Think Pink

Normally it’s the female of the species who prefers pink machines, like Barbie, Lady Penelope, Mary Kay sales reps and Playboy centrefolds. Yes, pink cars were traditionally awarded to the Playmate of the Year, including a Mustang convertible (1964), Sunbeam Tiger (1965), Dodge Charger (1966), Plymouth Barracuda (1967), AMC AMX (1968) and, believe it or not, a Shelby Mustang GT500 Fastback in 1969. My favourite playmate Connie Kreski won that one. [ED: Connie is your favourite because she had a great personality – that right, James?]

As outlined elsewhere in AMC Issue #63, West Australian Tim Slako was bold enough to pilot a pink Holden V8 at that most masculine of venues, Mount Panorama. One year, 1989, two teams entered pink Commodores. Macho open-wheel star Alfie Costanzo even drove a VL Walkinshaw Commodore sponsored by Brisbane hairdresser Stefan that year. More recently were the pink-flavoured McGrath Foundation V8 Supercars that popped up at Bathurst time.

Not many manufacturers give you the option these days but in 1960 a delicate shade of shell pink was one of the 'rich new spectrum of single and two-tone colours' available for the FB and the EK series of Holdens. The range of brighter colours was possible because of the new Magic Mirror Acrylic Lacquer paint, exclusive to GM-H.
Pink was still a radical choice when Brisbane customiser Don Seaward built his amazing show car in the mid-1960s. A brave man was Seaward; even the seat cushions were edged in pink.
His rod was based on an early model Ford Customline which he transformed with fins from a Chrysler Royal, a new nose design, mesh grille, angled quad headlights and split front bumpers. It would have been hard to miss in any colour, but pink only added to the wow factor.
Seaward’s Customline was a trophy winner at various shows, including the 1966 Brisbane Custom Show held at Lang Park. The good news is that this significant custom survives and its current owner is preparing to give it a full resto.

There’s a persistent rumour that 1960s Ford supremo Bill Bourke ordered a pink Falcon GT for his personal use. We thought this was an urban myth but Ford development engineer Don Dunoon says he definitely saw this car. Bill proudly described the colour as ‘titty pink’. Don can’t be sure but reckons it was either an XR or XT model. Whatever, if it survives it would have to be up there in the desirability stakes with Connie Kreski’s Shelby 427ci GT500.
One of the first to run a pink racecar in Australia was Sydney speedway legend Howard Revell, the son of multiple Australian champion Ray Revell. During the 1969/1970 summer season his Berco-Holden speedcar was sponsored by Farley & Lewers, suppliers of cement to the Sydney construction industry. As a gimmick, the company operated a fleet of pink mixer trucks bearing the slogan Think Pink, so Howard had little say in the choice of colour. Safe to assume he copped a bit of flack when he first towed it into the Sydney Showground pits.

Revell was one of the top speedway racers, so they stopped laughing when the pretty car was a winner.
In October 2011, a very famous pink car appeared for sale at an online auction in the UK.
The Panthermobile was created in 1969 by US customiser Jay Ohrberg and featured in the Pink Panther TV series which ran until 1976. Ohrberg’s Hollywood Cars company was also responsible for several other movie and TV cars, including the 1966 Batmobile, The Dukes’ General Lee and The Hoff’s K.I.T.T.
Ohrberg sold the Panthermobile at a 2007 auction for US$143,000. Estimates in 2011 were around the $150,000 mark, which is optimistic given that the car wasn’t street legal, didn’t run, and would have required an extension to your garage. 

The most famous pink car in the world?
That would be the Porsche 917 ‘Pink Pig’ which now sits proudly in the Porsche Museum, attracting a lot more attention than all those silver cars. It was painted to resemble the diagrams of choice cuts in butcher’s shops but exactly why this was done was only recently revealed in UK Motor Sport magazine, which featured this car in its December 2011 issue.
In the following issue an email was published explaining that the Porsche Design Studio was well-advanced on a new body design for the 917 when Porsche boss Dr Piech decided to stop the project. The studio team, which included Australian designer Dick Soderberg, were so disappointed that as recompense they persuaded Piech to let them design the colour schemes for the existing 917 Le Mans team cars. The deal was that the factory would not interfere with these designs, and to make sure Dr Piech was persuaded to sign an agreement.

In other words the infamous Pink Pig was the studio’s payback for axing their pet project. Soderberg was involved so there’s now a nice example of Aussie humour on display in the Porsche museum.
With 917s of any colour selling for millions of dollars at auction, this is also the most valuable pink car in the world.