It’s been said white cars retain their value better, and reports show the color becoming more popular among new car buyers, with our own Paul Niedermeyer having recently bought a spiffy white wagon himself. If you read the comments on these pages, or in any other car enthusiast forum, however, it would appear people don’t care for the color; in fact, many of them list it as their least favorite.
Certainly, a car’s styling has a lot to do with which colors suit it best. While white is rarely my first choice, I think it looks very good where a car’s styling sports straight lines and a long, lean look. More round, curvy cars, without contrasting trim or large glass areas to break up the monotony, do not look as good in lighter colors. That is why cars like this Subaru, with its pseudo-hardtop styling and low belt line, look so good.
So what say you? Is white always a bad color? Is it anyone’s favorite color? Does it look good only on certain shapes? Is it ever the best choice for a car? Inquiring minds want to know.
Hmm. Had to give this one some thought. I’d generally prefer some pigment, but sometimes you just crave cheesecake.
Cord 810 sedan
I agree the Cords look good in white, but I’d prefer black or the maroon which was quite popular.
XK 120
Like most matters in life, there seems to be a robust divergence of opinions on this. No right or wrong answers – all in the eye of the beholder.
Partial to dark colors here, l but I have two friends (both in their ’60’s) who have never owned anything except a white car. That’s probably 25 cars between them. They claim white doesn’t fade, but maybe you just can’t notice it as much. IMHO, white seems to work best when there is some sort of contrasting scheme (moldings, etc.) and interior. White ’60’s Impala coupes with the red interior did loook pretty sharp.
I rather like white, except in pickup trucks which just screams “fleet special”.
So, of course, my current stable is as boring as boring can be: Ranger – white. xB – black. Solstice – dark silver.
When I go shopping this summer for the new car, for the first time in my life color is going to be important. I don’t care what color, just so its a REAL color, not one of the above.
Don’t forget white Jeeps that look like mail trucks.
W221 Mercedes S-Class. Love it in white.
In New Mexico with all of the blowing dust, I prefer “old gold.”
ok! ok! ok! The one white car I had that looked really nice…looked nice because there was enough black to break up the white: black vinyl roof, black pinstriping, black bodyside moulding and black grille. The car that got me through college.
All the prints from this lab have turned pink. I have the original Kodak negatives so maybe get them reprinted some day.
Being a native n.e. Ohioan I’m not all that fond of white… especially this year.
However I have had a few white vehicles. Both my ’74 164E and my ’79 Fairmont wagon were white and were about as attractive as a refrigerator. My curretnt ’78 Fairmont 2 dr is white as well but the side moldings and the Brouhamesque red vinyl top breaks up the monotony.
Funny how all of my personal cars have been dark colors, while my parents gravitated to light colors. I can remember them always saying that white (or light colors) didn’t show dust and dirt. They had a ’59 Ford Galaxie in white with a green interior, a ’71 Lincoln Continental, white with black top and black interior, Dad had a ’64 Dodge Dart, white with black interior, and a ’73 Ford Maverick, white with the LDO copper and beige contrasting roof and interior. They also had two yellow cars, a ’63 Mercury Monterey and a ’77 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Their one foray into a dark color was a ’65 Continental, all black (and that was simply stunning, in my view), but Mom always hated the way it looked dusty and in need of a wash. I always thought the Galaxie was the best looking in white, although I have never particularly been a white car fan. I love that ’63 Continental in the first photo, though, it looks great in white. I happened to come across “Sex and the Single Girl” on TCM last night, Henry Fonda drives a ’63 Continental convertible, just like the photo, what appears to be white, or a very light beige, with a matching white or very light beige interior. Either way, it is an immediate attention getter, but then, any Lincoln Continental from the 60’s gets my attention.
The White Whale. Those of you who know will recognize this. As your attorney, I advise you to look into it. (And the Red Shark.)
My white 1987 FX16 GT-S looked bad as Hell in white. Had a blue interior. The red accent line around the whole car really stood out, along with the black accents. Bad as hell. A friend had a black twin, but the white put it to shame, imho. It was the best looking FX I ever saw.
Overall, I’m not usually a huge fan of white cars, but there’s something very attractive about the sportier versions of cars from the 1990s that are white. Often this is in tandem with bodyside cladding. Some that come to mind are the Dodge Spirit ES and R/T, first generation Taurus SHO, late ’90s Lumina LTZ, maybe a Dodge Stealth, etc. And few things epitomize the ’90s more to me than a white Pontiac Trans Sport.
And there’s something absolutely perfect about a ’79-’81 Pontiac Firebird in white. And same goes for the 82-92 and 93-02 generations. I can’t explain it…I don’t get excited about white on the Camaro, but is among the best choices on the Firebird in my humble opinion.
I’m way biased but I think MN12 Cougars and Thunderbird SCs look best in white.
