I know it’s a variation on confirmation bias, but I swear 86.392% of the Trailblazers in Eugene are all this color.
Are there other cars that you invariably associate with a specific color?
QOTD: Do You Associate Certain Cars With Certain Colors?
– Posted on January 16, 2020
Ford Model T black (couldn’t resist)
When I was a kid it seemed that every block had a Lime gold ’67-’68 Mustang parked on the curb.
Many have since been painted resale red, but the color was so popular Ford added it to the color options on the 2005 model.
Yep, VERY popular color in its time, Called ” Lime Gold Metallic”Had a model Mustang , AMT, Remember them? painted that color. Even had a 64 Valiant repainted that color when I was a kid. Now it seems to be any color you want as long as its white, or silver, or Ruby Red for some Fords
Yes, my car exactly back in 1979.
I found its twin earlier this year:
This color, called Lime Frost by Mercury in ’67 and ’68 and just Medium Lime Metallic in ’69, was by far the most common color for the first three years of Cougar production. I’ve had the (mis?) fortune of owning two of them.
My grandparents also had a ’69 Delta 88 Custom 4-door hardtop in the same color, complete with matching brocade upholstery. Yuck.
As much as I appreciated the heritage of it, when that color was put back into production for the 05s I cringed, and I like green.
For me with 67-68 mustangs I associate them most with dark blue metallic.
Chevrolet called it Grecian Green. I grew up in a 1968 Impala with said color, and it seemed 95% of them were painted as such. Even the owner’s manual cover was essentially black and Grecian Green.
Hummer H2: Yellow or Black. Very few exceptions to this.
Red Mazda MX-5 Miata.
I found an early Miata brochure and saw that it was only available in red, white or blue. The optional hardtop only came in red, so anyone who intended to drive in winter got a red one. At least red would be easier to spot in snow.
Plymouth Voyagers in Prowler Purple. Not sure if they really called it that, but a lot of jellybean Voyagers were painted purple when it was rare on other cars.
Was every third 1992 Ford Explorer this shade of green?
I think every other Ford from 91-97 was painted this Teal.
Or every other early 1970’s Ford LTD this shade of brown?
If they weren’t brown, they were avocado green.
Or harvest gold (ok, that was an appliance color) – Just Gold then. I even had one! ;o)
Honda Del Sol in bright green:
German cars must be silver. Possibly black. I’m shocked when I see one in any other color.
I remember these when I was a student there.
That may be because the Germans charge an extra $1,000 (WAG here) for any other color but black, silver, or white.
While that applies to sedans, sports models vary. For instance A2 VW GTIs are almost always Tornado Red.
The disgusting lavender pearl-rainbow paint on a 1996 Ford Taurus and Lincolns. The interiors were usually purple. A horrible color even on a sunny day when you can see the rainbows formed in the paint. Hideous. It was even an extra cost item. There was also a white version of this paint, but that wasn’t hideous.
Pink 1959 Cadillacs.
Dark green Triumphs.
Black Town Cars
White rental Town Cars
Yellow Checkers
Yellow Azteks
Gold-beige Accords
Dad’s ’95 Thunderbird was that same weird color. It looked like ice blue to him on the cloudy day he bought it.
What self-respecting mobster would be seen in anything but a black Lincoln.
Back in the 1957, Desoto Adventurers and Studebaker Golden Hawks were either gold with white trim, or white with gold trim.
Ok, a few were black with gold trim, but most of those I saw on the road were some combo of white and gold. A family friend had a white 57 Golden Hawk with gold fins and it was stunning; photos don’t do it justice.
1957 Adventurer:
Damn that’s a sexy shape
Wow! This car really carries the Forward Look well. Had I been around in 1957, I would have been a DeSoto man!
Here is that color.
Yeah, I think of all Ford Contours being that color.
Odd. Perhaps it’s because I had a Mystique, but I think of all of them being Toreador Red that it felt like every Ford from 1998 was made in.
A lot of it has to do with advertising of a certain model, with a “hero” color. When you see it in a commercial painted a certain color, or the show car was presented in that color, it tends to cement itself in the public psyche as the color to buy.
Almost all of the 90-93 Accords seemed to be that rosewood pinkish -purple colour, which GM and Chrysler had used earlier in the 80’s but dropped. All of the 94-97 Accords were painted a dark green or gold and then the green paint peeled off in sheets. All of the 92-96 Camrys were either forest green or gold. All of the 91-? LeSabres and Park Avenues were burgundy. All of the Volvo 850s/S70s were forest Green or a dark mallard green. I think almost all of the late Reliant/Aries were a light metallic blue. An awful lot of Rangers got painted that teal that Ford used for a while in the early 90s. A lot of the 80-84 Delta 88s and 98s were rosewood with a brown vinyl roof or light blue with a dark blue vinyl roof.
