We all know who Matt Farah is, right? Of course we do. He’s like everyone who loves cars’ friend who always seems to have more and better cars, but we’re not bitter. We’re excited! One of the exciting cars Matt has gotten recently is a new Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder, decked out in a remarkable color called Frozen Berry Metallic, which sounds refreshing and delicious. The interior is a rich, raspberry red, and the whole combination is unusual and striking and one that I think works extremely well. It’s fun and novel and I can’t imagine anyone seeing it and not smiling. Of course, thanks to the dark magick of the internet, I don’t have to imagine such an improbable reaction, because the collection of Porsche ninnies and fussbudgets that haunt online forums like Rennlist are full of people who are quite cross, quite cross indeed with Matt’s choice of color scheme for his own car, and they’re making their wrath clear online, in between bouts of filling their Depends tight as snare drums with indignation-poops.
I find these vitriolic responses puzzling, so I reached out to Matt himself to ask about his color choice, and give him a chance to defend himself and his car from the Angry Porschemen. I learned so much more than I expected. It’s good.
For some backstory, it’s worth mentioning that Matt getting this car hasn’t been an easy process, since this is really the second example of the car that was built, since the original sank into the unforgiving Atlantic when the ship that was carrying it burned and sank back in February:
I just got the call from my dealer. My car is now adrift, possibly on fire, in the middle of the ocean. https://t.co/Ge2DYk8IJ0
— Matt "Stick to Cars" Farah (@TheSmokingTire) February 16, 2022
Remember that? That was bonkers. However Porsche made good, and Matt’s novel ride is now here. And now that it’s been shown off a bit, here’s some reactions from the Rennlist forum:
As you can see, there’s plenty of people who don’t get it. Which is fine! It’s not supposed to be for everyone! But there’s also plenty of people who don’t just not get it, they don’t want anyone to get it, ever, and say things like “…some builds should not be approved by the factory to begin with,” or “a little bit of puke came up into my mouth” (which I bet isn’t true, I’ll need a puke sample to confirm that (looks at notes), Scrounger) and people speculating that somehow Matt couldn’t have actually wanted this, he just bought a whole car to, you know, be weird.
As someone who firmly believes that cars deserve to be in colors, real colors, not just the grayscale hell that defines nearly every silvery-gray piece of shit on the road today, I cannot fathom why there’s these sorts of angry, indignant reactions. It looks good! It’s fine that it doesn’t look like every other Boxster out there. And if seeing a car in this interesting color-shifty, powdery pinkish color is actually making you vomit, get off fucking Rennlist and go see a doctor, immediately, because I think something is up with your gastrointestinal tract.
Matt actually tells a bit about his decision process for the color in this video, right about at this time marker here, and it makes a lot of sense, I think:
But you know me, I like to really know stuff, and to really know anything, I needed to hear what Matt himself said. So I reached out, and he gave some really interesting and in-depth answers that I think you’ll enjoy. Here’s what he said:
There is a back story to my color. I think it’s important that people undertstand that everywhere in my life, I like to have little easter eggs to other stuff. If you come to my house, there are mementos and links to other things and places in my life that I find interesting, and I commit to them, I go all the way with them.
As you may know, I had a Keen Safari 911. It was Cassis Red over Burgundy interior, which I accented with purple confetti bus fabric. If you just told people that color combo without them seeing it, they would think i was insane, but it was actually stunning in person, and became wildly popular.I showed that car to a longtime Porsche dealer friend of mine. He said, “Is that Cassis Red? Man we couldn’t GIVE that color away in the 80’s. I drove one as a demo for six months because it was unsellable.” Of course now, we know the color was just ahead of its time, and it’s absolutely stunning, and if you want a cassis red G-body 911, there is a literal $25k premium for such a thing.When Frozen Berry Metallic came out on the Taycan, I felt exactly the same way about it as I felt about Cassis. This was a transformative, stunning color that radically shifted tone depending on the sunlight, didn’t photograph particularly well, but glowed radiance in person.
