On Tom’s Pleasant Toyota Sunday we saw one car which instantly stood out from the rest. Can you spot it here, under this grey late-afternoon overcast? I think you can.
NZ Skyliner said “that orange is sheer awesomeness draped over a car”, and I agree. Toyota calls it “Habanero“. Sure makes the new Prius C stand out from the dull haze of everything else on the road, even from a couple hundred yards away. That’s a safety feature! Here’s hoping the era of beige Camrys is passing and the richness and variety of colors we love in our Classics is returning.
I have a habanero red Honda, but it isn’t particularly similar in shade to this Prius C. I’d have to say the Toyota color looks far more like a habanero than Honda’s did.
I also miss the vibrant colors of yesteryear, especially the pastel ones common in the fifties. I do not mind the blah colors that are so popular today (white, silver, etc.), but I they need a colorful interior (red, blue) to spice them up. Perhaps the pendulum is swinging. In the meantime, I am going to drive my white with red interior ’94 Olds Cutlass Supreme as long as I can.
My parents would always buy a new car in an unpopular colour to shave a bit off the price.There were. brown,beige and green cars in our garage.I always liked the black cherry 1st generation Mercury Cougar,I had my hair and nails the same colour.The 50s pastel shades were nice,I remember a 56 Lincoln in a pretty lilac on here some time ago.The 70/71 Mopars were another favourite,I’d still like a panther pink/moulin rouge Dart/Demon/Duster and Superbee..I also liked the Big Bad Javelins paint in my opinion nothing says muscle car better than orange or lime green.Today’s white/grey/silver are to vanilla for me.
How about a Limelight 1970 ‘cuda? From my vast Mini CC collection…
Yes please,nothing says muscle car better than lime green or orange
A supervisor where I work has one of these orange Priuses. The first me I saw it, I thought to myself, “Well, that’s one way to make an ugly car even uglier”! I have nothing against bright colors on cars – heck, I drive a Victory Red Chevy Cobalt SS! But an orange hybrid? Shouldn’t it be green?
Thanks Mike, you made my day. So the “beige Camry era” is what you call it in America. I like the sound of it. Over here in Europe I call it the “grey VW Passat” era. Basically it’s the same kind of strange overall automotive depression. May it end soon here too. Not that we should all go orange, but you see what I mean.
PS. Not “silver VW Passat” (like in “silver lining”, “silver hair” or “silver medal”), mind you. That’s only what car dealers will have us swallow hook, line and sinker. No, I think “grey VW Passat” is what it really is: grey, like a Communist-era suburb in Bratislava; like a North Sea beach in Denmark on a January morning; like the suit your mother made you wear in church; like your PC screen after a major system failure. Etc etc. That list goes on for ever.
LOL
…like far too many objects, movable or not, in a United States naval shipyard.
Mike, glad you liked me description of the colour! Here in NZ colours are generally muted, but there are a few lone players out there (like the Prius C). Part of our changed colourscape is due to manufacturers offering a limited palette for fleet sales. My employer’s 100ish Mazda6 wagons are all silver or blue – they’re the only colours available for fleets. Want a red 6? Great, they’re available, but you’ll have to be a private purchasor! The blues were nice though on both my ’05 and ’08 wagons. Black interiors though. All the managers at my work choose black cars – maybe it’s perceived prestige?
I like cars with decent colours – mind you, I can’t talk, my car’s white! Although it is pearl white and two tone, with silver-grey circumferencing the bottom 30cm of the doors/bumpers – kind of like a tide mark! Mind you the interior isn’t black or grey, it’s two-tone – chocolate brown (with a very subtle aubergine tint) and light brown. First non-colour car I’ve owned, it looks good but next time I’ll begetting a proper colour again…
My car is white too–I got it used, so didn’t have a choice–but I did add a red pinstripe to it. That, combined with the black lower cladding, keep it from looking too bland.
Actually, I see a lot of the Prius C’s in colors that harken back to the original Fiesta … orange, salmon, blue-green.
What? a Pruis not colored in ‘Sage’, ‘Wheat Grass’, ‘Toast’, or ‘I’m-Smugly-Superior-To-You- Light Metallic Algae Green’?
#1 reason for muted car colors is that people “dont want to be made fun of” for having a stand out car. “Ewww, you got a green/orange/yellow/red car?” comments from Valley Girls/Boys all over the US will make average conformist buy grayscale cars.
But, while conusmers want car colors that blend in, for interior decoration, wide variety of room colors are in style. Watch any home improvement show and the designer will always say ‘add some color’. Indoor paint companies have commercials promoting ‘we have your color’.