Remember when you got your first 64-count box of Crayola Crayons? After inhaling the trademark smell, your eyes were dazzled, your left brain inspired by an eye-popping kaleidoscope of colors. You never knew there were so many different shades of blue and yellow and red and green. You could draw anything you wanted and you’d always have just the right color. And when you started drawing cars – man! That’s when you’d pull out all the best hues. Never ecru or black or white or gray, though. No way! You always drew your dream cars in the brightest Technicolor hues you could find. Too bad today’s designers don’t remember those fun times.
The next time you’re stuck in traffic, look around. Check out how many vehicles have been painted in minor variations of the same generic colors. Carmakers’ color palettes currently range from uninteresting to downright depressing. The occasional vivid yellow or red stands out like a hooker at a Liberty University pep rally. Visit any car lot and you’ll find yourself awash in a sea of black, white, silver, gray and beige. If you want something a bit more vibrant, you’re probably out of luck; most car makers who offer reds, greens, or blues usually do so in the darkest shades possible. Even if you find a manufacturer willing to serve up something brighter, chances are you’ll have to special order it.
Boldly colored cars drove off the automotive scene at about the same time as bold styling disappeared into a gaping sinkhole of mediocrity. Starting in the late ‘70’s, automobiles– and their Armani-clad designers– began to look more and more alike. As the “bean counters” took over from the “car guys,” designers began copying each other and, eventually, themselves. Mass market motors went straight from bold to boxy to droopy to dull. The trend to dreary colors moved in perfect synchronicity with the shift towards dreary styling. The relentless excretion of cookie-cutter, cost-cutting crap continued into the ‘90’s and the new millennium. And now, even though fresh thinking has finally appeared on the design front, color choices are still stuck in the ‘90’s.
When the distinctive colors disappeared, they took the distinctive graphics and trim packages with them. I guess we’ve become too sophisticated to be seen in cars decked out with stripes or other graphics. Sure, there are the one-size-fits-all graphics you see on the rice burners; the ones that look like someone slapped paint on with a broom. Close but no cigar. Graphics should be tailored to the design of the individual car, highlighting its lines and making a statement specific to that model’s character. (Only the MINI “gets it.”) Think of your favorite Detroit car from the ‘60’s or early ‘70’s. Chances are it has distinctive graphics that complete the overall “look” for that particular model.
With a few notable (and expensive) exceptions, interiors are just as lackluster as the exteriors. If you’re offered any choice at all, it’s usually between funereal black, sallow tan, or death-pallor gray. Even cars lauded for their interiors use varying shades of these same colors, just in higher-quality materials, with better workmanship. Why did they stop offering the reds, the greens, the blues? Where is it written everything inside a car has to be the same color? A few cheerful colors on the inside would help alleviate the claustrophobic cave effect so common to today’s cabins. Surprisingly, the designers’ color blindness extends to their concept cars. Auto shows offer the expectant public radical shapes and funky designs– in the same four uninteresting colors as their production cars: white, beige, gray or black.
Instead of coming up with exciting new colors, car makers take the easy way out. They commission their marketing lackeys to think of exotic-sounding names for the same old colors. So now you can get Abyss, Neptune, Alloy or French Silk instead of black, dark blue, gray or beige. But as the Bard noted centuries ago, a rose by any other name is just as red (or something like that). Call them what you like, they’re still the same old boring colors that make the automotive landscape meld into a miserable melange of monochromatic monotony.
What ever happened to the automobile as a vehicle for individual expression? Where are Sassy Grass Green, Carousel Red, and Statutory Grape when we need them? Why no modern equivalents to the John Player Specials, strobe stripes or screaming chicken graphics? We need choice, we need flair, we need pizzazz! We need to bring some vibrancy back into the picture. Perhaps we should send every design studio a brand new 64-pack of Crayolas. I reckon it’s time they got back in touch with their inner child.
Yes! I’m with you on this one 100%. It’s so frustrating to be shopping for a new car only to discover that the only colors offered are 4 different shades of gray, navy, white and black. Gray is fine, but one car maker does not need to offer infinite variations of it in place of something with a little more drama. Even Mini has been heading towards more subdued tones. Check out the paint chips for a early 70’s BMW 2002 tii and try not to get all giddy… those are strait from the crayon box! Are we all too grown up these days to drive a citrus colored car? My mom drove a lime green Fiat when she was in high school, and ever since i saw pictures of it as a kid, I knew that cars should be lime green! But I can’t buy one (unless it’s a Saab 9-3 converible). Interiors are worse. How sad do you feel having to make the decision between gray and beige? Gray and beige?! You sit in your gray cubicle, in front of your beige computer, where you will hopefully earn enough money to get you that sweet gray car, with the beige interior, to surround yourself in everyday on your way to and from said cube.
