Color Focus: Porsche Guards Red – Y39
CODE: Y39, also 027, G1, 84A, 80K, M3A, LM3A, L80K
TYPE: Non-Metallic
CONTENT ARCHIVE: Guards Red
SUMMARY:
Guards Red (indischrot; non-metallic UNI; Y39; Porsche) a.k.a. “India Red” is maybe the most Porsche of Porsche colors. No, it’s not a quirky shade nor has it got “Signal” in the name, but it is perhaps the most ubiquitous. It seems like half the Porsches delivered in the 1980s could have been Guards Red, a time when it was not uncommon for owners of less desirably colored Porsches to respray their non-red Porsche to fit in.
Near as we can tell, Guards Red begins around 1974 on the 911 and never really stops from that point on. Porsche’s official color configurator lists the color code as Y39, though many other codes have been assigned to Guards Red over the years, including: 027, G1, 84A, 80K, M3A, LM3A and L80K.
Beyond ubiquitousness, Guards Red was also significant on track and also the silver screen. Originally India Red, the color was one of the initial 15 colors to be painted on the iconic Porsche 911 RSRs run in the 1973-1974 IROC series. More on the pop culture side of the Porsche cultural spectrum are movie cars, including a Guards Red Porsche 911 Cabriolet in Against all Odds and an early 944 that starred in Sixteen Candles.
Guards Red isn’t exactly a primary red, which may explain why it didn’t get a name like “Signal Red”. It tends to be a bit more orange than primary, and perhaps just a tad darker. However it’s been tuned to deviate with a basic primary red, the formula has proven not just to be winning, but so beloved that its presence in the Porsche lineup near seems to end.
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