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?

[Wdrdb]

Perfect thread for me to try and fit in as a newbie.
I have had a 73 now for 23 years and it’s been on a rotisserie for 22 years. All the parts, doors and everything but wheels, engine, suspension, windshield, doors, front and back hood, fuel tank were burnt in a storage fire with a 71, and all its parts, extra amounts of other parts too, all gone.
So I’m first thinking turn it into a race car because the new doors I bought aren’t really stock to that car in year, no interior so I’d have to find that too. Race car seems good,
I bought a 74 roller couple weeks ago which needs a complete new floor pan,,, my intent for the 74 is power, lots of crazy HP, lots of extra layers of reinforcement sheeting, roll cage intertwined from nose to tail, removing rear trunk pan, and etc. it will be powered by an American motor, which I guess isn’t applauded by many 914 purist's.
I miss driving that 73, has a racing 2.0 my dad built before o bought that car from my mother. He cammed it, counter weight crank, etc, bored cylinders,,so it was 1.7 I guess.

Hitting right hand turns at 50 and coming out around 40 was a damn fine blast and I miss it.

So one semi stock and the other a tank top tshirt with big rubber burning power