I want a lime green car. It would make me smile when I look out my office window at it, parked between the “satin silver metallic” 325i and the “nimbus gray pearl” A4.
Not only is it frustrating and irritating to keep seeing a sea of drab coloured vehicles clogging up the road network it’s potentially more dangerous. Consider this – how easy is it to notice a car that is the same colour as a rainy road? From the corner of your eye, all you notice is its registration plate or rear light cluster; everything else blurs into the background. I wonder how many accidents and even fatalities have been as a direct result of today’s fashionable dingy paint jobs?
Bring back bright colours, even patterns and stripes. Let’s make vehicles stand out more. Ban all dreary earth tones.
Truer words were never spoken… Yes remember back in the 70’s… We had lots of color choices in both the interior and exterior of our rods… I had a 73 Charger SE then… Today all you get is like what was posted… The blacks, grays and beiges… Its time to put the companies back into the hands of the car guys… Here is a novel idea… Why can’t the automobile companies ask us ( the consumer ) what we want to see… After all, we are the ones partially re mortgaging our homes in order to buy the hunk of steel…
I’ll tell you what happened to the Sassy Grass Green, Carousel Red, and Statutory Grape. We did. In our rush to make cars safer and easier to operate we have added air bags, electronic nannies, etc. And to make them cleaner — well, don’t get me started on polution control, no-lead fuel, etc. We have legislated hugely increased complexity and cost to our cars. But then we want to buy them for less, relative to inflation. Car makers are forced to build to great efficiency to survive. If they can’t sell 10k a month or whatever of a particular color or design, they can’t afford to make it at a price we will pay. So, they pick the few best options and beat their suppliers down on cost utiltizing efficiency of manufacturing and mass purchases of materials. They are forced to use the colors with the widest appeal, which usually means the least offensive.
I guess if you want a bright color, you should stay away from the GMs and Fords of the world unless you want to take your car to a mod shop. Or, how about that Ferrari red?
I tossed the idea back and forth of doing my truck over in Lime Green with a black shaker, eventually settling for black…. but with a Hemi Orange block.
My beater’s a purple mazda though. :)
Remember the 1998 Corvette pace car?
http://www.rogerscorvette.com/spots/feb00/spot.htm
Probably the wildest color combination Detroit ever offered. (Yes, the wheels really were yellow, straight from the factory!)
They put THAT steering wheel in a Corvette? Yikes.
And those colors are horrendous. But I’m happy that they made them. If that makes sense.
Over the years I have owned several bright colored cars:
– light blue (Wedgewood) Mini (1974)
– bright orange MG BGT (1976)
– lemon yellow VW Polo (1980)
and currently a metallic red Mercury Cougar (2001)
I have also owned a number of white & metallic gray cars as well.
I clearly remember trying to buy a Red BMW with a pale Gray interior in 1989 (available in the BMW catalog). The salesman convinced me that I would have great difficulty reselling the vehicle! > BMWs nearly only exist in grays & dark colors (you see an occasional red one in Germany).
I ended up buying my BMW in a dark metallic Gray with an Anthracite (Black) interior. What a conformist!!
Unfortunately, he was right! The secondhand market does not like bright colored cars, and every time I have tried to sell one I have had difficult getting rid of it!
I am European, but I recently spent 4 years in the Detroit region. One day I remarked to an American friend that “it seemed to me that all American homes were painted white/cream inside with white carpets and white kitchen furniture”.
His reply was that in his first home he had fitted a bright colored kitchen. When it came to selling he could not shift his house! All his later homes followed the white/cream rule!
So there’s the rub. Resale values.
Be glad you don’t live in Japan, where it’s considered extremely rude to have a car–or anything, in fact–that deviates from the norm. Maybe things have changed, but I remember driving around Kyushu 15 years ago in a blue Galant, and every other car was white, virutally without exception.
Every now and then a bold, interesting new color comes out, but doesn’t last long. Demand for offbeat colors appears to be really low – anyone remember the 1st gen Dodge Neon, painted in Nitrous Green? It was offered just the first year, and the take rate was really low. Saturn briefly had copper metallic, but the effect was just hideous.
Wasn’t Scion supposed to offer their cars painted in primer, so you could do whatever you wanted with it? Custom colored interiors seem easy to come by – they just need stick-on veneers primed and ready to pain, so you can match (or un-match) your interior and exterior.
I forgot to add that Land Rover initially offered the Freelander in Europe in a "plum" Purple color that changed to Green from some viewing angles. I tried to obtain one in 1998, but it had been discontinued after only a year. I ended up with a metallic Turquoise color and a light turquoise/beige interior! When the Freelander finally arrived later in the US (around 2002) the pale interiors had been replaced by Black & there were no bright exterior colors.
