What colour of paint is best for restoration re-sale:

[Blue]

What colour is best for restoring for resale:

[EScanlon]

I would suggest folks look at it not as what color to "RESTORE" to, but what color is best when REFURBISH-ed or REFRESH-ed? Consider what would sell quickest and what would generate the higher ddollar sale.

I say that knowing how many folks take the word "restore"; to them it means to take back to original condition, which would answer the color question.

But to address the question in the manner that you meant: car colors tend to follow cycles that I can't cite but they are noted by the car industry. Years ago, burnt orange, copper, root-beer browns would not have been popular, today they abound. At one time pastels were strong, then metallics, and lately, opalescents or "pearls".

Z's from their introduction had "odd" colors that did and did not develop their advocates. The original "red" was seen as being "orangish", the "orange" was seen as "reddish", the "gold" was seen as "mustard", and the "yellow" was either too pale or too neon green. In fact, some earlier owners ended up with cars in colors they wouldn't have opted for originally, but that later grew on them and now they love.

With all that being said, my personal vote is for a non-stock color that both draws attention and is considered a color "in vogue".

FWIW
E

[ninjazombiemaster]

I believe white is the most commonly bought car color, it looks nice and stays relatively clean-looking. A white Z with black trim is very good looking imo, but not real classic.
Black comes second, its considered "the luxury color" for cars, and requires a lot of attention to keep clean. Black cars are also less likely to be pulled over by police. I've never been a huge fan of black Z's though.
Silver and Greys come next, they are the cleanest looking colors, and are fantastic on most Zs imo.
Red cars are the next best sellers, followed by blue.
A surprising amount of copper colored cars are popping up these days as well.
In the end, A lot of people appreciate a stock colored Z. Mine was originally a canary yellow, I dont know the exact code, but I much prefer its red (even though it does look pink or orange in certain light) :P

[72 OJ]

Silver as above, is the color that IMO shows the feline sexy lines on the Z to the max

[26th-Z]

A red sports car is pretty hard to beat. I think it would be hard to argue any other color. Maybe silver. But then, we can't forget racing green. Hmmmm....

The design team took color into account for the S30. Here are a couple of the popular pictures of their color studies. The background behind the guy on the left is a series of color swatches and the model on the table is one of a series of color study models. This particular file is not very high quality - sorry.

I might also comment - out on a limb - that Japanese art and aesthetic taste probably had much to do with the color selections that Americans found 'odd'. I think that Japanese red would tend to have a hint of orange, that gold would have a mustard feel. And let's not forget that wonderful butterscotch vinyl! Perhaps a Japanese relationship with color is closer to color found in nature, the floating world? I might comment about it that way.

[Jason240z]

If its a proper restoration surely its got to be a colour that the car could have had in the year it was made?

[Fred Sigarto]

I read years ago on this website that most early Z's were orange. I have orange 240 and silver Fairlady.

[Gary in NJ]

If you have access to a Butterscotch interior, you can't do better then green (BRG).

[5thhorsemann]

The question here is what will bring the most money at resale on a restore. If the car is being redone to a close to stock condition, then original paint is the most desirable. It may not bring the quickest sale, but usually brings the most money.

If, on the other hand, the car is getting body and powertrain mods, then doing a color swap to one of the more popular colors will be the best choice IF DONE PROPERLY. A good paint job is labor intensive, lots of teardown and prep, removal of the doors and glass, the motor and fenders, etc, etc, etc.

I personally like bright metalic silver with hews of gold in it on early Z cars.

[Blue]

Only 24 votes? Don't be shy!

[tlorber]

My car is silver, which I like and was close to the original color. However, if I ever get my parts car back together, it will become the lime green/yellow color. That color not only provides great contrast, but seemed to be exclusive to the early Z's.

[Blue]

Well the next car I will restore has 112 lime green as the original colour so I am not sure if the poll results are telling me to keep it lime green (yellow) with 50% of the vote or not to keep it yellow (with 0 votes)

[grantf]

My car was black. I painted it Yellow because that was the original color. I voted for original color, if that was not an option I would have been stuck between red, black and well.......... Yellow.

I like the lime green. If that was the original color and if it were my car I would keep it lime green.

[surfer.tech]

Mine is original lime green. I would repaint it the same color. It's a great color that "fits" the personality of the car.
If I had to change the color it would be a maroon from the 432Z

[Ben's Z]

So glad guys are saying silver. My 280z is Paint code 306. I ever sell it someday it's nice to know others will appreciate the color.

[kitran01]

I love the Gun Metallic or Graphite Metallic on the newer style Zs, which is what I will paint my 78 once I piece together and fabricate a rear. Although the original silver is hard to beat.

[MotoManMike]

I feel in a restore, its best to keep the original color and would fetch the most money at a sale. I have 2 orange Z's, I think they look great in orange. I think the Z looks good in pretty much any color though, whether it be primer gray or restored shiny. I have 2 73's, and they both look orange but one is the "red" everyone refers too and is more of a brick orange than red, and the other 73 is orange a lighter orange, I like the red much better.

[Blue]

506 views
46 votes....hmmmm bots or repeat views?

[CW240Z]

The Zs that sell for the most money are typically ones that haven't been personalized by someone, and have an original look to them. That's not to say that a crazy engine swapped and/or beefed up Z is less valuable than a original looking one (in most cases). It would take more time, effort, and money to build a modded Z that would fetch more than an original one. If you look at these cars on eBay, color has a lot to do with the price when you compare Zs of equal condition. The 112 yellow cars bring in a good amount of money. IMO the 112 yellow is a great color, and it gets peoples attention in the world of silver and white colored Zs which sometimes can be a bit boring. If you look on eBay now you basically have a choice of a red, silver, or white Z. Don't get me wrong though those colors look great on the car, but why change the color to something that is already out there multiple times and all the time?

Chase

[bpilati]

Your car's original color is the best color.

[rocketdog]

I think the interior has a lot to say about what color the exterior should be. It's far eaiser to change the paint color than the interior. I personally like the blue with a white interior, but green with a saddle/butterscotch interior is #1. Black is elegant, but takes a lot of TLC to keep it that way. You gotta look at the whole package.

[CW240Z]

I think the interior has a lot to say about what color the exterior should be. It's far eaiser to change the paint color than the interior. I personally like the blue with a white interior, but green with a saddle/butterscotch interior is #1. Black is elegant, but takes a lot of TLC to keep it that way. You gotta look at the whole package.

How is it easier to change the interior color than exterior? A proper color change is much more difficult than just repainting a car the factory color. I can see the interior change being difficult if you had to source down all the replacement panels and covers, but not nearly as bad as all the work involved with painting an entire car.

Chase