Fulfilling a customer’s wishes
Porsche enthusiast and horse breeder Jorge Carnicero will soon have a new, unique specimen in his stable. As part of the Porsche Sonderwunsch program, a comprehensively customized 911 S/T in Dani Blue has been created.
The sports car collector from the US state of Kentucky named the color exclusively developed for him after Color & Trim designer Daniela Milošević. One striking feature of the interior is the tricolored pepita pattern on the seat centers. Like the extensive leather upholstery in Graphite Blue, the pattern runs with the blue color of the exterior paintwork. The 911 S/T in Dani Blue will be one of the highlights of the Monterey Car Week (15 to 17 August 2024) before Porsche hands the car over to its long-standing customer.
“Blue has always been my color. I was never a fan of green,” Jorge Carnicero already revealed during one of his previous projects with Porsche. That highly individual 911 GT3 Touring was based on the millionth 911, which had rolled off the line in Irish Green in 2017. Despite Carnicero’s preference, this model from four years ago ended up green– British Racing Green.
But now it was time for a Porsche in his favorite color. During the configuration of a 911 S/T, the sports car collector asked the Porsche color experts to create a special blue that would suit the sporty, puristic character of the limited anniversary model. With its ‘Paint to Sample Plus’ program, the sports car manufacturer gives its customers the option to develop colors based entirely on their own ideas.
Elaborate development of Dani Blue in ‘Paint to Sample Plus’
“Before getting started, we had four paint frogs painted in iconic blue colors,” Color & Trim designer Daniela Milošević recalls the beginnings of the Sonderwunsch project. Paint frogs are miniature cars in the form of a current 911 that enable the effect of colors on a larger 3D body to be better assessed. Enamel Blue soon emerged as the general favorite. This was the color of the Porsche 901 sports coupé from 1964.
Milošević and her colleagues further developed Enamel Blue, adapting it to the current era. During this process, the tone became “a little more colorful, more intense and darker, but not too loud”, the designer recalls. She clearly reflected Carnicero’s taste perfectly, whereupon he spontaneously named the color after her – ‘Dani Blue’ was born.
Even the tear-off edge (‘Gurney flap‘) on the rear and the Porsche logo are painted in this exclusive color on Carnicero’s 911 S/T. Dani Blue’s exceptional brilliance, particularly in daylight, is a result of its sophisticated coating cycle. Of the four coats of clear lacquer in total, the first was additionally sanded. This also enabled the 911 S/T logos painted in contrasting Brilliant Silver to be embedded flush with the surface.
The customer as a member of the Sonderwunsch family
“Giving the paint my nickname is an overwhelming sign of gratitude for me and my work,” says Daniela Milošević. It’s also the highlight of the customer’s very appreciative attitude towards the Porsche employees, who found working with him very inspiring and motivating.
Carnicero happily returns the compliment: “Porsche doesn’t just create unique cars in the Sonderwunsch program. What’s special for me is the journey itself, the extraordinary team feeling, the people behind it all. Everyone is committed to making a personal dream come true, and for this I cannot thank Porsche enough.” With its Sonderwunsch program, Porsche offers its customers individualizations of the highest quality.
“Jorge Carnicero is a highly valued Porsche customer of many years’ standing and a member of the Sonderwunsch family. We’re so happy that he really appreciates the Manufaktur philosophy,” says Alexander Fabig, Vice President of Individualization and Classic. “For some reason, a Porsche in his dream color has never worked out until now. Probably the 911 S/T had to come along, the car that this new color suits so perfectly.”
Harmonious overall concept with attention to detail
The classic look that is a feature of all of Jorge Carnicero’s Porsche cars is created by the combination of Dani Blue with Brilliant Silver on the lightweight magnesium wheels, the borders of the side windows (Daylight Opening), and the 911 S/T logos painted in Brilliant Silver behind the front wheel arches. The high-quality overall impression is also underlined by the mirror attachment pieces and the frame of the engine cover around the air intake grille being painted in high-gloss Black.