I do miss the blue velour interior of my '88 LTD – easy on the eyes, and good for acoustics. My current car's interior has conformed – black dash and console, tan everything else. Bleh. At least the outside's a nice metallic green, with a pinstripe even! Silver and pale gold (or Driftwood Beige and Smokestone, according to Ford) ruin almost everything that bears them. And I will never drive a black car. Unless it's an 850CSi.
I'm a big fan of that "rust orange" color that GM has been offering in the GTOs and Cobalts, as it was short lived from a few other makers (I spent 3 weeks looking for a rust orange ford explorer sport in 1999 to no avail, despite it being "available", no dealer could find one in the country, nor order it) – it's nice to see it back on the mustang too. My old Trailblazer was a pewter color that wasn't quite champagne, but not quite silver. still slightly boring, although different than any car. In defense of gray though, I've got to sat that Honda's recent "graphite pearl" or "carbon gray pearl" in the case of my new TSX, is a decided break from the drab gray that dodge, nissan, and toyota have been offering recently. In the day, it looks like a gray with a tinge of purple in it when the sun hits it, and at night it looks black as hell. The best color, in my book, is that BMW Electric Blue. I have seen 2 different M3's running around with that color, and one Z coupe (I think…it was a glance). I absolutely love it. It's brash, it's classy, sporty, and smooth all at once. Oh, and the bright Yellow…I'm sorry, but if your car costs under $50k, save the bright yellow for something else. I see a bunch of bright yellow Cobalts and Cavs and Neons…it's lame. but when I see a blinding yellow Lotus or a nismo'd out Z, I smile – that's what should be bright yellow. I grew up in the 80's watching bright yellow Lambo's side-by-side with red Ferrari's in all the movies and magazines…I can't stand to see a junky econobox in either color.
As a fellow piston head, Im in agreement. As an artist, doubly so. However, I am a business man as well, and I would like to point out what a lot of people have touched on, but net yet stated: car makers ARE putting out cars with new colors. People just aren't buying them. The car makers shouldn't be put to fault for what is essentialy the powers of the free market. If people aren't buying them, then why should they spend all the money making them? Are we trying to say we should force cornflower blue and lemon yellow on people because its for their own good? Rubbish! Ford Mustangs this model year come in this really cool shade of green called Legend Lime Green Metallic. Its a great shade, new, inspiring and one Ive never seen before on anything else…except back in 1965 Mustangs. This color won't last either, because I hardly ever see that green on every Mustang I see on the road. If the market continously ignores the new colors car makers are trying out, they won't make them. They'll just make everything silver or black…like everyone seems to want these days.
As far as interiors go, there's only a few that aren't an affront to the right side of your brain. VW has that super cool plaid in the new GTI, and Subaru's got that full on bright blue assualt inside the STi. That's all I can think of off-hand. Oh, and baseball glove leather in the Audi TT. That was cool.
Car colors are like skirt lengths and necktie widths, i.e. they go in cycles of fashion. For example, back in the 80's, primary colors were big, starting in the 90's we began seeing other colors (forest green, for example, which was almost impossible to find in the 80's.) Lately I've seen a lot of pastel-toned blues, tans, and olive greens, and my current favorite, which is the bright orange metalflake that some car makers are offering (I've seen Ford and Chevy trucks from the past 5 years or so painted in this color, and I know that Honda, at least, makes the Element in a bright orange.) I've also seen about 10 variations of green, from light olive to dark hunter green, and some of these are stunning (Chevy in particular had a gorgeous green a few years ago.) Deep reds also look great in the metallic paint that comes standard with most cars today. The one color I'm getting tired of seeing is silver, which if you think about it is really just a shiny version of gray. When I shop for used cars online it seems like a staggering number of them are silver. But for all this color talk, we have to admit that to most people a car is an appliance and nothing more, so you can't blame the manufacturers for offering them in appliance colors. Plus, since most people buy off the lot, rather than order their vehicles, a dealer has the best chance of making a sale by appealing to the greatest number of people. As for the interiors, I couldn't disagree more. When I see a car from the 70's with a red or green interior, I laugh. "Huggy Bear" might want to have a pimp-red interior in his car, but I sure as hell don't. Would you paint your living room in blood red or avocado green, from the carpet to the ceiling? For those of us who do a lot of commuting, our car is our virtual "living room" and like a living room we want comfort, not bold colors.
as far as interiors that aren't an affront to the right side of your brain, VW has that uber-cool plaid in the new GTI, and Subaru has that total bright blue assualt in the STi. That's about all I can think of. Oh, and that baseball glove leather in the Audi TT. That was cool.
I don't fully agree with this. While the "drab" colors do seem to be more "sophisticated" there are plenty of brighter colors. For example see my latest car at: http://www.alanp.com/pics/blue2sm.jpg I decided after 2 silver cars to go to a true COLOR. Even though I'm nearing the 6th decade of my life, there's no reason to be boring. And while I've had my share of pigment challenged vehicles, I've also had a couple of RED cars, and some other pretty bright colors. Only real "color" I've never had and never want is black.
