I have a question that's been rolling around in my head for a week or so...

I have a very clean VL NA6 Berlina in the garage that's had an easy life 91'000km. Interior is PERFECT, before me there was one elderly owner since new etc etc bla bla bla you get the picture... unmodified and original. her failing is the paint was polished a little too much in its life and now can do with a repaint to bring her back as its thin in spots. it also fails me as she is a NA6

I have also got a rusty high mileage 350'000km odd (odometer stopped)V8 VL Executive here, with those Kms it has the usual dents in floor pan heavy rust in boot and in around windscreen etc, interior is trashed other than a few salvageable plastics etc... drove it 800km home and it runs great (mechanical maintenance was kept up too her, just body rust failed her).

So the question is... making one car out of the two,

Should I save the V8 body as all the parts needed could be cut from the NA 6 body? so the end product is a clean factory V8 Exec (id use the Berlina trim however)

Being these are just basic Commodores is the entire matching numbers getting out of hand? Should I just freshen up the V8 running gear to transplant into the NA6 VL etc.

To save the V8 body would come at a price as you can imagine with the extra rust work and that would negatively offset any final value of a saved V8 sedan anyway...

I just cant settle on which way to go as id pull both down for a full freshen up regardless... the end result is just a mild V8 cruiser for the weekends, when I talk of the cars value I'm talking down the line when/if I decided to sell after I'm finished with it.

So whats more appealing? I'm 50 / 50 with get as far away from rusted body as possible, use the solid car , oooor save the V8 body at the cost of a solid body...

Has the matching numbers simply gotten way out of hand? these are not highly chased after classics or Brock's (RIP mate) etc etc, yet these days it seems its the first thing people look for is matching numbers.


Sorry this was a little long winded... but yea, any input would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

I agree with Byron.

You have to look at what it is, and what it's worth to the general market. An exec, and even a Berlina, aren't really sought after cars. Look at what VB Commodores are doing - SL/E V8s are being offered for silly money, yet basic models in far better condition are selling for less than a quarter of a rough SL/E.

If it were a Calais, or a build plated HSV or HDT, then it would be worth leaving alone - but even then, there's NA 6 cylinder Brocks (LE Calais) that have been converted to turbos & V8s that haven't really lost value, as not every buyer will worry about the current driveline matching the tags.

Your VL will have more value in it's appeal to a wider audience (which will be V8, Berlina trim, and the very clean body) than to the small minority of numbers-matching critics.

Build what you want to build an enjoy it - don't let a minority of critics stop you from realising your dream (which is a realistic one, that is achievable).