1955 Speedster White PaintQuestion

[Tom Scott]

HELP NEEDED - Is there anyone on the Registry who can help authenticate paint code 603? I would like to discuss this with someone who has direct and authentic experience with this color. I have a spray out which was prepared by the local Glassurit dealer but the shade of white seems to be more of an ivory to me. Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tom Scott
[email protected]
303-819-0101

[George Hiler]

I found there are two whites for my 1954 Speedster. One is Weiss 603 and the other is the Reutter white, Porzellanweiss Reutter R603. Mine is R603 and is more ivory than the other white.

[Mark Sabbann]

John Willhoit's paint sample page for 1954-55 color codes shows Reutter #603 simply as 'White'.

http://www.willhoitautorestoration.com/paintsamples.php

[Jules Dielen]

There is speedster white (a true white, R603) exclusive to speedsters unless special ordered for a coupe or cab) and there was ivory (R504) more leaning toward vanilla. The guys at Deluxe customs in Tempe, AZ did a pre A speedster in 'speedster white' a few years ago and probably have the formula.

There was also an optional color called penicillin white but that was a blueish green white on earlier cars.

Never heard of porzellanweiss unless it was a one off?

[George Hiler]

I found the Reutter color for my Speedster, PORZELLANWEISS REUTTER, on the Glasurite site. It took me awhile to find this but the match is perfect. My car is a very early Speedster so maybe that is why the color is not listed other places.

[Jules Dielen]

Again, speedster white (603) is one of 3 standard colors for pre A speedsters and it is a 'true white', much like the 'carrara white' they offer nowadays.

Here is the 298th speedster built.

https://deluxecustoms.com/project/1955- ... speedster/

Unless it was a special order, porcellain white was not one of the typical 54/55 colors.

[Chuck House]

To reinforce Jules' post, here is a period color photo of 80126, James Dean's car which was 603. I own 80124, also 603. The color 603 is more a pure white with no hint of ivory.

[James Davies]

The Speedster Typ 540 book has images of the early Speedster paint and upholstery sample cards given to dealers. It looks very white in those too.

[George Hiler]

My intent here is not to argue white paint shades but to share my confusion and what I found. I have had my Speedster for 40 years and the color has always confused me. Until recently, I have never been able to color match the original paint. I tried white 603 and it does not match, as it is too white. Recently, I found Porzellanweiss Reuter R603 and it is a perfect undetectable match.

Also, I read the "Skip Hudson and Dan Gurney Speedster #80032" post and the color of that car looks to be the same as mine. It is not pure white or to quote from that post:

"#8 Post by Bruce Baker » Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:27 am

George Alspaugh and others have reformulated 603, aka 'Speedster white,' and may chime in. It is not 'refrigerator' white, it is more like the later 'Elfinbein hell' or light ivory that came full circle from the warmer A ivory, 5704, and became 6404.
The Speedster red, white and blue colors were not numbered by Porsche and had only the Reutter reference of 601, 602, 603. (too much trivia even for a serious model builder??)"

My conclusion is there might be two 603 Speedster whites. One from the early cars like #80032 that is more ivory and another whiter white for the later cars.

[Jules Dielen]

So your car was 30 years old when you got it. Was it ever repainted in those years?

Whoever restored 80032 did not care about the details.It has an engine lid from a later A car and ULO reflectors from a B/C so probably a really bad example to use as a reference. If they missed those items i am not surprised they got the color wrong too.
It looks like they tried to go for 504 ivory in the photo, definitely not speedster white.

No disrespect to George Alspaugh, he has been around these cars for a long time, but I would trust the Willhoit spray outs and historic photos posted here more.

What does your kardex say?