Some car manufacturers offer some different colors but not many. Mazda offers some unusual colors such as Phantom Blue on the RX-8 or Black Cherry on the Mazda 6 (exclusive color on the 05 RX-8). VW has the bright green on the Beetle. If nothing else car manufacturers should offer different exterior/interior colors for ordered cars. I’d bet most Mini’s are done that way. Mini by far has the best customization of any car I’ve seen and they sell lot hotcakes. Two-tone interiors with color inserts look fantastic.
I dig primer gray…. like the 1955 Chevy in movie Two-Lane Blacktop. Simple, low maintenance, and easy to touch up. Look for this paint job at a BMW dealer in the future with their upcoming matte finishes.
My first car was so ugly, we sprayed it in Lysol. Didn't help.
After owning a black Mercedes I wanted something much easier to keep clean. Sure, black looks great when freshly washed and waxed but the dust and rain spots soon spoil the show. I ended up purchasing a bright yellow Mitsubishi Lancer and I couldn't be happier (nicer colour and a higher quality car). Here it was one of the few models available in anything other than black/white/grey/red and even then I had to buy an upgraded model to get it. I remember an aquaintance screwing up his face and telling me "no one will ever buy it from you" when told of my intention to buy a yellow car. We are surrounded by a sea of mediocre colours and it's refreshing to see another bright yellow / green / red car on the road. It's much easier to keep clean and doesn't have to be washed every weekend to keep looking good. Alas, even though bright coloured cars are more visible on the road it didn't stop another car rear ending my stationary vehicle at a set of red lights. The attending police officer said "I can't believe he didn't see a bright yellow car on a sunny day" :-P
Hmm . . . taking stock, my cars have been brown, beige, not-quite-maroon, dark blue, beige (but darker than the last beige), ice blue, silver, beige (again), ice blue (again), white, black, medium blue, silver (again), and hunter green. Let's have a little hope, though; burnt orange has been on several color palettes for the last five years or so.
In defense of gray in general…I have to say I love the look of the recent "graphite pearl" from Honda, or in my case "carbon gray pearl" on my new TSX…has a metallic gray-purple sheen to it in the sunlight, and it's dark charcoal looking at night. Definitely classy, not drab in the least. Much better than the flat grays that nissan, dodge, and toyota have been using. I'm also a big fan of the rust orange that seems to come and go – Chevy recently used it on the cobalts and gto's, and a few nissan's had it, ford killed it except for the mustang. The best, though, is the BMW Electric Blue that I've seen on a few M3's and a Z. It's sporty and brash yet classy and distinctive all at the same time. I love it. One thing though – I can't stand these bright yellow cobalts and neons – to me, bright yellow is reserved for speed and style – a car that costs over $50k. Not some econobox piece of plastic. It's cool on a fully nismo'd out Z, or on the Lotus I see once in a while (that most certainly belongs to a Penguin player), but when I see a Cobalt sputtering along, it just sickens me. I grew up with Yellow Lambos on magazines in the 80's next to Ferraris so red that the car looked on fire, and that's what it should be – but it looks lame on a Aveo. Just the Yellow – everything else is fine. But for some reason I equate that Yellow with exotic speed.
I think the "At endpoint customization" is the cure, at least on the interior. Most cars have one or two nice bright exterior colors, its the interiors that have succumed to drab. But if the seats and trim are installed in the dealer (A'la just about everything else at Scion) and shipped from the central warehouse, you have 2 hours of shop time to create the arbitrary interior color choice.
I wonder if it's really the public that doesn't dig bright colors. I mean I see some cars offered in bright colors, but most people don't choose them. The new orange Eclipse is pretty striking. Especially the 2-tone interior. But I have yet to see one on the road. I've only seen them in black so far (driving). My personal favorite: Porshe's white with red interior. But I'm a big fan of white/tan interior, light blue/white interior… and my own dark flake green/tan interior. The last t-bird has some amazing colors. Too bad the interior is craptacular (you can pick any color as long as it's black).
The 350Z has a couple interesting shades, including one metallic brown/maroon/purple color shifter. Color is the one thing Pontiac has done right on some models. The GTO can be had with a bright 2nd tone interior (including gauges) in a few colors (including purple). The G6 is offered with a 2-tone 'morocco' orange. The G5 (meh) does at least offer bright yellow, blue, red, and orange exteriors. The most interesting change I've seen lately is some cars with a non-metalic, almost creamy finish. One was a white/cream Impala and the other was a gray Lexus. The color was very unique for not being so shiny.
