WARNING...War and peace on the colour red and motoring evolutionary processes....
I have been out of the Porsche community for quite some time but RED was ever my favourite colour for cars and more so for sports cars... In the 50`s when I was a kid if it was not red it was just not a sports car....
It seems evolutionary processes may ever play their part in terms of cultural preferences. From the time when Henry told the car buying public " You can have it in any colour you like, as long as it`s black," to then arrive in the sixties and live on through the eighties when at times it seemed you could really have it in any colour you want.... Just psychedelic man..?
I suspect in the 80`s red was perhaps still the colour choice for those seeking to be thought of as a hard driving sports car type. Perhaps gone by then were the aviation fur collared leather jacket, silk scarf and flying helmet as de rigueur amongst open top car types, to be replaced with the more subtle, sports jacket, skipped cap and the string back gloves ....? Bringing things forward considerably, it seems those who wish to be thought of as fast drivers, think they should wear an American form of headgear even in coupes... the baseball cap, and if they wish to present themselves as really fast, it seems there is a requirement to wear it back to front.... Evolutionary process seem to defeat my understanding at times... (-:
RED....I suspect it might have been the Yuppies who made loadsamoney seem somewhat obscene to the general populace..? With the passage of time, it may have been thought less than ideal to appear overly ...err... dare I say FLASH ..? While over that timescale Porsche may have have also become accepted in the psyche of the general populace as the toy for the rich man about town, however there may have been a growing number of more..err..ordinary folk who might have been attracted to the idea of owning such a social icon..?
The motor sport success of Porsche in everything, varying from the Paris - Dakar rally through to the many LeMans 24hrs victories attracted a different kind of enthusiasm for the marque amongst those of us who might be impressed by such achievements. Such success perhaps encouraging enthusiasts to actually think of trying out one of those souped up VW`s... which is not as insulting as it might seem to those who thought of Porsche as a symbol of proclaiming their status..? I suspect the thinking may have been more along the lines that the VW Beetle had proved beyond all doubt and over many years that it was a very competent well built and reliable machine, add to that the resounding successes of Porsche in all the premier motor sporting events around the world and those of us with appreciation for matters mechanical could not help but begin to really appreciate what a Porsche might be like to own and drive as a very competent and rewarding all round vehicle...?
Well now who amongst us will admit to a sense of pleasure in feeling a bit special that can be attached to arriving in one`s Porsche at some function or other, or even being recognised as the Porsche owner who lives down the street, for like it or not I suspect it sets a Porsche owner out from the crowd..and there can be a price to pay in that regard..?
On the other hand there will perhaps be those who really like to DRIVE, and having discovered what a 911 is BUILT like and DRIVES like no other sports car they have ever enjoyed CARnal knowledge of.. is enough to create a real long lasting fondness of the marque...?
I suspect another important and almost universally accepted aspect associated with Porsche may be SUCCESS, both socially and sporting, thus those in business wishing to project themselves similarly might choose a Porsche as their transport to visit clients or just to be seen in the office car park, but a bright red one.... hmm...? Perhaps there are times when just a bit of subtlety in terms of colour would seem a more appropriate choice...?
Sure you can add weight to one side or other of an argument when seeking to achieve a measure of balance in terms of arriving at your own choices relating to colour and it`s relevance to YOU. However I suspect that colour choice can perhaps carry more weight in some situations than some of us might care to contemplate...?
I guess style plays it`s part too, as that seems to have a controlling influence on culture, and that some of us may be more prone to that influence than others is perhaps ..err..natural..? I suspect that the colour of cars can follow such trends, and trends evolve for all sorts of reasons. Of course there are learned folk who may think they know THE reason for this or that particular change, however I suspect Porsche may not seek to be the trend setters and in difficult times may be keen to follow MARKET influences in a bid to protect profitability...? If so, then perhaps that is why the numbers of black silver and even grey cars seem to outnumber the more brightly coloured cars these days...?
Style..... try telling a fifties/sixties child that a matt grey car with similarly matt black wheels is the ultimate dogs danglies..? Unless he/she is trying to appear ..er.. cool, with it, or what ever term you care to site for wrinkly old rockers like me, I suspect the truth for some of us may be, that while we may hold a high level of appreciation for a Canary yellow 911 with full RSR body work, few of us might actually have what it takes to be seen driving such a wonderful machine....?
When typing of the..err..more senior Porsche owners and admirers, I suspect they might include a generation of folk who could not afford a Porsche when young, and may well be able to pull out the stops and afford one now...? Whether that affects the Porsche market and by how much, I have no idea, but I wonder if they feel in any way as as I might do about less than subtle colours and aero appendages. I am quite sure the marketing gurus at Porsche will have an algorithm that may affect colour choices in the advertising material they create in the hope of increasing or maintaining sales, and there is no point in trying to fight the MARKET....?
The MARKET... hmm, well I`n no economist, far from it, but for the machinery involved it seems that 80`s and beyond air cooled cars may well appear to some as if in a bubble market of their own..and I have been around long enough to remember some of the outcomes of bubbles bursting on those two most important investments that most folk seem inclined to make in life, and right now it seems few if any seem confident that even house prices will hold their current values let alone increase in value in the MONTHS ahead let alone beyond that time, so it seems that the number of folk out there who have either had some money dropped on their lap and are happy to go out and spend it on a fun weekend car that they can partly justify to themselves or significant others on an investment basis, might have declined to some degree..? Should that be the case that may go some way to explaining why the lovely looking red 993 available at what seems to be a reputable dealer, appears to some to perhaps be slow to sell...? In my quest for updating my knowledge on the Porsche market it has been suggested to me that red cars can be slow to sell... hmm..?
I suspect that colour may indeed important when it comes to choosing that which is the first thing one sees totally enveloping what for most folk may be the second most expensive purchase in life and one that is hoped to be a good investment...?
ME..? As I have been fortunate enough to have owned both red and black 911`s, in my mind there is no doubt that the red one attracted more attention than the black, and by some considerable degree. There were times when perceptions of advantage or downright disadvantage relative to colour choice seemed rather obvious, the disadvantages eventually caused me to seek an alternative machine to enjoy time spent on the twisty roads around my locality ... However once you have driven a motoring ICON and a few years down the road (pun intended) you take time to re-evaluate much and begin to contemplate a return to Porsche ownership.... What has this to do with colour you rightly ask... Well, I have typed of MY thinking on the bright colours already, but I am not quite up for being...err... too subtle, or influenced to the degree I might have been when much younger,also I am not quite dead YET... (-: So MY current preference is for blue, there are other colours I am fond of, but I currently have a wine red metallic non-Porsche sports car sitting in the garage, and while I like that colour a lot on 993`s, I have not owned a blue sports car, so that is MY current favoured colour, but, what is left of the kid in me, and there is very little of that... still thinks that RED is just THE correct colour for a sports car...
Guards red.... try ordering that over the trade counter at an automotive paint suppliers and you will be laughed out the door... If on the other hand you are trying to MARKET a German car in Britain then it seems quite wise to try to contemplate the effects of nationalism when putting a name to the colour of your car that in past times might have been more described as fire engine red....hmm...?
Sorry, I am showing my age and as is my habit, I am just passing time thinking in type..