
>>of an Alfa.  What do you guys think?  If I take the plunge, it would be
>>a trim-off, door-sills-and-inside-the-trunk paint job.

Personally, I've always liked the "off-colors" like silver for Alfas. I'd keep
it Silver. But then again (I'll probably be excommunicated from the Alfa
community for saying this) I really don't like red cars. I think most people
that keep original colors are motivated primarily by resale value rather than
solely for the lofty concept of preservation/originality. From that perspective,
I'd say go for it if you really like the red. Let's face it, most of our beloved
cars are not "valuable", so the minor percentage swing in resale (if ever)
because of non-original color should be insignificant.
-JT
GTV-6 Balocco (red, of course)
'63 Spider (sort of red-orange)

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