Well, if you ever want to drive a colourful car, just try the VW Polo Harlekin (which went into production about 10 years ago, but has been discontinued for some time). You cannot get better ;-) http://www.poloharlekin.de/want9_10.html
That's why i only buy one color: BLACK
The comments about manufacturers needing to sell high-volume colors, resale value being low, and mini offering excellent customization all come down to the same thing: most people won't buy bright color, so the manufacturers can't shove lots of them out to lots. but if you're letting people special-order, you should be able to offer a million colors and combinations. I'd love it if every car could be configured the way Minis are.. though with a shorter wait time. I hear outside of the US, it's much more common for people to order their cars and wait, but here I guess we want it NOW.
I can't even describe how fully I agree. I sooooo want the brightest white, or a bright red metal flake paint, or some great two-tone. Mysterious black can only carry you so far.
All the car colors are BORING today with a capital B! I was just out shopping for a Porsche Boxster (didnt end up buying because the dealer would not deal and was oh so much fun) but the color selection was absolutely horrible. Sure Porsche has the obligatory guards red and they do have a speed yellow but the rest of the colors were BORING. Lots of silver and gray. Take a look: Black – black, I am thrilled Carrera White – white is white, what can I say. Guards Red – nice color Speed Yellow – nice color but could be a bit brighter Carmon Red – (very dark maroon color) Atlas Grey – Grey Midnight Blue – almost black Forest Green – almost black Lapis Blue – very dark blue but not quite as dark as Midnight Black Artic Silver – more Grey Seal Grey – more Grey Basalt Black – more black Olive Green – almost black GT Siver – more Grey Dark Teal – blueish green but is pretty blah. Cobalt Blue – nice color Slate Greay – more Grey I was looking at the new VW GTI. It only comes in white, black, grey, silver and red. Boring, boring colors. I think as a whole people have become hyper conservative about color now.
It seems that when marketers show cars in fun colors, everyone clamors for them. But when it shows up on a production vehicle, no one buys them. Honda broke their usually stodgy color pallette by offering some fun colors on the Element – I love the orange and green shades. One beef I have with Honda on this is that you have to buy a higher trim level Element to get these colors. I want one for my business, but will buy the bottom-feeder trim level – more suited to my uses – so I won't be able to choose from the fun colors.
my alltime favorite color combo is the porshe white with red interior. I don't think the boxster has it though… too bad.
You're all wrong on this one. Car colors should only by some variant of black, white, silver/gray, blue (navy, not sky), or red. Anything else is an abomination before God. (And I only include white because I live under the hot Texas sun, and because of that new pearly-white shade I've been seeing) No greens, no oranges, no "oyster" yellows, no bronzes, no browns, no Champaigns. Sorry, I don't make the rules, that's just the way it is. But Mini's can still have flags on the roof.
Do I ever agree with Frank Williams. About 95% of today's cars are boring and ugly. I made some cruiserline ventiports out of magnetic material, and stuck 'em on my Accord to liven it up a bit. I'm sure I have the coolest looking Accord in the state, if not all of New England. Now all I need is another small magnetic sheet that will say with graphic eloquence, "Dave's Rolling Cafe and Concert Hall." PS: my take is that my cruiserline ventiports are just as real as the ones on the old Buicks. After all, cruiserline ventiports are fake intake manifolds, but there are no standards for what constitutes a real cruiserline ventiport. PPS: if you are too young to know what a cruiserline ventiport is, google it.
My wife's vehicle is a 2001 Nissan Xterra in Solar Yellow. We bought it new, and the salesman was absolutely astounded that we *wanted* the truck in that colour, to the point where we were willing to wait a couple of weeks to get one rather than drive home in a silver truck that day. When we did finally take delivery, my mother asked if we'd gotten the yellow because it was the only colour available… I suppose we might get bitten on the resale, but we're probably just going to drive it into the ground anyway. It's paid for, after all. :) The best part: I never have any trouble remembering where I parked. Not, I think, something you can say if you drive a silver/grey sedan.
I couldn't agree more with this editorial. Living in Irvine all I see are variants of silver and black on every single car, truck and SUV. While I currently own a Diamond Graphite FX35, I also own a 1972 Datsun 240z that is orange. My wife drives a 2002 Xterra that is yellow, bright yellow. When we put it up for sale once, we got numerous calls specifically because of the color. Prior to the FX35 I owned a Nogaro Blue Audi S4, a Le Mans Sunset 350z, and right out of college I owned a purple 1995 Toyota Tacoma LX 4×4. I love unique colors on cars. Remember during the early 90s when Porsche advertised where they got their inspiration for their paints? Was a rather interesting period for Porsche…..
Check out the Scion xB Release Series. What they do is ,every year they release a limted production run of the car. Each one has a color you cant get anywhere and also a special option package. I own the RS3.0, the color is called Envy Green. Past cars where Hot Lava and Solor Yellow. They are deff not boring, though the normal color line up is pretty blah. http://img161.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dumpster6yf.jpg ^^^ my car check it out.