So when it came time to order the Boxster Spyder, I was absolutely shocked to learn that FBM wasn’t just available for the car, it was FREE. This is not a PTS color. It was listed, for 2022 model year only, as a standard color. People are out there paying $13k for PTS grays and silvers and blue, and here is this incredible color that is literally free, and because it’s kinda pink, no one is gonna have the balls to buy it. It’s literally the Cassis Red thing from the 80’s all over again.And because my Cassis Safari car had the red interior also, I knew for certain that no matter what other people thought, and no matter what the configurator looked like, that the FBM over Red would look ace in person.Plus, I was always going to do the insane Deman 4.5L motor. So the idea of a pink car with a red interior and a hot rod 565 HP engine under there was just hilarious to me.So that’s the story. there’s a connection to my previous air-cooled car, continuing that lineage of my porsche’s being this color. There’s the fact that I predicted the color would be rare because people weren’t brave enough to buy it en masse, which is true. Porsche told me that less than 10 spyders were sold in this color in 2022, that mine is the only one with the 2-tone spyder classic interior. The color has been cancelled entirely for 2023.and of course there is a long history of Porsche race cars being pink too (Pink Pig, etc)I think the theme is just that there’s layers to it that people who don’t seek to find out will easily miss. yes it’s a cool color. yes it’s unique and rare, but it’s also got a personal connection to my history with the brand, and a built-in prediction for rarity, and a little bit of anti-toxic masculinity too.
Shades of gray solely exist because people are afraid of judgement. Also resale value.
I think this color combo looks fantastic.
Good for him, if Porsche offers an interesting color take it. The world is full of colorless art and cliche colored cars. The world needs a raspberry Porsche far more than a red or silver one
My Dad had a Cassis red 911 3.2 Carrera (with the desirable G50 gearbox too). Did he like the colour not really. Did he like the fact he brought it for GBP8,000 because no one else wanted that colour then, put GBP3k into it (it needed a top end overhaul), enjoyed it for a couple of years and sold it for 14K GBP yes..
I think it is, in fact, very cool. I’m sure it’s stunning in person, and I really like the back story too. Kudos to Matt for having balls to pull this through.
Why are Porsche people so insufferable? The one rude comment is talking about resale value, which seems to be the sole thing Porsche people care about. Apparently they are of the belief that every single transaxle Porsche ever created is a collector’s item. They are the Bitcoin/Tesla stock of cars IMO.
Everyone jokes about Corvette owners being like “1 of 1 produced on a Tuesday with Dark Metallic Grey lug nuts and vin ending in 156” but that is what these people live and breathe!
Honestly it’s not true Porsche people it’s the new Porsche/investment idiots. These are the same morons that all go for the same 3 pts colors instead of the damn near unlimited color choices Porsche offers. Same people that order grayscale colors for Lamborghinis, Astons, etc or reds for Ferrari, it’s sickening really.
“or reds for Ferrari”?
Your opinion is wrong. Ferrari’s should be red, always and forever.
Not color hating I just can’t imagine growing up with a poster of a yellow 308 GTS Quattrovalvole on my bedroom wall.
It just feels wrong.
Ha, this is me with Guards Red 911s. It’s a good color! It’s popular because it works!
I would have preferred a different color for the Mondial, but they’re not common and I didn’t have a lot of choice. I saw a metallic purple one for sale at Bonhams recently and it looked amazing. The infamous John Pogson Mondial is silver over red and is terrific.
Yellow can die in a fire though. The only acceptable yellow car is a ‘71 Buick GSX.
My best friend has a red Ferrari 456 and it’s totally the wrong color for that model.
I love a nice nonstandard (read: non-red) Ferrari paint job. There’s a new one I saw the other day (can’t remember the exact model since the nose looks very similar between models now, but think 296, F8 or SF90) in dark metallic teal, and gosh. I know we all ranted about nostalgia the other day, but it was like a nicer version of the Every Other Ferd Exploder In the ’90s Had This Dark Teal shade and it looked incredible to me on that car.
Also, the big metalflake Ferrari puts in their metallic blacks now is just incredible up-close, too. Not quite bass boat, but definitely anything but subtle in the light. Adds lots of color on a black car.
