It takes a whole lot of people and precision robots to make a Porsche 911 GT3 come to life.
At some point last year, championship-winning racing driver and all-around Porsche fanatic Lehman Keen placed an order for a special Paint To Sample 911 GT3 in Gold Bronze Metallic. There is just something so special about a rare and exciting car like the GT3 being painted in a boring old color like this Gold. The juxtaposition of a 9,000 RPM engine in a car that looks like it belongs in a bowl of Werther’s Original caramel hard candies is truly awesome, and I can’t help but applaud Mr. Keen on his choice. From the first zing to redline of that engine, it is pretty obvious that the color is a little bit of a lie, and the car’s track-focused nature is a dirty little secret.
During the order process, Porsche decided to make a little promotional video of the experience from the perspective of the car during its birth. From the first weld to its first laps of the race track, the camera is there to document the process. According to Porsche’s order sheets, Keen paid an extra $12,830 for the privilege of having his car painted in a non-standard Paint To Sample color. Despite having won a GT racing championship for Brumos and currently racing in GT3 Cup with 311RS Motorsport, this was actually Mr. Keen’s first ordered new Porsche, so why not go all out and get something special? Allegedly only 24 cars have ever been ordered in Gold Bronze Metallic, and this is the first to ever have been ordered for a 992-generation 911.
“It’s one of my favorite things, I’m obsessed with the different colors,” said Keen. “All these amazing colors that Porsche has done over the years. We really dig deep in the history of Porsche. I wanted to have this newest, modern 911 but then coated with a very classic old color,” said Keen of the decision. “I told a few people I was going to go gold. People thought it was risky, and it really reinforced my choice and I wanted to see how it would turn out. I think a lot of people couldn’t quite picture the gold in their head.” Remembers Keen: “At the dealership when they pulled the cover off of it, I was kind of stunned over how beautiful it was.”
“I love the choice of Gold Bronze Metallic for this car,” said Boris Apenbrink, Head of Vehicles at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. “Until today, I can tell you this color had been only ordered 24 times, so it’s really rare. Really special. Now it’s the first time to have the color on the 992 model type which is very exciting as well.”
Honestly, having seen the resulting paint, and what the GT3 is capable of, I can’t say as I blame Leh for ordering the thing and spending the extra dosh. It’s a stunner.
Here, let’s all watch it get built!