I've never yet seen a gel coat finish that didn't shout 'kit car' from a mile away.
I've just watched an episode of Wheeler Dealers where they flipped a Gardner Douglas Cobra, and the gel coat had that flat sheen you find on Argos plastic picnic plates even after professional polishing.
They were hoping to get near £30k for it having spent £17.5k buying it and another £3.5k getting it through IVA (!!!), but eventually let it go for a measly £22k to the only potential buyer to show up, scraping barely a grand in profit, or about £400 quid each after tax for two months work... It would easily have made £25k or more with a half decent paint finish.
I've met quite a lot of people who've bought turn-key gel coat finished cars and they all rave about how you can't tell it isn't a high-quality paint job. I'm just too polite to tell them that's bo!!ocks.
