Red vs. the rest- Colors

My first Ferrari ('82 308 GTSi) was the traditional red/tan combo. I think this is the most popular color combo and it's hard to beat "resale red." I was not attacted to red as a color for any car, but when I purchased my first Ferrari, it had to be red. Why? Because it's part of the mystique, and certainly Magnum PI had some influence. In the end, I grew to really like red as a color - but only on certain cars.

My current '83 Mondial is not red. It's Grigio (grey metallic.) I purposely chose a non-red this time around because I wanted a less noticeable Ferrari. Red is great in that it's a vibrant color, but all sorts of people notice it as well and you'll have people huddling around you on the freeway as well as on the street, and you'll get people who will want to race you all the time. With Grigio, I'm finding that I'm getting more anonymity - but that could be because I'm driving a Mondial as well. YMMV...

I'm noticing that while Rossa Corsa is still very popular, I'm seeing a lot more 360s and 430s in colors other than red, mostly Nero (black) and Grigio Ingrid (gray.)

 

I went with red beacause since childhood, whenever someone mention the word Ferrari, I emidiately think of a red car.
I know some other colors belongs to other car manufacturer but for me red (Rossa Corsa) belongs to Ferrari.
I believe the very first Ferrari ever built was red. Don't get me wrong, I love black, yellow, silver, and blue on a Ferrari but red is just their Theme, simple as that.

 

Red on a 400/400i/412 is the kiss of death when it comes to resale. Those cars always bring much less in the resale department when they are painted red.

 

red was actually an unusual color on the 308 GT4

Odd as it sounds, I like marrone

 

I try to order or buy the car I want in the color I think looks best. I think a black TR is the best color and Grigio Silverstone on the 599. Everyone gets his own opiniion on this so get what you think looks best to you. I do like Rossa and my new 430 will be in that color. On most cars Rossa looks good.

 

I've always preferred non-red colors on Ferrari's. Even as a little kid. Some people think it's a sin to note own a Ferrari. I disagree, and think a lot of people do.

It's not that I don't like red, I do, but I'm very selective on which cars/brands they look good on. As well as the shades of reds available.

My first F-Car will not be red, unless I come across a specimen that I can't pass up. For me a car that's been driven, taken good care of, and practically problem free is more important than color for me.

 

White looks great on the testarossa and the countach....ooooo....I love the 80's .

I think that a 308 in a nice modern day metallic silver would look great.

Red/black likely easiest to sell.

I have a white testarossa and love it. I get ZERO attention from law enforcement. Som how, I suspect red would get a different response...

 

+1

I think the 'resale red' thing is overblown. If you save a couple grand getting in, you're not really losing anything by selling at a couple grand less than red. In general, if it looks good to you, it will look good to someone else.

I ended up with black metallic, because it is my favorite color on cars. When I had it up in Monterey this year, there were 10 328s in our judging category, and 9 of them were red. The judges made some comment about going blind from seeing so much red, and my car won three awards that day (including Best V8 Ferrari at Concorso). I guarantee you my car was not materially nicer than a couple of the red/tan cars (Bob Ochi's '86 red/tan must be the best '86 in the country), but it has got a lot of attention and won a lot of awards over the years in part because (a) it's not red and (b) it's in a very striking color combo for this model.

 

Good point. Red cars sometimes get too much of the wrong kind of attention...

 

One of the many reasons I picked a car which was a color other than red. I am driving my car and parking it in parking lots. There is a lot less chance of a vandal seeing my TDF 360 from a distance. I perfer to lay low when it comes my choice of car colors. Reds and yellows are pretty much out of the question unless they are excellent deals on well mintained vehicles.

 

Maybe I’m mad, but my first and most important criteria when i went shopping to buy my 355 was it had to be anything other than Red, i love Ferrari's but i find the red ones a little less interesting, I’ve seen many 355's in red but it is unusual to see one in another colour, i think this goes for most Ferrari's.

I have always been the type of guy that has a modified car, just to be a little different from the crowd. If my Ferrari was red, i would look like the crowd regardless of what other modifications i made to the car, i chose Nero Daytona because in all areas it was the best car for me, it fit my idea of what i wanted to buy.

I think the colour you decide to go with cannot be decided here, it is a matter of personal preference.

I would pay more for a non red Ferrari, and I doubt I will ever own a red one. But maybe I’m weird!

 

I went with Rossa Corsa because to me it's Ferrari. There are other colors that look nice like black, but if I'm going to own it, it will be Rossa Corsa.

 

We're the exception, obviously, but I was also willing to pay a bit more for nero metallico or blu sera. They're harder to find.

