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The Porsche 911 is an already exclusive sports car, but some ambitious enthusiasts aim to make it even more exclusive with unique custom jobs. A popular way to do this is to apply a distinctive exterior paint color. And Pit One Customs in Japan painted a 911 with one of the most unique paint colors of all: Musou Black. It’s the darkest water-based acrylic paint in the world. The custom Musou Black Porsche 911 is so dark that you can barely see it at night.

Musou Black paint on custom Porsche 911 absorbs over 99% of inbound light

Custom Porsche 911 with Musou Black, the world's darkest paint color, driving on a street in Japan at night
Musou Black Porsche 911 | Pit One Customs via YouTube

A common complaint about the factory black paint for cars is that it is too reflective. This is a less than desirable hue for those that want a sleek dark look for their car. The team at Pit One Customs found a solution to this problem. For a Porsche 911, they applied KoPro’s Musou Black, the darkest paint color possible.

The reason why Musou Black is so dark is that it absorbs 99.6% of inbound light, as detailed by Car and Driver. Musou Black, unsurprisingly, is very expensive. A small 100 ml bottle of the paint costs $18, so painting the entire 911 certainly will set you back a lot of money. 

Musou Black Porsche 911 looks like a shapeless black shadow

The Pit One Customs crew started with a regular black Porsche 911 and then transformed it into a goth-like car with the Musou Black paint. Even during the daytime, it’s difficult to make out the contours of the 911.

During the night, though, you can barely see the Musou Black 911 at all. Pit One Customs shot a video of the custom 911 driving around city streets, and it looks like a shapeless black shadow drifting through the night. Just about the only part of the custom sports car that you can see clearly is the headlights, appearing like bulbous eyes. 

BMW previously painted an X6 with Vantablack, a similar light-absorbing, ultra-dark paint 

Custom Porsche 911 with Musou Black, the world's darkest paint color, driving on a street in Japan during the day
Musou Black Porsche 911 | Pit One Customs via YouTube

The Musou Black Porsche 911 from Japan is very unique. However, this isn’t the first time that an automotive entity created a light-absorbing, ultra-dark car. At the 2020 Frankfurt Auto Show, BMW displayed an X6 luxury SUV with a Vantablack paint color, which has a similar dark look. Vantablack was originally designed for use as a coating for space-borne components, such as camera lenses.

By blocking out the light from the sun with the Vantablack paint, deep-space camera lenses can get a better view of distant stars and galaxies. Also, in the extremely low temperatures in the depths of space, Vantablack absorbs light and converts it into heat. This helps protect the integrity of the camera lenses and other space-borne components. 

Musou Black for the 911 is similar to Vantablack with its ability to block light. However, it likely couldn’t ever be used for applications for space components. Vantablack, for which “VANTA” which stands for Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Array, has a unique chemical composition that enables it to convert light to heat. However, Musou Black is a water-based acrylic paint, which doesn’t have the same capability. 

The custom Musou Black Porsche 911 from Japan looks cool, though. If you want to customize your car with Musou Black, then you can order bottles of the ultra-black paint directly from KoPro, which provides international shipping. Soon, you’ll be driving a haunting black shadow of a car — and possibly, freak out the neighbors too.

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