The Colour of Cars

[TelosianEmbrace]

In the 70's, when I was growing up, cars came in all different colours. Often they were a bright colour, bright red, yellow, green, blue. It seems that there has been a plan to progressively weed out the bright and inspirational colours, to replace them with very dull and uninspiring colours and shades. In Australia nine out of ten cars are white/black/silver/charcoal/dark red or another uninspiring shade of 'grey' or beige. Only a handful of bright greens, blues or yellows remain.

One interesting observation is that the shades of grey seem tailored to match the colour of different road surfaces in different conditions, such as under a bright sun or a wet surface after a heavy rainfall. It would seem the PTW have been tailoring cars to blend in with the road, perhaps even as a way of keeping road accidents high. The common people nowadays like nothing better than to blend in and be one of the herd, to be inconspicuous and overlooked.

Any thoughts?

[sheme]

White and silver are good heat reflectors, Black and grey are power colours, Red well that is supposed to have sexual overtones. You could always paint your own! These are the colours people ask for !

[Fred Steeves]

The common people nowadays like nothing better than to blend in and be one of the herd, to be inconspicuous and overlooked.


Hmmm, interesting observations there TE. I'll definately start making an effort to notice this more when out and about. I did a quick Google Image search of 70's cars after reading your post, and sure enough, it's what many would consider gaudy today.

The blending in aspect is interesting as well, because it goes hand in hand with tinted windows. Not that long ago it was illegal for car windows to be tinted past a certain degree, so cops could identify the occupants if need be. Now an aweful lot of people hide behind them, including the cops in their spiffy new (mostly black) Homeland Security provided cars. They don't want you to see if they, are looking at you. Or at anything else for that fact.

Also, very few people open those windows any more, even on a beautiful spring day. Isn't that odd? No fresh air for me thanks.(LOL) My dogs would disown me. :yes4:

[TelosianEmbrace]

White and silver are good heat reflectors, Black and grey are power colours, Red well that is supposed to have sexual overtones. You could always paint your own! These are the colours people ask for !

Perhaps I'm not up with the times and demand. I just feel that choosing the colour of your car is one of the few ways one can express a modicum of personality and individuality. Perhaps I could go the next step and paint my own. How about chameleon?

LY_4udfw59E

[Finefeather]

in the very older days you could have any colour as long as it was black...
Today you can have any colour as long as you are prepared to pay for it.

All just clever marketing technique based on the fashion of the day...
Did you know in South Africa it costs more to insure a black car than a white car...

[wolf_rt]

The Silver colour that vr-vs commodores were painted was the worst for viability I think. we now have a dark maroon car and find that many people fail to see it.

Go yellow!

[RUSirius]

20737

My blue car...

[Ellisa]

I can not agree with you TE. I feel there is no plot to eliminate car users.

I have a bright car-- it looks very like RUSirius' car, and is very easy to spot in a car park. In this part of Australia at least the predominant colour is white which is supposed to be an OK colour for safety. It is also almost impossible to find in a large car park amongst a sea of other little white cars! I was able to choose from a number of bright, as well as not so bright colours.

Also, though people are still hurt on the road here, the accident rate is fairly low by international standards, and in many cases the cause is speeding- something which we ourselves control.

Now if you were talking about towel colour I'd agree with you. I went to get some new bright towels for a recently re-painted white bathroom and was confronted by a selection of dreary dark muddy colours of murky grey, ditch-water green, sludge blue, three shades of brown and even black! Maybe I'll park the car in the bathroom!

[Lone Bean]

Every time I come to this site I find a thread that is discussing what I've had going on in the back of my mind. I don't think dull colors are intended by TPTB(W) are to have us eliminated faster, but the colors are definitely boring. I was kid in the 70's and I remember oranges, greens, yellows, pinks and a lot of bright colors. The only pink cars I see now are Mary Kay cars. Todays car colors are boring. My last car was teal and white and drove it for years. Now, my car although faithful to a tee, is a boring color.

[Lazlo]

Car companies sell what consumers buy. The "dull" colors move off of the lots faster.

It's just today's tastes. Try going to Home Depot and buying a matching pink toilet, sink, and bathtub set. Thank heavens the 70's are gone.

[sirdipswitch]

ARE YOU SIRIOUS??? BLUE??? YOU CAN"T HIDE THAT IN THE JUNGLE!!!ccccccccccccccccccccccccc.:wizard:

¤=[Post Update]=¤

AHHH colors!!! I remmber the good ol days of TWO TONE!!!:wizard:

[RUSirius]

ARE YOU SIRIOUS??? BLUE??? YOU CAN"T HIDE THAT IN THE JUNGLE!!!ccccccccccccccccccccccccc.:wizard:

Too funny, blends in with local police, the real predators...

[East Sun]

I've observed the dull grey and silver cars of late. I have never bought a new car and don't intend to. Even the shape/look of cars today is boring as all hell. I had some 50s and 60s cars and trucks(at present a '65 Chevy truck--red of course lol) in the past few decades and they have style and character and some are works of art like the 1957 Bel Aire Chevy. Colors were often two tone of shades of green and ivory, lots of reds.
That is one thing I miss today, the designs.

