Funk White UK models not in production until September 2008 for availability in December 2008.

ensonricky said:

Funk White UK models not in production until September 2008 for availability in December 2008.

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Surely that can't be true? Besides, do you really want to spend £700 on paint?

The price of Funk White is absolutely rediculous. In reality all it is is a very, very light silver and you wouldn't pay £700 for that would you?

The reason Funk white is so expensive is that it is a three layer pearlescent paint as opposed to a standard two layer (base and clear laquer coat) metallic. The two base coats are applied in opposite directions to give the pearlescent effect and it is therefore more labour intensive. Due to this the factory is limited to the number of cars it can paint in this colour each day.

Maserati are also having problems meeting demand for this colour on the Quattroporte and the new GranTurismo and are refusing to take any further orders for it. There is a 10 month waiting list backlog on it currently. It is a £4,583 option on the GranTurismo so £700 for the 500 doesn't seem so bad

I don't understand the whole colour thing. Why for instance is red a special colour that they can charge £250 for?

I agree that £250 for red is a rip off, its probably a Ferrari thing. The Funk White is differnt however as isuk says it's actually not bad value considering the process involved. It has only previously been available on prestige supercars and when the 500 is commonplace it will add a bit of exclusivity.

The red is actually a similar story believe it or not. If you look at older red cars you'll notice that a lot of them (if not looked after properly) start to go dull and turn pink. This is down to the paint oxidizing which is effectively the surface layer dying for want of a better phrase. This problem has been overcome by putting a topcoat on the red base coat to protect it better against UV sunlight which triggers the oxidization hence the additional cost for this seemingly standard non metallic colour.

Shouldn't we expect a colour that doesn't fade as standard?

Yeah it doesn't fade but they only way they can do that is to charge extra for it

Ford don't charge extra for red, and that has a clearcoat on it. Pretty much every car comes with a clearcoat nower days whether it's solid or metallic.

Oh and you can have pearlecent paint on a VW fox for £350!

The VW Pearsescent 'effect' paint in blue and black is not the same treatment given to the 500 and prevously more illustrious models.

The VW paint finish involves the same labour intensive process as the metallic paint option and does not offer any additional protection.

As with most VW options it is rather expensive for what you get.