There are a lot of white and silver cars out there nowadays. Those two colors are far and away the most popular choices in the US, and their popularity does not seem to be waning. It seems as though the number of shades available on new cars is at an all-time low. It’s all rather sad. After all, the world needs color. Interior trim options, fortunately, are increasing as two- and three-tone interior color schemes become more common. But although sometimes it seems it, not every car that left a factory over the past decade has been painted refrigerator white or fancy refrigerator silver. When a conversation I had the other day turned to favorite paint colors, the first few examples that came to mind were modern cars.
The Volvo S60 Polestar, the performance variant of the latest S60, has this as its hero color. You can’t miss it, and it may well be the brightest blue I’ve ever seen.
One color that I love both in isolation and in application is the new Regal Peacock shade available on the Holden VF Commodore and the 2015 Chevrolet SS. A deep, lustrous green, it changes depending on the light. This picture doesn’t do it justice, but it was the best one I could find. It looks great on a high-end Calais, but I feel like this is a color that could work on any number of cars.
Holden has developed quite a few beautiful paint colors. This is called Poison Ivy, and was available on performance variants of the VE Commodore. It was also briefly available on the Cruze, but it looked odd on that.
It is somewhat similar, in certain lights, to the Lime Rock Metallic available on the C7 Corvette. How I would love to have a C7 in Lime Rock with the saddle leather interior!
Turismo Blue was a gorgeous color available on the VZ Commodore…
photo courtesy Carstalker
…and this is the unmistakable Morpheus Purple.
I’m sure you all will cite numerous colors of older cars, and I look forward to seeing them, but allow me to be the first to put forward this classic paintjob: Ruidoso Brown over Western Saddle Firemist. It was available on the Cadillac Seville Elegante in 1978, as was a similarly striking Platinum Metallic and Sable Black two-tone paintjob. I know brown doesn’t have many fans as a paint color, but I am definitely a fan.
Brown seems to be making a return, and it seems as though its resurgence started with the Buick Enclave. Now, it’s spread to Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and many others.
So many beautiful paintjobs, I didn’t even get around to mentioning British Racing Green, Plum Crazy or Grabber Blue! What are your favorite factory paint colors?
I always liked the paint job on the Triumph factory TRS cars that raced at LeMans.
BRG with yellow mouth.
I too am pretty tired of non-colors on new cars. I drive by a big M-B dealership on my commute and they have them displayed in rows: blackblackblackblack silversilversilversilver whitewhitewhitewhite
Call me biased as a Subie owner…….World Rally Blue
Even makes a Sambar look…..interesting!
I like that hue. Shame the Baja never got it.
Instead so many of them were yellow. Kind of like orange Crosstreks and green SF (first gen) Foresters.
Supposedly SOA painted up a WRB Baja as a support vehicle for their US rally team back when the Baja was new. Photos of them are rather elusive.
The yellow works on those well enough. The brick red and steely blue grey too. Im still baffled at how those didn’t take off. A car/truck blend that can do a little of everything with available turbo/manual trans…whats NOT to like?
1966-?, Ford Emberglow–deep but mellow shade of orange metallic looked great on a Galaxie 7 Litre with a matching interior; also great on mustangs
2011-12, Mustang Yellow Blaze Metallic (also seen on Focii)– a gold/yellow shade with metallic and pearl. I REALLY wanted a GT with spoiler delete and brembo brake package smoked wheels with this color
2011-Present, Mustang Grabber Blue–Looks really interesting with the available red GT500 stripes and red interior–sure to grab some attention at a car show.
2009 Porsche 911 in Racing Green, a metallic dark green—would have to have the saddle leather
The Emberglow ’66 7 Litre is one of the last really classic Galaxies in my opinion
…I wanted it so bad…wife thought it was so ugly ….
I like that metallic yellow/gold. Very retro.
It would take more guts than I have to drive this color combo, but bravo to Ford for making many bold color combos available on the Mustang and Shelby
I too love Grabber Blue, and my favorite stripe combos on GT500s have red stripes, but two bright primary colors is way too loud for me. That looks like a 9 year old colored it in with Crayola markers.
I’ll just park this here.
OK, maybe Emberglow can’t make every car cool 🙂
That looks like a Maverick that shrank in the wash!
Mark 3 or TC Cortina in Copper Bronze! One of those early metallic colours that looks great when fresh and shiny, but can deteriorate badly.
There are always wide varieties of color options from Lincoln, in many colors many shades ( cheese, toothpaste, grilled burger just name a few )
Good thing you’re not the guy at Ford in charge of naming colors.
Thanks for the laugh, though.
+1.
