Colors 🙄 - most least popular car colors

[8E45E]

On 8/15/2022 at 9:41 PM, John_S_in_Penna said:

"Silver" is really just a marketing term.  It's a light gray.

Another shade of gray!

 

If you have ever noticed actual silver--such as on a 

polished coffee pot or an uncirculated silver dollar--

it's actually whitish with a tinge of yellow.

A Delorean would qualify as being 'silver', although its stainless steel material.  A factory finish has an approximate roughness of √125.  

 

And lest we forget the Alleghenny Steel Ford products:

 

 

Craig

Edited August 25, 2022 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[Buick35]

On 2/23/2022 at 9:12 PM, Pfeil said:

A great many cars and trucks here in Arizona are white. There is a reason 

Also, Pewter, silver, metallic gray from afar blends into the HWY especially at distance. 😉

Florida also.I've never seen so many white vehicles and I have two.A Subaru and a MGB.

[lump]

A few years back I used to lease a new Corvette every 3 years as my daily driver, and for long business trips. The yellow Z06 in the attached photo had a bright red/black two-tone interior. When I would open the door in other people's presence, they would make some wild exclamation about the color combo, and pretend to shield their eyes from the intense color contrast. I loved it. 

 

 

As a side note, for one single day, I had two Z06 Corvettes. The dealership dropped off my new one several hours before the leasing company came to pick up the former one. I made several trips up and down the road, waving at people I knew as I passed... first in a red Corvette, and a few minutes later in the yellow one. That raised some eyebrows. 😁

[8E45E]

4 hours ago, lump said:

The yellow Z06 in the attached photo had a bright red/black two-tone interior. When I would open the door in other people's presence, they would make some wild exclamation about the color combo, and pretend to shield their eyes from the intense color contrast. I loved it. 

There is that bright green C8 with a red interior I posted earlier.

 

But the McDonald's color scheme isn't limited to just Corvettes:

 

[Flivverking]

I'd say peach,untill today.I.saw a cherry very well built and detailed traditional circa 1960 style   '32 Ford highboy roadster ..driven by a sexy young women...the car was gorgeous..probably half new.

  Any car with brown fenders or orange fenders before 1936 is icky. The 70's and 80s saw a bunch of white, brown ,tan orange ,yellow ,combows...barf!

  But they can be salvage with. Black fenders.

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by Flivverking (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

Coca-Cola trucks and drink boxes also wore bright yellow and red in late 30s thru early 60s.

 

What I learned while trying to (unsuccessfully) find the exact years Coke used yellow and red: in spring you may notice Coke bottles with yellow caps. This signifies that the product inside is made with sucrose or cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup and, not containing any grain product, is Kosher for Passover. I need to ask my friends Koplen and Lantor about that, because they almost always have a Coke in hand...

 

Lantor's mama was my high school guidance counselor and even in the 70s drove a gorgeous and immaculately maintained metallic blue and white 1955 Roadmaster sedan to school. Mrs L showed a bunch of her gearhead high school boys how to start the Roadie with the gas pedal starter.😎

 

[Pfeil]

On 2/21/2022 at 6:22 PM, rocketraider said:

https://www.autoblog.com/article/most-least-popular-car-colors/

 

I've accepted that I will never understand the obsession with white, silver and gray vehicles. Boring enough on their own. Add a gray or charcoal monotone interior and it's a recipe for severe depression.

Thought the very same thing, then I moved to Arizona. I have a 2019 truck that is white and a 2012 car that is black (black really makes that car-richer looking than ANY other color that was offered. Put the car and truck next to each other in the mid-day sun and start taking temperature readings on the paint. Now you know why white is the dominate color out here.

However,

I really like this car;

[rocketraider]

Yes, but that pretty Pontiac has just enough chrome accents and colorful interior to make it look upscale, and not cheap like most modern white or other "neutral" color cars.

[Pilgrim65]

[Pilgrim65]

Apologies missed text both Mgas traditional and not , but I love both colours 

the purists amongst us will prefer the grey 😁 

Edited August 22, 2022 by Pilgrim65 (see edit history)

[DrumBob]

Being a fan of 50's cars, I hate the current bland and boring colors most people choose today; grey, black, white, silver, pewter. Awful. Horrendous, really. I drove by a local Chrysler dealer yesterday and all the cars parked out front were those awful colors. 