I love red, but gosh. More non-red Ferraris, please.
Exactly. There’s a large subset of Porschephiles that are at least as insufferable as the stereotypes of Corvette owners. I wonder if early exposure to those cretins is a major reason Porsches just don’t excite me (and I even went to the 1st Rennsport Reunion and saw some amazing stuff and talked to a few cool people there). There’s an even worse subset of that group that pretty much thinks Porsche is only the 911 and everything but the most exotic models are inferior.
Oh I love the cars. One of the reasons I don’t like porsche people is that they make it so I can’t afford one. And more of them need to be willing to get wheels off of the ground and tails out.
I got bored working on my 944 and filled in the fender that had some primer sticking out with some nail polish that I found in a buddy’s garage a little while ago. No, the reds don’t match. Not at all. I did a bad job, too.
Please cc: the parsh snobs, remind them it’s prounounced “parsh,” and tell them to stop being weenies and send their cars.
Can you get nail polish in Guards red?
Parsh branded guards red nail polish is $250 per ounce.
Probably. I think this pinky-red came from the nearest HEB, though. Excellent race car store, that.
This is an epic response from a solid car guy, thanks for chasing the story Torch!
What color classic Boxster will command the highest bid at Barrett-Jackson in about 30 years? Won’t be a black, gray, or white one.
I feel like all the ads showed gray/silver ones when they first came out, so that’s certainly what I picture when I think “Boxster”, but it’s not what I would want. For some reason, I’ve always liked a nice deep midnight blue on Porsches.
I just checked the Porsche configurator and it doesn’t look like that colour is available on the 718 anymore. You can still get it on the Taycan though…
Not as standard, but you can probably still order it via Paint to Sample since it’s in the catalog.
It’s his car. Kudos for ordering it in something other than white/black/silver/grey. I am sick of seeing those boring-mobiles around. Looks more purple than pink to me in the photo, but even it it were pink – so what? No one is forcing these critics to buy it. Or even to look at it. I personally enjoy seeing colors that aren’t the same old boring stuff (even if I wouldn’t order those myself).
I don’t particularly love that color, because I just don’t particularly care for the color pink. I’m a blue/purple guy at heart. I go crazy for a good purple car. I absolutely LOVE that it exists though, and I applaud Matt for ordering in it. I truly appreciate the humor of a pink hot rod blowing the doors off of the toxically masculine puke brains in their boring ass greyscale paint to sample cars. Frankly these days, I applaud anybody that buys any vehicle in any actual color, whether I like the color or not. I’m just happy when I see a vehicle that’s a color!
“I just don’t particularly care for the color pink”
…
Hey man, I don’t like pink. It just doesn’t do it for me. But much like I’m glad Matt ordered his Porsche in pink, I’m glad you ordered your Jeep in pink because YOU love it, and I’m happy to see literally any color on a vehicle these days!
*shrugs* I’m not a big pink person, either, but I love that this exists.
(D’oh! I just realized that I’m talking to the KING OF PINK!)
As someone whose current ride is a color I call Settle-For-Silver since that or a darker and equally blah metallic gray were the only “colors” offered with a manual transmission, and the whole damn line only has black interiors, I applaud Matt’s choice. My only regret is not having new-Porsche money myself.
Fuck the people who hate on the cool colors 😛
I got a chuckle out of the greyscale comment. I mean, sure, it’s not grey, but it’s basically a silvery pink that at night looks…. grey.
I don’t have any real issues with it. I don’t think red interior and any exterior color on the the red spectrum looks good, but it’s not my car.
A lot of colors look gray at night because our cones don’t process colors so well in dim lighting and rods don’t process color.
Oh I know, It doesn’t help that it also looks like it’s painted in a tinted grey during the day, either. I guess I don’t like the color he chose, but being a derivative of pink isn’t the problem, it just needs more pink.
My first car was a metallic purple Saturn, I believe the name of the color was Silver Plum. I’m going to say the same thing about Farrah’s car that I said to the idiots who made fun of me in high school.
