PORSCHE CENTRE
SOUTH LAKES
ISSUE 04
APRIL 2026
COLOUR, CHARACTER & COURAGE.
THE SHADES THAT SHAPED PORSCHE.
LET’S TORQUE
PORSCHE
There are moments in life
when reflection feels not only
appropriate, but necessary.
This issue, centred around the
colours of Porsche and the
stories they carry, arrives at
such a moment for me and
for all of us at the Centre.
Recently, we said goodbye
to my father, Ian.
02
FOREWORD
His passing has left a profound sense of loss, not only
within our family, but across the business and the wider
Porsche community. He was a man defined by quiet
strength, unwavering integrity, and a deep care for
people. Those values didn’t just shape his life, they
shaped this Centre, the team within it, and the culture
we are proud to carry forward today.
To many, he was a respected figure in the Porsche
world. To me, he was a father, a mentor, and a constant
source of guidance. His approach to leadership was
never loud, but always clear, lead by example, look after
people, and take pride in everything you do.
Even after his diagnosis in 2019, he showed remarkable
resilience. He continued to embrace life fully, with a
selflessness and courage that inspired everyone around
him. The admiration people hold for him is something
I see reflected daily, in the conversations, memories,
and stories that continue to be shared.
To my father, a Porsche was never just a car. It was
an expression. A statement. A story. And colour was
at the heart of that story.
He had a genuine appreciation for the individuality that
colour brought to each car. He would always take a
moment to admire it. If something unique arrived in the
showroom, you could be sure he’d be there, taking it in.
He also lived it, having some colourful cars himself,
from the striking presence of a 911 GT3 in Lava
Orange, to the rarity of a GT3 RS in Jet Green Metallic.
From the depth of a GT4 RS in Gentian Blue, to what
became a true source of pride, a Sonderwunsch 911
S/T in Azzuro Thetys Metallic. Each car reflected not
only his taste, but his appreciation for what makes
Porsche so special: individuality, craftsmanship,
and the courage to stand out.
This issue explores the stories behind some of the
best loved Porsche colours, the heritage, the meaning,
and the emotion they carry. But for me, it also represents
something more personal. A reminder that the cars we
love are often intertwined with the people we share
them with.
My father leaves behind a legacy that goes far
beyond business. It lives on in our values, our team,
and in moments like these, where passion, memory,
and meaning come together.
Simon Parker
Centre Principal
Porsche Centre South Lakes
03
FOREWORD
Before the first key is turned, before
the first apex is clipped, there is colour.
It announces you. It precedes you.
And in a Porsche, it becomes part
of the story you tell the world every
time you drive.
Performance figures are debated in forums. Engine
configurations are dissected over coffee. But colour?
Colour is felt. It bypasses logic and speaks directly
to something more instinctive – identity, ambition,
nostalgia, self-expression. For many Porsche buyers,
it is the very last decision made on a specification sheet,
yet somehow the one they remember most vividly
twenty years later.
Psychologists have long understood the emotional
resonance of colour in high-performance objects.
Red elevates the pulse. Blue conveys confidence and
calm. Silver whispers of precision. Black exerts authority
without trying. These are not arbitrary associations –
they are woven into decades of automotive history,
popular culture, and the deeply personal act of
choosing what to drive.
At Porsche Centre South Lakes, we see this play out
with every new model specification. The Lakes and fells
that surround us inspire subtler, more textured choices
than the city centres might. Yet boldness is never far away.
Here, we trace the colours that have come to define
not just cars, but generations of Porsche ownership –
and ask what your choice says about you.
04
THE MOST PERSONAL CHOICE YOU’LL EVER MAKE.
The 1990s brought about an experimental decade
of colour. The 964 generation of the 911 arrived at
a time when Porsche was willing to push colour further
– and its palette reflected a world that was growing
more complex, more expressive, and rather less
interested in playing it safe.
Rubystone Red was among the most striking expressions
of that era. Deeper and more jewel-like than Guards,
it carried a richness that felt almost gemological – the
kind of colour that changed character in different light,
moving from wine-dark in shadow to something closer to
burnished copper in full sun. It was a colour for drivers
who wanted distinction rather than declaration.
The 964 generation also gave us Amethyst Metallic,
Maritime Blue, and a range of shades that now make
period-correct examples among the most sought-after on
the collector market. Porsche in the nineties understood
that its customers were becoming more sophisticated
– less interested in status as a blunt instrument, more
interested in it as something nuanced and personal.