Cars today are too easy to drive. Just right for people conditioned to chase like demons risking their lives and raising their blood pressure while multi-tasking while driving.

I think roads should be yellow so grey colored cars can be seen better. lol.

[merkabagirll]

Nice thread! A friend and I also made the observation a few years ago that vehicles today are predominantly dull-colored. This came after watching some '70's movies and noticing all the brightly-colored cars! Which led to a conversation about the color of our homes, buildings, clothes and accessories ... as well as architectural design and form. Compared to other cultures, who display stupendous color in their traditional dress, furnishings and ornamentation ... we do seem to pale with our grey/black business or formal attire. As a much more linear-thinking society, it seems we have accepted the dull representation of color in our lives! Our homes and buildings also reflect this with the lack of color and shape, The grey cars blend with the grey buildings and grey pavement ... and sometimes the grey clouds! (Which on some days can add immensely to a grey mood ... which would be another topic? The psychological effect of greyness in our lives?)

[Carmody]

s7EwXmxpExw

Part three will explain the emergence of the color phenomena in cars.

part 3 on it's own.

http://vimeo.com/20874210

[KiwiElf]

Oh darn,... one of mine is charcoal grey metallic (supposedly one of the worst to see at dusk or dawn - tried to get one in the same blue as yours RUSirius :)). Take a tip from the Swedish, and drive with your lights on at those times ;)

[Wookie]

While I was in university I learnt about an influential and powerful group of people that pick the color schemes by the season to facilitate designed obsolescence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence). They are called the "color kings". Greed shapes much of the modern world and is a subversive sculptor.

Peaceful Journeys Wookie

[Craig]

Maybe cars now are a commodity rather than a passionate choice, (excluding the supercars like Ferrari's and Lambos) do white's and grey's have a better resale, they do change hands quite often.

But as for colours - imagine looking at http://www.themotorreport.com.au/content/image/1/4/1423_r8307_front_2-4b77acf1305a0-mc:1519x784.jpghttp://www.themotorreport.com.au/content/image/1/4/1423_r8307_front_2-4b77acf1305a0-mc:1519x784.jpg this after a hard night

Though an electric blue XY GT did have a nice glow about it.

[DouglasDanger]

The last car I painted was a custom grey I mixed myself ( silver metalic with gloss black) and when it dried I sanded it with 4000 grit sand paper to remove the glossy finish, it looked like lead, not shiney lead oxidized lead, built it out of 4 differen't cars, all the same chevy model mind you but it took parts from 4 to make ;). It's Vin numbers said 1989 chevy Cavalier Z 24. She was my lead bullet and it got stared at, it had limo tint on it so they couldn't see me in it.. ;)

[gigha]

When i was growing up in Scotland my dad was in the motor car business. He said the easiest car to sell was a red one. he then told me that was the most common colour of car to be pulled over by the police.
Have you ever seen an ariel view of a parking lot in the uk?

[Ellisa]

Yessir! We've lost something very precious with the demise of the two-tone car!!!

[JohnEAngel]

well apparently yellow is a safe color. in the US, all school buses are painted yellow because that color stands out? i would not own a yellow car though. mine is black although it is said that black and white are not actual colors. i am a very careful driver and drive defensively. when i come to a traffic light and it is green i always slow down and look both ways to make sure no one is asleep at the wheel and blowing through their red light. :)

[ThePythonicCow]

... when i come to a traffic light and it is green i always slow down and ...
Check that rear view mirror ... wouldn't want you getting rear-ended :).

[conk]

Well, I'm guilty of being boring too. I have a white car, a black truck, and a silver ragtop (with a white top). Maybe it's age, as my vehicles in younger years were red, red, or red.

[Strat]

in the very older days you could have any colour as long as it was black...
Today you can have any colour as long as you are prepared to pay for it.

I love those old pictures of a sea of cars that are exactly the same...down to a T. Better remember where you park!

To answer the OP's question; the market happened. I imagine 90-100% of auto manufacturers only manufacture cars because it makes them a lot of money. So in order to maximize profit and stay ahead of the competition these companies have to know what their ideal (niche) client wants and can afford. From their, they have to stick to a budget to beat out their competition and deliver the goods.

If you look at it from an economic (aka soulless) standpoint it makes perfect sense, just check the sales figures of any long running vehicle. Here's a simplified version of what I'm talking about:

You can offer a truck for $20,000 in 5 colors, or you can offer the same truck for the same price in 2 colors, but it's 15% more fuel efficient. It works that way because the manufacturer saves money by dropping 3 of the colors and reinvesting it into simple engine upgrades. If your sales figures from the previous year show that the majority of customers only purchase 2 of the 5 colors - and everyone wants a more efficient vehicle - then that seems the way to maximize profit.

When a color is dropped it's generally gone forever. Not always though, the newer T-Birds try to appeal to the older crowd and they brought back cream colors and all that. I used to drive a '78 F150 which had a black/lime green interior. You'll probably never see that again! I also drove a '70 Firebird with a really bright red interior which was somewhat tacky.