Car Colors - why are they so ugly? (vehicles, convertible, seats)
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For many long years now I have been very unhappy with the color selections of the American Automobile. Usually limited to Black, White, Beige, shades of Grey, Silver, and Red, the American roadways are filled with the most drab, boring colored cars in the universe.
Oh, once in a while there is a blue that pops up - sometimes a green. For a while there you could get a Focus and a few other cars in Cheese Can Yellow (ewwww).
I'd love to see PRETTY cars on the road. Nice pastel blues, greens, pinks! Maybe a lemon yellow or nice peach color. Why not???? Why do we have to have these horrible, nasty, boring, dull colors to choose from?
Back about a zillion years ago I had a lime green volkswagon bug. It was, shall we say, noticeable. I had it for several years and then had it painted the most gorgeous color of pinkish beige. I currently have a black car, but when the day comes to paint it, I'm going for a rich, royal purple! That should be fantastic.
Does anybody else wish that cars came in prettier colors?
I agree. We always joke about the white, silver, or gold cars in the parking lots. We see a lot in, what we call, "grandma blue". I like the bright reds because you don't see too many. Our Toyota is bright red. I don't know why so many people buy silver.
For many long years now I have been very unhappy with the color selections of the American Automobile. Usually limited to Black, White, Beige, shades of Grey, Silver, and Red, the American roadways are filled with the most drab, boring colored cars in the universe.
Oh, once in a while there is a blue that pops up - sometimes a green. For a while there you could get a Focus and a few other cars in Cheese Can Yellow (ewwww).
I'd love to see PRETTY cars on the road. Nice pastel blues, greens, pinks! Maybe a lemon yellow or nice peach color. Why not???? Why do we have to have these horrible, nasty, boring, dull colors to choose from?
Back about a zillion years ago I had a lime green volkswagon bug. It was, shall we say, noticeable. I had it for several years and then had it painted the most gorgeous color of pinkish beige. I currently have a black car, but when the day comes to paint it, I'm going for a rich, royal purple! That should be fantastic.
Does anybody else wish that cars came in prettier colors?
20yrsinBranson
It's not just American cars. Most others, too.
For instance, an Acura TL is not available in green (not that I would want a green car). According to the brochure, only 9 colors are available.
The Lincoln Town Car has a good choice of colors... 16 including some two-tones.
Going back a few decades, the 1968 Cadillac offered 21 color choices, 5 vinyl top options and an incredible 147 upholstery combinations!
I have a 1969 Cadillac data book and what was offered by that company back then is amazing. For example, you could order a Cadillac with white seats and green carpet. A Fleetwood 60-special or Brougham could be ordered with a leather front seat and a cloth rear seat.
"Expanded leather" (leather on non-seating areas) was also available (still available on some of the expensive cars today).
And a past model color could be ordered.
Example: A 1969 Cadillac could be ordered in a 1964 Lime (green) or in a 1959 Seminole Red.
There really was a great choice back then!
Many '60s/early '70s cars had nice colors. Here are some:
1970 Dodge Challenger T/A 340-6 Pack
Thanks for this observation! I've noticed that all new cars are light bronze, silver, bronze-silver, or silver-bronze. Every now and then a bright orange Cuda or green 442 blows by. It's a welcome relief to see the spirit has not completely died.
It sure would be nice to have CHROME bumpers and trim again. Painted cheap plastic is just....ugly. Even on the older cars with colored bumpers (GTO, Challenger, etc) There were distinct bumpers that were not just plastic covered with plastic like we have today. The interiors still had some chrome and color.
The main reason is that the buying public doesn't want a car with color. I sell Hondas and I agree that they are mostly earth tones: silver, gray, tan, black and white are the main colors people want. Most don't want even want the reds or blues. As for more out there colors, orange, yellow, purple, pink, people are afraid that such an odd color won't resell.
Because you as an individual like more personality in a color, the overall research (and believe me these car manufacturers research this) says these colors won't sell. These guys want to sell cars and aren't going to risk funky colors.
You will also find that the more expensive a car is, the more conservative the color. Almost all BMWs and Benzes are either black, white or silver. The grays and tans are even hard to find in these. Economy cars and pickups are more likely to have louder colors. As far as the Hondas I sell, only the S2000 convertible and the tiny Fit come in Yellows, oranges and bright blues. The Civic has a brighter blue too, but the rest of the lineup is pretty conservative.
Color is hard to resell, so people avoid it. Many people also don't care about cars, they see them as appliances, and like appliances, they are neutral colored. "Fun" cars can be had in colorful paints, but you won't find such plebeian cars as Camrys and Accords with decent color. Americans are also just conservative about color. Bright reds and yellows are about as fun as American cars get.
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