Has anyone hear wrapped their Speedster? What was the cost.
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I talked to a company here in the Florida Panhandle and they refused to do it. This guy does mostly advertising wraps but he said they don't do it because the cost relative to a decent paint job was too high for most people. He never gave me a price. I assumed it was north of $5k due to labor, and that will buy a pretty nice paint job.
I could be dead wrong about the price, but that was the impression I had.
That is high, I think you could get a great paint job here for under 3K. (especially on a small car)
Google says
Wraps are priced using a combination of square footage, complexity and (if required) design services. An average full wrap on a vehicle can range from$1,500 to $3,200 depending on the amount of square footage and services required. The vehicle wrap industry is most definitely a “get what you pay for” industry.
and
Getting straight to some general pricing, an average graphic advertisement wrap is about $2500 and the average color change paint replacement wrap is closer to$3600. Chrome wraps? Most chrome wraps start in the $6,000 range… yes, it's that expensive!
I wonder if you could buy wrap at a reasonable cost if doing it yourself is better than paint.
Ray, you've probably seen a few cars that the owners have done a do-it-yourself window tint job (most likely to save money).
Transpose those results to wrapping an entire car (with complex curves and larger surface area).
Therein lies the answer to your question. 
@IaM-Ray
I'm with Jim on this one. I have watched it being done and it ain't that easy. Doesn't mean you couldn't, just that I wouldn't!
Well at least hey did not paint it by roller, rather than by number. 
What happens when that wrap starts letting loose, like it's going to eventually do. Your fake car is going to look faker!
Don't worry, I have a fake car too.
I believe Earl Schieb and a blind helper painted by roller ~)
I've built quite a few model airplanes and used heat-shrink covering on them. It is a very special technique to learn, especially going around compound curves. I realize the size difference is most probably a big factor. It can be troublesome to get it all to lay flat and smooth.
I've never done the car-wrap stuff but it's got to be similar. I don't think I'd want to chance messing up the paint on my car.
I could see doing PPF (Paint Protection Film) DIY on sections of the car but not a whole car with continuous sensual curves like a 356. The hood would be a piece of cake - someone on SOC did hood with a checkered flag pattern. It really takes at least 2 people to do - as it has to be kept wet, no creases, and heated to stretch to conform to bulges/indents.
Robert M posted:One of our members wrapped his Speedster in a rusted patina pattern. I think it’s pretty cool. Pretty sure he said it was expensive though. I don’t think a wrap will last as long as a good paint job either.
He did it himself.
Wrap will get you about four years then you have to remove it and it will take some paint with it...
It might be a good solution then for an original gel coat CMC/FF. I'd love to do mine as a tribute to the Janis Joplin 356 C. The other day was the 48th anniversary of her death. Regretfully mine is black gel coat - the basic white gel coat would be a far better base! If I could get close to the $1.76M her's sold for I'd be happy!
I read somewhere that Joplin's car was sold and repainted then found again many years later, so her original paint job had to be replicated. So her car is almost as fake as ours.
Of course, you can't believe everything on the web.
It is a cool paint job though, done by one of her roadies.
Yes it was repainted. I went to visit Petersen Auto Museum one visit to Boeing - but it had been moved to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She paid $3500 for it in 1968 and only lived another 2 years. Great story and pictures at site below.