My grandmother had a 1989 Volvo 740 and then a 1996 Volvo 960 in dark green – I associate that color with all Volvos released after the 240 and before the S80.
‘Nuff said.
I can’t believe my family and I avoid having that color on any of our Chrysler products then, or since.
I believe 80 percent of fuselage-era full-size Chryslers were painted that color. There was even one – in mint condition – for sale at the fall Carlisle show in the car corral.
Then there is this one.
I had one.
I have one.
Now that is RED!
Most NAs were red. But a red NB is not nearly as common.
Of course I have no idea why. Maybe I just live in a bubble and/or drive a silver NB-1.
My old neighbors was blue.
But he spray painted it red in his garage!🤷♂️
For the TrailBlazers in question, I associate them with the dark grey color they came in, as damned near all of them in Michigan are either that color or (rarely) burgundy. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one in the light silver you show here as the lead photo. \
I will also second the yellow Aztek.
BMC Minis in BRG.
Opel GTs in yellow.
1961 Lincoln Continental in black.
Pretty much anything sold in 1973 from the Big Three in that puke green color.
Mid 2000`s Toyota Camry`s and to a lesser extent Corolla`s in champagne brown also known as Grandma Gold.
Many photographers would have you believe that all Ferraris are painted in “Arrest Me Red”.
Lamborghinis and Corvettes are one of the few cars that can pull of bright yellow. Ok, maybe a Volkswagen Beetle can get away with that color too.
Weren’t nearly all the cars in the mid to late nineties painted some sort of teal color? I had two of them. A ’97 T-Bird and a ’97 Pontiac GTP Coupe. I actually liked the color and saw a new Camry at work the other day sporting a blueish teal metallic paint that made even a Camry look awesome. Maybe the color is making a comeback!!!
On the hideous side: It seemed like when the Fairmont came out, nearly ALL of them seemed to be in a color Ford called “Chamois” – a hideous beige that was all the rage back then. Thank God my own Futura was Midnight Blue!
Boss 302 Mustangs only register to me if they’re yellow. Whenever I see a white/red/blue/green one I always correct myself mid sentence “Ooh a 1970 Mac…Boss 302”
BMW 2002 owned this color.
Sometimes that Colorado Orange color looks a little more yellow-y, for whatever reason.
That would be because the top photo is Inka 😉
Ah!
Buick and beige/tan
Every Nissan 350 ZX I’ve seen looks like this:
Add in first generation Muranos, and Infiniti FX35s. Nissan pushed that copper/orange color hard
Toyota Corollas (AE91 and up) in white; pink 1959 Cadillacs, red first generation Miatas, red Acura/Honda NSX, British racing green Morgans, Triumph TRs (2 through 5/250), Jaguars and MGBs, black Lincoln Town Cars, beige W123 Mercedes, and that beige/yellowish color on first generation Range Rovers (the early 2-door models before they got all posh).
Four or five boring colors is all you get these days. Compare that to the 16 solid colors and 15 available on the ‘57 Chevy.
2003+ Range Rovers in black.
Mk4 VW Jetta/Golf (1999-2005) in black.
W220 and W211 Mercedes in silver.
1999-2003 Acura TL and CL in green.
2004-2008 Acura TL in white, Type-S in black.
Subaru WRX and STi in blue.
I’m convinced every CR-V of this generation was this color. One time we were meeting a friend who has this exact car, and when we arrived, there were three just like it in the parking lot. Interestingly enough, our friend hadn’t arrived yet.
CR-Vs come in so few colors at any one time that they’re almost all “they’re all this color” colors.
67-68 Fords in lime frost green
70’s 911 Porsche in silver
MGB in British racing green
60s Continentals and Cadillac in black
All 90s Miatas in red
Early 240Z in yellow or orange
To name a few and note this was a time when a LOT of colors choices were available
The only other colour I can think of for an MGB is red.
It’s pure confirmation bias, but I’m sure the Subaru XV Crosstrek comes only in orange, and ’75-’82 Oldsmobiles were 75% metallic sky blue. And while there have been countless vaguely neutral car colours, VW Beetles came in a particular greyish off-white, like used chewing gum,
TAXIE = yellow
Every Silverado, Sierra was that wasn’t “Contractor White” was light blue for about five years.
Black Buick Grand Nationals and “Bandit” Trans Am’s
Red Camaro IROC-Z’s Reattas, Allante’s and Fiero’s
Chevy Express/Savana in white, except the hood which peels to gray primer.
