Show us a hideous car color

[Big Messer]

25 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

So again, it’s not really the color as it is that color on that particular car.

Agreed. Any color on the right car will look great. There are colors that are just not intended for some cars.

Edited Tuesday at 07:50 PM by Big Messer

[Monty]

On 10/29/2025 at 8:32 AM, iamsuperdan said:

That can be ordered!

 

[Beans]

White....and every variation thereof.  

[Zoom Zoom]

I have despised the sea of gray scale that has dominated in the past 30+ years. Yet now I no longer have a Mazda (had a white Protege5, that cured me of white on at least a hatchback) and a bright red Miata, and now have a really nice Lexus in a boring shade of nebula gray. Go figure.

I'm still a Mazda fan though, and I was disgusted when they started making (and selling very few thankfully) Zircon Sand Metallic MX5 Miatas. Saw my first one in Naples FL a couple years back, an RF retractible HT no less, it was way worse in person than pics and have only ever seen a handful of them since. Why Mazda offers only boring colors aside from Soul Crystal Red is so sad...they're built alongside nearly every other Mazda in Japan, some having cooler colors than any Miata (at least stateside). 

This color looks better in photographs than it does to the naked eye in person. It's almost okay on a CX-50, barely acceptable on a Mazda3, but on the Miata it's just atrocious. I did see one with a black soft top that wasn't as bad, the black contrast helped a lot...but still, NO.

 

[jaymcminn]

2 hours ago, Zoom Zoom said:

I have despised the sea of gray scale that has dominated in the past 30+ years. Yet now I no longer have a Mazda (had a white Protege5, that cured me of white on at least a hatchback) and a bright red Miata, and now have a really nice Lexus in a boring shade of nebula gray. Go figure.

I'm still a Mazda fan though, and I was disgusted when they started making (and selling very few thankfully) Zircon Sand Metallic MX5 Miatas. Saw my first one in Naples FL a couple years back, an RF retractible HT no less, it was way worse in person than pics and have only ever seen a handful of them since. Why Mazda offers only boring colors aside from Soul Crystal Red is so sad...they're built alongside nearly every other Mazda in Japan, some having cooler colors than any Miata (at least stateside). 

This color looks better in photographs than it does to the naked eye in person. It's almost okay on a CX-50, barely acceptable on a Mazda3, but on the Miata it's just atrocious. I did see one with a black soft top that wasn't as bad, the black contrast helped a lot...but still, NO.

 

I was looking at a Mazda3 Carbon Turbo (ironically, here in Naples) a while back but I couldn't get past that Zircon Sand color with the Terracotta interior. It's truly dismal in person.

Edited Wednesday at 01:00 AM by jaymcminn

[jaymcminn]

On 11/3/2025 at 1:18 PM, PowerPlant said:

I nominate my car 😝 most people dislike the primer look, but I dig it 😎

Octavia RS? Skodas are so much cooler than the VW products we get here in the US.

[Khils]

IMHO .....every version Ford made .... with what they termed as Coral or Salmon !!

Putrid Pink is what fits it better!

[iamsuperdan]

4 hours ago, Zoom Zoom said:

 

Weird brown Miata

 

I don't mind the colour itself, but not on the Miata. I think it suits the CX50.

 

Miata should be a fun colour. Red, bright blue, yellow, British Racing Green, etc. I'll allow white, black, and silver too.

 

 

 

[jaymcminn]

18 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

I don't mind the colour itself, but not on the Miata. I think it suits the CX50.

 

Miata should be a fun colour. Red, bright blue, yellow, British Racing Green, etc. I'll allow white, black, and silver too.

 

 

 

I'm partial to Merlot Mica myself. Just realized that these pics were taken at two different shows and somehow I wound up parked next to a red C8 both times!

[PowerPlant]

10 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

Octavia RS? Skodas are so much cooler than the VW products we get here in the US.

Correct! 😎 and I agree 😁

[purepmd]

On 10/28/2025 at 3:22 PM, Monty said:

Saw two of these in this color in a parking lot the other day.  I'm trying to imagine someone shopping for a Chevy Traverse, seeing one in this color, and saying "Yes! That's exactly what I'm looking for!" 

Meanwhile, back at GM

Looks more like strained peas and Similac in a used diaper. Despise those new colors! They create stunningly gorgeous reds, blues, silvers, even browns, and then Comet cleanser is an inspiration? 

[Zoom Zoom]

14 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

I was looking at a Mazda3 Carbon Turbo (ironically, here in Naples) a while back but I couldn't get past that Zircon Sand color with the Terracotta interior. It's truly dismal in person.

