Naming Rights, Off-Color Thoughts and the Derelict Aesthetic

hood_emblem_1440x884_DSCN1496Foul weather today, otherwise I had been planning to do a general cleaning and more photography out in the open air.

Most of my vehicles end up with some sort of moniker, a name that ends up becoming attached to the things, whether intended or not.  While I see no need to formalize anything, the practice can be useful for purposes of reference.  Several candidates keep slipping into my conversation and that of others. Some I have heard, or even uttered, include:

Blue Bastard
Blue Berry
Ol’ Blue
BlueNine
Baby Blue
Blue Buzz
… and there are more, but I forget …

Most often I seem to almost unconsciously refer to the thing as either the P-Car or the Poor-Car.

We should note that the original paint — much of it is actually still there — is LY5B, or Copenhagen Blue. For 82 – 91 Porsche paint codes, try this.  That link doesn’t show color samples, but I have readily Googled up examples of some I wanted to see.

Which makes me return to musing about what approach to take with this car’s future.

My ’66 911 was Bahama Yellow.  A color that would not have been my first conscious choice, but I was an adventuresome young man, and the deal that I secured took higher priority.  But I came to rue the choice, as it seemed to be as blatant a rolling invitation to law enforcement to pull me over as if I had extended a middle finger in passing.    Seemed to be all about visibility; even worse than red.  At one point I told myself that if I needed any body/paint work sometime, it should be just gray primer as a sort of cloak of invisibility.  Furthermore, and this is not a small consideration, parking in inconvenient “safe” spots to minimize risk of parking lot dings and scratches is something that I got my fill of back in those days.

In my quest over the past year or two for a retirement 944, I purposely sidestepped  Guards Red — arguably the signature 944 color —  unless there were to be compelling reasons to the contrary.  Actually, my later-life cars have been mostly lower-profile grays or whites.  An ideal shade, especially for a car that might be driven with vigor, would be Concrete Highway Gray.   And black or deep near-black blues or greens were pretty much off my list, too.  But look what happened.  Copenhagen Blue, almost a Navy Blue.

So all this color consideration stuff gets mixed up with the larger issue of how to prioritize work and how far to take it.  The more I drive the P-Car, the more I appreciate the experience behind the wheel.  And that’s how I really want to spend most of my time.   I like bright & shiny, to be sure.   (To make matters worse, Herman just sent me pics of a late 80s, regulation red,  348 Ferrari  that he just encountered in a shopping mall (!) with its luscious, pristine appearance and whose owner he engaged in discussion, spinning me into momentary fantasies about bodies and paint jobs … until I remembered that stuff usually involves money, four and maybe five figures.)

front-left_1280x903_DSCN1487Short-term, the path is clear.  I aim to make the vehicle as sound as feasible, mechanically and driveability-wise.  And I like that its interior is quite livable, but will want a little ongoing attention.  As for jumping off onto the body/paint track, I’m thinking about my old 911 experiences/frustrations and am very tempted now to just throw in with the Derelict Aesthetic.  I think of this as something of an art movement, perhaps harking back to Mad Max post-apocalypticism, and  slowly evolving to present-day relevance with a modern economy of diminishing resources,  environmental challenges and other global constraints — as least for the 99% of us.  Heck, just watch an episode of Antiques Roadshow and you will find that original finish patina has become highly valued on almost any sought-after object of age.   As I reported the other day, Jim intends to preserve his new-found Bug in more or less its current state of appearance.  Clear coat your patina.

Well, I don’t know if the P-Car really is a suitable candidate for my Derelict Aesthetic, as it exists with more than just “patina”; it might just be “funky” without much pretense to art.  But we shall see.

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