“and “Bandit” Trans Am’s”
Savana hood peel.
bingo !
All Corvettes Are Red
At least, in the SF Bay Area – every other Suburban/Tahoe was this pewter color. It did hide dirt well, but they were everywhere!
The 1963-64 Pontiac Grand Prix – dark blue (almost black).
The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado – dark maroon (almost plum).
For more recent vehicles – a late-model Toyota Camry is almost always painted either light silver or gold.
Every time I think of a Chevy Vega I automatically assume it’s one of the following colors
or…
A Morris Marina in “Hearing aid beige” would be a pretty iconic combination. Roger Carr did a CC on one https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/curbside-outtake-1972-morris-marina-1800-coupe-super-bl-had-deadly-sins-too/
Whenever I think of a 1957 Chevrolet, I see it in Larkspur blue/ India Ivory. The 59 Chevrolet always appears in Gothic Gold and Satin Beige.
Every single ’09-14 Hyundai i45 (Sonata) is dark grey. I saw a white one the other day for what I believe to be the first time and I was shocked.
’90-94 Mazda 323 sedans are always white.
Another interesting question might be:
“What official factory color choice or combination was the LEAST often selected for a particular year/make/model of car?”
I just found this example: How many ’61 Fords were ordered in solid “Desert Gold”?
1965 Mustang in turquoise.
Here’s a 1968 Mustang in “Beige Mist”, supposedly 1 of 73 made that year. Total ’68 Mustang production was 317,148; so only 0.02% were Beige Mist.
You could also get a Mustang in pink, which just doesn’t seem right!
The Ford Aspire (perspire) was almost always that metallic teal shade.
This is my old 2000 Blazer (which I loved except for the 18 mpg on my 45 mile round trip commute). I think every Blazer ever sold was the same dark blue, but I liked the color anyway.
I loved that color. And those wheels! One of my favorite wheels of all time for a stock rim.
My own (well, the ex’s) S-10 was in that color…
Down here 8 out of 10 cars are white and almost all of our Nissan zamyads are blue.
I see a lot of 1st generation Chevrolet TrailBlazers in white, especially the LS trim models.
86.392% of the Trailblazers in Phoenix are white. Most of the remainder are in this pewter color, with a handful of Arrest-me Red, dark blue, olive green or bottle green. I liked the bottle green, but they are rare.
Datsun 510 in Baby-poop yellow.
Checker Marathon in yellow. Duh. lol
Pintos and Mustang IIs in goldenrod yellow
Some of the best early Ford Ranger images were of the red and white two tone version with these attractive alloy wheels.
Renault made the right early marketing imagery decision when they gave the Fuego its best look in silver with these handsome wheels.
The Daytona Turbo Z looked its most memorable in this two tone with the Pizza wheels.
Yes. The second generation Honda Odyssey, tan!
Buick century.
They were all either grandpa gold, senility silver, or where-am-I-white.
Lol just got my Grandfather’s Buick Century……. in Grandpa Gold. And yes I associated that color with this and most Buick’s from the 90’s and up.
Pic didn’t load 😬
90 percent of the Kia Souls I see are this shade of green. This is true in multiple different cities, not just where I live.
Chevy Tahoes and Subs-White.
Escalades-black.
GMC Envoy-Black
Chevy Trailblazer- Dark gray.
Nissan Sentra and Altima- Dark Gray.
Nissan Murano- white.
Charger from 2006 to now- Black.
300-White or black.
Ram 1500-black
Silverado-1500- silver.
F150-White.
Vw Type 1 Beetle (red)
Kia Soul (light, metallic green)
Lamborghini Urus (bright yellow)
Any old Ferrari (red) Can’t belive no one else said that yet!
Tesla Model X (white) I know that isn’t the only color they come in, but when I go to Atlanta, that is the only color I see.
BTW, Rick, the secong-gen Honda Odyssey isn’t tan. It’s gold. I know because we have one.
I’ve always assciated the color white with Cadillacs!!!
Alfas are red. Just are. It’s the law.
Audi, BMW and VW Golf, in fact most things German, in silver/grey/dismal metallics. 86.392% of then, IIRC.
It was popular on all VWs back then but the Polo was omnipresent in this metallic green. Started becoming rare now.
1992-97 Pontiac Bonnevilles were all forest green with beige interiors, and oftentimes gold pinstripes and badges.
Audi A4 – Silvercar. For all my rentals, where available.
German cars tend to be in silver, for historic reasons, one could argue…
However, my ‘96 A4 was dark blue metallic.