Dan's Papers -November 6, 2009

Perhaps the most important decision people make when buying a car, after deciding on price, make and model, is the color. Is it peer pressure or good or bad color sense that dictates what color car one buys? Color choice seems to be in the eye of the beholder, who is often colorblind.

When the Model T Ford first came out in 1909, you could buy it in any color you wanted, as long as the color you wanted was black. In 1982, you could only get a new Delorean sports car in silver stainless steel. Today, one can order a new car in virtually every color imaginable - and some not so imaginable, like pumpkin. In fact, with any new high-line Porsche, you have the option to "color to sample." If you paid the right amount of money for ANY truly expensive car and had the right connections at the factory level, you could probably get it painted "to sample," too. But color with caution; painting a car to sample usually hurts its resale value. I have seen some really embarrassing, tasteless, custom factory paint on Porsches. One man's dream color may be another man's nightmare.

In a recent survey of manufacturer's car production colors, white came in as number one, displacing silver, which had been the perennial favorite for years. Silver and white dominate for the obvious reason that many areas of America are sunny and warm year-round, and dark colors absorb heat. Of course, in the Northeast, sun and heat are not big issues, which is why we have a great deal of darker-hued automobiles here. And today, with air conditioning and tinted glass, it really doesn't matter what color a car is on the outside anyway. That's more psychological. What does matter is the interior color. If you've ever sat down on a sun-drenched black leather seat in shorts, you'll agree. I cringe and my thighs burn when I see a convertible with a black interior.

As car buffs know, most racing cars, especially vintage racers, are usually painted in what have come to be called "racing colors." These colors usually relate to the car's country of origin, like the famous British Racing Green. Italian race cars are red, German race cars can be silver or white and French race cars are what is commonly called French Blue. American cars are usually a combination of red, white and blue for obvious reasons. This has led to the popularity of racing colors on streetcars. For decades, most Ferraris have been red. Many Jaguars and Range Rovers have been painted green. All British cars are striking in the right shade of British Racing Green. It's very proper for a royal to be seen driving a Bentley Continental GT coupe in Balmoral Green with a tan hide interior piped in green. Good show.

Until the '50s, the most popular car color was black. In the '50s, perhaps in conjunction with the rock and roll era, all hell broke loose color-wise. Between the combination of tail fins, excessive chrome and two- and three-tone factory paint jobs, those rainbow-colored cars certainly put the sha-boom on the highways of America. Pink Caddy convertibles, red and white Ford Crown Vics and aqua - AQUA! - cars were commonplace. The Europeans were more conservative during this period, sticking mainly to darker hues. Did you know that most Rolls Royce aficionados consider the color white on their products to be in bad taste? They think it makes their vehicles look like a "wedding cars," and, indeed, many older Rollers are rented out for wedding parties - a horrific thing to do to a Roller.

Fresh new color combinations are showing up everywhere. The staid British are leading the charge with the MINI Cooper. It has re-introduced the two-tone paint job, with the roof one color and the body another. The new Ford Flex gives buyers the option of a two-tone paint job. I've also noticed that the new Asian boxcars are available in what can best be described as "sci-fi hues." And creative colors are here to stay. Perhaps this newfound rainbow on the highway is an optimistic sign that things are improving. Personally, I still prefer silver.