Let's talk about "being stock" vs "having the car you want" Options

[ScoopLV]

When I was a kid I had a 914. I wanted 5-lug Fuchs, the Porsche rear reflector, the front badge. And quite frankly, if I could have done one of those ridiculous Beach Boys body kits (the kind that makes a 914 look like a Ferrari) I probably would have.

I was on a parts website, buying some side lenses, when I saw a sale on the rear reflector and put one in my cart. Then I took it out of the cart.

Why? I have a basically unmodified teener -- 99% stock. It's almost like I feel I have a responsibility to keep it stock. I'm going to upgrade the fuel lines, and the shift linkage. One's a safety issue and the other is an invisible upgrade. But I'm going to keep all the old parts so that I could "put it back to stock" if I ever wanted.

I never really liked the look of the vinyl sail. I prefer the B column to be the same color as the rest of the body. My car doesn't have sails. Obviously a previous owner agreed with me on that point. But I'm seriously thinking about putting sails back on, because, hey, that's the only thing that isn't stock on the car.

I always liked the look of having a front badge. To me, the car looks nude without a badge on the front. But that would require drilling two holes into a perfectly good hood. Sure, I could fill the holes if I ever wanted. But that's one less hood out there that's never been mucked with.

I don't really know where I'm going with this post, or even if there's a point to it. But I'd like to hear from people about the validity of "turning your car into YOUR car" vs. "there aren't many unmodified cars out there anymore, so keep it stock."

Where do you fall in that spectrum?

[MDG]

I have one of each. An all original '73 and a hot-rod GT car.

The 73 I purchased from the original owner. He had done a remarkable job of preserving it with the exception of a poorly done repaint (at least in the original colour) back in the late 80's. When I bought it I knew it needed to be be repainted so I completely took it apart, took the shell down to the metal, fixed the very minor rust areas and had it once again shot in it's proper Phoenix Red. I did not find a single non-original part on the car. The only things changed were parts that were damaged. And I spent a couple of years (and way too much money) sourcing NOS parts to replace the few items that needed it.

The '76 was in really tough shape, some awful prior bodywork, paint that was flaking off, the interior was a mess and the 2.0 had already been blown and replaced with a 1.8 . . . yeah, I had zero issues using it as the tub to "build the car I want." In fact, that's exactly why I bought it.

If I was to only have one? That's not an easy answer for me but I tend to think I'd keep the '73. But maybe not. No - I would. Maybe. -ish.

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I'd better keep both.