The Blue Raspberry Metallic on 2nd gen Honda Fits sure makes me swoon!
I like seeing Tan Sorentos, Ram Pickups, and XV Crosstreks, but do think I could live with them. The car colors in the article sure are nice looking.
I miss all the green cars of the 70’s. ?
+1 man! I love the metallic puke greens from that era. So ugly theyre cool, on the right car.
Ditto. I miss my 68 Fury.
Nice sled. I have no love lost for 4 doors, but Engel-era Furies are really sharp all the way around.
Agreed with all the green fans. One more for the green party! Car colors, that is. . .
There were a lot of great colours back then. I had a really hard time choosing a colour for my first car. Greens, blues, purples, oranges – eventually went with Copper Bronze (Emberglow to you). White marked you out as a boring person with no imagination, and only your grandparents bought black – and likely had to special-order it at that.
Great to see colours coming back!
+1. I think of these as “lizard greens”, and I mean that as a compliment.
+1
Speaking of green cars of the 70’s, I’m a fan of Mercedes-Benz Citrusgrün Metallic (citrus green metallic). For the time that was one of the flashier colors on the road.
My ’06 F-150 is “dark stone metallic” brown . Not a huge fan of it but better than “fancy refrigerator silver” lol. I like it better than a lot of colors actually.
Ford has had several interesting colors lately, including an orange and gold.
My favorites though will probably always be black and red. Classic and timeless.
Ram has one called ‘Western Brown’….kind of a coppery, leather color. If the chrome is blacked or greyed out, it looks really nice. I think its comparable to the brown Ford is using.
AMC Big Bad Blue.
I just bought a used (orphan) Mercury Mariner. It’s black, with just a wisp of metallic in it. The interior is…black. Woohoo!
I like all 3 Big Bad colors, myself. Ive always wanted to have a ’74 Javelin AMX in B.B.Orange and a ’74 CJ-5 Renegade in B.B.Blue. 2 of my favorite vehicles in the year I was born.
I actually like all the Big Bads too.
My all-time favorite blue is not on a car, though it would look great on one. Candy Lightening Blue, on my Kawasaki.
My brother just bought a 1200 Harley Sportster 72 in a gorgeous blue metalflake I love this colour it’s really 70s..He had a blue Triumph Bonneville 750 in the 70s.
Make mine an orange one please though I like all3
I’m a sucker for reds and maroons, especially metallic maroons. I’m getting one of my big old Chryslers repainted in an 80’s Cadillac colour called Autumn Maple Firemist. A newer colour I almost went with is Mazda Copper Red Mica. I’ll always take a moment to admire a clean Mazda painted in Copper Red.
If a ’70 Super Bee or ’71 Cuda ever come to live with me, I would like them in Plum Crazy, Sassy Grass Green or Curious Yellow, and the Cuda must have the billboard graphics on the rear fenders.
I have two that come to mind. Ma Mopar has been on and off with my favorite color ‘Electric Blue’ since about the early ’90s. This hue has eluded me countless times: on my 2 Jeeps, my PT, and my Ram it could have been had on specimens in my price range. Lately the shade has been dormant. The Challenger and Magnum have never offeredbit, only blues that are much darker or lighter…which miss the mark. Shame, as its nearly the proper color for the Mopar ‘M’ logo. This TJ would be the perfect starting point for my dream Jeep.
The other half would be the LX Challenger in the Hemi Orange. Its darker and more autumn-y than the later orange which is more like the color of a Kraft single. This Chally looks like my dream car. The E-blue Nitro photobombing shows how nice my two dream rides would play off one another
I bought my ’10 Challenger R/T in Hemi Orange mostly because I couldn’t find a Detonator Yellow one within 200 miles without a sunroof, or a TorRed one with an auto anywhere that wasn’t an SRT, so HO was it. 4 years later, I’m not tired of it at all, and if it’s available next year, when I will start looking for a new car, I might go for it again, unless “Petty Blue”(Can’t remember the correct name for it) or Detonator Yellow is out there. I see a Header Orange Challenger all the time, and it’s ok, but not nearly as good as Hemi Orange.
BTW, Header Orange is closer to the color of a Cheeto than a Kraft Single.
My favorite factory colors?
1. Any Deep Shade of Green (like Guard Green, Highland Green, emerald green, etc.)
2. Vintage Burgundy (the picture isn’t my Mustang, but she’ll get there.)
Vintage burgundy is a fantastic colour, we got it here in Australia too.
