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Films:
1958 Porsche 356A 1600 Super: Meissen Blue, Not Messed With
This car is, without a doubt, Aquamarine blue (non-metallic) and NOT Meissen blue. I’ve owned 356’s in both these colors. Trust me, I know the difference. It is pathetic that the owner and/or publisher of this cutsie little video can’t get their facts straight. Seriously, the guy doesn’t even know what color his car is.
I particularly enjoyed the part of the film where the owner speaks to the lack of any non-essential items that so many modern day cars have that are supposed to enhance your drive. This car demonstrates to me why everyone should own (or at least experience driving) both a classic (read: basic car with no frills) and a modern day “future” classic . As sure as “primitive” camping will enhance and bring into focus all the luxury our homes have in comparison driving a classic like this beauty will only prove to enhance our enjoyment of modern day machinery. After driving my now sold GT 40 and then jumping into my Audi R8 I drove in amazement of how far modern cars have come. The two cars were at polar opposites even though they both were mid-engine V8’s, 2 seats, four wheels and about the same horsepower. But the driving dynamics were completely different. Both great cars but oh so different. This is another great film.
Very nice movie, enthousiastic owner and beautiful car. However, this is not Meissen Blue. I have a meissen blue 356A and I know that there are small differences between several meissen blue cars as Porsche/Reutter used more than one paint supplier (Glasurit, Lesonal to name a few). I’m 99% sure that this is aquamarin blue. There should be a paint tag on the A-post hinge cover (see picture). It should be stamped with 703 or 5703. Or you can ask for the Kardex of the car.
But anyway, beautiful car! Congratulations!
Apparently the car has never had a complete repaint. This is implied at 2:42 when we are told that the car has never had a ‘complete restoration’ and again in the title. This 356 was once a California car so the paint, if original, is probably faded a little. A ‘true’ Meissen blue as you would find on porcelain uses pigment from cobalt oxides mined just north of Bavaria, and is darker. The association with the Meissen kiln may be apocryphal. I am inclined to think that this was the color of true factory paint or very close to it.
Hard to see how this could oxide into a darker shade of blue, every picture I’ve ever seen of Meissen Blue and in person shows a much lighter blue. Not saying that this could still technically be Meissen Blue from the factory since the consistency of pigments weren’t as accurate as today’s car paint. However I’m still convinced it’s Aqua Blue looking at every shot from the video.
William, was Porsche stamping paint codes on the chassis identification plate at these early phases of production? Serious Porsche guys tend to know these things, and I am not one. I am interested in the marque, and have worked on a few, but nothing more than that . . .
The condition of the paint, if original, is nothing short of astonishing.
BTW, when you Google “Meissen Blue Porsche” the colors you see are all over the map. Sky blues. Robin’s egg blue. Many hues.
Regarding oxidation: what I meant to say is the Meissen blue known to ceramics dealers is made from oxides of cobalt and is a far darker color. I did not mean to imply that oxidation has affected this paint. Very little oxygen reaches deep into the paint. Oxidation is a surface effect, and can be buffed off.
Interesting . When you Google the key words: 356 Porsche “Aqua Marine Blue”, you do find cars in this color. So there seems to be a spectrum of opinion among serious collectors and higher-end brokers of these cars as what paint color goes with which paint name. This may be a matter of different labeling of the same paint color for different markets. Few US customers would have known or cared about porcelain from the Meissen kiln, yet for Germans this was and is a significant cultural reference.
Here is an example: http://www.renescollectables.com/356/details/23/porsche-356-a
Here are the US Paint descriptions from Hoffman for 1958. There are two sources, and they differ. Both are from Hoffman. On one options list the paint is called Aqua Marine Blue. This one is printed. The other options list calls the blue available that year Meissen Blue. This one is type written. So labeling of that paint code among North American distributors, in 1958, encompassed both names.
Images are here: http://derwhites356literature.com/Porsche356Colors.html
One of my favorites, a blue 356. The red interior is just icing on the cake. Thanks so much for sharing your car with us and congratulations on rescuing it from sunny California! It’s right where it belongs and riding on roads it was designed for. I hope someday to pilot one down a country road just like that.
