The Blues Brothers

Two friends, two Porsche 993s, two shades of blue. Between them they’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark and they’re wearing sunglasses… Except they’re not, of course, and neither Paul Madden nor Mike Moore smoke. They may not be on a mission from God – or driving to Chicago – but getting their cars to this level of detail was pretty close to being a spiritual experience…

- Keith Seume

Fashion is an odd thing. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is defined as ‘a popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or behaviour…’ There’s no mention of the colour of cars but we’re all aware of how some hues seem to dip in and out of fashion throughout the years. Henry Ford immortalised black, of course, but that was chosen for reasons of efficiency – black paint dried quicker than other colours, thus speeding up the Model T’s build process.

In the 1960s and ’70s, we went through a spell of both drab hues and wild ’n’ crazy ‘safety’ colours. Porsche got in on the act with the Viper Greens and Blood Oranges in stark contrast to the more stately hues we’d been used to seeing in the past. They were intended to make a splash, to make your speeding vehicle visible from a distance. To get you noticed.

And then along came silver, black, anthracite greys, white… Excuse me while I stifle a yawn. These are today’s ‘safe’ colours – not ‘safety’ colours, note – chosen by owners and fleet managers alike as they are good safe bets when it comes time to sell. But they show so little imagination, don’t you agree?

However, the same cannot be said of our two heroes, the Home Counties’ own Jake and Elwood, Paul Madden and Mike Moore. For them, the very prospect of owning an anonymous Porsche wasn’t on the cards. After all, their respective backgrounds clearly indicate that boring is not an option…