difference between alpine and gran prix White?
- Thread starter djcla
- Start date
TTM
Well-known member
Well, I did not mean cars painted Alpine White were yellow. Sorry if it made you wince.
I thought Alpine White was "properly white" until I saw some Alpine White 944s parked besides Grand Prix White 968. I found the difference quite astonishing, even though the 944 was a '91 turbo and the 968 a '93 CS that were most certainly still on their original paint.
When I worked on my car last year with a friend in his bodyshop facility to replace rusty front wings he repainted the whole front section in Alpine White, and we realised afterwards that my car had been previously repainted in a "whiter" shade of white, which appeared "less yellow" than Alpine White. (the difference is not obvious, luckily [
])There are actually several shades of each colour - Diver944 will know more about it - and any of the Alpine White shades that we had available back then definitely included a hint of yellow.
Bear in mind Thom is French! I think a more accurate description for what he is trying to express is that Alpine white is creamier than GP white. It's absolutely not yellow and I don't believe Thom is trying to say that it is, but he's absolutely right when he says that it's nowhere near as brilliant a white as GP.
I don't believe that any white from any manufacturer is pure white; they all have a tiny amount of tint in them (Paul S can probably confirm, or tell me I'm wrong). I once saw a car - I forget what, or even where, though I think it was in the sadly missed Retro Car magazine - that was painted in base white. In other words the paint that is used to mix light colours that start with a white base, but with no tints added. Even in photographs it was eye-wateringly brilliant white. I pretty much decided then that if I ever paint a car white then that's the white I'd use.
I don't believe that any white from any manufacturer is pure white; they all have a tiny amount of tint in them (Paul S can probably confirm, or tell me I'm wrong). I once saw a car - I forget what, or even where, though I think it was in the sadly missed Retro Car magazine - that was painted in base white. In other words the paint that is used to mix light colours that start with a white base, but with no tints added. Even in photographs it was eye-wateringly brilliant white. I pretty much decided then that if I ever paint a car white then that's the white I'd use.
Diver944
Active member
Fen is right, they all generally have trace amounts of various different tints to make the right shade. GP white was never an official option for 944's (though you could pay for a custom colour) and most of the 944's are the creamier Alpine White. Just to show you the difference here are the percentages of each tint to make both Alpine and GP white. You can see that GP has a much higher percentage of white.
Alpine White
93.40% Brilliant White
02.46% Mustard
04.13% Reduced Black
Grand Prix White
97.67% Brilliant White
00.47% Sun Yellow
00.07% Strong Amber
00.26% Reduced Blue
01.53% Reduced Black
Big Dave
New member
I think what there trying to say is that ,,, over time Alpine white "yellows" with age....Ive seen quite a few "yellowing" cars. They seem to "yellow" mainly on the plastic parts, ie front Pu,s etc....
Try checking out Carrera white.....
Its REALY bright white....[8D][8D][8D][8D][8D]
In the pic, The car on the left is Alpine + the car on the right, in the garage is Carrera white. Believe me, there is a big difference in WHITENESS....[8D]
Try checking out Carrera white.....
Its REALY bright white....[8D][8D][8D][8D][8D]
In the pic, The car on the left is Alpine + the car on the right, in the garage is Carrera white. Believe me, there is a big difference in WHITENESS....[8D]
http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/upfiles/12320/EF34DB56864E469096FBDBC7616A6B51.jpg
I posted that a while ago, mine is Alpine White and i had a great deal of trouble finding some that would match! Thats what is meant by "yellow" - its relative between the 2 colours.
I posted that a while ago, mine is Alpine White and i had a great deal of trouble finding some that would match! Thats what is meant by "yellow" - its relative between the 2 colours.
I've seen specialists who should know better advertise 944s as GP white. I'm not even convinced you could have a 944 in it if you wanted; it wasn't until the 968 that the personalised colours option was formalised. I guess if you asked and paid a lot you might have been able to, but really, how many cars do you imagine that was done for to get a different shade of white? My guess is approximately none.
Alpine is horrendous to match based on the experience of 2 friends I can think of.
Not sure what you mean about being colour blind sc0tty; there is a marked creaminess in Alpine.
Alpine is horrendous to match based on the experience of 2 friends I can think of.
Not sure what you mean about being colour blind sc0tty; there is a marked creaminess in Alpine.
Diver944
Active member
If the car itself is good then buy it - Personally I wouldn't make any buying decision based on colour and the actual colour only becomes important if it needs any spraying at which point you hope the code in the boot (or service manual) is still legible.
Matching any 20+ year old paint will be trickier than a new car because they all fade to some extent. Red, white, and yellow will fade the most and be hardest to match in my experience and black will be easiest.
Matching any 20+ year old paint will be trickier than a new car because they all fade to some extent. Red, white, and yellow will fade the most and be hardest to match in my experience and black will be easiest.
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