Unique color for Porsche
The vast majority of Porsche Carrera GT models left the factory in silver, although the company also offered several other shades, such as black, yellow, red, and gray. None of them looks as striking as the color of this particular car. The thing is, this Carrera GT no longer has any of the shades it was originally painted in at the Stuttgart factory.
This is not quite an original model. At some point it was repainted in Rosso Fuoco – Ferrari’s signature color, which in our opinion is one of the best the Italian brand has ever created. It looks great on models like the F12 Berlinetta and, as it turns out, suits the Carrera GT’s body lines just as well. Not every red applied to a car engineered in Stuttgart manages to achieve that impression.
Mecum Auction
The German supercar is being offered at auction by Mecum during Monterey Car Week next month. The owner of the car is Milton Verret, a renowned Ferrari collector, which is why the car is now painted in such a luxurious color. The repaint reportedly took 3 months — that’s how intensive the transformation was.
Verret also did not drive his Carrera GT often: the odometer currently shows only 3,471 miles (5,586 km). Although no pre-auction estimate has been published, Carrera GT prices have risen sharply over the past few years. For example, a rare Paint to Sample blue model was sold for $6.7 million earlier this year. Other low-mileage examples typically sell for between $2 and $3.5 million.
Technical details and condition
Total production of the Carrera GT was limited to 1,270 units, and this example is the 728th, and is also one of 644 cars originally sold in the US. Apart from the color, it remains completely original: it has the iconic 5.7-liter naturally aspirated V10 engine with 603 hp and 435 lb-ft (590 Nm) of torque.
Not only is the exterior of the car wonderful, but so is the interior. It includes a carbon fiber gear shift lever and black leather on the seats, which show almost no signs of wear except for a few lines and creases. Like the 918 Spyder that later replaced it, the Carrera GT also has a removable roof panel, allowing you to enjoy the sound of the V10 to the fullest.
Usually applying paint with another brand’s badge ends in failure, but in this case the car looks as if it was always meant to wear Ferrari red. Check out the Mecum lot and decide for yourself.
Such a repaint not only adds uniqueness, but also highlights how close the design approaches of the two greats – Ferrari and Porsche – were in the 2000s. The Carrera GT, created as a track-focused supercar with a mid-mounted engine and manual gearbox, has always been considered one of the most challenging cars to drive. The bright paint makes it even more noticeable at auction, and the record prices of recent years show that collectors are willing to pay for rare and unusual examples. Verret’s story, a Ferrari fan who owns a Porsche, shows that true love for cars knows no brand boundaries – and sometimes it leads to incredibly beautiful results.