Any color is better than black, white, and the silvers and grays in between!
Frozen berry metallic is an amazing color. I love purple and pink cars and wish they were more common…and when you’re buying a car from a company like Porsche that actually offers a bunch of cool and unique colors why wouldn’t you choose one? The world has enough grayscale cars.
Also Matt is secure in his masculinity and the internet dweebs hating on the color aren’t. Imagine thinking that certain colors are more masculine or feminine. Who the hell cares? It it looks cool and you like it then it looks cool and you like it. Anyway I’m 100% jealous of every successful car journalist who has a crazy fleet like Matt does…but in a loving way.
Folks like Matt, Doug, etc. are living the enthusiast dream. We should all be proud of them. I like it when people who I like succeed. Everyone should.
And, hell, if we’re going that route, pink was traditionally considered a masculine color until about 100 years ago, for the longest time, it was just considered a lighter shade of red.
I don’t know what caused the flip from “pink for boys, blue for girls”, but it’s a fascinating change that is unlikely to ever happen again.
I miss my lilac Bunnywagen Lemons car so much. It was so much easier to spot at races! No one else had a lavender VW!
I’d love that color! I’m still kicking myself for buying a charcoal car just because I got a good deal. I should have held out for COLOR!
And it was a steal to get the color as a standard option, rather than a premium. I had seen pictures, but I missed that detail until now.
I think that thing looks spectacular. Especially with the new HRE wheels that he put on it. If I had the cash, I’d have a GT3 in Ultraviolet or Rubystone, and anyone who didn’t like it could pick a number and get in line to kiss my ass. Granted, I’m also a huge fan of pink and purple cars in general, so perhaps I’m biased. Whatever. Fuck those Rennlist prudes and their boring-ass Guards Red 911s.
:'( Awww, my dream car is a Guards Red 911.
(It’s common because it works! Plus, it’s bright.)
Agreed. Frozen Berry Metallic is really nice in person. I saw it on a Taycan a few months back. When I was in the market for my 911, I fell in love with one in Amethyst Metallic, but the interior was beige, which was a deal-killer for me.
Amethyst Metallic is such a good color. I probably would have gotten it even with the beige interior.
Of all things to shit on Matt for, the color of his boxter? Not the arrogance or Jonny Lieberman team up, but a genuinely fresh and interesting color? Pick your battles people…
Maybe I’m color blind but that car doesn’t look pink. Frozen Berry is a good descriptor. It looks great!
565 horsepower, holy cow.
If people are this mad about the car just existing I can’t imagine how mad they’d get after being taken to Gapplebees by this beauty.
Matt I love that purple shade color i would order. But come on a Porsche those cars suck.
Had to finally sign up so I can register my approval but I apparently can’t directly share photos of my pink Jeep so boo.
Here instead is my ode to bright colors.
https://opposite-lock.com/topic/52688/tuscadero
You literally have the perfect Wrangler.
My Solar Yellow LJR might quibble with that assessment, were it not chronically broke.
Yoooo… That pink Wrangler is fantastic. The Crocs? Not so much 🙂
YES
I actually saw another one of these on the street in Australia the other week, and the colour is GLORIOUS in person. Matt is certainly right that it doesn’t photograph well, but he 100% made the right call(
That’s an awesome color combo. Definitely not for me, but I love that it’s so completely different! Personally, I would go with a John Deere Green exterior and John Deere Gold interior, but I grew up on a farm, so what do I know?
https://youtu.be/6AwQPW6myWo
Billy Bob loves Charlene, and I love a good parsh. That’s good parsh.
I’m with Matt. You get the car you want. I curse the internet for giving randos the idea that they have to share their opinion about everything and that others are obligated to take them seriously.
Ha! Imagine a world where as soon as you post a comment about someone online you are instantly transported to their kitchen table for their family dinner, where you have to answer for yourself. “Oh jeez.. Shaq, uh.. um.. I’m sorry. Maybe the earth is flat. Uh.. Um.. I was kidding when I called you that.”
Sadly, family dinners at a table and civility are now tantamount to endangered species thanks to the internet.