Forget black, white and silver. For blue-chip cars, oddball colors are worth more.
(Bloomberg) — On March 3, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider sold for $18 million at a Gooding & Co. auction in Florida‘s Amelia Island.
The high-performance two-seater was one of just 27 in its genre, which is characterized by highly desirable plexiglass-covered headlights. It had retained its original chassis and body, along with an elegant interior by Italian automobile-body builder Scaglietti.
But it was a further element that made the Ferrari most alluring: its color. Gooding’s headlining car was the world’s only example delivered new in Azzurro Metallizzato, or metallic blue.
“Unique and rare colors most certainly can contribute to higher values at auction and in the general marketplace,” says David Gooding, the founder and president of Gooding & Co. “‘Traditional’ car colors may be more ‘safe’ when it comes to buying and selling, but we see more opportunity for drastic upticks in value when an already great collector car is available in its factory-delivered, rare and visually appealing color scheme.”
‘Safe’ means a sure bet, something with a relatively steady track record when it comes to value and mass appeal. You know you’ll find a buyer for a car in a standard color. But along with rarity, pedigree and condition, certain eccentric or specially requested colors on a collectible car can deliver a pleasant bump in value. “Color completely matters,” says Bryon Madsen, the chief strategy officer of auction house RM Sotheby’s. “You don’t know how much, but you know that [a unique color] will command a premium.”
Stand Out in a Sea of Red Ferraris
More than 75% of Americans on today‘s roads drive something painted white, black, gray or silver, according to data from the online marketplace ISeeCars.com. In a 2021 color popularity study, paint manufacturer PPG found that gray and white were the most sought-after colors for SUVs, with white the first choice for shoppers buying a minivan or truck. The classic trope about painting a used car “resale red” in order to sell it quickly hasn’t held true since the 1980s—even for Ferrari, a brand nearly synonymous with the blazing scarlet worn for decades by its racing teams. Most used-car buyers these days want something neutral.
And yet, when it comes to the blue chip classics, discerning collectors favor something far more interesting.
“Color is usually the primary [search criteria] for our clients,” says Eli Kogan, the owner of Otto Car Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, who often sources high-value collectible vehicles for club members.
Forget red Ferrari Testarossas and silver Porsche 911s—so expected, they’ve become clichés. If you want to own something that commands a higher value than comparable models from its era, you need something from the outer ends of the color spectrum, something no one else is likely to have: a blue Ferrari, for instance. At RM Sotheby’s, a 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB “Vetroresina” painted in a striking, dark azzurro metallizzato sold for $313,000, against a pre-auction high estimate of $275,000.
Or a green Ferrari. During the Amelia Island auctions, Gooding & Co. sold a 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS in a rare blue-green tone called “Verde Pino Metallizzato” for $967,500. That’s a world record price for the model, far more than its expected value of $600,000 to $700,000.
“Although the Dino has a number of other characteristics that contribute to its rarity and extraordinary value, such as its provenance and incredibly low mileage, its unique color combination helps bolster its desirability,” Gooding says.
For Porsche lovers, the move lately has been to steer clear of the traditional white-and-silver 911, or the now-trendy putty-color called “chalk.” Investors prefer to think purplish-pink. In November, a 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera RS painted in a raspberry hue called “Rubystone Red” sold on BAT for a segment-topping $469,999.
Also known as “Ruby Star,” which shares with it the paint code “82N,” Rubystone looks like the color of a fresh, angry bruise. The wild prices associated with the tone, which was developed in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, attest to its special value. In January, a second 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Clubsport in Rubystone sold for $401,000.
“Comparable examples in silver would have been $100,000 less,” says Kogan, who had previously owned the colorful, high-selling 911 RS that sold in November. “But someone wanted a pink car.”
Color Wheel
Here’s the rub: Not just any unusual color will increase the value of a classic. Exceptions abound, and determining which color will pop for a given make and model takes years of experience—and no small dose of discernment.
“Color is a very funny thing that can add or detract value in an instant,” says Steve Serio, an automotive broker who deals in million-dollar cars.
During that March weekend in Florida, a rare 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider, also with coachwork by Scaglietti and also in an unusual color—Amaranto (Burgundy)—went unsold during the RM Sotheby’s auction. (It sold days later in a private transaction for an undisclosed amount.) The fact that it had been repainted from the Blu Genziana (blue) that was its original color undoubtedly hurt its value. In the rarefied world of blue-chip car collecting, repainting a classic is sacrilege. It’s tantamount to changing the distinct navy-grays of a work painted during Picasso’s blue period. You could never recreate that shade or get it back.
Conversely, though, dozens of Aston Martin DB5s over the years have been repainted from their original colors to Silver Birch in order to approximate the look of the DB5 that James Bond drove. It hasn’t hurt the resale value of those Astons at all; in some cases, it improved it.
“Aston Martin is one of the few brands where color can be improved at no loss to the owner,” says Serio, who is the former owner of an Aston Martin dealership in Boston. “I have never run across anybody who said, ‘But it was red!’ If you repainted the car in a period-correct color, and it was done [very well], no one cares.”
The rejection of traditional mores vis-à-vis repainting held true recently, even for a vintage Ferrari. A 1968 Ferrari Dino 206 GT by Scaglietti took $868,500 on the auction block at RM Sotheby’s, beating its high estimate by more than $40,000, despite the fact that it was now painted Grigio Notte Metallizzato (gray) rather than its original Rosso Chiaro (red).
That’s why it’s important to consult with wise marque experts, says Serio. There are general rules for each manufacturer, and the era of the car matters a lot. “Red has been so out of fashion for so long, if you took a red Porsche 356 Speedster and painted it black, you would improve the value,” he says. “But if you took an original black 356 Speedster and painted it red, you’d kill the value.”
Then there was the 2015 McLaren P1 that Broad Arrow sold during the Amelia Island auctions. Covered in exposed woven carbon-fiber bodywork, the hypercar exceeded its high estimate even though it had not been painted at all.
“Color is a lot about romance at the end of the day, and that applies even for cars with no paint,” says Caroline Cassini, an auction manager for Broad Arrow. “It’s about people falling in love with their car and making it feel as part of their own life—in a sense, almost like a romantic type of relationship.”
Meanwhile, Porsche’s unusual Rubystone has become so popular in the classic world that the brand has reissued the vintage color in its paint-to-sample program for new models. The exclusive option is a way for enthusiasts to customize the color of their cars to make them feel personal and nearly unique, even though Porsche annually sells more than 10,000 911s in the US.
“If you’re down with the concept of a retina-searing, pinkish-magenta 911, it’s quite striking,” says the Porsche Club of America about the unusual shade. “Welcome back, we say.”
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