At some point in it’s life, my 68 XR7, originally Fawn Beige (color code 6), was re-painted what seems to be Cardinal Red. The interior upholstery, including the carpet, seats, plastic trim, and headliner, were redone in a Maroon color. The factory interior color code is 6f, so it used to be Med Saddle.
Although the interior/upholstery has held up really well, the car again needs paint and a new Vinyl top. I’m looking for advice/opinions on the value of returning everything back to factory colors, Interior & exterior, vs leaving the interior alone and just repainting the car in Cardinal Red.
For what it’s worth, the Cardinal Red has grown on me, although I’m not crazy about the all maroon interior, there’s way too much red.
If it helps, here is some info on the current state of the car to judge value/rareness:
1968 Cougar XR7 JCODE - 302 4BBL - C4 Auto - Numbers Matching - San Jose Plant, 98K miles
Been restoring the car, rebuilding all factory components and purchasing repro,oem parts where possible. Been staying as true to factory as possible, no aftermarket OEM parts.
It’s your cat. Your not going to do much "damage’ by the changes. I have a good friend who’s cat is as your’s was. Very nice combo. Recently another friend changed color on his 70 torino vert. dark green to med blue… Best thing that could have happened to that car!!!
So, in the end do what you want, don’t worry about the next owner… They will change things to make it personalized anyway…
Agree with the guys above. My $.02 is to go with a black interior. It will go well with any exterior color. Life is too short for bland - unless it is good original paint.
I like red interiors… everything modern is either tan gray or black. I don’t think red is going to hurt you resale wise. But do what fells right for you.
Thanks everyone. I agree, will stick with Cardinal Red exterior.
I may do a mix between black and red interior. It’s not that I don’t like the red, but with the exterior being red as well, I feel like there just too much red everywhere, the car kind of gets washed out.
Unless it’s a Concours car or a completely unmolested survivor, I don’t feel like color of paint and interior affects value – as long as its a nice paint job in a desirable color. I’ve seen some pretty wildly painted cars sit for a long time in Houston because apparently nobody wanted banana yellow or a strange orange.
I agree! Red interior in a black car looks classy. Unfortunately, I’ve had one too many black cars and i’m done with swirl marks and webbing. Black is too much to maintain.
