Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
After that last Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, I thought I’d get back on the right track with another SLS that is much more special. This 2012 up for sale in Germany starts out tame enough in Obsidian Black Metallic, but when you open those doors you get hit with a color combo that I’ve never seen before and didn’t even think was possible. It is worth the click.
If you are going to all-in on bright green, prepare to go all in. The greens that Porsche offered up back in the 1960s and 1970s were not for the shy and judging by the today’s car, it’s still that way. This is a 2017 911 Carrera 4S in paint-to-sample Viper Green and there is certainly no mistaking it. I can see why they called it Viper Green, because in a never-ending sea of cars in earth tones, seeing a car painted this color is like getting bitten by a viper. Okay, maybe that was an extreme comparison, but you get where I am going with this. Judging by the mileage on this car, it seems like the first owner didn’t like to be seen in this one.
The 1989 model year was the final year of the torsion-bar 911, and only 1,156 US-market Carrera coupes were made. If that number seems low, it is because the 1989 was a split model year, as the 964s were also sold as 1989 models. Given that the 911 basically looked the same from 1974 to 1989, I can’t imagine it was a fun job trying to sell these 1989 911s when new when totally new 964s were sitting in the showroom. Now some 30 years later, most seek these out for the G50 gearbox and special options like the sport seats. They bring a slight premium over the older 911s with the 915 gearboxes, but at the end of the day its all about condition, mileage, and options. This example caught my eye up for sale in Idaho is finished in classic Carrera White with matching Fuchs and blue interior. A fairly nice spec on its own. Mileage? Just under 121,000. So a potential nice driver-quality 911 for a decent price, right? Not so fast.
I did not expect to see this. In a world where all the 1990s Mercedes-Benz AMG cars were painted in some sort of black/white/silver/grey, seeing the rare one in red was a treat. However, I was not expecting a bright blue.
This is a 1999 Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG is Lapis Blue. Looking at the build sheet, this one was a Mercedes version of “paint to sample” judging by the ‘Z98 Painting outside the sample card’ entry on the decoder. This color is not to be confused with Porsche’s Lapis Blue which is clearly a much darker blue. Needless to say, a rare example. You know what that means.
I think sometimes I take for granted the freedom Porsche gives us on configuring cars. When it comes down to it, they’ll basically give you anything you want for the right price, and then even more if they really like you. In the modern era of lean manufacturing and just-in-time production, doing one-off builds for customers probably doesn’t make sense on paper. Yet if someone wants “Kills bugs fast.” on a door sill, they’ll do it. It gets even more complicated and time consuming when it comes to interiors with order special leathers then having someone hand-stitch the turn signal stocks. The ROI has to be enormous for Porsche both in profit and customer loyalty to continue this practice in 2020.
However, it is one thing to do it when customers are paying extra for it, and another when doing it on dealer stock cars. This 2020 718 Spyder on a dealer lot in California has a wild Bordeaux Red and black interior that is mirrors the interior of the previous Boxster Spyder nearly 10 years ago. Truth be told, this color combo isn’t for everyone.