My favorites are:
1. The bright red used on Chrysler vehicles such as on the LeBaron we used to own & current Dodge Rams.
2. Ashen gray on my Impala.
3. Any candy apple-type red.
4. Goldwood yellow as used on my 1964 Chevy Impala.
5. Rally green as used on Camaros in the 1960s.
6. Bright yellow as used on current Camaros.
7. Metallic browns as used on Enclaves, Venzas & F-150
8. I’m not a fan of blue, but Chevy has a nice dark shade available.
I think that covers it.
Green is my game, but not all of them. My own ’07 Outback has a great combination of Willow over Sage. Of the non metallics, I’m partial to medium colors mixed with white. Fiat Verde Chiaro, VW Denim Blue. The current Subaru color Desert Khaki floats my boat; it’s a very warm gray with lots of yellow in it.
Oh god I hate that color, I always think that they clear coated the primer.
One of my favorite colors of all-time was the Chevy color from the early-mid ’60s called ‘Evening Orchid’…I first saw a Chevy that color when I was six or seven. A neighbor had one that color, and I loved watching that car come down the block. Had a kind of metallic look about it, but the color just looked so classy.
One of 15 exterior colors available that year! “Dusk Pearl” was the similar color available in 1957, which was the color of our 210. “Magic Mirror” acrylic lacquer used by GM back then had a “glow” in the metallic colors.
Truly lovely.
I believe that Evening Orchid was only available in 1965 but was not limited to the full size Chevies….It might have been available on Chevelles and other Chevies too that year…….My Dad had a two tone 65 Impala 4 dr hardtop….Crocus yellow body with Ermine white roof.
I love green and blue cars. Chevy’s Synergy Green, Ford’s Legendary Lime and Dodge’s Green With Envy have been my most recent favorites.
For classic cars, a Coronet, a Charger or a Road Runner in Chrysler’s F8 or F3 Greens or B5 Blue and a Chevelle in Chevy’s Marina Blue with white stripes are my favorites. I never liked any of the Hi-Impact colors.
I was never a fan of tans or browns but when I was a kid, my brother’s friend had a root beer brown 69 Charger with a white top and bumblebee stripe that looked great.
A W123 in yellow or I think it is officially called wheat. This photo doesn’t do the hue justice but it looks really elegant on this generation.
Probably WeizenGelb. WheatYellow in English ?
Here’s a W123 in that color:
is that the same shade as the one used in the 126 in the above photo?
The W126 looks more white to me. Arctic weiss, Classic weiss. Something like that.
When I think of a W123, I think of that colour.
If you’re thinking of taxicabs, those were using a different color tone called Hellelfenbein (light ivory) in M-B’s catalogue though. Weizengelb (wheat yellow) is noticably less pale.
Love the factory brown on my Town Car. This choice brought with it a pleasant chocolatey metallic morph to them that changed in different lighting. Still to this day it has worn pretty well. When re-paint time comes I will do my best to match it…
This.
Alfa Romeo Giallo Ocra.
Never seen one in that color…. works for me. Nice change from “red”.
This. I would also love a Giulia Super in that color. My current dream car actually.
Ford has had a series of rich dark reds over the years. This is the 08 Taurus X that I had. “Merlot” with a black interior.
Saw a new MKC at the grocery store a couple days ago. Lincoln calls this “ruby red”, charges an extra $495 for it, and it is even more striking in person.
I picked Rich Bennett up at the local Lincoln dealer after he dropped of the MKC he had on Lincoln’s “date night” promotion.
Another couple was taking an MKC out for a test drive “Tahitian Pearl”. No my cup of tea, but nice to see something offered, other than black, white, grey and silver. None of the pix I found on line really does it justice. You need to see it in person.
Yes! I love that color!
I like those very light (and bright) shades of blue and green metallic.
Like BMW Fjordblau….
…and Peugeot Vert Métallisé.
I’ve seen 504’s in that color and didn’t care for it. At various times I had a dark blue and a burgundy 504. The burgundy one was badly oxidized, but I saw one the same color in much better shape. Nice colors for the car, IMO.
My 2003 Saturn L200 is a metallic beige. According to the paint code plate, the official name is pewter metallic. I think it’s meh. One dark morning I went out to the car, and it was sandwiched between a Taurus and a Camry, both of which were similar colors. I had to do a double-take to figure out which one was mine.
Mercedes also had comparable light metallic colors, like this Silbergrün.
I loved those colors. I think it was called Thistle green in the US. I also loved the Cypress green of the same era.
I quite like the dark emerald almost BRG green my Citroen is painted yeah its the factory colour my Hillman is incorrect colours for the model having been copied from a 63 Humber 80 that lives locally coz I didnt like the original grey on grey.
I always liked the Firemist paint on 60s and 70s vintage Cadillacs, and the bronze colors that Chrysler featured in the late 60s and early 70s.