TireGuy, that Harlekin reminds me of the commercial they're running for the Rabbit (nee Golf) now. It shows a white one and a black one going into a tunnel and when they come out there are followed by white ones, black ones, gray ones, and a couple with both white and black body panels. Drab colors, yes, but a cute commercial. Kind of the opposite of the "anything but cute" Dodge Caliber commercials.
This article really suprises me as well as the comments (exception is Steve S). To be completely honest, I get the impression that its just whining…but before you skewer me for that little jab as least realize that I actually drive a Black Cherry Mazdaspeed6! What I DONT see though is the answer to the issue stated here: mass customization. —– Camrys (unquestionably ugly to begin with) in neon flame orange with the feather boa interior option just arent quite the rage on Spinnaker Way in the suburb of Assimilationville. Lets face it, a good deal of the problem lies with the utter lack of taste and style of the consumer. —– Im willing to admit that Im wrong here, but I was a custom home builder for years and I think I can name sixty different shades of beige in sixty seconds (all of which are huge sellers). Id love nothing more than to see mass customization hit the auto market and prove me wrong but I really…REALLY doubt it.
I don't think customization is necesarily the answer. The automakers provide us with limited choices for reasons of cost effectiveness. The problem is, well take interiors for example… you usually get 2 choices, and they are usually both bland. Black or Gray. Taupe or Beige. You have a choice, but the choices are both essentially the same. Bland or bland. Why not one "conservative" color and one creative option? Take the new GTI for example… your choice is black or PLAID! That's awesome, and I doubt that's hurting sales. I also don't think STi sales are suffering either, and toxic smurf is the ONLY interior option there. Those sell as fast as they can build them. You don't need a million choices to keep everyone happy. I'd even take less choice, as long as they eliminate the boring ones and not the cool ones.
Harlequin not harlekin. If you like having a multiple color disorder car (all grey if you are color blind or a dog). just go have random body parts repainted… most body shops have leftover paints… just ask them to surprise you. I know for fact that audi will paint your new car any color on their current pallet for a modest $2.5k usd. The problem here is that people want instant gratification *buy the exact car they think of the same day from a magic lot*. When they really should be sucking it up and ordering one tailor made to their needs/tastes. Big deal it takes six months to get your yellow A8L… you need to wait a few days to get a gun in some states right? Consider this a parallel waiting period to ensure that you didn't just forget to take one of your mood stabilization pills for a few days. OH and those 70's colors are horrible. Some of you lot need the cast of queer eye for the straight guy because the 70's was the time of paint the car in the color you saw the celing bleed in the 60's when you dropped acid.
on exotic sounding names: how about: 'Silvery steely icy off-white' 2 add some color(pun intended) to the boring white :P …. I bet the Japs will love the rechristening of their favorite color giving it a much needed makeover (even thoh their cars didn't get 1)
comments acting up again!…RF I know u r aware abt the problem on exotic sounding names: how about: 'Silvery steely icy off-white' 2 add some color(pun intended) to the boring white :P …. I bet the Japs will love the rechristening of their favorite color giving it a much needed makeover (even thoh their cars didn't get 1)
The new Porsche 911 GT3 RS is available in vivid orange and bright lime green with contrasting black or orange wheels. It's one of the fastest Porsches ever and even comes with a fire extinguisher as standard equipment. Although it won't be available in the USA until March 2007, you can bet the stunning colors will telegraph the level of performance of the vehicle. In the animal kingdom, bright colors often denote poison; and that characteristic surely seems apt for the GT3 RS as well. The same colors on a Kia just won't work.
That is one fetchin' shade of green on that Scion, yournamehere. I just can't help but think though that it would look really neat on an RSX or Mazda 3 as well.
The new Porsche 911 GT3 RS is available in vivid orange and bright lime green with contrasting black or orange wheels. It's one of the fastest Porsches ever and even comes with a fire extinguisher as standard equipment. Although it won't be available in the USA until March 2007, you can bet the stunning colors will telegraph the level of performance of the vehicle. In the animal kingdom, bright colors often denote poison; and that characteristic surely seems apt for the GT3 RS as well. The same colors on a Kia just won't work.
The real challenge that we have to overcome is the stigma now associated with bright colours. Many people look at a bold colour and think you're one of three things: a riceboy with no taste a fashion-obsessed girl ho thinks the colour is cute a gay man In a sense, this is really just a "safe" outlet for homophobe or racist impulses. We may justify choosing silver or navy blue because they protect the resale value, but what we usually mean is that we don't want to associate with marginalized groups. Supercar buyers don't have this problem because they use colours to set themselves above others rather than apart: a Lamborghini's neon green draws as much attention to the owner as to the car.
