Paintwork for supercars - Opinions needed

Personally, in Southern CA I would only trust David Freed at Premier Motorsport for any Ferrari paint work. If new panels are used to replace damaged panels, modern Ferrari's (e.g., 360, 430, CS, etc) should not suffer any loss in value. The paint can be matched perfectly to the factory finish (color, texture, etc).

Older Ferraris and the super Ferraris have less-then-perfect paint. So these need to be painted less than perfect, which is really hard! For example, the paint on an F40 is thin in some places, thick in others, and has drips, runs and cracks. Some people prefer a re-painted F40 that is perfect and will pay more for that. Others prefer the original paint. I must admit that a re-painted F40 looks beautiful, but, for me, it does lose some of the charm.

Here are some pictures from a 700-mile 1990 F40 that has never been painted outside the factory. The paint is really bad!
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I agree with Bill on all levels including his recommendation of Dave at Premier. Part of the mystique of the older cars is that they were all hand built (including being hand spray painted). There are even inconsistencies in terms of the actual areas that were painted on the older cars. Joe Sackey can chime in here but there are some F40s with black paint inside the rear quarters behind the wheels and others with no black paint. Why? No idea. Some people joke that Luigi painted that one and Mario painted the other one!

As far as repainting any Ferrari and how it affects value is based on any number of factors. Respraying a front bumper from stone chips is probably acceptable to most buyers. Repainting an entire car due to being sandblasted in the desert would likely make most buyers run the other direction UNLESS Dave at Premier happened to do the respray. That's only my opinion of course. Dave's respray of a modern Ferrari is probably better than the original paint from the factory! If there was no actual damage to the car and it was simply being resprayed for stone chips, oxodized paint beyond repair, etc. - a respray by Dave would add value in my opinion.

Just different circumstances and situations - all of which will may affect a car's resale value.

 

+1

Original paint really does vary from car-to-car and if you see enough of them in original guise you start to realize the degree of variation. I have observed that there seems to be variation consistent with certain batches of cars, and you notice this if you track chassis numbers.

If you do section repaints (front spoiler etc), you want to try and make sure it is not too nice since the original paint on the rest of the car will make the repaired area stand out. I recall Jeffrey on one of your other cars where you were able to facilitate a normal repair in an area that even replicated the 'sucked-in' finish to still show the composite material weave. Now thats impressive, and that sort of 'sympathetic' repair really enhances the car's uniform appearance and its value IMO.

As for repainting, I cant for the life of me imagine why someone would want strip perfectly good paint and do it over, but I do respect that it does happen and that some in fact prefer a nicer finish than the crude finish of the Supercars. Is a repainted one less or more valuable? Depends who's buying!

 

Not really adding to the subject, but.... WOW.

 

Hand painted by Luigi on a Friday afternoon 30 minutes before closing time!

 

with a cigarette dangling from his lips....

 

I think the rough finish of the GTO & F40 in particular is not only part of the car's charm, but it also means that you worry less about using them and gathering a few flaws!

 

While some of that is "handbuilt charm" much of that looks like use or abuse. 700 miles or not some of those scratches look to have happened after the fact IMO.

 

On a side note. I saw one F40 LM in person a few years ago. The craftsmanship on those is amazing. Michelloto does some amazing work....

 

Scratches yes...maybe. It has been sitting in storage for 20 years!

 

I agree! And it wouldn't be too hard to get the factory finish back. You could do it in your own garage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFTy6KCDLw

00:53!
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If you can consider to ship your car back to its original continent, then you can go to Zanasi.

http://www.zanasiferrari.it/ita/home/home.aspx

Here in Europe, they are pointed to as real magicians for any F paint, and more particularly for paint on carbon fiber models (ie supercars). I think their website give a good hint at what they are capable to do. Would just add that they work very closely with the factory and do the paint for current Ferrari F1 models.

 

The factory of the late 80's/early 90's was far different from today's.

 

You're very welcome! Remember, though, that some panels may show the weave and others not, depending on how heavy the paint was applied that day. I saw two original F40s, one with the weave showing on the front hood and roof, the other with it hardly visible in the same areas.

Here's a photo showing how the door is smooth on this original F40, but the front quarter shows the weave. I think the doors were painted on a different line.
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If you ask me seeing the weave of the carbon kevlar composite on a F40 is cool as can be. Same goes for the F50....

 

That carbon Enzo is incredible. Amazing color combo.


Bill, those in-action paint pictures for the F40 are something else... Amazing how far the standards have come. Even more interesting is the value preference such an original-style job holds...

 

Even though all F40 had a less than perfect factory paint job, I was told that by 92 the factory painters that finished these cars became a little more skilled in their craft. Don't know if its true or not, but thats why some say a 92 should bring in a premium.