When I was looking for a 71 Bee I came across this car...the colour changes and the quality and execution of the "restoration" just didn't work for me. I know I am the odd one but I would have much prefered the car left in the original Tawny Gold with a Gold top and interior....Never been a fan of the high impact colours...with the exception being FM3 and maybe B5.
It's
so close, too. It's mostly piddly details that could've been easily avoided but represent a bit of work now. Clearly it's been for sale quite awhile, based on how long you've had the Coronet back in your possession, so there must be some merit to the criticisms. I'm a complete sucker for the center fold-down armrest and 4-speed combination, so this car trips a big trigger with me, but... Had I been the one "restoring" it, the paint would've been 1971 A4, the vinyl would've been black canopy-style, and the bumpers would still be chrome. Then again, I wouldn't have been doing the work to resell, either.
The original Dark Gold might've looked OK with the matching vinyl, but the tan interior? Not so good. I've a friend with an unrestored Y8 gold 1972 Charger Rallye with the "gold" interior (it's actually light tan, almost yellow). Despite its excellent condition, the interior is just not a pleasant hue in which to immerse oneself... it's too yellow. Regardless, despite its lower general appeal, the car would've had more value in its original scheme. There's always someone like you looking for such a car, and "quick sale" colors aren't always the best option. I believe in a lot of cases, shoppers say, "Oh,
another Hemi Orange (or B5, E5, C7, etc.) one..." and keep looking.
B5 isn't a "Hi Impact" color, by the way, nor was E5 red. M3 was a Spring 1970 color only, but appears in 1971 paint-chip charts since the 1970 charts were made months before M3 debuted (I've never seen a '70 chip chart with M3 on it). The same chip situation is true of J6, although it
was available throughout '71. Any later factory M3 car would have a "999" paint code. Apparently only about 4,000 M3 cars were built (excepting any 999 cars, which wouldn't have been tracked).