William, if you or any of your readers really do like brown, you might appreciate this facebook group I’m active in called The Brown Car Appreciation Society. You’re welcome to come visit Brown Town any time~ https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrownCarAppreciationSociety/10152737715067077/
I’ve always liked blue and turquoise. Dad’s ’64 Continental was metallic turquoise inside and out.
The 2010 Fit is Sensation Blue Pearl. I had to order it, but would not take the white on on the lot, especially since the interiors are gray (but at least with a little blue accent in the cloth).
Yes! Turquoise has been another favorite since childhood. It was also my late sweetheart’s favorite color. That’s why when it came time to completely re-do our faithful old ’88 Toyota pickup, I chose the 1959 Ford shade “Indian Turquoise,” which looks just stunning on the little truck. Really pops!
Back when we were seduced by the “cuteness” of the original 2001 PT Cruiser, we made sure that we eventually found one in their darker version of turquoise, called “Aquamarine”…only offered the first year.
My 2006 Sebring Limited convertible was “Laser Red Metallic”. It was extra cost and stunning. Strangers would compliment me. Let’s not forget Maverick’s great colors, including “Thanks Vermilion”! My first car was a ’68 Mustang in “Gulfstream Aqua” She was a stripper–not even tinted glass, yet the color made her look deluxe.
Every early 70s high impact color on Dodges and Plymouths.
This in particular
I think Im the only Mopar freak in the world who isn’t much into Plum Crazy. Sublime, on the other hand…..YES please!
Blasphemy lol
I don’t hate sublime but it’s probably my least favorite, I actually prefer Sassy Grass Green/Green Go. of the high impact greens. I’d rather be seen in this over sublime personally 😀
Nothing wrong with Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge. A pink Duster or 70 Superbee has been on my wishlist since I was 12.
I think the pink looks great on that car…when said car has an equally head turning lady at the wheel! Kind of like red lips and matching long red nails…awesome on her. Wouldn’t work on me 😉
I’ll back you. SubLime looks great.
I like light gold metallic ford calls it leaf gold metallic.
Vintage Plum (which is a burgundy purple, a deep red wine color) on a 2000 Honda Civic. Relatively rare color and it wasn’t offered the next model year.
Since I grew up in the 1970s, I liked the various shades of green that was popular with cars of that era, too.
I don’t understand the fascination with metallic medium-to-dark green paint with tan or brown interiors. This may be because that was the default color scheme for sheriff’s patrol cars in the state of Washington from the mid-1960’s until quite recently. I think I’d probably even prefer baby blue….
As for my actual favorite car color, that depends a lot on the car. I certainly liked my Toreador Red 1958 Plymouth convertible and my dark blue 300L hardtop. To me, turquoise looks good on 1955 Fords and 53-55 Ford pickups and mid-1960’s Dodge pickups. My new Mustang should be bright red, but metallic maroon or gunmetal gray would also do. 1957 to 1959 Rancheros should be red and white, and 300C’s or 300D’s may be any color, even white.
The best car color I’m seeing right now is on a ’66 Caddy that floats past me every morning while I’m waiting for the bus. One of the descriptions above seems right: leather with a bit of copper. On any other car it would just be brown, but somehow the DEPTH of the Cadillac finish gives it complexity.
If it’s definitely a ’66 Caddy, my guess is that is “Autumn Rust”. Also used in 1969 on Buicks as “Copper Mist” and Oldsmobiles as “Chestnut Bronze”… according to paintref.com.
i like all sorts of colors on cars. i tend to like them better if they have a light colored interior to set them off. btw i do not consider black or white or silver to be a color. 🙂
i like dark grey but only if it is set off by a tan interior. just like the look.
orange is a favorite but i would prefer a white stripe instead of the ubiquitous black.
vw had a brownish red called sienna red (sp?) for about 2 years, 04-05 i think. never very popular but with a tan interior it pops.
if it is a really bright color with depth of hue i can tolerate a black interior but my butt cannot!
Wisteria on a ’56 Lincoln Convertible, without a doubt!
+1 56 Lincoln fan here
I’d happily take a ’56 or ’57 Lincoln in any color on the chart, that lovely Wisteria included…
I’ve always been partial to the color shifting paints, like the Mystichrome Mustangs.
My brother has a 2013 Fusion painted in Ice Storm, which ranges from light gray to metallic powder blue to metallic aqua. The Fusion is already a sharp looking car, and it looks even better with the high-end paint job.
Any two-tone pattern on any late-50s or later pickup truck will always look good.
Ford “ASBO Orange” – referring to an Anti-Social Behaviour Order in the UK
The first Corvette I got a ride in was in midnight blue; it looked black in most light but if you got it in bright sunlight, oh wow! Looked like an ice cold pop sickle.