 

I had to buy a new Subaru Outback last summer, after some old fool fell asleep at the heel and slammed into me on a local highway. It was a great shade of electric blue, and I replaced it with another Outback in metallic red. I called Wayne Subaru in Wayne, NJ and spoke to a salesman I knew. He reeled off the colors he had available and I blew him off right away: "We have two in black, one in grey, four in white, pewter, and olive drab."

 

I said, "Thanks, Steve, but as usual, you don't have any colors that appeal to me. All you have are those standard boring colors most people want today. Thanks, but no thanks." 

 

Then, I found the metallic red one I own now at another dealership and bought that. 

 

Mazda's metallic red is beautiful; very vibrant and in your face. You can't miss it. 

 

I miss the days when you could buy a two-tone salmon pink and tan Olds, or a violet Lincoln. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by DrumBob (see edit history)

[8E45E]

15 minutes ago, DrumBob said:

I miss the days when you could buy a two-tone salmon pink and tan Olds, or a violet Lincoln. 

You can order a brand new Challenger in Hellraisin.

 

Craig

[lump]

My friend Fred Kanter always loved the Packard 3-tone color combo of salmon pink, white, and black. Not for my taste, but he liked it. 

 

[lump]

I high school a friend of mine had a 55 Chevy with original two-tone paint...it was a dark metallic color called "Shadow Gray" and a salmon pink color called, "Coral." I always wanted to "borrow" that car one night and paint the coral portion of it in that beautiful shadow gray metallic. LOL. I know, no accounting for taste! 

 

[The 55er]

There's a Coral & Shadow Gray 55 Bel Air currently running around my neck of the woods and I remember someone had a sedan in those colors a block over from where I grew up. Sharp lookers, great colors, always an eye-catcher. Would definitely be my first color choice. Why be like everyone else? 

[Scooter Guy]

On 2/22/2022 at 2:47 PM, Ed Luddy said:

I've ranted to many of my  friends about the real lack of color available for the last decade. Seems that it matters little to most people. But my friends in the used car business pay a good premium for brighter shades of orange, red, burgundy, green and yellow. They stand out and sell better I'm told, and bring more money that the sea of black, white and gray tones on most lots. The only new car purchase I've made in the last 25 years was a GoManGo metallic orange Dodge Charger Daytona in  Oct. 2005. Now I seem to have nothing but blah gray and black. I sold it 6 years ago. 

I have the same car in Top Banana Yellow. 

 

I bought it new and it was my daily driver for 14 years before I decided to get another pickup (it's basic black), but I kept the Charger and still drive it occasionally. I really like the Charger and in Top Banana Yellow it definitely stands out from the crowd. In the years I drove it daily I found that people either loved it or hated it, but oh well... 

 

The three original colors when the Charger Daytona was reintroduced in 2006 were Top Banana Yellow, GoManGo, and TorRed. I looked at a couple of GoManGo cars, too, but when I saw the Top Banana Yellow, I just had to have it.   

[28 Chrysler]

Least popular color is anything on a 1962 Plymouth but the browns are the worst.  I had a 4 door version in "Luminous Brown Poly" (medium turd brown)

[Highlander160]

On 8/15/2022 at 11:41 PM, John_S_in_Penna said:

"Silver" is really just a marketing term.  It's a light gray.

Another shade of gray!

 

If you have ever noticed actual silver--such as on a 

polished coffee pot or an uncirculated silver dollar--

it's actually whitish with a tinge of yellow.

I'll see your "...silver is just grey..." and raise you a Packard in "Steel Dust Light Polychromatic"

Yes, that was a real color. I was inspired by 2 things when I did this. The late Bob Turnquist used to bring his color book to Hershey. This was in it. Looked like Rustoleum fence paint the poly was so fine. 2nd I'd seen a picture of a Packard Eight this color, even though it was an old BW promo pic. You'd have to be an obtuse barn donkey to say it was anything but silver. For the record I'm not being that said barn donkey, just enjoying the topic. Hope it's taken that way.

 

On another note, if you just "listen" to your vintage car (original numbers aside) it will tell you what it wants to be. I have a wonderful idea for a 740 roadster too, but most can't "see it" without actually seeing it and tend to shine me on about it. 

