It isn’t just enough to owner a six-figure Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG. Oh no. That is plebeian. You have to order it in a G Manufaktur paint choice for an $6,500. That’s a bargain compared to Porsche and Mercedes-Benz knows this, which is why they offer 14 of those G Manufaktur color shades. Today, we have South Sea Blue Metallic on this 2021 G63 AMG with a mere 832 miles. Great, right? Wait until you see the asking price on this one. Hold on.
The engineers and product planners who are responsible for the Mercedes-AMG GT sure are busy. Launched for the 2015 model year, the lineup is as follows: GT, GT S, GT C, GT R, GT R Pro, GT Roadster, and the now the craziest of them all, the new GT Black Series. As with everything previously Black Series, this is a very extreme car. Overzealous aerodynamic bodywork, a track-focused suspension setup, and a peak of 720 horsepower. This is not a GT car, despite the literal name of GT Black Series. The price? $335,000. That of course is the price Mercedes prints on the sticker. But this is 2021, where everything is priced to the extreme – and this example in Arkansas is no different.
For my personal cars, I like them as unique and as special as possible. Naturally this can be difficult to achieve if you don’t have an unlimited budget and certain cars can be hard to find, but this is something I try to seek. Of course that doesn’t mean wrap the car in gold leaf, and we can all agree that certain color combos aren’t exactly beautiful, but you know what I mean. Today’s car, a 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo, is right in my wheelhouse when it comes to being unique. It certainly looks like a normal black 996 Turbo, which is true until you open the doors.
One thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the Porsche 993 market. A handful of years ago they had a sudden rise and seemed to settled at prices are were somewhat understandable. The Turbo was the king of the hill, then you had the C2S and C4S, followed by the regular C2 and C4, and bringing up the rear was any Cabriolet or Tiptronic gearbox car. Now in 2021, things have reached insanity levels. Any 993 Turbo is going to start at minimum $150,000 and have to potential to go well over $200,000, while the C2S and C4S are starting at $100,000 and making their way towards that $150,000 mark. The rest of the lineup? Thankfully, they’re not drafting to closely. Maybe a rising tide doesn’t lift all boats?
The “Safari” formula is pretty predicable by now. Take a vehicle, fit some suspension components to lift it, add some knobby tires, auxiliary lighting, and a roof rack if you are feeling spicy. If you really want to go to the point of no return, cut the fenders and bolts on some giant plastic flares. Done. You have yourself a “safari” car. As you might have guessed, this is what we are looking at today.
This is a 1987 Porsche 924S up for sale in Quebec that has all the typical stuff. Sawzall to the fenders, stick on giant BFGoordwich K/O 2 tires, a mix-match of lights, and a roof basket. Since this is a 924S, there are no real performance modifications at all. However, this could be fun for the correct price, right? Well, not so much.
I recently said goodbye to one of the cars in my fleet, a 1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D, that I maintained and cared for since 2016. It was a charming and very satisfyingly car that I’m glad I got to experience, but a prime example it was not. While it was finished in the lovely shade of Labrador Blue with a navy MB-Tex interior, it did have nearly 300,000 miles on the odometer. That meant various dings on every panel, rust scabs in all the wrong places, some suspiciously different-colored body panels, and a non-working air conditioning system. If all that was working, it would be a car to keep nearly forever and enjoy, but it just required too much effort considering the list. If I could buy a perfect example, sure, but at what cost? It still only had 68 horsepower when new and was right on the limit of being dangerously slow while trying to merge on the highways and climb long hills. Well, today we do have a nearly perfect example. But it comes at a very steep cost, as you might have guessed.
One thing I didn’t see coming was how popular the 991 Speedster would be and what it would do to their values. Even with them producing 1,943 examples for the world, most are still trading at around sticker price or slightly more. That is a big deal considering the base price was $275,000 and most were optioned out heavily to over $300,000 and then some. That is a lot of money for basically a GT3 with the roof cut off and some nasty blind spots when the fabric roof is folded up. Still, these are hot and people are gladly paying.
This example up for sale in Chicago is finished in one of my favorite colors, Amethyst Metallic, which is a very deep purple color that can pass as black in anything less than direct light. It is the perfect way to have a nice color, but not scream it like some of the other purples or Rubystone offers. The privilege having this paint-to-sample shade ran a cool $12,830, but when you are paying $300,000 for a car, what is another $13,000? This one actually has 2,600 miles on it, but that doesn’t mean you are getting a good deal. Nope, not a good deal at all.
As much as I am a sucker for paint-to-sample Porsches, I’m also just as big a sucker for good deals. Combine the two, and well, I’m very close to clicking the always tempting “Buy it Now” button. Today’s car almost has me there.
This is a 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera in paint-to-sample Zanzibar Red with black sport seats and my favorite “lobster fork” wheels. It also brings bi-xenon headlights, a sunroof, and climate control buttons that aren’t worn down to the bare plastic. I need more space.
Say the words “Nogaro Blue” and you’ll perk any German car fans ears. It first showed up on the scene back with the legendary RS2 Avant as RS Blue, but was later renamed Nogaro Blue and has been a staple in the Audi lineup both as a standard color and an Audi Exclusive option you could pay for if your dealer liked you enough. Not only that, but Porsche recently started taking paint-to-sample orders with the 991 even though they literally have handfuls of nearly the same shade of blue. Still, there is bragging rights when you have the Nogaro Blue and that certainly seems to be the case with today’s car.
This 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring finished in the paint-to-sample Nogaro Blue with a black leather interior and some very special CXX option Pepita seat inserts. From there you have a whole other slew of options like the Ceramic Composite brakes, an extended range fuel tank, a front axle lift system, Sport Chrono, Bose audio, and a pile of deviated stitching and extra leather. Who wouldn’t love this one? Well, what if I told you it had just 401 miles? Time to sell the house….
I think what I’ve learned over the years is that if a color exists, Porsche isn’t afraid of it. They’ll basically paint your car almost any color for a (large) price, and then even themselves get a little cheeky when it comes to certain shades that you’d never expect. Today’s color, Cognac Metallic, can certainly be called that. The short of it is that it is very brown and not afraid to show it. Of course, it is on a cabriolet body with a dark brown soft top and an Espresso Natural leather interior as well. Who would sign up for this?
