These were very brave colors and were promoted as “safety colors” for obvious reasons. Riverside Raceway in California hosted the first International Race of Champions, IROC, in 1973. This was a one make Porsche 911 RSR race series with the best drivers in the world competing in identical cars in every respect except color. They chose every color available on the chart to make up the numbers and pulled off a brilliant marketing coup. Those cars have become legendary in the classic Porsche world with the brighter colors affectionately referred to as the “M&M” colors. During my time at Porsche there were always four of five basic colors to choose from, black, red, silver and dark, metallic greys. These colors were the most frequently ordered because they were the most reliable when it came to re-sale values. Added to the list would be more relatively safe tones, usually metallic, and with each model year a couple of new, even daring colors. These last mentioned new colors would often be used as the launch colors on new models and, therefore, through advertising, etc. become synonymous with those cars. Ironically the most sought after and valuable Porsches are now exactly those unusual colors and Paint to Sample (PTS) cars. Anyway, back to my company cars. I always had a 911, we had to give them back after a year and order a new one. Obviously we were prime candidates to try out new colors. In the early 90s Vlasta convinced me to order a 964 in Rubystone (Sternrubin), a sort of dark pink which in those days was, well let’s put it kindly, unusual. Vlasta borrowed the “pink” 964 once to collect her mother in Brun in The Czech Republic, and to visit a kur in Slovakia. After parking the 964 round the back of the hotel next to a Skoda she asked the porter about overnight security of the car. He just smiled and knowingly replied “Madame, nobody will steal that 911!”. 

One color sample car I had, which became a series color, was a Murano Green G Model. I loved that color. The color had a very low take rate and was quickly dropped. The interior was trimmed in a grey tweed cloth straight out of a Saville Row tailors. If I found that car again I would love to buy it back, particularly because it also had a limited slip diff. and sports seats. In fact Harm Lagaay, our Deign Chief, at one time would not sign off anymore black company cars, he insisted we chose colors to support the efforts the studio were making in creating new colors. The new color and trim options came through a selection process with trend boards, color charts, samples and painted scale models as precursors to actual cars sprayed in the new proposed colors. There is no better place to judge colors than outside, a car’s natural habitat.

For this there was an annual color show with the board and senior management. These events were always the culmination of a years work and were very spectacular. Twenty or thirty vehicles covering all the car lines displaying the new color proposals would be presented, often in interesting and unusual venues.