Viola Bast vs Ruby Star

Two saturated colors that sit in the same pink / purple spectrum, yet are fundamentally different in how they’re constructed: Viola Bast on the Lamborghini Revuelto and Ruby Star (82N / Sternrubin) on the 992 GT3 RS.

Ruby Star originates from Porsche’s early 90s palette, first used on the 964 RS as Rubystone Red. Despite the naming, it was never a true red, instead sitting as a highly concentrated pink with a slightly warm base. As a solid gloss paint, its appearance is entirely pigment-driven. There’s no metallic or pearl content altering how light interacts with the surface, which results in a very even, dense color layer where saturation stays consistent across curves, edges and lighting conditions. The tone doesn’t shift so much as it intensifies or softens depending on brightness, but its hue remains stable.

More recently, Porsche reintroduced the look as Ruby Star Neo, a standard-range “special color” option for models like the 911 and 718, making it more "common" to see than when it was still a PTS only option. It sits between no-cost paints and full Paint to Sample in terms of pricing. Visually, the difference is very subtle. Ruby Star Neo is slightly darker and a bit less saturated, giving it a more contemporary feel, while the original Ruby Star remains available through PTS for those wanting the exact historic tone.

Viola Bast is built very differently. As a metallic finish developed by Lamborghini, the color contains a fine aluminum flake suspended in a tinted purple basecoat. The underlying tone is a deep violet, but the metallic layer introduces reflectivity that changes how the color is perceived. In direct light, the flake can push the color toward a more magenta-leaning purple. In shade or indirect light, that reflectivity drops away, allowing the darker base to dominate, which gives the paint a heavier, more saturated appearance.

This difference becomes more noticeable across complex surfaces. Ruby Star tends to read as a uniform block of color, with panel shape defined primarily by reflections sitting on top of the paint. Viola Bast on the other hand, will show the body lines much clearer due to the nature of a metallic paint. The flake creates subtle variation from panel to panel, especially across the sharper creases and changing angles that are synonymous with Lamborghini's design language.

Even though both could appear quite similar through pictures, especially when Viola Bast is fully lit, they separate very clearly in person. Ruby Star remains a flat, highly saturated pink with a fixed character, while Viola Bast carries more depth and variability, shifting between a darker violet and a brighter, slightly pink-tinted purple depending on light and angle.