WernerE

Good to see recent activity in this thread, especially posts by PTS Master Eduardo. Here's my PTS Touring in Sport Classic Grey. It's a chameleon in different light, similar to other PTS colors.

<3mph

Eduardo, it was great to see you again on your way through our northern neck of the woods! Let's not make it too long until the next time!
Daniel

WernerE, awesome car!

WernerE

Thanks! Here's another look at SPG inside, giving it a milky blue/gray look. Definitely not confused w/chalk.

Z356

As most of you know, 'Sport Classic Grey' color was for a long time unable to be duplicated via PTS at Porsche.
The color was formulated for the Limited Edition (250 units) which was introduced back in 2009 and was initially
off-limits to anyone trying to order the color via PTS.



If my memory serves me right, Porsche might have allowed one VIP to do their 918 in 'Sport Classic Grey'. But the
permission to allow 'the unwashed & possibly deplorables' order the color via PTS came around MY2016 when Donavan
& a few others were able to get it approved for their 981 Spyders & 991's. Werner perhaps you can remind us how
easy or difficult was it for you to order your gt3 in 'Sport Classic Grey'.

The thing I find interesting is that PAG didn't seem to include the color 'Sport Classic Grey' in the approved PTS list
for MY2016. And I don't remember seeing it even in recent approved PTS list provided by PAG/PCNA to their dealers.
So perhaps this color is still a 'whisper-only' choice available for PTS for only those 'in-the-know'.



*
While we were visiting Daniel in Victoria BC, we got to see again his 'Modegrau' .1 991 gt3. This is the car he took to
LA from Vancouver Canada and back in 2015. And we had a chance to spend some time together in Carmel. Here
is Daniel with my wife, while I sit in the car in front of my old house in Carmel:



***
And on the question of how 'Modegrau' compares to 'Sport Classic Grey', these are posts
from our Rennlist archives that answer it:



Saludos,
Eduardo
Scottsdale

WernerE

Eduardo, Cheers!

The seemingly endless delays with my order were the challenging part - I honestly don't know how much SPG or PTS figured into that. You're correct (again) that SPG was not on the list of approved PTS colors. Getting approval wasn't the difficult part - it was waiting for the car following acceptance of the color. I'm tempted to add some stickers to add color, but SPG works just fine as pictured.

It's a special color and now that the car is here, I have no regrets. I do recall a 918 painted in SPG with ghosted stickers on it - it's on Instagram somewhere.

I believe Fashion Grey is darker, though I don't have a photo to prove it!

montoya

Beautiful car WernerE- there is one other touring in UT in SPG that I have on my list- evilfij may have more since he's done a better job tracking down the tourings of all colors then I have. Interesting that the color is 'off the menu' so to speak. I wonder how many other colors are available in the 'secret' menu??

WernerE

Now THAT's a question for Eduardo. The risk of ordering off the menu is that the PTS order window might close at any time (I had a standard color preselected then got lucky with PTS).

Evilfij counted my car twice before I corrected him, so based on evidence (photos) we probably have two SPG cars.

And thanks! You made a great PTS choice as well. Might be passing you on the way to Monterey (if I make it!).

Z356

I really don't know all the colors are presently available in the
PTS 'secret menu' at Porsche. Donavan tells the story that
when he was ordering his PTS 981 Boxster Spyder he was
told he could order 'Sport Classic Grey' by someone at PCNA
(may have been Melissa Witek while she was still at that post).
But we do know that a few customers in the US & Germany took
advantage of that information in the 'secret menu'. I think this
'Sport Classic Grey' 981 Spyder is the one ordered by a German
customer. And Donavan owned a similar one until he sold it
just recently.



***
There has been a few colors in the past 10 years that Porsche formulated
for limited editions and initially refused to allow anyone else to order via PTS.

They included:

997 Sport Classic's 'Sport Classic Grey'...


*
991 Club Coupe 'Brewster Green'...


*
And 997 Speedster 'Pure Blue'...



