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When did color fall out of favor?


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Was it the automotive buyer looking for more neutral colors or the auto industry trying to cut expenses? Maybe a combination of both? Either way, what excites almost everybody about old cars, even non car enthusiasts, are the colors. How sad that almost everything over time gets whittled down to the lowest common denominator.

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I hear ya! I paid 500 bucks extra to get something other than the non-colors of black, white, silver, gray, and tan when I bought my Focus. Several people have said: "That car sure is blue!" I like it that way.

Focus002_zps5c701107.jpg

Edited by Kit Basher
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I work at a place that has huge parking lots. One day last week I noticed that the row I was parked in had no color at all. One black car, one white car, everything else (including mine) was some shade of silver or metallic gray.

Lately a car in a green similar to Sublime has shown up in our lot. Dunno what it is, some kind of Japanese or maybe Korean thing. But I like seeing it.

My personal theory on the popularity of the silvers and grays is that some years back those colors were associated with Rolls, Mercedez, Porsche and maybe a few other high-end cars. Somebody decided that any car would look "richer" in a silver or gray.

Also, those are pretty easy colors to keep looking clean. A silver or gray car has to get pretty darn filthy before you notice that it is.

Metallic red/maroon/burgundy is also very popular these days. And last couple years I'm starting to see some nice rust/burnt orange shades more and more.

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In the case of black, it's part of subliminal messaging to consumers. Black, and other dark colors, are marketed to impart a more aggressive appearance to all kinds of products, especially cars. Black gives the impression that the car is badass and should be taken seriously, just like the driver. Remember that when toilet plunger-shaped  Montgomery pulls up next to you in this

f6894fc5b704701d8860b034d4af922c.jpg

he means business.

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"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black."

Henry Ford

And we're seeing that in all kinds of products, not just cars.

Charlie Larkin

Yes, other products. I got that quote from a carpet vendor. "You can have your carpet in any color you want, as long as it's beige."

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In the case of black, it's part of subliminal messaging to consumers. Black, and other dark colors, are marketed to impart a more aggressive appearance to all kinds of products, especially cars. Black gives the impression that the car is badass and should be taken seriously, just like the driver. Remember that when toilet plunger-shaped  Montgomery pulls up next to you in this

f6894fc5b704701d8860b034d4af922c.jpg

he means business.

I shivering in fear as we speak...........................

G

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The color options also used to include the interior.

I knew an old guy who had a Pontiac dealership in Louisiana right after WW2. Cars were on strict allocation (the car companies were still converting back from war production to making cars) and he was livid when a transporter pulled up. One of the few cars he was scheduled to get that month was a 4 door Pontiac that he had ordered green with a green interior. The car came in and it was green outside but the interior was red! He immediately called he Pontiac rep and screamed at him for sending him a car he would never be able to sell and he wanted them to take it back. The rep compromised with him and told him if he would accept the car, he would see that it was not counted against his allotment.

The car's wheels had hardly hit the ground when a little Cajun man came up saying "Mais, cher! I been looking everywhere for one jus' like dat!" The deal was done within the hour!

 

;-)

 

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So what should we do? Go back to tri-tone pastels? Avacado greens? Remember in the '90's when every other car on the road was teal? Or not even fifteen years ago when it seemed like every manufacturer was falling over the others to offer at least a few models in yellow? Betcha a lot of those buyers were kicking themselves when resale time came, and that special-order "Strained Pea Vomit Metallic" or "Dehydrated Urine Pearl" means their car is worth about 25% less than the same thing in a more pleasing color. 

Honestly, with all the disgusting color choices out there, I could stand a generation or two of cars done in earthy tones. It's true that there are plenty of nice colors out there, but there are quite a few nasty ones, and more than a few people seem to want them.

Then again, I don't even consider the paint color when I purchase a vehicle. Which I guess is odd, as I'm told that a car's color can be a "make or break" factor in the decision to buy it. 

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The color options also used to include the interior.

 

This is one of my biggest pet peeves!

The last half dozen new cars that the wife & I have purchased in the past 20 years have basically given us the option of black, gray or tan.

Boy, I can hardly contain my excitement!

We always try to opt for the tan if possible if for no other reason but to brighten things up in there a bit.

But of course with everything being bundled into "packages" these days, those tan interiors are only available with certain colors, because as we all know, tan does not go with blue. :blink:

I think if I have to live with another gray interior in a car, I may just slit my wrists!!