Mercedes-Benz W123 T-model (wagon)
My 1970 C10 was white, when I was living in the Southwest, it was a good color for hot summers with no AC. I never was really that happy with that color, looked a little generic. But when it came time to repaint, white it was because the mostly metal cab was white inside and I didn’t want to go through the expense/hassle of repainting the interior. And I didn’t want a non matching color on the outside, that would have looked really bad. I had typical 70’s white spoke wheels, and with nice paint and chrome bumpers and windshield and back glass moldings, but no side trim, it looked pretty nice. I always thought the Rabbit/Cabriolet convert
My 1970 C10 was white, when I was living in the Southwest, it was a good color for hot summers with no AC. I never was really that happy with that color, looked a little generic. But when it came time to repaint, white it was because the mostly metal cab was white inside and I didn’t want to go through the expense/hassle of repainting the interior. And I didn’t want a non matching color on the outside, that would have looked really bad. I had typical 70’s white spoke wheels, and with nice paint and chrome bumpers and windshield and back glass moldings, but no side trim, it looked pretty nice. I liked the look of the all Alpine White special edition Rabbit Convertible/Cabriolet with bumpers and normally black trim all painted white. I do agree boxier, more square, straight lines tend to wear white better then other designs.
Lincoln Mark VIII in White is really a pretty thing.
White trucks also look good in other colors.
I have a ’79 Lincoln Mk V Collectors series in white, the “absence of color” certainly accents the length and the stark linearity of the car, so, like it or not, it’s sure a nice suit of clothes!
that’s sexy.
It just all depends. On that ragtop Conti, or other big long luxury cars it looks very classy, if that’s what youre going for. The Chrysler 300 is another example of that. Funny how the 300 and the Magnum share many body stampings yet the Mag looks awful in white.
On a modern jellybean econobox or sedan, it ends up looking like an egg. That said, if youre buying a rolling appliance, then it can look like one…and probably should.
On a muscle or sportscar, white can look spot on. But never just solid plain white, it looks unfinished. That ’80s era Carrera with the blackout Fuchs mags that calibrick posted looks ALMOST perfect…the ‘Carrera’ lettering that was common on these is whats missing. A white Mustang, Viper, Camaro etc with blue rallye stripes looks spot on. Red or black stripes would be ok too. If its a more ‘classy’ muscle car such as a ’67 Cougar than a tasteful black vinyl roof is nice. The nice thing about white on flashy sports/muscle cars is that it can be a bit startling on cars that are normally red, yellow, black, etc.
Ive noticed that a lot of 4×4’s look good in white with a LOT of black. LandRover Defenders look good like this, so do Jeep Wranglers. A white body, with tubular bumpers, roof rack, and fat fender flares all in black looks rugged.
There’s one car that I really want in white, for some reason. A 2nd gen Sebring coupe in that alabaster looking ‘stone white’ looks dead on with a set of deep lipped cross lace wheels with charcoal grey centers and polished lips. Dark grey leather inside, delete the wood, tint the windows and black out the head/tail lites and that makes for a classy cruiser!
MoparRocker I agree a black “Carrera” decal would have made that 1988 911 Carrera I posted the perfect car. Here’s one on a white 1975 and it’s pretty close to perfect. SCs and Carreras in original white paint always fetched a premium price, at least when I was pricing them a few years back.
MoparRocker I agree that a black “Carrera” decal would have made that white 1988 Carrera I posted the perfect sporty car. Here’s one on a white 1975 and it’s pretty close to perfect.
SCs and Carreras in original white paint always fetched a premium price, at least when I was pricing them a few years back before they got all crazy expensive. Love that look.
Oh and the only white vehicle I had was my ’95 Wrangler Rio Grande. It had the interior and soft-top in the ‘spice’ color that looks a bit like terra cotta. That’s back when a ‘tan’ interior actually had depth and richness going on. I had a matching bikini top and deck cover for when the top was down, and the combo looked pretty tight. A few years later, they scrapped the spice color for a washed out looking beige that just looked awful with ANYTHING.
Hey, you found a pic of my brother’s New Yorker! Probably not really his, but it even has Ohio plates. He has an identical white town sedan and he dragged it home from Ohio.
I’m not particular towards white, but in addition to my brother’s New Yorker, I have a white Newport convertible, and our mom has a white Roadmaster sedan. I always said we should rent them out for weddings.
The white Lincoln ‘vert at the top of the page looks good too. The wide whitewalls, in addition to not being period correct, may be a bit much though.
Perhaps I’m partial, but the trim relief on a white car is critical. To see one big mass of white is hugely bland. To have some chrome, silver or black accent trim makes a world of difference.
I never really jammed to white (I’m a silver kind of guy) until one early morning I was gassing up our white S70 and noticed the subtle design lines the color brought out. The new car is white as well – once I saw the special appearance package trim, the white was the only option besides brown that I liked, and the brown was sold out.
Excuse the reindeer accessories…it embarrasses my kid.
I like pure, bright white, but not the off-whites, like pearl and the like. Yes, its a fleet color, and most of my trucks and vans were white. That Continental shows just how good it looks on a car with lots of chrome. However, I hate white Camry’s. They seem to be driven by hapless drivers that want to kill me when on two wheels.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned the 1975-1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Lipstick Edition. Now there’s a vision in all white. Not my cup of tea, but it does capture the imagination, one way or another.
And the interior, somehow those red accents were intriguing.
Avanti. Also any 1970s Lotus.
I think white cars should have SOME strong straight lines, but they need artful curves to keep from looking like delivery vehicles. Think ’63 Buick Riviera and Studebaker Avanti!