 

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, 28 Chrysler said:

Least popular color is anything on a 1962 Plymouth but the browns are the worst.  I had a 4 door version in "Luminous Brown Poly" (medium turd brown)

How about this one? https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/stove-huggers-the-non-studebaker-forum/94401-alert-plain-jane-plymouth-values-going-up

 

Craig

[rocketraider]

7 hours ago, 28 Chrysler said:

Least popular color is anything on a 1962 Plymouth but the browns are the worst.  I had a 4 door version in "Luminous Brown Poly" (medium turd brown)

A friend's dad owned a 1950 Ford in a similar metallic brown. He always called it "s**t-brindle brown".

 

Plymouth's 1962-3 styling was "unsettling" (ok, weird) in its time but compared to some modern bars of soap they're positively stylish! In a wart hog sort of way...🐗

[Pfeil]

9 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

A friend's dad owned a 1950 Ford in a similar metallic brown. He always called it "s**t-brindle brown".

 

Plymouth's 1962-3 styling was "unsettling" (ok, weird) in its time but compared to some modern bars of soap they're positively stylish! In a wart hog sort of way...🐗

You should see some of the 61-2 Plymouth pre-production styling exercises. It's no wonder they got rid of Vergil.

[8E45E]

On 8/22/2022 at 9:37 PM, Pfeil said:

You should see some of the 61-2 Plymouth pre-production styling exercises. It's no wonder they got rid of Vergil.

There are a number of photos around of the aborted S-series line of cars scheduled for 1962, including a  bizarre assymetrical design for Plymouth with offset hood & trunk moldings, and  licence plate, with a single taillight on one side, and three on the opposite side.    Thankfully, the full-size Chrysler ended up being a carryover from 1961, and the later Dodge 880 derived from the '62 Chrysler.  At first, the entire 1962 passenger car line, save the Valiant/Lancer was going to receive all new bodies, including the Imperial.

 

Craig

[DrumBob]

On 8/22/2022 at 2:57 PM, lump said:

My friend Fred Kanter always loved the Packard 3-tone color combo of salmon pink, white, and black. Not for my taste, but he liked it. 

 

You from NJ? I go by Fred's warehouse all the time on Rt. 287. He used to have a yellow Packard on the roof. I think it's gone now. 

[8E45E]

On 8/22/2022 at 12:57 PM, lump said:

My friend Fred Kanter always loved the Packard 3-tone color combo of salmon pink, white, and black. Not for my taste, but he liked it. 

 

Here is a peach colored Packard discussed not long ago:

And more on 30's colors here:

 

Craig

[lump]

1 hour ago, DrumBob said:

You from NJ? I go by Fred's warehouse all the time on Rt. 287. He used to have a yellow Packard on the roof. I think it's gone now. 

No, I'm in Ohio. For many years I was the advertising agent for Kanter Auto Products and Performance Suspension Technology (PST). Fred and Dan and I worked closely on developing systems to monitor ad performance, and we were placing LOTS of ads in car magazines. Over time Fred and I became good friends. Our families sometimes vacationed together, and I stayed in Fred's home during business visits there. 

 

I spent many hours in that building with the yellow Packard on the roof, and in their other buildings as well. Some AMAZING vintage automotive stuff was there on display. 

[mrspeedyt]

the worse are the present color of both my bad ass prius (charcoal) and my 41 cad. (same). my favorite color for a car is arrest me red.

I also really like black. but it’s not practical in the heat. and it’s a bitch to keep clean.

So I guess my first choice will be a white car with a red interior.

(like my 63 Chevy impala that I had 40 years ago.)

Edited August 25, 2022 by mrspeedyt
I don’t know what’s up with all the underline… (see edit history)

[8E45E]

18 hours ago, mrspeedyt said:

The worse are the present color of both my bad ass Prius (charcoal) and my 41 Cad.

I bet Toyota doesn't label it 'Knickerbocker Gray' like Cadillac did in 1941!!

 

 

Craig

Edited August 26, 2022 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

7 hours ago, mrspeedyt said:

So I guess my first choice will be a white car with a red interior.

(like my 63 Chevy impala that I had 40 years ago.)

A 63 Impala has enough brightwork to offset plain white and make it attractive. Likewise the red interior.