There’s also a special Easter egg – a small, hidden surprise – in the exterior: the motto ‘Simply the Best’ over the number plate holder. Befitting for the derivative, the letters S and T in this motto are typographically emphasized using the design of the model logo. Hidden on the underside of the rear bumper when on the road, the message is reserved for special occasions, for example, when the 911 S/T in Dani Blue is displayed in exhibitions.
Comprehensive leather upholstery in the interior and seats with the exclusive pepita pattern
The color concept of the exterior is carried on in the interior, where it strikes a balance between the sporty, puristic S/T look and high-quality individualization. The most striking feature is the tricolored pepita pattern on the seat centers. The iconic check pattern, which first adorned the seats of the Porsche 356 at the start of the 1960s, is here composed of threads in Graphite Blue, Chalk and Blue.
The one-off car is also adorned with elegant cross-stitching in GT Silver along the dashboard trim and the upper door panel trim. This cross-stitching also appears on the side skirts. Each cross stitch is done carefully by hand by the experts at the saddlery. The interior of this special 911 S/T is generously upholstered in leather in Graphite Blue, with the natural material also being used for the knee pad and the trim on the A-pillars. Even the air vents are bordered in Graphite Blue leather, which is also used for the door opening loops. The entire roof lining is in Race-Tex of the same color. An eye for high-quality details is also evident in the high-gloss Black belt passages of the full bucket seats made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. The headrests are adorned with the 911 S/T logo in GT Silver.
The members of the Porsche project team have signed the collector model on the trim on the passenger side. Another Easter egg is to be found in the interior. The lateral ends of the dashboard, which can only be seen when the doors are open, bear a ‘Dani’ signature from Daniela Milošević – a surprise and acknowledgment from the customer to the designer.
One further detail with a personal note: a logo designed especially for Carnicero’s one-off car is embossed on the cover of the center console and on the vehicle document folder. It combines the 911 S/T logo with the current World Champion titles from Porsche. Everything comes full circle here, as a Metallic Silver 911 S from 1971 that carried the iconic ‘Porsche Manufacturers’ World Champion 69, 70, 71′ sticker in the side window was Carnicero’s first Porsche. Thus, with the support of Sonderwunsch Manufaktur, he also had a memento of his first great Porsche love attached to this latest Sonderwunsch project.
As with the car as a whole, the luggage compartment has also been extensively customized. It is upholstered in Graphite Blue leather, and the exclusive pepita pattern is also used here. The boot mat and the bag for the warning triangle are made of the tricolored textile that is a hallmark of Porsche.
A special blue car cover with the 911 S/T logo and the 60th-anniversary logo in contrasting grey round off the car’s exclusive look. And last but not least, the car key, whose sides are painted Dani Blue – the color control system, so to speak, of Porsche collector Jorge Carnicero.
About the Porsche 911 S/T
The Sonderwunsch model is based on the 911 S/T, with which Porsche is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the 911. This special edition, limited to 1,963 units, offers a one-of-a-kind combination of agility and driving dynamics. It combines the naturally aspirated, 386 kW (525 PS, 911 S/T: Fuel consumption* combined (WLTP) 13.8 l/100 km, CO₂ emissions* combined (WLTP) 313 g/km, CO₂ class G , CO₂ class weighted combined G ) 4.0-litre flat-six engine from the 911 GT3 RS with a short-ratio manual transmission. This is complemented by resolutely lightweight construction down to the tiniest detail and a running-gear setup optimized for agility and drivability. The name marks out the new 911 S/T as the descendant of a particularly performance-focused version of the first 911 generation. From 1969, Porsche offered a special racing version of the 911 S. Internally, these vehicles were called 911 ST.
About the Porsche Sonderwunsch program
In the Sonderwunsch program, Porsche refines and restores unique sports cars using skilled craftsmanship and attention to detail. The sports car manufacturer thus reinterprets its legendary Sonderwunsch program from the late 1970s to enable individualized, one-off cars—co-created by the customer and professionally produced by Porsche.
The range of services encompasses individual customer color and material requests directly in production, as well as subsequent modification after the car is delivered to the customer. Everything is possible, from new colors and equipment for existing cars to creating individual one-off cars at the customer’s request.
Above content © 2024 Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee