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Just to wash the bad taste out of our mouth from the paint-to-sample 993 Turbo earlier this week, I thought I’d look at a shade that is a lot more pleasant. This is a 2007 Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet finished in paint-to-sample … something purple. The seller says it is “Lavender,” however I don’t recall that being an option for the paint-to-sample cars. This looks much more like Vesuvio Metallic or a shade very close to that. It doesn’t scream purple like an Ultraviolet, but rather has a little bit of a grey tint in it. Personally, I like it. But maybe not on this exact example.
Sometimes what you see isn’t always what the reality might be. That of course applies to colors of cars as well. When I look at the photo above and process what color that is, I would say navy blue. It has a little lighter hue, but a nice dark blue is where I would put my money. However, Porsche will tell you that you are not worthy of judging a color as they are calling the shade “Atlas Grey Metallic”. Naturally I went over to Google and did an image search for Atlas Grey Metallic and what pops up is a bunch of cars that still look navy blue to me. Am I out of touch here?
One of the more interesting special editions to come out of Porsche in the last 20 years was the 2006 911 Carrera S Club Coupe. As a thank you to PCA members, or maybe a way to milk some more money (probably both), Porsche produced 50 Club Coupes only available to PCA members though a random drawing of everyone who put their name in the hat. If they were chosen, of course they still had to pay $105,000 for a Carrera S painted in exclusive Azzurro California and with a bunch of options. For comparison, a 2007 911 Turbo was around a $120,000 at the time, so this was not a cheap C2S. Seems like a bad deal, right? Well, not if you held on to it for all these years.
Options can make or break a Porsche. I looked at a new 718 Cayman GT4 a few weeks ago that literally had no options but was marked up $15,000 over sticker from a private seller. Surprise, surprise, the car is still for sale, but now only $10,000 over MSRP. Add in tax and some other bogus fees, and I’m willing to bet that the seller of that car is right at break-even point if he wants to get out of the car. I’m not surprised; people who buy expensive special cars want their cake and to eat it too. Paying over MSPR for a car with zero options while there are plenty of new other cars sitting at dealers offered for sticker isn’t something that is likely to happen.
However, on to today’s car and a slightly older 2008 911 Carrera S. On the outside, looks like a pretty standard example in Carrara White with 19″ Carrera Sport wheels. However, open the doors and things really get interesting. And expensive.
Modifying a modern Porsche is a tricky thing for a few reason. First, it is really expensive as you might expect. Second, a lot of times it is really hard to improve on what Porsche gave you in the first place, at least cosmetically. The devil is in the details and rightfully so, but you never tend to see major changes without really going off the deep end. Today, this 2005 Carrera S has a fair amount of cosmetic modifications, but not too many as to upset the purists.