Sequoia Green, mid 60’s color from Chrysler…. i love a green car, and this color just pops, especially when offset with black vinyl.
Great New Yorker! I don’t think I’ve seen one that color.
Yes, you have.
This is the same color:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/New-Yorker-4.jpg
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CC-SM74-116.jpg
It looked almost black out of sunlight, but looked like picture above in sun – which is clearly blazing in that picture. The sun almost makes the car look two toned, as the trunk, top and hood seem almost black. I had the 1965 New Yorker in that color.
It was Sequoia Green Iridescent
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-Chrysler-300-Newport-Imperial-New-Yorker-Paint-Chips-Color-Chart-R-M-65-/261793590318?vxp=mtr&hash=item3cf41d2c2e&nma=true&si=Z%252ByBSSyTkjikOZZi5ocv6OtB5oM%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
You could not get the New Yorker in black that year.
+1. Suits that car perfectly.
+2. I think the dark Sequoia Green is a rare colour on these cars. The lighter green (called Haze Green I think) seems to be more common.
It seems more vibrant in that picture than in the paint chips, but I’m not complaining. It can be difficult to photograph metallics and capture the same shade that you’re actually looking at.
My favorite is the lime green Ford Fiesta. I owned one for a couple of years and loved it.
The bright green was eye catching and when I bought it, I thought I would be unique on the road but most Fiesta buyers it seems opted for the lime green painted one
Here is mine at work last year
Blue. Possibly any shade of blue. Beautiful, elegant, enticing…
Grey if we’re going non-colors. Or put the two together…
Blue.
Good blue. I like it.
The first gen Audi S4 came in a Nagaro Blue similar to the featured Volvo. It was ugly, and I wanted it bad.
On the more tasteful end of the spectrum, Audi has always done the best pearl. I used to see a lot of first gen A4’s and A6’s in pearl, but I’m not sure Audi even does this color any more. Saab, before going under, really nailed a lot of colors. Saab’s white was very soft without being beige. There were a few silvers and grays, and each one was unique. Even the teal, which in general is a pretty awful car color, was rather nuanced.
I’m right with you on white, silver, grey and similar non colours.
In the UK, Fords are available in Colorado Red.. Why Colorado, I don’t know, but the colour has been around for 20 years or more,. VW Tornado red is similar, if slightly deeper.
Any Ford in Colorado red with a bit of s/s trim and nice wheels has my vote. And, as it’s not a metallic, no premium!
Colorado basically means red-colored in Spanish, so it’s a bit redundant.
The shade is called Emerald Mist Green. Very subdued in low light, but given a good ray of sunshine you can see why they named it “Emerald” in the first place. It’s extremely fancy looking on round cars with few body lines and a whole lot of curves, and Nissan offered it on and off through the years until it was branded as an Infinity-exclusive colour.
Here’s an example of the “high-shine” that the paint is so well known for. It looks absolutely freakin’ amazing in the evening and under streetlights.
I also have a soft spot for Citroen’s Bleu Royale, such as came on the DS and later C3. I was introduced to this colour after seeing a Datsun 240Z draped in the succulent nightly cloth, and I’ve told myself once I get my own 240Z a combination of Citroen Bleu Royale and Jaguar Satin White pinstriping is what I’m going with.
The “Laguna Blue” offered by Mazda only on the 1994 and 1995 Miatas is particularly appealing to me, especially on the few hundred cars that also got tan leather interiors. I fell for mine and bought it without either I or the seller realizing how rare it was. It’s hard for photographs to bring out how nice the paint is, but I still keep trying …
At the time of buying several years ago, I would gladly have purchased a new MX-5, had Mazda still offered any interesting colors such as yellow or a nice blue. And I would be on the waiting list for the latest “ND” generation were it not for the extremely boring color choices.
Black cherry on a 68 Mercury Cougar.I even had a matching barnet and nails.I’m also a fan of the pink Mopar muscle cars and the big bad orange Javelins(my useless football team play in orange.
Go Browns!
I really like some of the current metallic cobalt blues I’ve seen. However, I don’t think I would want to live with that here in Tucson because of heat absorption.
Our 2009 Camry is painted what Toyota calls Sky Blue Pearl–a light blue that is inoffensive and not too bad for picking up heat. It’s popular enough that I have seen several clones of our car around town–identical Camry Hybrids.
My brother bought new in 1965 a Corvair Corsa in Crocus Yellow with a black vinyl interior. That was a yellow that I liked. The black interior? Pretty awful in the desert in the summer, without air-conditioning!
