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An original 1974 Triumph in tolerable condition was brought in for a full-on-restoration and new body color to Fantom Works. The owner of the car did not like the original color of the car and was dead set on a new color of his choice. The host of the show discouraged the car's owner from the complete restoration and new body color saying that the car would appreciate in value if left as is, buffing up the original paint job, reconditioning the leather interior, and completely servicing all the mechanical aspects of the car to make it reliable and safe. Reluctantly, the car's owner agreed.

Given the attitude and philosophy of the show's host, it appears best, condition permitting, to leave a car original, as opposed to complete restoration.

kind regards
Garrett Meadows

Last I checked this was a Packard forum but I've been in Canada for 4 days.

Garrett, there is no simple global answer to your question. Whether to maintain originality or restore depends entirely on the elements of the individual situation.

while I agree with the comment on no blanket answer, very few of these "reality" shows do restorations. Perhaps Carini's. Most are mod and rod, hack and whack.

Clearly I am indeed injecting a seasoning of ego here, but if I restore a Packard it's usually worth more than unrestored. There's several other restoration shops that could easily add "provenance" to the right cars. Surely a 70s Triumph or 6 cyl Mustang would never see the return of investment. In the vintage hot rod world we say "barn find is the new flat black." That has applied to several venues of car collecting now, some who even think the decades of dirt and poultry excrement even has value. Things can easily go from sublime to all out ridiculous. Restoration, complete or partial, should always be approached with all due diligence in place before the task begins. Shelby Gt500KR conv or your big sister's 6cyl Mustang coupe? A Packard 120 Darrin or a same year 115 sedan? Make sense? Or did I build you a clock vs tell you the time?

As I have the before photo's of my 54 Cavalier I would not own it if I got it un-restored.

The bigger issue is I also have all the receipts for the restoration which cost at least three times what I paid for the car.

I have a 1922 original paint model T ford which I should restore but they are only original once.

Jim

Jim is correct. I have seen his 54 and it is lovely. Ernie