I think it's just a fashion thing, and like skirt lengths or tie widths, it goes in cycles. For example, forest green is a very popular color today, but in the 1980's you never saw it. To me, silver is the most boring color out there, and one of the most common. What is silver, anyway? It's really just a shiny version of gray. However, there are some bright/bold colors out there, one I've seen quite a bit over the past several years has been a bright orange metalflake. I love the color and it really stands out.
For at least the last 6 years several companies have offered a brilliant orange metallic color that I think is fantastic. It really stands out. However, it's really a fashion thing – just like hem lengths and tie widths. Besides, as cars have become more like appliances, we shouldn't be surprised at their appliance-like colors.
We're just never going to see colours such as those conceived by the late Ed "Bgi Daddy" Roth. Anyone remember that purple he sprayed on "Tweedy Pie"? I believe it was the inspiration for the "Plum Crazy" that Chrysler sprayed on the Dodge Challenger, circa 1970-'72.
Okay, now that the comments work… I think the color changes are partially just a fashion trend, like necktie widths or hem lengths. For example, Hunter green became very popular in the 1990's, but try to find a car from the 80's with that color. And as for the notion that companies don't offer bright colors, there are a few, one in particular is the bright orange metalflake that several companies, both domestic and foreign, are offering on some of their cars. I like it – it really stands out. But I also think the reason that car exterior colors have changed can be traced to the changing role of the car in society. Let's face it, most car owners aren't "Car people." To most buyers, a car is an appliance, nothing more. If a car is an appliance, we shouldn't be surprised to see appliance like colors, right? As for interior colors, I totally disagree with frank! The last thing we need are pimp-red or avocado green interiors! Ugh! Would you paint your living room, to include carpet, ceiling, and all your furniture blood red? Not unless you were psychotic. Yuck! No, neutral colors are definitely the best way to go for interiors!
Okay, if the comments are now working, here’s what I tried to say Friday night:
“The new Porsche 911 GT3 RS is available in vivid orange and bright lime green with contrasting black or orange wheels. It’s one of the fastest Porsches ever and even comes with a fire extinguisher as standard equipment. Although it won’t be available in the USA until March 2007, you can bet the stunning colors will telegraph the level of performance of the vehicle. In the animal kingdom, bright colors often denote poison; and that characteristic surely seems apt for the GT3 RS as well. The same colors on a Kia just won’t work.”
Johnny Law sure loves the guy who stands out with a brightly colored car on the freeways around here. The brighter the SUV or pickup (or , gasp, even a car!) the more likely he’ll have flashing lights behind him.
Me? I drive an electric blue MP3 protege (lazer blue mica!) or a BRG Miata, so I stick out too. And I’ve paid my local taxes as a result.
Although the focus of the discussion has become “Bright” colors, I think it’s more important for car makers to start exploring “Different” colors. Mazda’s Black Cherry is a good example of this… it’s cerainly not bright, but it’s different. I know I talked out against gray too, but when Audi came out with that flat, light, primer-like grey on the TT it was stunning, simply because no one else had a color like it.
Mazda must “get it” more than most other manufacturers. On top of the comments above, they offer the RX-8 with three interior colors, including a bright red leather.
No stripes though.
How much of this is also driven by technology? Years ago, “candy apple” paint jobs and metalflake were very expensive, but now they’ve become less expensive and are standard on all cars. Some colors seem to be an example of manufacturers putting them out just because they can, not neccessarily because people want them.
And car guys: Those of us who like two wheels have been subjected to even more bizzare fashion trends. Several years ago, Honda and Yamaha were putting out bikes with flat gray paint schemes. No, it wasn’t primer, that was the intended color (of course, they had to give it some cool sounding name like “asphalt” but it was still primer gray.) Flat blacks have also found their way onto bikes recently, for reasons I can’t understand, except maybe with so many squids out there dumping their bikes right off the showroom floor, maybe it makes the touch-up a bit easier.
Martinjmpr,
get ready to start seeing those flat blacks and primer grays on BMW’s. Bangle has warned us, it’s coming.
I am stunned that of all the subjects discussed on TTAC, this one–color, forgodsake–is eliciting the most comments. Bunch of fashionistas.
Shut up and drive.
Been on a Dodge lot lately? Look at the Charger, the tricked-out RAM 1500s and the other showcars coming out of DCX. The only thing I don’t get is why they didn’t release the Charger in Hemi Orange in sync with the new Dukes of Hazzard movie.
On the other hand, I saw the new Dukes of Hazzard movie on the tube the other night. Maybe not offering Hemi Orange was a blessing.
Hey! We gotta look GOOOOOOOOD while we’re driving!
Stephan, part of the passion invoked by an automobile is visual. It is what first gets your attention. The color of an automobile can help accentuate (or blessifully hide) its curves and lines.
Many of us do not get the chance (nor ever will) hyper-exotics, exotics, or those historical vehicles that helped the automotive evolution. We can only sit back and appreciate the visual beauty of an automobile.