An uncle in El Paso had a ’66 Impala in Crocus Yellow and black vinyl. Neally nice color combo, but the A/C was used a lot in that climate.
I`m glad someone mentioned that generation Camry. They had a nice cinnamon red, the blue, a gorgeous darl cedar green, and a rather nice darker gold version of champagne. Of the four, I think only the cinnamon remained after 2010. All of them looked spectacularly classy on even the LE trim with chrome grille surround and body color grille. The 2012 model changeover brought a very nice sky blue with it, which I think is also gone.
VW offered a similar sky blue on the Passat for 12-13.
Volvo offered a similar color to the Camry gold on 1990s V70s called Autumn Auburn. Always liked it.
I personally always have a soft spot for a good pearl white, my favorites being GM Diamond White Tricoat (on anything with chrome wheels and tan leather, it adds $5k of class to their cars) and Mitsubishi’s old Platinum White Pearl, which had alot of gold and some silver to it. Diamantes, Galants and Eclipses were popular in that color.
One of my neighbors has a recentish cinnamon Camry SE — it’s a good color.
I thought all Camrys were white? 😉
Mum had a nice purple velvet 1300E Mk1 Ford Escort in 1973.One of my favourite UK Ford colours
And velour trim? Wonderful. Put that Slade cassette on!
She surprised me with the purple Escort after so many green cars(with the odd brown one).It had velour trim and a wood(can’t remember if it was real) dashboard I think.In 1973 I was more of a Deep Purple,Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin than Slade fan.I also had a massive crush on Marc Bolan which lasted til I saw Mike Monroe from Hanoi Rocks in the early 80s.
Those bands are actually perfect car color names. Led Zeppelin would be a silver/gray.
All the 1300E print ads I can recall featured that color. I have a dim recollection that it was initially a 1300E exclusive, at least in the Escort line, but I don’t remember for sure.
There are some really nice deep/bright blues on the market now, it’s a shame so many are limited to black interiors especially when a blue interior is offered with grayscale exterior paint (looking at you Cadillac CTS, and you Chrysler 200S, and at the Hyundai Elantra GT except they discontinued the blue interior for 2015).
Makes me wonder what market research makes them shy away from blue-on-blue when it was one of the most popular setups from when color-keyed car interiors first came to happen in the ’40s right up into the early ’00s.
Always liked the Mediterranean Blue of my ’71 Vega… pic is from early 1980 not long after I got the car (high school).
Ah, Mediterranean Blue seems like a bit of a questionable choice on a Vega. The colour works especially well on big boxy cars, where the clearcoat gets a chance to shine on all the sharp edges and really bring forth the clean lines. I always thought the Vega looked better in better in Yellow Orange and Sandalwood because of the rounded tops of the front fenders and the way the lower body tucks under. Really brings the eyes away from the questionable creases around the side windows.
Mediterranean blue was an exclusive Vega color in 71 & 72. It was not availiable on any other GM car.
WRONG.
It wasn’t only a Vega only color….. Mediterranean Blue was also exclusive to the Chevy II in 1971, some 72s could also have it, depending on available inventory.
1956 Chevy, dusk plum
2-tone 70’s pickup paintjobs really do it for me.
+1
My first car was a 66 Impala convertible in Artesian Turquoise with Turquoise interior, so I’ve always had a soft spot for that combo.
73 Pontiac Grand Safari in Burma Brown!
75 Pontiac Ventura in Lakemist!
56 Plymouth in Bryer Rose and Cream!
Ummm, I loved the yellow one.
That VZ Turismo Blue is rare to find, and agreed, it rocks. Same with the purple, although Ford did a better one for the FG: deep metallic purple (dunno about its name).
The WM Caprice also had one which is like a metallic pearl white/beige. Drop dead gorgeous. You won’t find it on regular Commodores or Calais.
The Ford purple was Cosmos, I think.
I had a purple BA XR6…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/cars-of-a-lifetime-2-2004-ford-falcon-xr6-2/
Interestingly, the BA/BF had three different purples: this one, a brighter one that was somewhat magenta, and then a very rare, duller, dusky purple. All were nice, and then the FG’s purple was a different shade I think but closest to mine.
I almost bought a BA XR6 in a deep, dark, emerald green with a black leather interior.Absolutely gorgeous!
The first one was Phantom Purple, a real surprise to see that colour debut in 2002 and it was quite popular, one of the ‘hero’ colours for the model. This was right when the muscle cars were really coming back, and the out-there colours like purple were sought after following years of unpopularity.
It was replaced by a darker, more metallic-ey purple called Vibe, then a lighter solid purple called Menace. There was also a Chromaflair colour called Fantasy that had a strong purple element, that was an expensive option ($1800?). The FG purple colour in 2008 was pretty similar to the ‘original’ Phantom but a bit lighter, I don’t think it was very popular any more though.