 

I can't remember the last modern car I saw with a red interior. Or anything other than black or one of the fifty shades of gray. My 08 F150 has a livable tan interior but it's almost 15 years old!

 

I've noticed more Asian brands are using colors and adding bright trim. Maybe someone is finally getting the message.

[hook]

Did somebody say grey?

[mrspeedyt]

nice ‘63 Cadillac! amongst my favorites!20 years ago I had a ‘63 series 62 hardtop… white and black interior with a single cigarette lighter… also had a ‘62 sedan Deville. again white with a black and white interior… great highway cruisers.

Edited August 26, 2022 by mrspeedyt (see edit history)

[8E45E]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:01 PM, lump said:

I high school a friend of mine had a 55 Chevy with original two-tone paint...it was a dark metallic color called "Shadow Gray" and a salmon pink color called, "Coral." I always wanted to "borrow" that car one night and paint the coral portion of it in that beautiful shadow gray metallic. LOL. I know, no accounting for taste! 

 

Here's a Canadian Pontiac in those colors.

 

Craig

[lump]

22 hours ago, 8E45E said:

Here's a Canadian Pontiac in those colors.

 

Craig

Whew. Yes, those are the same two colors. And while my buddy Fred Kanter would love them, I'm still strongly urged to paint it all that wonderful metallic gray...or almost any other color than "salmon peachy pink." LOL

 

[Frank DuVal]

Count me in the love the salmon pink/gray combo. Several of those GM cars were still in the Richmond area back in the 60s.

[rocketraider]

Neighbors had a 55 BelAir 2d sedan in that color scheme. He was body shop manager at the local Chevy dealer and drove that 55 thru the early 70s. I remember it had full wheelcovers and always wore blackwalls.

[plymouthcranbrook]

On 8/22/2022 at 2:32 PM, 28 Chrysler said:

Least popular color is anything on a 1962 Plymouth but the browns are the worst.  I had a 4 door version in "Luminous Brown Poly" (medium turd brown)

In our neck of the woods we used to call that color sh*t brindle brown.

[rocketraider]

1 hour ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

In our neck of the woods we used to call that color sh*t brindle brown.

Ima guess guys who served in military together picked up on each others' colloquialisms. My buddy's dad in Greensboro NC (with the aforementioned sh*t brindle brown 50 Ford) was a Navy vet.

 

But polished out nice (luminous?), and with the right amount of tasteful bright trim, even SBB can look good.

 

For that matter a bleh color like the current fifty shades of grey can benefit from that. The carmakers seem to cheap out with the accents which just makes the neutral color cars look even more cheap, cheesy and chintzy.

 

Deliver us from blacked out scripts and other trim while we're at it. Life is too short to own and drive boring ugly cars.

[John_Mereness]

Greens - on late 20's & 30's cars and greeen and even if you like greeen there are a host ofpeople who quickly say discount as it is green

White - on late 20's & 30's cars and white seem to not go well price wise

Tan & Brown with Orange trim - on late 20's & 30's screams 1970's and people scream discount

Fleshy Tan - Popular on 20's cars and some 30's carsduring 1960's restorations - sort of puke colored by today's standards 

Brown's - late 20's & 30's a lot of people scream discount "Stay Around Brown"

Greys - actually not that bad a color and I hear little wrong, but for the most part the cars do not win awards at shows 

 

[8E45E]

On 9/5/2022 at 11:59 AM, rocketraider said:

Deliver us from blacked out scripts and other trim while we're at it. Life is too short to own and drive boring ugly cars.

Ever see any late 1942 cars with "blackout" trim when the government severly limited chrome??

[28 Chrysler]

51 minutes ago, John_Mereness said:

 

Tan & Brown with Orange trim - on late 20's & 30's screams 1970's and people scream discount

 

 

 

 

My 28 Chrysler was a reddish peanut butter and a red oxide primmer color from the factory with Swamp Holly Orange pinstripe. I will use Packard Ivory instead.

[rocketraider]

3 hours ago, 8E45E said:

Ever see any late 1942 cars with "blackout" trim when the government severly limited chrome??

That was forced on the carmakers by the need for war materiel resources. "Korean Chrome" for same reason in early 50s wasn't quite as basic but probably not as durable as the painted blackout trim.

 

I think they do it now just to be obstinate.