One of my old friends, also a Miata owner, his wife has a Mazda3 turbo hatch in that color scheme. I haven't seen it, they love it. One of my friends showed up at the ACME show in his new/used Mazda3 hatch in Soul Crystal Red with a manual transmission. I hope to get to take a spin in it. He practically stole it from a Toyota dealer, he had to do all the driving to even get it out of the lot on a test drive because nobody at the Toyota dealer knew how to drive a manual LOL.  I recently helped my sister shop for a new car, she got a pearl white w/dark red Nappa leather interior'd CX 70 Turbo S and she loves it. First new non-Toyota product for her (other than Mom's Z3) since the mid-80's. That CX 70 feels more like my old Protege5 than I could have imagined, weighs 500 lbs. more than the Lexus she owned previously and is now mine, but drives 500 lbs. lighter. It really scoots, and has actual steering feel. 

[Zoom Zoom]

12 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

I don't mind the colour itself, but not on the Miata. I think it suits the CX50.

 

Miata should be a fun colour. Red, bright blue, yellow, British Racing Green, etc. I'll allow white, black, and silver too.

 

 

 

Agreed. I have a few friends w/orange '19 anniversary cars. One got totaled at the race track unfortunately. One sold a vintage $400k Porsche at Monterey and bought a new Miata with part of the proceeds, his Turo rental for Monterey was an ND Miata and he fell in love with it, he was going to get a Boxster until that drive. I love that bright orange combo w/the Recaro seats.  

[Brian Austin]

On 10/28/2025 at 6:03 PM, Big Messer said:

Cars this days come in three colors: black, white and grayscale. That's it.

Wrong.  😛

[Brian Austin]

On 10/29/2025 at 12:25 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

Let’s face it.

It’s not so much the colors.

It’s the modern automobile that’s ugly!!

 

Steve

 

 

In that case in the 1970s there were ugly cars painted in ugly colors.  😄

Honestly I'm not into muscle cars and their high impact colors either.

Edited 19 hours ago by Brian Austin

[Brian Austin]

On 10/29/2025 at 7:57 PM, SSNJim said:

The problem with that is that it looks like Bubba just took a break from his angle grinder session to go get another beer.

 

On 10/29/2025 at 5:13 PM, espo said:

As a good note on car colors, I have noticed some new or late model cars with some rich colors often looking almost like a Candy type finish. Far too many newer cars and trucks in shades of Silver and Gray as well as White or Black. Doesn't seem to be a lot of imagination in the color palates anymore. 

I've been seeing orangy, coppery and bronzy colors for years.  Also browns are back in fashion along with earth tones.

[Big Messer]

25 minutes ago, Brian Austin said:

Wrong.  😛

While waiting at a red light check around you...

[Brian Austin]

11 minutes ago, Big Messer said:

While waiting at a red light check around you...

Just about every say I see a variety of colors, along with the white and grey.

[StevenGuthmiller]

11 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

In that case in the 1970s there were ugly cars painted in ugly colors.  😄

Honestly I'm not into muscle cars and their high impact colors either.

I have to agree with you on both points.

There were a lot of homely greens and putrid browns on giant, unimaginative, slab sided cars in the ‘70s, and yes, I think that many of the bright colors of the muscle car era have been WAY overdone in the hobby, and I don’t remember them being as prevalent at the time as they are today.

 

 

 

Steve

[Zoom Zoom]

I find it hilariously ironic that the color I despise on a new Miata isn't terribly far off the color I'm currently working on with a new Tamiya GT3 RS 😁

[iamsuperdan]

24 minutes ago, Zoom Zoom said:

I find it hilariously ironic that the color I despise on a new Miata isn't terribly far off the color I'm currently working on with a new Tamiya GT3 RS 😁

 

 

I've always thought that the most interesting vehicles could be painted in awful colours, and it will always work.

 

The Porsche 911 and BMW M3 are prime examples of that.

Phoenix Yellow 🤮

Whatever this green is called. 🤮

Raspberry Red

Apricot Beige

Rubystone Red

Caramel Brown

 

 

On a normal car, any of these colours would be absolutely terrible.

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, iamsuperdan said:

I've always thought that the most interesting vehicles could be painted in awful colours, and it will always work.

On a normal car, any of these colours would be absolutely terrible.

KInda like how a beautiful woman can look great in a burlap potato sack, but a $20,000 Chanel gown would look ridiculous on Rosie O'Donnell?

Edited 5 hours ago by Ace-Garageguy

[iamsuperdan]

32 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

KInda like how a beautiful woman can look great in a burlap potato sack, but a $20,000 Chanel gown would look ridiculous on Rosie O'Donnell?

 

Exactly right. And thank you for not posting Rosie in a gown. Funny gal, but no one wants to see that.

[Monty]

6 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

I've always thought that the most interesting vehicles could be painted in awful colours, and it will always work.

Apricot Beige

On a normal car, any of these colours would be absolutely terrible.

 

Hmmm, what's the best way to say I respectfully disagree?  I could see that color on a Chevette or something similar, but a Porsche?  Nope.

Perhaps my thinking is based on an event in history that DIDN'T happen:

I'll bet half of you read that in Gilbert's voice.  😁

 

[Rodent]

6 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

I've always thought that the most interesting vehicles could be painted in awful colours, and it will always work.

 

Been noticing online that a popular interior color colour for the new M5 Touring in Isle of Man Green is orange. 🤢