Best 550 Spyder colors (other than silver)

Cory M · 06-28-2005, 10:04 AM

My father is building a 550 replica with a twin-plug 2.4 engine. It should be very light and quick when it is completed. Most of the mechanical work has been done and it will be heading to the paint shop in the near future. I see silver spyder replicas all of the time, I know that the factory painted most of them this way, but since this car is more of a spyder hot rod and not an exact copy of the original we were thinking of painting it another color. A vintage race paint scheme might be cool. My vote was black with silver race stripes and numbers with a white round background. The guy at the shop wants him to paint it yellow. The Gulf colors were never applied to these cars but are a classic Porsche look and the pearl blue looked great in person on the Audi R8's, I wonder how that would look. How would you paint it?

Here are a couple pics, unfortunately I didn't take any of the engine bay. (the amber markers have been replaced with clear)

wholberg · wholberg's Garage

My two cents:

Yellow is too yuppie.

Black...OK if your dad keeps the red interior.

I think if I were going to have one with a non-standard color, I would paint it Porsche Baltic Blue, with black trim and interior.

jmz · jmz's Garage

silver, OK if not silver a gulf color scheme would be very cool. That car is going to be fast and probably a handful to drive. How are you going to keep it planted with that much power? ...assuming around 210hp.

Cory M · 10:28 AM

I don't like the yellow either. It has black seats now but the interior is so sparse it is very easy to change.

The tires are wider than normal and there is a slight flare on the fenders. I know it's going to be a handfull...

zymurgist · zymurgist's Garage

I have the Maisto 1:18 scale model 550 in black and I think it looks stunning.

david.avery · david.avery's Garage

Mexico blue, without a doubt.

jmz · jmz's Garage

pretty cool

Cory M · 06-28-2005, 01:15 PM

That blue does look nice...

Hetmann · 06-28-2005, 01:34 PM

Mexico blue is great. Irish green would be a classic as well.

Tell us more about the replica. Is it a kit? Where did he find the bits and pieces?

Markus33 · 06-28-2005, 01:44 PM

That Mexico blue looks great with the tan interior and what looks like white trim on the rear.

One of my history books shows a vintage 550 painted a similar blue, but maybe a shade darker (French blue?) but I prefer the Mexico blue shown here.

Regards,

Markus
'80SC Targa

TRE Cup · TRE Cup's Garage

dark metallic or solid british racing green with slightly greenish silver flash stripes- tan interior. classy and hopefully enough bright color to let others know you are sharing the road with them. or bright red flashes with a red interior

Cory M · 06-28-2005, 01:59 PM

My father is actually the 3rd owner, but the car hasn't been completed yet. The chassis and body is made by Thunder Ranch in El Cajon CA. They made this chassis and rear body specifically to fit the 6cyl and uses a 901 trans like a 914, they also make a lot of 4cyl models. They do all of the glass in house and have an assembly building too (paint is done down the road). They have a very impressive operation, they do almost everything in house, they'll sell you a kit or a turn-key, really nice people too. I think they are affiliated with Beck but I don't know the details, I saw some 904 bodies and molds when I was there too.

My dad bought it with the intentions of building it himself but after realizing he didn't have enough spare time and visiting Thunder Ranch he decided it would be better to let them put on the paint and finishing touches. I have seen and heard these cars in the finished state, they are really cool.