 

+1 & well said...
I have had 14 other vehicles in my life... my 348ts is the 2nd red car I have ever owned, the 1st was a Porsche 944S. Ferrari has other colors??

 

I think it's the combo of exterior and interior color that really makes the car. For example, there's a stunning white 512TR on Ebay right now, with an absolutely gorgeous red interior. A white on black one may not get me as excited however. Although TR's look great in red like nearly all Ferraris, it's nice to see something different.

Another example: IMO one of the 599's best colors is black, and it would look great in combination with a red interior. But black on black would be a little too much for me. Red on black, yes. And of course red on tan looks "right" on any model.

 

It's entirely up to you. For me, I've owned 6 Triumphs, but only one was British Racing Green (and I bought that one just to fix it up, return it to driving condition and sell). I've owned 7 Corvettes -- none was a "little red Corvette." Neither of my two Porsches were silver. Catch the trend?

Actually the trend is that I've always purchased the car, not the color. It just so happened that these cars wound-up in the non-standard shades.

As for my 328 GTS, the fact that it is Blu Medio turned out to be one of the most fun points about the car. Whenever I show it (or take it anywhere,) people comment how much they love the color. (Usually they want to know if it is an original color, how many were made/ how rare, etc...) Ferraris are conversation starters, but non-standard colored Ferraris are conversation starters among Ferrari enthusiasts.

But all that being said -- if you want a red Ferrari, then buy one. For me, color wasn't an important criteria.

 

...it would have to be the fire truck. Besides most red paints I've seen look terrible when they age; the pigments just don't hold well against the elements. I hate cloudy red paint, especially if it is on a Ferrari. Enzo hardly ever sold a red car to a customer until the paint problems forced him to do so. It was a very clever idea to sell the cheapest paint on planet to customers as a desirable "option": the Rosso Corsa Ferrari. When I see a red Ferrari, my first thought is that this guy really can't afford the car and he had to choose red because that's what the used car buyers will be looking...

 

So far I have avoided red fcars, although sooner or later I will succumb to the red mist(probably sooner
5 titanium cars in a row and it has always been a joy. Like diamonds as one ice oriented friend says!
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^^^^Awesome Photo! Thanks for sharing!

 

You sure? There seem to be a lot of vintage Ferraris in red...

As far as resale, I tend to agree. Here you're spending a lot of money on the most hedonistic car available, the definitive individualist playboy car, and somehow you're worried about resale value.

Nice photo. As someone who isn't usually a huge fan of 360s, I have to admit that one made me think twice. Perfect color.

 

Most of them have been repainted. Enzo is reputed to have said that when you get paid for driving a Ferrari, then you shall get a red car. As an example only one out of 353 Pininfarina Coupes (1958-59) was painted in Rosso Corsa; maybe Enzo thought that he could live with that as the car was sent to Australia and he wouldn't ever see or hear of it again...

This all changed when Fiat took over in 1969; Fiat had the production rationalized in many ways and could not accept how much work was needed to get the paint job "about right". It seems they solved the problem by painting most of production in red and picking out the flawless bodies for optional colors (bright red and titanium white pigments are cheap and also covers small flaws pretty well, so they take very little preparation). For sales department this was no problem as most customers wanted red cars and the rest could easily be talked into taking one... So to be true I would say painting a road Ferrari in red is not part of Ferrari tradition, it is part of Fiat tradition. Best wishes, Kare

 

This is the first I've ever heard of this. Is this documented anywhere? If true, you get a better car somehow by buying a non-red in that time frame. Amazing!

Ken

 

Fascinating. So, we can call it 'reject red' instead of 'resale red'.

 

Red has been Italy's official racing color since the 1920´s, first worn by Alfa Romeos in their glory days. Lancias, Alfas, Maseratis, Ferraris, and the assorted inis all wore Italian red: a cheap and unrefined color which was good for visibility by patriotic spectators in races. It was certainly not exclusive to Ferrari.

As to the later GT cars, no Ferrari client would have dreamt of buying the best car in the world and painting it the vulgar color of a fire engine or a child's toy.

IMHO Red does not suit Ferraris; it suits very few cars, by erasing subtelties, increasing the impression of size, destroying taut shapes, and dazzling with its "in your face" character, which prevents a calm contemplation of the art underneath.

Finally, the historical red was never as light as the red on most modern Ferraris; the demands of Marlboro sponsorship have lightened the original racing color considerably.

So I dislike red Ferraris, with the exception of those who earn the right to wear the color by racing.

Cheers,

Julio

P.S. Much the same could be said about shields.