*

The first color PAG allowed to be 'copied' from that list above was
'Brewster Green'. That was included in the PTS approved list soon
after it's introduction (13 examples only). For the other two, the dam
of resistance seems to have broken when certain VIPs decided that
their 918's needed to be done in these previously unavailable hues.
And PAG was so hard-up for 918 customers at the time that they
relented. Remember Porsche had made verbal promise that these
colors would not be duplicated any time soon in series production or
via PTS. But never in writing. It was always a verbal promise. It is
in the 918's that we saw again a 'Sport Classic Grey' & perhaps
a Speedster's 'Pure Blue' (I was told but have not seen). And
there were some colors approved for the 918 Spyder which were
not 100% connected to Limited Editions but for whatever reason
were removed from the PTS list by Porsche at some point (in past).
That was the case with 'RS Orange', which was first formulated just
for the '07 997 gt3 RS & subsequently used in many limited editions
(Boxsters/Caymans), plus allowed to be ordered by anyone as PTS
starting in MY2008. 'RS Orange' was in fact removed from the PTS
for MY2011. That color was done on a VIP's 918 ( below) & it might
still be in that 'secret menu'. It is one of the most memorable 'orange'
hues ever formulated at Porsche & to this day I regret when it was
taken off the PTS list. It's absolutely a 'winner'!


*

All we seem to know is that 'RS Orange', 'Pure Blue' and 'Sport Classic Grey'
do not appear to be presently in the published PTS list of PAG at present.
The last color that appears to have reached that 'Secret Menu' PTS list is
'Club Blau'. The latter was formulated (w. input from PCA officials) specifically
for the 2015 991 GTS that marked the 60th Anniversary of PCA. It was a hue
close to the original & stunningly beautiful 1974 911 'Acid Blue / Bahama Blue'
& supposedly also was a close match for the 'blue' in the PCA logo:








PCA is very protective of that color because it gave their 60th model
a cache that was unmatched by the previous anniversary cars done
in 'Azzuro Blue Metallic', which had no particular significance to a
vintage Porsche color and was soon included in the PTS list available
to any one to order. Porsche at the time said that 'Azzuro Metallic'
was in memory of the color 'Azure Blue' available in their 356 Pre-A
at the time the founding of PCA back in 1955. But the fact is that
'Azure Blue' looks nothing like 'Azzuro Blue Metallic'. I had a 1954
356 Pre-A cabriolet in 'Azure Blue' so I can confirmed there is no
real similarities - 'Azure' was a dark blue non-metallic. Check the
'Azure Blue Metallic' 50th Anniversary of PCA coupe below:




Recently it was reported in Rennlist (with photo as proof) that a .2 991 had been
ordered via PTS in 'Club Blau' by a US dealer. How he/she managed to do that
is a mystery. I find particularly disturbing that Porsche has allowed 'Club Blau' to
be ordered via PTS. I think it breaks a promise made to PCA to keep that color
reserved exclusively for just these 60 PCA Anniversary .1 991's. Why allow it?
PAG should simply use Nancy Reagan famous phrase & 'Just Say No' to these
immodest requests. If you want to formulate your own 'Blue', put up the $26K
or so PAG extorts from their clients to do a feasibility study on a new color for
PTS (which is done by the paint company at no expense to Porsche) & take
your chances. Why rob 'Club Blau' from the 60 owners of the Anniversary
edition?




At about the time that the 981 Spyders were given the go-ahead to be ordered
in 'Sport Classic Grey' I asked Melissa why Porsche had allowed it. After all,
many had earlier tried to duplicate that color in their custom orders only to be
denied. Melissa just shrugged her shoulders. So there you have it...all I know
about the 'secret menu'. It would be interesting to see if some Porsche customer
with access at PAG can reveal to us what he/she knows about what colors are
presently available in that 'secret menu' today. But I doubt we will know...because
that is the ultimate PTS, isn't it? The one that is not even listed on the published
PTS list by the manufacturer.



Saludos,
Eduardo
Scottsdale

WernerE

Thanks, Eduardo. Fascinating information. The Sport Classic 911 never made it to our shores, so perhaps Porsche had an easier time approving it for U.S. customers (in contrast to Club Blau example).

PTS remains a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

evilfij

If it makes anyone feel better, the club blau GT3T was bought by someone who has a club coupe. He also has like 12k plus miles on the GT3.

Other than chromoflair paints and the club blau and sport classic grey, I am also aware of mamba green and Apollo blue on the “secret” list.

JAM2

Ron, Tom only had a club coupe car cover. He never had the car to fill it.

Z356

Funny you would think that. But the truth is that
they made it to our shores almost immediately.
Only they never were legally entitled to be used
on public roads. But US collectors bought them
& brought them in...happended with the 959's too.
That is true for any ROW model that is rare &
desirable...and yet not approved by US's EPA
or DOT. Case in point will be the new Ferrari
Monza SP1 & SP2. They are not street legal
in the US but perfectly roadworthy in Europe
& Middle East. Nevertheless, SP1's & SP2's
will be here in the US any day now! Where
there is a will (and enough money), there is
a way!




*
My friend Steve Heinrichs (RIP) owned Sport Classic #002
that he brought it over to the US right after it was built.
He just couldn't drive it on public roads. We spoke about
Steve's 'Sport Classic' 997 here in Rennlist back in 2011:



https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...-norcal-3.html

The whitespace link no longer works but if you have a copy
of that Christophorus #347 / Page 32 you can read the article
in which the Porsche house publication talks about Steve
Heinrichs & the reason the factory allocated him a very early
'Sport Classic' 997.

Steve Heinrichs was an interesting fellow:



You can read more about him in the interview below:

https://unobtaniuminc.wordpress.com/...che-historian/

***
Interestingly enough, his 'Sport Classic' 997 was up for sale in Arizona last January,
a few years after his death in Sept of 2016. It sold for $654K.




https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/a...classic/737851


As the RM Auction says in their auction write-up, Steve was indeed someone known to the Porsche family.
He sold Dr. Wolfgang Porsche his collection of early Carrera Speedsters valued in the millions of dollars.
Steve orchestrated two important historic Porsche gatherings - Speedster Fest in 2004 & Porsche Race
Car Classics in 2011. Both in Carmel, CA where he & I lived at the time. And he wrote, in conjunction with
my friend Dieter Landenberger (former head of Porsche Archives in Zuffenhausen), several books on the
early Speedsters & in particular those fitted with Carrera engines.





*
In what has become a pattern in my life, Steve offered this 'Sport Classic' 997 to me
once for a lot LESS than $654K. Same sad story as that of another old friend, Jim
Barrington (RIP), who was the largest private collector of Gmunds in the world, mostly
bought in Sweden where many early Gmunds were sold in 1948 & 1949. At one time
Jim had six or so Gmund coupes...more than the Porsche factory ever has had in their
museum collections or owned by Porsche family members. Jim offered me a choice of
two of his original Gmund coupes years ago for just $250K@. I was pretty excited about
buying one...but I couldn't convince my wife to make the investment. I also turned down
a Porsche 906 race car for $125K back in 1987. There is a pattern of bad decisions here!



****
I am trying to crack it. I even bought a obsolete machine
from the 1930's to help me figure it all out. But I have yet
to find the instruction manual that should have come with
it. But it's just a question of time before I'll get it working.
And then I'll solve the riddle of Porsche PTS once & for all.






Saludos,
Eduardo
Scottsdale

evilfij

Oh, I stand corrected. You can see how I was fooled. Lol. BTW good to meet you in person finally.

C5driver

I could read your posts all day long and am looking forward to hearing how you solved the PTS riddle. Maybe by Pebble?

WernerE

I should have said Porsche never exported the Sport Classics to our shores, as I'm aware of one in my state that DID go through the regulatory maze to license and drive it in the U.S. Very expensive to do so, needless to say.