Why so many silver and grey cars?

[petrolsniffer]

[frosted]

Not this SLine crap again

[Boosted LS1]

Silver is so bland and common though. I've been stuck in a queue of 5 silver cars recently and that's becoming normal, yawn.

[Flibble]

Mine is grey - bought second hand so not much choice on colours, but I quite like grey as it just becomes dull when dirty rather than actually looking dirty.

[sc4589]

Preferred mine in grey/mucky silver than any other colour. The other choices were bright solid red, which would undoubtedly go dull, a weird light green metallic and a very effete slivery blue.

[Acehood]

My last car was silver and my latest is black. Wish I'd got a silver 182 instead. Would have been far easier to keep clean. Or at least it'd look clean all the time.

[WhoseGeneration]

AcidReflux said:

I wouldn't join the bandwagon choosing white cars though - white today is like beige in the '70s and I suspect will be just as unpopular as beige in a decade's time.

My new cars, for the last twenty years, have always been in flat white.
My favourite car colour, I care not for fashion or resale.

[Daniel1]

if we lived in a brighter climate i have a completely unfounded and an unscientific feeling that less cars would be silver.

[Gad-Westy]

I've had a couple of silver cars recently, though both bought used and wouldn't have been my first choice.

Pros:

I can't think of a car that looks genuinely bad in silver
It never looks that dirty, and hides stone chips well
It'll not put anyone off when you want to sell

Cons:

I can't think of car that genuinely looks it's best in silver
You can clean it and polish it for hours and it won't look any different
It's spirit-crushingly dull

[300bhp/ton]

JumboBeef said:

Is it me, or are the UK roads currently full of silver and grey cars?

Who owns a silver or grey car, and why did you choose that colour?

PS: I own a green motor

Because it's a boring accountant type colour. German cars are big on these colours, it also appears to be standard on many and colourful colours are cost options.

???

[juansolo]

Silver hides dirt, it's relatively inconspicuous and innoffensive so helps at resale. It's a 'safe' colour. No one minds silver. But because of all of the above, it is a little dull.

[kambites]

I hate gray, silver, white and black cars. Looking around car parks these days, it's so depressing how sheep-like people are.

My first car was white (well, increasingly brown as the years go by). Never again.

Edited by kambites on Friday 13th August 08:40

[ukzz4iroc]

There are far too many cars in silver and grey. Middle England choosing not to stand out and be something a little special. Goes with corporate rubbish and dull business park car parks

[uuf361]

I have one silver car - bought secondhand and on a budget and whilst it might not have been my first choice think it looks good enough and as has been said hides dirt very well.....

The other is white and stands out a lot so guess I have a combo.

When I bought my first 911 I only wabnted Seal Grey as I thought it suited the car, and still like it now.

Had a black Aston - would never have another black car again out of choice, awful at keeping clean!

[JulianHJ]

I like grey for cars, so I chose a Sea Grey Focus.

Besides, Ford don't offer Halcyon Atlantis or Red Bull blue, and the respray costs would be prohibitive...

[gherkins]

Try living in Munich - ALL the cars are monochrome. You should see the heads swivel if a red or yellow car passes - you'd get less notice if you walked down the street naked (I'm not exaggerating - this is Germany). I guess it goes with their monochrome buildings and monochrome weather.

Maybe it's a case of grass is greener, but I really miss Blighty - living abroad makes you realise how things are actually not so bad at home.

Edited by gherkins on Friday 13th August 08:56

[Rockatansky]

Why so many silver and grey cars?

- is it to highlight the st state of colour matching by bodyshops?

[_rubinho_]

007 VXR said:

Nuisance_Value said:

I seem to remember reading/watching/listening to something about car design and how during the design stages some manufacturers (Audi iirc) use a matte grey colour on their mock ups/design ideas in order to visualise/study the body shape. Something to do with mid colours (grey/silvers) don't absorb light as much as blacks do nor do they reflect it as much as white, and so it allows them to see curves, swages etc without distortion and therefore get a true idea of the body shape and style.

So if certain manufacturers are using one particular colour range to design their cars in, then it stands to reason that those cars will look better in those colours, no? Perhaps this is the reason that there are so many grey and silver cars on the roads? On the other hand it's a bit like automotive drag co-efficiencies, where in pursuit of the least resistance to air so many cars (particularly at the performance end) end up looking so similar, so it is with colours.

For the record, my car is blue.

Mmmm

Actually I think N_V is telling the truth. I remember reading something in Evo about a recent Jag (new XF preview maybe) where they interviewed the chief designer and he was going on about the silver colour being the colour in which he'd designed the car so that's what it looked best in.

[anonymous-user]

My first car was silver, it was practical and hit the dirt and scratches. But it was pretty boring too.

My last two cars have been black, they look great when they're clean but the rest of the time it looks crap.

[goldblum]

champ54321 said:

My first car was silver, it was practical and hit the dirt and scratches. But it was pretty boring too.

My last two cars have been black, they look great when they're clean but the rest of the time it looks crap.

Agreed.Also

nothing quite as heartbreaking as sunlight on your p+j after a wash and highlighting a bit you've missed.

Doesn't happen with silver.I just think silver is easier to live with on an everyday basis.