The editorial is lamenting the loss of color choice for today’s vehicles. I fully understand why most colors are variants of grey, silver, white, blue and black, but that does not mean that it is right.
Would I not buy a Porsche (if given the opportunity) because of the lack of colors? No, but I would enjoy my Porsche that much more if it came in a color I truly liked.
Fortunately for me I have had the opporunity to own some great cars, both in performance and visual styling:
1995 Toyota Tacoma LX 4×4 – Purple
2002 BMW 325 Ci – Silver (very fun to drive – wish it was not in the shop 4 times in one month)
2003 350z – Le Mans Sunset (best color)
2002 Audi S4 – (AMS Chip, Intrax Coil Overs, Nogaro Blue)
2002 Nissan Xterra – (Yellow – wife’s car)
2005 Infiniti FX35 – (ok, Diamond Graphite, a little boring, but the color I wanted was no longer in stock (copper))
2000 Ducati 748 – Ducati Red
and last but not least, my project car:
1972 Datsun 240z – Orange
Nope. I don’t care what the car looks like or what color it is. Can’t see that from the driver’s seat. It really bothers me that much car critiquing these days, ad infinitum in the letters columns of the pimple books, consists of, “The new fill-in-the-blank looks likea Kia that had sex with a Gelandewagon and then backed into a Mustang, after which it was baked in an oven with an SC430 and blew a Taurus.”
This sort of easy whining is not valid criticism. It simply shows a degree of familiarity with photos of car models.
Having not much else to criticize in an era of mostly excellent cars, I think we’re too often resorting to griping about Bangle-butt this and retro-nerd that.
But then I don’t care what I wear, either. Clothes are fabric, to me, to cover my bony ass and keep out the cold, and that’s it.
I concede your points about current automobile critiquing. Styling is very subjective and the reviews should reflect that. Some may actually like the aesthetic styling of vehicles like the Pontiac Aztek. If your point is regarding the current state of reviews, I agree wholeheartedly. We do live in an age where many vehicles offer decent driving performance. Compared to vehicles 30, 20, even 10 years ago they offer outstanding performance and value per dollar.
However, what first attracts a majority of buyers to a vehicle are name brand and looks.
I believe that this editorial is more from a consumer point of view about the lack of color choices buyers have nowadays.
Ever wondered why some colors are more popular, or why some colors are preferred in some countries?
The answer is: Racing.
The traditional racing-colors for the most known countries are:
Germany: White or Silver
France: Light Blue
GB: British Racing Green (a specifik hue)
Italy: Red
Japan: White with Red “Sun”
USA: Blue with white stripes, or reversed
So if you ever wondered why a Maserati or Ferrari looks absolutely best in red, there’s your answer. Or if you wondered why silver has been the preferred color on premium cars the last ten years, ask you local Mercedes-Benz dealer about Silver Arrows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_colors
For some reason some of the comments which were posted earlier are just now showing up.
qfrog, it is HARLEKIN. It’s a German car and a German site and that’s the car’s name in German. Did you even look at the site?
I let my husband get the 05 legacy GT instead of the 2.5i because the only one they had left on the lot in atlantic blue pearl was a GT (and it was an limited edition, no less, with the short throw shifter and sub and a bunch more options than i wanted to get). So I let him spend thousands more than i wanted to spend on a vehicle just to get one in the color i wanted. Seriously. I love that color more than anything. No picture does it justice. You see a lot more of them now, but when we got our legacy, they were few and far between.
I know i sound like a total girl and a flake just because i like the color so much, but this was after spending a lot of time deciding on the make and model we wanted (i tend to be more practical than he is). But the color, that was what sealed the deal. I never get tired of it.
I completely agree with this.
One of my fondest memories so far is from a few summers ago, when my dad and I repainted my car to my ideal specifications. We replaced the stock maroon with a vivid metal-flake grass green. It was extremely eye-catching, and made me very proud of an otherwise lackluster car. Unfortunately, that fall, it met its end on the front of a semi-truck, but those three months of bright green were awesome.
I had noticed many cars are biggest terrible and ulgiest car with many silver, white and black this year. I don’t like the color’s ulgiest car. However, I do like the best in 1950’s,1960’s,1970’s and 1980’s car had various pretty colors are better red,blue,yellow,green,orange,purple,brown,teal,
turspious,gold,candy pink (fuschisa),grey,and more color selection are better than big ulgiest a silver, white and black, so we can force other poeple need to less buy to silver, white and black. So,My favoite’s color is red metallic,blue metallic,yellow and yellow metallic,lime and lime metallic,orange and orange metallic,purple metallic,dark pink metallic,tursqiuose metallic,teal metallic,gold metallic,black with gold stripes or silver stripes,white with blue stripes or orange stripes,silver with blue stripes or black stripes and cute color metallic are better than silver,white and black is strink!!