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?
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).