The Barbie Dream Car!!!111one!!!11

[slavetothemuzic]

Marketing executive Clare Salmon loved her shoes so much she had her new car painted to match, as Simon Holden reports

Clare Salmon's favourite colour is pink. So when she decided to replace her bright yellow Porsche Boxster with a brand new one, she was dismayed to hear some bad news: the colour she wanted wasn't on the chart.



She has coped before; her first Boxster was a "boring blue". And before that she had a pale-blue BMW Z3. "It was nice of its type," she says, "but the new ones are horrible with those really sharp edges. They don't have that elegance. I like curvy cars, such as Aston Martins. They're understated."

Undeterred by the absence of pink on the Porsche options list, she decided to celebrate her "third 39th" birthday in style.

"I have a mouth-wateringly beautiful pair of shocking-pink Gina slingbacks with three-inch heels," she says. "They are absolutely succulent and I wanted a car to match. So when I went into the Porsche garage on Park Lane, I took the shoes and put them on the counter.

"First of all, the man looked over my head at my other half and said, 'Has she heard of depreciation?' John, my partner, said, 'Look, really, it's her money. You'd better talk to the customer.' So they wheeled out the only female salesperson they had and she couldn't do enough for me."

One of her beloved slingbacks was duly sent to Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart and an exact paint match was found. The company is perfectly willing to deliver cars in special colours, although the process adds several months to the delivery time and more than £2,000 to the bill. The 161mph, 3.2-litre Boxster S retails at £38,720, but Clare, who is marketing director of ITV Broadcasting, wasn't too concerned about the price; as with her shoes, which cost more than £350, colour was all that mattered.

"To be perfectly honest, I can't remember how much the car was because I bought it out of my bonus, in cash," she says. "I was celebrating the bonus as well as my birthday, and I'd started looking for the perfect colour in March.

"When I finally went to collect the car from Park Lane, I put on my pink shoes, pink cardigan, pink handbag, pink everything. They brought it around for me and within five minutes there was a crowd of Japanese tourists taking pictures of it with their mobile phones.

"That still happens because I park it outdoors and people often stop to take photographs. When I first got the car, I blossomed forth to work with the pink shoes, pink handbag and a pink suit from Ronit Zilka. I've even had a proposal of marriage: someone saw me driving down the King's Road and shouted out, 'Marry me!' I think it was the car he was really interested in.

"But my daughter Jessica wasn't too sure about me getting another Porsche. On the day I picked it up, I decided to go and collect her from the birthday party she was attending. When her friends saw it, they swarmed out of the house saying, 'Oh, it's the Barbie car!' Jessica was really quiet for about 10 minutes and then she said, 'Mummy, do you think I could have it when you are dead?' I told her she would have to wait until she had her driving licence."

A spokeswoman for the Porsche Centre Park Lane confirmed that Clare's car was unusual in more ways than one, because the time and cost implications mean that one-off colours are rarely requested. "We've never had an order for a pink Porsche before," she said. "We've done one other special car this year, but that was blue."

Colour prejudice

The wrong hue can cost you money, says Honest John

Buying a car in the wrong colour could cost you thousands of pounds. Week after week, I see a burnt-yellow, 03-reg Mercedes SLK 320 auto fail to bid past a measly £17,000 at auction. Likewise, old-shape Mondeos used to take root in a colour that Ford called "Baliol". The trade dubbed it "Doom Blue".

This week, Mike the Money looks at the latest analysis by Glass's Guide, which shows metallic black is now the most desirable colour. That doesn't mean you should buy a black car. Not long ago, everyone wanted silver. The trouble was, everyone got silver and it became common. The next thing we know, metallic black will be everywhere. But with a bit of courage and good taste, you can score with a hue that no one else chooses.

An 03-reg Fiat Doblo in "Brazilian Yellow" recently sold for decent money because the weirdly utilitarian mini-MPV looks great in that colour. A few weeks ago I drove a Nissan Pathfinder in white, one of the least popular colours according to Glass's, yet it suited the car perfectly. A Honda Jazz also looks 10 times better in white or cream than it does in metallic black. French racing blue looks fantastic on RenaultSport Clio 182s. Pistachio suits Fiat Pandas.

So you don't necessarily have to follow fashion to safeguard your car's value, but don't even think about Lady Penelope Pink...

[SilverBulletRL]

must be nice to have money

[SexyDSM95]

Too bad she used the sh*tty model Porsche...haha

[2point4DSM]

That was probably all she could truly afford.

W

[wrx_snobordr]

Obviously she would pick that car. Its porches womans car. I place in the same category as the VW cabrio, Mazda Miata, bmw Z3 convertible and the vw jetta.

[slavetothemuzic]

Originally Posted by wrx_snobordr

Obviously she would pick that car. Its porches womans car. I place in the same category as the VW cabrio, Mazda Miata, bmw Z3 convertible and the vw jetta.

I'll agree with you on the VW models, and the Miata, but I'm not labeling any BMW or Porsche product a chick car.

[272sWrx]

im surprised nobody keyed her car. its the ghey.

[97TSi]

Boxster = woman's porsche

[MuddyREX]

eww