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The following information re: two new colors for the .2 991 has been posted in a few threads here at Rennlist. So please be aware!
Originally Posted by Milehigh981
Hey Eduardo,
The new 911 configurator has graphite blue and Miami blue available to order on the Carrera S at least.
I spotted & photographed the color 'Graphit Blau Metallic' during my visit to Leipzig in late July & reported it here on Rennlist.
I believe it was the first time this color was discussed as possible new hue for Porsche! I am glad they finally have announced
it's a new color in the Porsche 991 palette!
So, Eduardo, why do you think Porsche now offers yellow, orange, 2 reds, 2 whites, 2 blacks, 2 silvers and 3 blues in the 991.2 but still no green (and both browns are gone)? Quite a way from Porsche Racing Green being a launch color for the 997.
As you know, I at first tried to get my turbo painted Brewster Green and ended up with Anthracite Brown, so I admit to being biased, but are greens and browns really that "out of style"?
So, Eduardo, why do you think Porsche now offers yellow, orange, 2 reds, 2 whites, 2 blacks, 2 silvers and 3 blues in the 991.2 but still no green?
Mostly as a favor to me because they want to maintain the rarity & exclusivity factor on my new 'Signal Green' gt3...
Originally Posted by Keadog
Quite a way from Porsche Racing Green being a launch color for the 997.
If you ask Porsche dealers, they don't remember fondly their sale (& present resale) experiences with the 997 'Porsche Racing Green'!
It was not a popular color!
Originally Posted by Keadog
...are greens and browns really that "out of style"?
'Green' has a limited number of fans, present company excluded. If you want to see world trends in popularity of automotive colors,
take a look at this report:
The folks that today design for us the 'standard', 'metallic' & 'special color' offerings at PAG are hipster fashionistas. They try to anticipate
color trends in our culture and demographics. That is why they almost always disappoint most of us who are interested in vibrant historic/
vintage colors from Porsche's 'golden age' of paint offerings - the late sixties & early seventies. We have never experienced anything like it
re: paint offerings at PAG - not before or never after! It was a magical moment that will never be repeated. The Age of Aquarius - when
the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars!
But alas, we have a way to overcome the color limitations imposed on us by the politically correct color fashion experts. Thank goodness
many folks have discovered a way to go around the drabness & limitations of the modern Porsche color palette. It's called Paint to Sample.
If you ask Porsche dealers, they don't remember fondly their sale (& present resale) experiences with the 997 'Porsche Racing Green'!
It was not a popular color!
Well, 2009 wasn't a very good year for a lot of colors, right? As far as resale, I can't argue that other than I would take one.
But alas, we have a way to overcome the color limitations imposed on us by the politically correct color fashion experts. Thank goodness
many folks have discovered a way to go around the drabness & limitations of the modern Porsche color palette. It's called Paint to Sample.
Yes, I tried that over a period of months. My Aquarius must have been in Mars, but I'm pretty happy with the Anthracite, especially since it's been retired.
I'm in the process of trying to order a 3.4 Boxster and I'm really underwhelmed with the colors left to choose from. It will probably be Dark Blue Metallic (also apparently about to be retired) by process of elimination of not really liking anything else. Hell, I would get it in Anthracite if I still could.
Take a close look at agate gray. You may find it in the acceptable substitute for anthracite.
Originally Posted by Keadog
If you ask Porsche dealers, they don't remember fondly their sale (& present resale) experiences with the 997 'Porsche Racing Green'!
It was not a popular color!
Well, 2009 wasn't a very good year for a lot of colors, right? As far as resale, I can't argue that other than I would take one.
But alas, we have a way to overcome the color limitations imposed on us by the politically correct color fashion experts. Thank goodness
many folks have discovered a way to go around the drabness & limitations of the modern Porsche color palette. It's called Paint to Sample.
Yes, I tried that over a period of months. My Aquarius must have been in Mars, but I'm pretty happy with the Anthracite, especially since it's been retired.
I'm in the process of trying to order a 3.4 Boxster and I'm really underwhelmed with the colors left to choose from. It will probably be Dark Blue Metallic (also apparently about to be retired) by process of elimination of not really liking anything else. Hell, I would get it in Anthracite if I still could.
If anyone is interested in seeing pictures of the new slate grey (Y97), take a look at my latest post on the custom ordering a 981 thread. Very curious to see the colour in person:
Some news on this front. Rennlister 'Blu RS' from Northern California contacted me via PM on 7/15 asking if I was able to get photos of
the two 'Slate Grey' PTS colors on the approved list - color code '615' color code & the elusive 'Y97'. Here is what I responded to him:
So then 'Blu RS' contacted Melissa Witek of 'Porsche Exclusive' in Atlanta, attached my response to him, and asked if she could provide
him with an answer. And she did, sending him this interesting photo!
In Melissa's own words (in red):
'Please see attached for the Slate Greys next to a vanity plate:
The one on the left side is Slate Grey RAL 7015 (code Y97), and the middle is Slate Grey 6601 (code 615)."
I am still surprised at this photo. I thought it would be the inverse. If anyone that reads Rennlist has ordered & received a
PTS 'Slate Grey' Y97, please post photos. We would like to see a fuller representation of this color. We have been told here
at Rennlist that the AWE 911 Turbo S is 'Slate Grey' 615. If anyone else has another PTS '615' & can photograph it for us,
we would also appreciate that! And Nate should soon receive his '615' Targa.
We are grateful to 'Blu RS' and Melissa Witek for getting us this photo showing both 'Slate Grey' approved PTS colors
side by side!
I just checked the configurator for the 991.2 and it now shows 3 new colours (if you count graphite blue met, miami blue, and night blue met as new colours; LO isn't really all that new) for a total of 4 blues including Sapphire blue met! Night blue met (nachtblau met) was predicted based on the Glasurit website data a while ago (https://rennlist.com/forums/991-gt3/...hread-201.html), and now this seems to be the first confirmation of its existence! It looks like a new incarnation of DBM.
Also, from the new video (posted earlier by shaytun), what colour is the grey car--agate? (I think it looks awesome btw.) In the video it doesn't look very metallic or brownish. It also doesn't look like graphite blue met. To me, it looks more like (non-metallic) slate grey, which isn't on the colour palette. Do I need my eyes checked??! Is this just the way the video is shot?
Here are a couple stills.
Last edited by <3mph; 09-11-2015 at 03:49 AM.
Reason: wrong name for night blue met
I must tell you that until recently I thought that PAG would stick to their announcements that that they would not
duplicate in paint the foil decals themes they had originally announced for the 918. The problem for collectors with
the factory foil wrap was that the 'decals' are not guaranteed to last beyond a few years...and then what? The solution
was to paint the design schemes directly to the panels! But would the factory agree to do that?
Well initially they refused. But apparently somebody convinced them that this was the right thing to do for their most
demanding 918 customers - an elite among their long list of VIP clients. And these special PTS 918s were then set to
be built & delivered last. Almost all were based on famous 917 liveries in Porsche history.
Here is the list of cars I have been able to identify:
1) Mark Webber - 'Salzburg Racing Design' in Paint
So far, these are all the 918 I have seen done in this special PTS process. The latter involves painting two colors
on the same panels, something which is not normally available via PTS.
************************************************
Costs: 'If you have to ask, you can't afford it'
Regular PTS on the 918 was $21000 for most colors. Some of the more complicated PTS were priced at $49,000
(e.g. Pearl White 947). The two exclusive 'Liquid Metal' paints, which required 9 coats applied in high precision
(metal flakes were aligned properly by magnets) and three clear coats, was priced at $63,000.
I can only guess that for the design, labor & execution of these last PTS 918s in historic liveries, PAG probably
charged their customers over $100K + for the privilege! And when you add some of the special requests done
by 'Porsche Exclusive' in the interior - e.g. special leather colors, deviating stitching, deviated leather beading,
unique leather headrest embossing - the combined expenses for the paint & interior is probably close to $150K
for these special PTS 918s!
***********************************************
My understanding is that for the Gulf 918s, the factory used the current PTS approved 'Gulf Blue' & 'Gulf Orange'
colors. If Vaughn Wyant has documentation that points out to the use by PAG of different hues for his two cars vs
the Atlanta car, I will be glad to correct my statement.
***
For Mark Webber's car, PAG matched the colors of the current 917 at the Porsche Museum done in Salzburg livery
(by the way, the original chassis was 'lost' - this is not the LeMans winning historic chassis). I took photo of that car
in July.
***
For Hurley Haywood's 918, PAG added the Brumos colors which was not complicated to do. And the factory previously
had done 'Brumos' Limited Editions, the most recent if I recall was the B59 '12 997 GTS below. So we know that the
'Brumos' colors are on file at Zuffenhausen!
This was the easiest PTS livery of the bunch that PAG had to do. I hope Hurley got a discount on his PTS option!
****
For the 'Blue-Purple/Green' & 'Yellow/Red' Hippie car, the story now takes an interesting turn. Both color schemes are based
on 'one' historic 917 chassis # - 917 -021. That chassis was raced in various liveries. And that is where the story needs to be
told in full so that you can understand what these two 918 owners were trying to 'honor' or 'pay homage' in their particular
(& expensive) color schemes:
OK, now that you know the story on 917-021, let's go to the easiest of the two 918 'Hippie' color scheme
to explain why it was done that way. The 'Yellow/Red' Hippie 918 is duplicating the livery on 917-021 as the
Shell Psychedelic (at least it's third racing livery paint job):
It is probable that the 918 owner chose to follow the colors researched by Gunnar Racing for their careful
restoration of the formerly Rosso-Bianco 917 in 'Shell Sandeman' livery.
Although that original livery did not have the psychedelic design, it was painted in the exact same Shell Oil
colors (the 'yellow' has a bit of mustard & the 'red' has a bit of orange) that would adorn the later 'Yellow/Red'
livery #2 on the 917-021. And even the 'red' seats on that historic car are reproduced on this 918 'tribute'! So
all of that makes sense!
****
What about the 'Blue-Purple/Green' Hippie 918? How true are those colors to the original historic livery? The
'other' 917-021 painted in this color scheme is apparently in Belgium. From the photos in the 'Classic Driver'
article above the darker hue appears more 'purple' than in the 918 color scheme. We don't know if that car
was available to the 918 owner to request color samples.
But there is another 'psychedelic' 917 (917-043) that resides in Pennsylvania at the Simeone Foundation Automotive
Museum & is more accessible to research for color. It is also painted in a 'Blue-Purple/Green' Martini livery.
So what color scheme was followed by the 918 owner in reproducing the original livery? Did they nailed the colors right?
I think we will need to see that car photographed in different light to see if the 'purple' comes through on the base blue!
If anyone can add more to how the colors of this car were 'chosen', we would appreciate the input.
*******
Altogether, it's a fabulous story of these last, and very special, PTS 918s. And let me leave you all with this video which
attempts to capture the era of the 917-021 which inspired some of our subject matter:
Eduardo, you really should write that coffee table book on Porsche Colors Over the Years: Customer Options Through Livery.
There's your working title at no charge - just please send me an autographed copy.
09-08-2015, 01:51 AM
