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I don't know about the 'manly' colors thing.
I've seen this car work well in strong colors (bright red, apple green) and 'softer' colors, too - some lighter grays, pale olive green, and even the ivory I went with, which (I think) was the most popular color for the original 356 by a wide margin. It also works in 'industrial' colors - a lot of silvers, greyish blues, and matte metal finishes. It even looks good beat up and weathered a little.
What it doesn't like is to be all gussied up. It gets by on its shape. It doesn't need a lot of makeup.
We call it a clean, simple shape, although it isn't really. There are no slabs. There are endless curves. One rolls into another, and then another, and another until you've worked your way all the way around.
It's an optical trick that's very hard to pull off. But, there it is in this tiny jelly bean that leaves everyone smiling. Like the Mona Lisa, its appeal is its simplicity, that somehow isn't quite so simple. We're left charmed, but we don't quite understand why.
When you try to do it up in orange tangerine flake, you lose almost every time. You're adding the unnecessary. You don't have to yell if everyone's already listening.
If there's one thing this car doesn't need, it's more cow bell.
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