 

Steve

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Tan is the perfect color to enhance the appearance of injection molded door panels and other plastic flooflah found in today's automotive wonders. This soothing hue disguises the chinziness of interior appointments and deflects driver and passenger attention from the distinctive, hollow "THOOMP" heard when passing through a minor pothole. A red interior will only make you realize that you're really pissed off for getting suckered by the dealer's hard sell. Corinthian Leather, anyone?

Edited by SfanGoch
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The heavy duty class 8 truck market has become a "white is standard" segment, and has been for quite a few years now. The main reason, according to the sales reps, is white has a higher resale value. It doesn't fade like green or blue does and it's also more visible, especially at dawn and dusk. Companies that once purchased green trucks and lettered the doors in white are now buying white trucks and lettering the doors in green. It allows them to keep the old color scheme with a slight twist.

That's pretty much true of pickups as well. If you want a basic work truck: no carpet, no power anything, vinyl seats; it's gonna be white.

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tracker

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Hey, you've seen my cars! I like color, and I noticed the same thing as Richard at work.  Everyone seems to favor a black SUV.  Nothing more boring to me!  I've never owned a black car.  And I cannot imagine wanting a black Smart car, that's like invisible on the road!  If I'm driving something that small I want it traffic cone orange!

I bought the Tracker new. I wanted the upper level trim model, with a 5 speed and air, in a decent color.   It was hard enough finding a car with a manual transmission, and I searched long and hard to find one in either yellow or red.  Yellow won out.

My last car search, I wanted a Chrysler convertible for a daily driver.  All of them were those boring standard colors... silver, gold, black or white.  I found some low mile cars with a great price, but I couldn't do it.   Then one day I was trolling Craigslist and saw this PT Cruiser.  I hadn't even thought about a PT, but there it was!  And the photo above was the one that sold me!

Edited by Tom Geiger
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Some of us actually like the color.  My dad's favorite car ('59 Chevy Belair) was silver.  He bought it used, so the color wasn't a choice for him. 

I've only bought three go-to-work/daily driver vehicles since 1979.  The first one ('79 AMC Spirit GT) was ordered as opposed to bought off the lot.  After looking over other new and used AMC cars on the lot, I went with silver.  I didn't want black.  Dark color cars look great when they're clean...trouble is, they're never clean.  I looked at three/four year old AMC cars...the red ones were fading, the white ones looked rough, like the finish on a refrigerator (no, AMC didn't still own Kelvinator by then).  Thinking about my dad's '59 Chevy, I went with silver and never regretted it.  I'd like to have another one of those cars.

Next up, an '88 Dodge Dakota.  Those trucks were just taking off sales-wise when I wanted to buy one.  The dealer I went to had only two on the lot.  They offered me a better deal if I'd order one and wait for it.  They did a search for one with the options I wanted; the only one they found was midnight blue.  No thanks.  Now I've got to order the thing, may as well get the color I want.

In 2004 I bought another Dakota.  Again, they only had a few on the lot, all four wheel drive/extended cab monstrosities in the high twenties price range.  I knew what I wanted, again had to order it.  I initially chose a metallic beige just to be a little different this time.  Oh no, that color is only available on the extended cab models.  Again, they did a search for a truck with identical equipment.  I was willing to take one in metallic blue, or maybe white, but all they could find was a black one.  No thanks, I'll order it and wait for it.  I actually do like silver.  

My other car ('62 Fairlane 500) is metallic brown.  I don't think you could have gotten that car in silver, and I wouldn't think of painting it silver...it just wouldn't look good.

spirit79.jpe

dakota88.jpg

dakota04.jpg

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I've never had the luxury of picking a car's color, except for the one I had painted to my specifications. That was a '69 Camaro I had painted in 1978. Ironically, I painted it a medium dark metallic gray--almost unheard of in those days, and certainly not on a first-gen Camaro. I was ahead of my time. Hey, maybe I started the trend. :lol: I did get a LOT of positive comments on that car.

Only new car I've ever owned was a '79 Mustang Pace Car. Yup, silver.

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Manufacturers will tell us that interior and exterior colors are limited to keep costs down (read that as keep profits up).

I wonder what Dodge's sales numbers are for the hi impact colors on the new Challengers and Chargers compared to the basic white, black & gray?

 

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Hi all

I also miss the color and style choices of the past.  Remember when you could look at a sedan and tell the maker just by the styling?  

Last car I purchased was earlier this year for my wife, the 2 driving forces for the purchase were color and style.  A Plum Crazy Challenger was the result. Seldom see another one in the parking lot of wherever we are. 

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