Where have all the colourful cars gone ?

[StuStu]

Like many on here, I do enjoy wasting time on manufacturers "configurators"

But like the current girlie obsession, when it comes to paint it is always "50 shades of grey" ...

Fiat do some nice colours from the 500 and Citroen for the DS, but most are sorely lacking.

I think a return to mopar sublime, MG trophy blue, Ford Citrine isin order ...

So who currently has the best colour palette?

[Strawman]

StuStu said:

So who currently has the best colour palette?

Some (all?) of the luxury car makers will do any colour you like, not really an answer to your question, but any colour possible has to be the best palette.

[ewand]

Lotus Magnetic Pearl Blue looks great :-D
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4084136.htm

Seriously, I got rid of a grey A8 in favour of a blue A5 earlier in the year, and so many people comment on how they like the colour of the car, it's surely time for a backlash against grey/silver/white in favour of blue/red/green...

[Davie]

Agreed, my Mum's car hunting just now and is adament she wants a bright colour. Having spent the past week (year!) looking, bright, lairy colours seems pretty rare these days. It's blacks, silvers and all manner of non descript, safe and uninteresting colours and the same goes for cars out on the road. Driving up the motorway, it's just a sea of drabness.

[Raize]

ewand said:

in favour of a blue A5 earlier in the year, and so many people comment on how they like the colour of the car

I sure hope their compliments are worth several thousand pounds of extra depreciation.

[Don1]

Like this grey one?


Hmmm.... You're right. Maybe some direct sunshine might help?



Much better! (Yes, it's the same colour!)

[ewand]

Raize said:

I sure hope their compliments are worth several thousand pounds of extra depreciation.

Well, actually, it was an S5, where the Sprint Blue seems to be the colour to have.

[Zwolf]

M3 in Java Green:


Audi Ipanema Sand:


Focus ST in Tangerine Scream:


Focus in Candy Red:


Candy Yellow:


Fiesta in Squeeze:


Hot Magenta:


C30:



Quite a few manufacturers have interesting colours on their palettes, for interiors and exteriors. But most people are boring and are talked into fearing the resale value of anything that isn't monochrome with a black interior (which really is the lack of salespeople's confidence in their own selling abilities to sell anything outside of "the norm").

Edited by Zwolf on Thursday 26th July 22:56

[okie592]

i saw a very nice dark blue a5 convertible today, not normally a car i like but i was drawn to it in blue.

ford also have performance blue

[davepoth]

I think it has a lot to do with fleet purchasing. They still make up a huge percentage of the market, and they always have an eye on resale value.

[Zwolf]

davepoth said:

I think it has a lot to do with fleet purchasing. They still make up a huge percentage of the market, and they always have an eye on resale value.

It's normally fairly close to 50:50 private:business and fleet, last year saw a dip in private sales from 47.2% to 42.4% private.

Actual colour matters less to fleet figures, RVs just factor in "metallic paint", so it makes no odds to the lease figure if that metallic is silver or Burnt Orange like the C30 above - which is why it's usually given to fleet operators FOC by manufacturers. In a situation where a solid colour becomes popular again, the same enhancement to RV gets applied to those solids, white in some models and red in others were treated such at least up to a year ago.

PCP residuals for private finance in the majority of cases do not change the figures according to what colour is specified on the order form - yet still people default to silver, black and grey.

Edited by Zwolf on Thursday 26th July 23:17

[sidekickdmr]

I'd like to think that I've done my part

[soad]

Saw a yellow 997 911 today, looked ace.

[-Pete-]

Good work, my favourite car colours. I think most people have no imagination when it comes to car colours, so manufacturers have limited their standard colour choice. Yes you can have colour, but it'll cost you, especially for larger and 'executive' cars. But then many of my workmates wear blue or monochromatic clothes...

[Zyp]

I'm trying/tried....

[PumpkinSteve]

The Fiesta can be had in some really nice colours: Lime green, metallic orange, sky blue, metallic magenta etc. even metallic beige is available.

[Hammy13]

I saw a blue m3 the other day and it looked stunning! Found a similar one!

[Zyp]

Hammy13 said:

I saw a blue m3 the other day and it looked stunning! Found a similar one!

Santorini.

[Negative Creep]

Still a fk ugly car, but I did see a new 1 Series in a rather nice bright metallic red yesterday.

[parapaul]

Hammy13 said:

I saw a blue m3 the other day and it looked stunning! Found a similar one!

I just had a trouser accident