Will '95 style bumper hurt value of my 1990?

[Alex0413]

I have a 1990 ZR1, and at some point the PO put the 1995 front bumper and fender vents on it. The original paint on my car has seen better days and i'm looking to get a fresh re spray on the car. Should I put the 1990 bumper back on it with the 1990 lower fender vents to retain the value of the car? I don't plan on selling the car anytime soon, but whenever I do, I want to get as much back out of it as I can!

What are the values doing on cars with re sprays? (i'm looking at a professional full disassembly and door jam repaint that'll make the car look better than new.) Will my 1990 with fresh paint, full bolt ons, plenum/IH porting, and 55K miles be worth in the $25K+ range ? Values have been strong, but mostly see original cars with high prices.

[CamP]

The 91-up front bumper conversion use to be popular on the 90 model cars, but it was never my cup of tea. I always liked the 90 ZR-1 one year only body style.

[Alex0413]

Originally Posted by CamP

The 91-up front bumper conversion use to be popular on the 90 model cars, but it was never my cup of tea. I always liked the 90 ZR-1 one year only body style.

I like the look of both bumpers. Have you seen any 91-up converted cars lose value from the conversion?

[CamP]

Originally Posted by Alex0413

I like the look of both bumpers. Have you seen any 91-up converted cars lose value from the conversion?

All ZR-1s have been undervalued for many years, but that's changing recently. If the values continue to rise, you can expect original appearing cars to fetch more money.

[TX '90 ZR1]

Originally Posted by CamP

All ZR-1s have been undervalued for many years, but that's changing recently. If the values continue to rise, you can expect original appearing cars to fetch more money.

I am of the same opinion.

[Alex0413]

Originally Posted by CamP

All ZR-1s have been undervalued for many years, but that's changing recently. If the values continue to rise, you can expect original appearing cars to fetch more money.

C4's and ZR-1's especially have been very under valued. We're finally starting to see our cars get the attention and money they deserve, and I think we're going to continue to see values climb! So I want to ensure I invest in raising the value of the car as high as I can, so whenever I do sell it I can a decent ROI. Or at least my money back lol

Pic of my car below. The '95 conversion was done extremely well:

Corvette.jpg

[tccrab]

Buying cars as an investment can be a hit or miss type of thing. i find it's a general rule that modified cars tend to have a much smaller audience than un-modified cars, and as such tend to resale at prices much less than the cost of the mod done to the car.
Notable exceptions are cars modified by big name companies such as Calloway or Lingenfelter; or well known specialty shops such as Haibec or Doug Rippey.
Your '90 with a '95 nose and body trim would likely send a NCRS kind of buyer into convulsions. Their first thought would probably be to ask what damage was done to the cars original body panels to warrant replacing them with *shudder* the wrong parts. These are the same people that berate the owners of '63 split window coupes who opted to cut out the middle section of the of the rear window and replace the split window with a '64 style one piece window. If you've ever sat in the drivers seat of a split window and looked through the rear view mirror you would understand completely why they did it. Trouble is, the modded '63 wont command nearly the resale value as an un-modded one.
The same thinking will apply to your car, first it'll raise questions and then the price will drop.
Lucky for you, the nose pieces are not ZR1 specific, so theres lots available in the resale market. What's going to bite you in the butt is the body trim from the doors back and around the rear bumper, and the rear bumper fascia itself. It's 1990 only and it's going to be hard to find and it wont be cheap.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

I would not worry about value and just enjoy what you like. I feel that if you really wanted the 90 style design you would not have gotten the 95 look. The money you spend might be hard to recover either way. Sorry, I wrote off my Zs and have never worried about value and just make them my own, but of course this is my own opinion. I agree that your conversion was nicely done. Enjoy either way and best wishes with your decision. 🤙🏼


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[Matt B]

If value is your concern here are my 2 Cents from German perspective - and you might want to consider as C4 and especially ZR-1 seems to gain appreciation over here in Europe and a potential buyer might be located here... US repaints have an extremely bad reputation over here. We call it the "sales shower" - dealer pours some fresh paint over a crappy car to turn into a shiny jewel.
Unfortunately preferably these cars found their to us, as many (stupid) buyers decided to import based on internet pictures.
I'm very sure that there are true professionals in the US who make a perfect job has they are here, so make sure to have it done by one of them, ideally with a photo documentation of the work.

Or, even better, try to have it rescued by a professional polish.

IMHO as long as enough comparable cars with OEM paint are available a re-paint will considerably affect value.

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[Alex0413]

Originally Posted by tccrab

Buying cars as an investment can be a hit or miss type of thing. i find it's a general rule that modified cars tend to have a much smaller audience than un-modified cars, and as such tend to resale at prices much less than the cost of the mod done to the car.
Notable exceptions are cars modified by big name companies such as Calloway or Lingenfelter; or well known specialty shops such as Haibec or Doug Rippey.
Your '90 with a '95 nose and body trim would likely send a NCRS kind of buyer into convulsions. Their first thought would probably be to ask what damage was done to the cars original body panels to warrant replacing them with *shudder* the wrong parts. These are the same people that berate the owners of '63 split window coupes who opted to cut out the middle section of the of the rear window and replace the split window with a '64 style one piece window. If you've ever sat in the drivers seat of a split window and looked through the rear view mirror you would understand completely why they did it. Trouble is, the modded '63 wont command nearly the resale value as an un-modded one.
The same thinking will apply to your car, first it'll raise questions and then the price will drop.
Lucky for you, the nose pieces are not ZR1 specific, so theres lots available in the resale market. What's going to bite you in the butt is the body trim from the doors back and around the rear bumper, and the rear bumper fascia itself. It's 1990 only and it's going to be hard to find and it wont be cheap.

I agree with you, my car would NEVER be considered by an NCRS buyer for numerous reasons, or pull that kind of money ever. It's a driver, and if ever sold would be marketed to buyers looking for a well sorted driver.

But of course I want to make sure when i spent money , I do it with resale value in mind.