Need help with decision !

I am about too pull the trigger on a Beck Speedster and have narrowed my color choices to 2.
Could some members post some pics of either Guards red with tan top and tan interior or light baby blue with light colored interior with 3" white walls.
I would appreciate it very much, thanks in advance.
John.

John,
No one has done what I think would be a simply outstanding old school speedster...
Baby blue exterior, Ford bright white interior & dash with matching Ford brite white top and wide white walls. Do this in Photo Shop! ~Alan

IMO - there too many red speedsters already. gotta go with something more unique, but baby blue... maybe i should have kept my mouth shut. :)

like the doc says - do it in PH first - at least try the Porsche Selecta

http://www.busselecta.com/porsche/index.htm

John,

Have you looked at the photo tab at the top of the page? So many color combo's there.
Are you buying new? If you go used get the speedster in better condition and get it painted to your taste. IM webpage has some good pics on their pages.
Good luck
Dave

John,
To pull off the baby blue, you will have to chose just the right combination of subtle 50's related accents and accessories. To show you an example, the attached pics are of the same speedster before and after. Too little it'll look drab too, much and it will look.. "too much" ~Alan

Little boy blew....err... blue?

I have seen a IM Roadster and a few "real" 356's in a factory color "Meissen Blue". This was offered on 356 cars. I think that it is a nice color. If you look on the Intermeccanica web site there is a car listed under " images" , Customer cars, Mi Won anmd Brams Roadster. The car is M-Blue with a Red interior. It's all a matter of personal taste.

Thanks for info, I checked IM site and saw blue speedy you mentioned. Thats a very nice car, but its screaming for wide whites.
The shade I had in mind was slightly lighter.

John pull that trigger and get er done son.. I wanna see that tub when your done... that combo seems sweet. I can't wait to see that, especially the tires! you ROCK my friend!

Speedster "D"

John - Here are some pics of a Beck in just that color combination that they had at Carlisle this year. This one had a water-cooled engine. Sweeeeeeet!!! Either way, your gonna love it.

And here's a picture of Tom Raymond's IM in a similar color combo. Of course, I am still a bit partial to red as well.

I think they are right with the red more common. Here is the 356 color chart so you can see all the colors. The last time I saw a blue one it was a real one. I chose a blue (darker) but it was used. http://www.stoddard.com/exterior_color.htm

Very interesting--I had no idea that any Speedster was offered in a metallic paint. --Jack

If Tom Raymond doesn't have the prettiest car out there, my name's not Orville Reddenbacher.
Mexico Blue, if memory serves.

Hey, I saw a Beck for sale in blue with a white interior-the link is below. See what you think of that.

http://www.classiccarcenter.net/beck56.html

IMHO that shade of blue is way to dark to go along with a white interior, very light robbins egg or baby blue will make it pop. ~ Alan

That's a show-stopper, especially for $23K.
And air conditioning?

It has quite a few options, too. That's a heck of a good price.

I agree with drclock, I saw a powder blue speedster with wide whites on it and the car looked awesome.

IS THAT ONE OF THEM KITCARS?

So, what exactly does happen if a car stops a show?

Somebody buys it from a sucker, then eBays it for $52K.
Why?

.....we all know it will never sell for that number

Are we still talking about paint colors? How about BRG?

John, the words "light baby blue" give me the willies! Before you make a final decision, take another look at "Meissen Blue". I read the related posts above and looked at the car on the IM site. The photos there are fairly representative of the color, but it's hard to capture in a photo. A flash will make it look more baby blue than it actually is. Ten different on-line photos of Meissen Blue cars will all look different. Meissen is much more of a gray-blue than it appears in most photos-- very 50's looking. See if you can lay your eyes on one in person.

I'll be the proud owner of the next Subaru-powered car coming out of Specialty Auto Sports. It's Meissen Blue and looks fantastic in person. Below is a shot of the body I took two weeks ago that gives a better than average feel for what the color really looks like.

Good luck with your decision.

Your car looks really good ! I think thats the color for me, I really like it.
What are you doing the interior and the top in ?
Wide white walls look great with your color choice. Keep sending your pics.
John.

I like the "wolf in sheeps clothing" part of doing it in a "stock" color. From a distance, too far to use a magnet, you can fool the PCA guys since few know much about 356's. (I do belong to PCA for the 10% discount on parts for my other two magnetic cars).

F. Adler
San Diego

OK... time a girl's opinion! I agree with too many Reds out there. I just got my first Vintage... and it's AquaMarine (green)! I looked and it was a factory color offered in '57. It is an amazing color that changes with the sunlight! But definately: not red! Good luck choosing!

Susie, welcome to the Madness! The Aquamarine is a lovely color, as you say ever changing with the sunlight. You have some nice drives in your area. Enjoy your new toy!

John,

With respect to drclock above, the white interior and whitewalls w/ light blue paint sounds a wee bit pimpy to me.

Meissen Blue was a color option on original cars from '57-'59. Meissen Blue speedsters had red or black interiors. Meissen Blue cabriolets had red or tan interiors.

I'm breaking the rules and doing a light tan interior in the speedster w/ oatmeal colored carpets. I wanted a lighter color because it's hot & sunny here, and I think the tan makes an elegant combination. Before you check out the door panel photo below, remember what I wrote above about flash photography and the blue paint. The paint on the door looks very "baby blue" in the photo because of the flash. Actual color looks more like the other photo of the body.

I'm going with basic black for the top & tonneau.

John - Here are a couple of pictures of a blue/red Intermeccanica that I snapped at a weekend event . I don't have the best eye for subtle color variations, but to my eye these pictures accurately represent the color as it appeared in person. The event included maybe 20 cars and no two with the exact same color combination. I realized that there just isn't a bad color for these cars. They look great in color combos I would never have expected to look good if someone were to verbally describe them ahead of time, and colors that almost no other car could pull off. It's probably a combination of the inherently great shape of the 356 itself, and the fact that the Speedster is a fun and daring automobile, so creative color combos suit the nature of the machine.

Excellent pics Felix, I really like the red interior. Iam also looking at dove grey interior to go with the meisenne blue.
Your right though about color choices, theres no such thing as a bad color combo for these cars, thats the trouble I like em all ! What do you think of wide whites on that blue car ?
John.

John,
I almost forgot that I have pics of my buddies original in my file. I think it's the color you're looking for. There are a couple more in my file.

Felix, where was that show. The stone grey speester next to the blue one looks like Scott Sloan's from Oregon. Was that car an IM also? That Blue/Red is nice! That Blue/Red looks like my friend Eric's car. was this the IM owners get together?

Will - That was the IM barbeque. The other car is indeed Scott's - you have a good eye.

John - I personally like the wide whites with most exterior colors. It gives the car more of a vintage look, and I think they'd look great on a light blue car, especially one with other vintage elements, such as bumper guards, headlight grilles, fender-mounted mirrors, etc.

Hey SueZStew,

Interesting. The one I bought is "Aquamarine Metallic" which should be more green but as the chart shows and the car shows confirmed by Vintage "Aquamarine Metallic - Chysler 2000 color (you can see it on a pile of minivans on ebay) is blue. I know, aquamarine should be some bluish greeen, but..................

Fred, when you see your car in person, the color will look a lot different than the pics.

Hey Fred ~ Yeah, our little Speedy looks more on the green side with indoor lighting or cloud cover but when the sun is out (which means she is, too!!!), the color seems to have a lot more blue in it. It's a color that has the same personality as the car ~ FUN!

Most of the time she will be out because luckily, she will live in Sun Diego..........................thanks for the comment. I can't wait till it gets here and bring her back to her glory when built.