Today, 964s finished in these expressive tones command
extraordinary premiums at auction. Rubystone examples
in particular attract serious collector attention, precisely
because the colour represents something that cannot be
recreated through modern production – a very specific
confluence of era, design language, and cultural mood.
RUBYSTONE
AND THE BOLD 90s ERA.
05
RUBYSTONE & THE BOLD 90S ERA.
There is a reason that when most people close their eyes and
picture a Porsche 911, they see it in red. Not just any red –
Guards Red. That specific, unapologetic, arterial shade that
became the visual shorthand for an entire decade.
GUARDS
RED
the 80s
Statement.
06
GUARDS RED – THE 80s STATEMENT
From the trading floors of London to the boulevards
of Los Angeles, success was something you displayed,
not concealed. And nothing displayed it quite like a
Guards Red 911 parked outside. The colour carried
with it an unmistakable message: arrival. Achievement.
The confidence to be seen.
Guards Red had been in the Porsche palette long before
the eighties, but it was during that decade that it truly
became cultural shorthand. It appeared on posters
in bedrooms, in films, in the aspirational language of
an era that celebrated individualism and reward.
The 1980s were defined
by ambition worn visibly.
What makes Guards Red endure is its lack of compromise.
It does not attempt to be elegant or understated. It simply
is what it is: confident, immediate, and completely
committed. In an age of ever more complex individual
expression, there is something profoundly refreshing
about a colour that has never tried to be anything
other than exactly itself.
The 911 in Guards Red was
not merely a sports car –
it was a symbol.
07
GUARDS RED – THE 80s STATEMENT
In recent years, we have noticed a
quiet resurgence of interest in Guards
Red at Porsche Centre South Lakes –
particularly on the 911 and Cayman.
A new generation of buyers, many of whom
grew up seeing it through a parent’s windscreen,
are choosing it with a knowing nod to its heritage.
The colour has never truly left. But it feels,
right now, like it is arriving all over again.
MIAMI BLUE
& THE SOCIAL MEDIA
GENERATION
No colour in recent Porsche history has captured
the cultural moment quite like Miami Blue. Introduced
as a Paint to Sample option and later made available as
a standard colour, it arrived at precisely the right cultural
juncture – just as Instagram was reshaping how cars
were seen, shared, and desired.
Miami Blue is, by design, impossible to ignore. It photographs
brilliantly, pops against every background, and carries
with it a retro-modern energy that feels simultaneously
nostalgic and completely contemporary.
On a 911 GT3 or a 718 Boxster, it is a car that arrives
as its own announcement – the automotive equivalent
of a well-timed entrance. The influence of younger
buyers on Porsche’s colour direction cannot be overstated.
This is a generation that has grown up with visual culture
as a primary language, for whom a car’s appearance in
photographs and video is as important as how it feels to
drive. The result has been a shift in specification trends
– away from the silvery neutrality that dominated
the 2000s, towards brighter, more committed,
more shareable choices.
At Porsche Centre South Lakes, we have
seen this shift reflected in enquiries and
deliveries over recent years. Customers
who might once have gravitated towards
Jet Black Metallic or Carrara White
are pausing – and choosing something
they might previously have considered
too brave. The good news is that in a
Porsche, brave almost always looks right.
Would you go bold or timeless?
Tell us your Porsche colour story – find us on Instagram @porschecentresouthlakes
08
MIAMI BLUE & THE SOCIAL MEDIA GENERATION
Express your individuality.
EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITIES WITH
EXCLUSIVE MANUFAKTUR.
Turn your vision into a one-of-one creation with Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, shaped entirely
around you. From exquisitely detailed interiors to the near-limitless possibilities of the Paint
to Sample programme, every element is yours to define. Available across the Porsche range,
you can choose which model to truly make your own. Book your personal consultation at
Porsche Centre South Lakes and begin your bespoke journey.
Porsche Centre South Lakes
1 Electric Drive
Carnforth
Lancashire
LA6 1FW
01524 911 911
info@porschesouthlakes.co.uk
www.porschesouthlakes.co.uk
09
Enquire now
PAINT TO SAMPLE
– ultimate individuality.
10
PAINT TO SAMPLE – ULTIMATE INDIVIDUALITY
Through this programme, almost any colour imaginable
can be applied to a new Porsche – from historically
significant shades from the archive to colours supplied
by the customer themselves.
The programme has its roots in Porsche’s bespoke tradition
– the understanding that the relationship between a
Porsche and its owner is a singular one, worthy of singular
expression. In recent years, its popularity has grown
considerably, driven by a combination of collector culture,
personalisation trends, and the growing influence of social
media, where a truly unique specification stands apart in
an ocean of images.
