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When I previously featured an Ipanema Blue Metallic 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS it was one of the few times I’d seen the color come up for sale. Here we have another nearly identical 911. Same year and same model though optioned slightly differently. Hilariously it is priced $1 above the asking price of the previous example I featured. It’s Price is Right bidding on eBay!
Let’s get to those different options because they’re not insignificant. Most importantly this Carrera 4 GTS is equipped with PDK rather than a 6-speed manual. That’s a big deal on the 997 GTS. We’ll get to that in a moment. The other significant option is that this one came with the Aerokit Cup. It’s an interesting choice that certainly provides a little more raciness to the exterior. There are a few other optional differences but other than Sports Suspension, which the other GTS had while this one does not, they are mostly minor and not much to get riled up about.
Ipanema wasn’t a terribly popular color for the 997. It’s why we don’t see a lot of them. But bright colors seems like they are back in style on 911s so maybe it’ll see a surge in popularity.
It’s always interesting to see a somewhat unusual build on any car and I think this one qualifies. This is a paint-to-sample Speed Yellow 2012 Porsche Cayman R. That it’s one of the few PTS Cayman R produced in itself makes this a pretty unique and desirable car. This one takes color to another level by adding a set of Guards Red painted wheels. Contrasting red and yellow in such a way certainly isn’t the typical setup and most won’t find it that desirable, but if we think of the Cayman R as a track car, which we probably should, the colors work just fine. They’re bold and bright and attention grabbing, just the sort of thing that any track car needs. I don’t know what sort of track use this Cayman may have seen, nor whether that was the intention of the original owner when choosing these colors, but it at least provides a possible reason for how this came together. I kinda like it!
Rare color or undesirable color? It is a question that presents itself pretty much any time I come across a Porsche in one of the many less common colors Porsche has produced. Of course, in some cases a color may be undesirable during its period of production and then become more desirable years later as preferences shift. Yellows and greens kind of come in and out of favor in this way, likewise the many variants of brown from the late-70s and early-80s suffer under a reversal in popularity.
In the case of the car here, an Ipanema Blue Metallic 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS, located in Washington, we may have one of those situations. Available in the final years of 997 production, we see very few 911s painted in this color. Anecdotally it isn’t difficult to find stories of buyers getting nice discounts to take them off of a dealer’s hands after sitting on the lot for too long. Though a standard color offering its rarity does seem related to its desirability, or lack thereof. We haven’t moved far from its original production date so I’m not sure enough time will have passed for preferences to have changed. However, Ipanema Blue isn’t too far removed from a variety of lighter blues Porsche produced in the ’80s and those cars don’t seem to elicit much derision. So is it a color that might become more desirable or one that, like quite a few colors over the years, will fade away to be forgotten?
Let’s stick with the general theme of the last couple days and continue looking at variations of blue over red. Here we have another fairly interesting version of that combination and one that is quite unique to find on the 997. This is a Dark Blue Metallic 2012 Porsche 911 Targa 4S, located in California, with a full Carrera Red leather interior, PDK, and just 18,136 miles on it. Being a 997 this is the new Targa design (or is it now the old design? Perhaps old-new?) that debuted on the 993 Targa. It showcases a large sliding glass panel rather than the removable central top with integrated roll hoop of previous Targa models. I’ve stated before that it isn’t my preferred Targa design and as most are aware Porsche themselves seem to agree since the 991 has reverted to the original removable roof. I guess we’ll find out in the coming years whether Porsche reverts to the 993 design or sticks with the original. (Or removes the Targa from the lineup entirely.) New design or old, the Targa still provides the same increased openness, but without going to a full Cabriolet, and should have appeal to those that like a bit of sunshine and wind in their hair.
I really don’t feature the Porsche Cayman often enough. It’s not that I don’t like them, I like them a lot. I think they just…