The Volvo in the article has always made me think that on their way out the door from Ford to the Chinese, they found a bunch of NOS Grabber Blue and took it with them.
Orange! Or red. Or blue . or dark green. As long as its not bland.
Im really partial to 2 door bobtail 4x4s with 70s era paint jobs and contrasting white removable tops…soft or hard. I miss when white 8 spoke wheels were popular too. Although, Id say make my rollers 10″ wide slot mags and this truck is 95% exactly what Id want in a Ramcharger
TVR Reflex Blue and Reflex Spice are some excellent colors. Almost custom looking pearl effect colors.
GM had some interesting pearl effect colors in the mid 2000s on the Grand Prix (a dark green/blue and a medium gold/red).
They also had a chalky sky blue on the Saturn Ion and a metallic medium blue on the Cobalt that stand out in traffic.
Chrysler had a deep, dark brown on the first gen 200 that looked perfect with the base car`s amount of chrome/satin silver trim. Even on the rental spec LX it worked.
Olds had a very, very rare color, similar to the Chrysler brown, on the second generation Aurora called Chestnut. Gorgeous. Most of the handful that I have seen were loaded 3.5s with chrome wheels, although I have one picture saved of a buy here pay here lot 4.0 with chrome wheels. It was offered in 2002 only, and from what I gather, production must have been in the double or triple digits. Extremely rare. I dream of owning a 4.0 that color, but maybe only one exists.
On a sporty car I would like the blue / orange combo of the gulf Porsche. For a daily Driver I would like the Ocra, like Johannes showed us. For a somewhat luxurious family sedan I like burgundy or forest green.
For sheer chromatic exuberance, it’s pretty hard to beat the Ford’s Boss 302 Mustang of recent vintage.
For a truly unique paint color, it’s hard to beat the color-shifting 1996 ‘Mystic’ Mustang Cobra, as well as the follow-up 2004 ‘Mystichrome’ Cobra.
The “Deep Amethyst Pearlcoat” (dark purple) my parents had on their Dodge Intrepid. Only car I ever saw with it.
Chrysler offered an “Autumn Bronze” that on the previous gen 200 that caused me to go back around the block and check it out at the dealership. Remarkable. Similar to the “Cordoba Brown ” metallic my folk’s 72 AMC Ambassador Brougham had.
Palisade Turquoise was the color of the folk’s 66 Mercury Montclair 4 door that was also lush and not very common.
There was a 71 Ambassador in the showroom when my parents bought their Gremlin and it was a metallic frost green with jade green vinyl top that I’ve never forgotten in all these years.
I am all in for the “Champagne” brown metallics and have been for a long time. That also started with the it’s us on early 70s AMC products.
Pastel yellow as offered on Chevys and Corvairs in the 60s also do it for me. the current Spark has something similar.
Silver Blue metallic as used on Saturn’s S Series and 03 ION work well too. As did Berry Red and Dragonfly Green, a sort of turquoise that was ruined by the use of a corpse like shade of brown interior that was supplied with it.
Saw a new Dart in a deep shade of burgundy that looked like a million bucks. Chrysler seems to be leading the way when it comes to non-boring colors. The Dart has a range unseen in the last 15 years.
Very true! I love that sky blue on the new Dart, it reminds me of the old Sky Bird Firebird Esprit.
Palisade Turquoise is such a beautiful name although I wonder what is so turquoise about palisades?
Ravenna Green used on VW beetles and Porsche 914s in 1974. Ancona Blue Metallic, also used on Beetles and 914s in the latter half of the ’70s – I think this color is coming back in style. Really, I liked many of the colors VW offered in the 1970’s.
I like the Cosmic Blue on my Toyota Matrix, which isn’t too different from the Cadet Blue on my 1977 Plymouth Fury.
Since we sometimes venture to bicycles here, I’ll also put a vote in for Flamboyant Red, Sky Blue, and Kool Lemon on various Schwinn bikes from 40+ years ago.
BRG- it’s almost always been the one for me, but even the Brits couldn’t couldn’t
hammer it down into just one actual shade… so when, as a callow youth, I had my 100M painted,it was actually a t-bird colour, with a healthy shot of metal-flake…
It looked fabulous! Decades later, rebuilding an old 4/4, I picked the most agreed-upon hue, with black wings. At that time, I think it was the only such in the northwest….for about a year. Suddenly a bunch, factory and respray. What?