Among the most in-demand requests are historical
colours revived through Paint to Sample. Shades such as
Viper G reen, Auratium Gold, and Tangerine – colours
that defined specific eras of Porsche production and now
exist only as memories in the archive – can be reborn on
a current model. The result is something genuinely rare:
a new car wearing the soul of an older one.
The process itself is precise and considered. Porsche’s
colour experts work to ensure that the chosen shade is
reproduced faithfully, accounting for the specific chemistry
of modern paints and the way individual body panels
absorb and reflect light. A Paint to Sample Porsche is not
merely a different colour – it is a different conversation,
a different kind of ownership, a different kind of pride.
At Porsche Centre South Lakes, our team can guide
you through the Paint to Sample process from initial
conversation to final delivery. Whether you have
a specific colour in mind or simply want to explore
what is possible, we would encourage you to ask.
The answer is almost always: yes, we can.
For those for whom the standard palette is simply
not personal enough, Porsche offers something
rather extraordinary: Paint to Sample.
11
PAINT TO SAMPLE – ULTIMATE INDIVIDUALITY
FROM THE LAKES – A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE.
From the lakes.
A local perspective.
There is something about the Lake District that shapes
the way our customers think about colour.
12
The landscape here is never one thing – it shifts
from pewter to amber to deep emerald across the
course of a single afternoon. It is a place of subtlety
and drama in equal measure, and perhaps it is no
surprise that we see both qualities reflected in the
specifications that leave our showroom. In recent
months we have had the pleasure of delivering
some truly memorable cars.
A Slate Grey Metallic Cayenne that felt entirely at
home against the stone walls of Windermere. A Python
Green 911 – via Paint to Sample – that drew its
inspiration directly from the fells in late summer.
A Night Blue Metallic Taycan whose depth of colour
seemed to absorb and reimagine the surface of
Coniston Water on a still morning.
If we were to compose a Lake District specification
today, we would be drawn to something that honours
the landscape without disappearing into it – perhaps
Brewster Green, a colour that carries the richness
of the valley trees, or a bespoke Paint to Sample
tone inspired by the particular quality of light over
the Langdale Pikes on a clear December morning.
Paired with a natural leather interior and subtle
aluminium detailing, it would be a car that belongs
here, and nowhere else.
Visit our
online shop.
CLICK THE LINK TO EXPLORE THE
PORSCHE LIFESTYLE COLLECTION.
This is, ultimately, what great colour
specification achieves: a Porsche that
could only ever have been yours, in a
place that could only ever be home.
13
FROM THE LAKES – A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE.
View shop
COLOUR AS IDENTITY – MORE THAN PAINT, IT’S PERSONALITY.
The most significant colours in Porsche history
were not merely design decisions. They were
cultural moments, personal statements, and in
some cases, acts of genuine courage. Guards Red
in the eighties said something. Miami Blue today
says something different. And whatever you
choose tomorrow will say something too.
At Porsche Centre South Lakes, we believe the
colour conversation is one of the most important –
and most enjoyable – in the entire specification
process. We would love to have it with you.
More than paint,
it’s personality.
Colour as
identity.
A Porsche can be specified in a hundred different ways,
and every choice matters. But colour is the one that
people remember. It is the first thing a stranger sees and
the last thing an owner forgets. It is, in the most literal
sense, the face your Porsche presents to the world –
and by extension, a reflection of who you are.
14
On the day you can
expect to see vehicle
displays, club stands,
trade, food & drink area,
special guest talks, live
music and more.
Renntag Lounge offers
a relaxed and refined
space at the heart of
the event. In this VIP
package you will have
access to inclusive food
and drink throughout
the day, Formula 1
simulation, VIP toilets
and more!
*Limited spaces available
What to expect
For more information visit:
The Renntag
Lounge*
THE NORTH’S
CELEBRATION OF PORSCHE
& PERFORMANCE VEHICLES.
7TH JUNE 2026
LEIGHTON HALL , LA5 9ST
@WHEELSUPNORTH
EVENTS@WHEELSUPNORTHRENNTAG.CO.UK
WWW.WHEELSUPNORTHRENNTAG.CO.UK
Great day out surrounded
by so many stunning cars!
Great location for this type
of event.
1 Electric Drive, Carnforth, Lancashire LA6 1FW
www.porschesouthlakes.co.uk
Call