When you have an obscure car, you don’t want to lose it in the parking lot…
So next time [the last time as it happens], I threw caution to the wind and just blended my own paint starting with something like”classic” brg and basic black for the wings, added a pinch of metalflake,and then cross-pollinated a bit. Follow that! I did save a coupla quarts of each because the paint is totally unique.
Hmmm. Toss up between Mercedes prosthesis beige and the VW Harlequin special finish.
Solid black…freshly waxed.
Volvo did a non-metallic off-white on late production 960’s around 1996 and 1997 that makes me think of vanilla ice cream…just a really soft, warm white instead of the bright, fridge white that I see sometimes.
My mom’s 1982 Cutlass Supreme was a beautiful color called Dark Redwood Metallic…sort of a maroon casting toward the brown end of things…much less purple than most maroons.
This and on that car
This on that car (Subaru Impreza WRX STI type R version V limited edition)
that is the real name for it
The one I got on my 1978 Opel Senator: Aquamarin Blue Metallic
“God never invented a better color than orange.” – The late, great Kevin Martin
“Spanish Red” IIRC
🙂
A modern favorite – the color, not so much the car.
…the right turquoise is also hard to resist. Can’t be too blue or too toothpaste-green, though.
I’ve noticed that some of what I think of as the “cute brigade” of current cars (New Beetle, FIAT 500, MINI Cooper) have some nice cream colors: a sort of minty green, a robin’s egg blue, a creamy yellow, and maybe a couple of others. They’re a nice change of pace, although I don’t think they would work on cars less retro; the white undertone needs softer shapes than the current idiom of sharp-edged compound curves.
I see a recent Kia Soul around sometimes that’s black with a cherry red roof and matching mirrors, which is actually a very sharp-looking combination. The mini-CUV is not my thing, but red over black is nice combination on a design that supports two-tone colors.
Best of all Coopers, best of all colors on a Cooper
For me for me formidable
A neighbor had a new 79-80 Olds Toronado in dark metallic gray with whorehouse red leather, no vinyl top…beautiful combination.
Lovely.
Alfa Giulia Nuova, or better an Alfa Romeo Nuov a Super as the ‘Giulia’ name was dropped with the final version of this small or compact sports-sedan, recognizable from the black grille with four equal size headlights.
Few cars look good in purple .
I have always liked the medium blue that Mopar used, B-5, however, the Fords of the 70’s with the multicolored lazer stripe down the side was really nice looking. How about the “lizard skin” roofs on the 70’s darts?
If I were to order a car or truck new, it would almost certainly be black. However, I do have a soft spot for mid-90s GM Gray-Green.
Goodwood Green Starmist on an FD VX4/90
https://www.flickr.com/photos/homer—-simpson/4990454730/sizes/l
How about a 1974 Olds Custom Cruiser in. . . eh. . . Omega Maize? Harvest gold. . .
So many nice blues!
I was going to suggest Peugeot’s Miami Blue, and while googling it found out VW also had a (different, but also very nice) hue also called Miami Blue.
Perfect, just perfect. The 205 1.9 GTI in all its glory. As you can see a hot hatch (and this was the King in the eighties) doesn’t need tupperware crap all around. On the contrary, I’d say.
VW Miami Blue. As it’s in the Golf *and* the 205 GTI, can I call it the hot-hatchiest color ever?
Honda had a very attractive bright pearl yellow on the ’06 Jazz.
Well, I’ve got a few…
Always loved the paint scheme on the 78 Corvette Pace Car… two-tone NEVER looked so yummy.
Another favorite, and I’m not alone on this one…
Who doesn’t love a Plum Crazy Mopar?
I like the Vermillion Fire that the 1971-72 Falcon GT & GT-HO’s came in, a very bright orange-y red.
Also, who doesn’t love an English classic in …
British Racing Green?
The powder blue paintjobs featured on most big sedans in the Big 3 c. 1975; jennifer and Georgian blue on the Cadillacs, Horizon blue on the Olds, etc. All except the wedgewood blue on the Lincoln, I prefer the lighter metallic and ice blue shades they offered.
1977 Buick dark green
The two tone silver Williamsburg Lincolns
The coral/apricot color on late 70s Lincolns that was offered as late as the last Box Panthers and which I once also saw on a ’58 Edsel, I think.
Aqua color from ’76 Cadillac. I once test drove a Coupe DeVille with aqua and darker aqua leather. If it’d been a Sedan DeVille I’d own it now.
There was a color chrysler had in the 60s. It might have been called “sea foam”. I do not know for sure. It was a base color consisting of gold metal flake, followed by layers of light translucent green. You could see the gold metal flake through the translucent green. This is my favorite factory color.
My Mom`s 1994 Pontiac Subird – Hawain Orchid (dark purple).