Best car colours?
Discussion
Some really nice colours posted on here. As mentioned it’s a shame that the roads are a sea of black, white, silver and grey!
I like colour
I would like a purple car next. I know I mentioned about white being boring but when I was on holidays most taxis were Lexus ES’s (I think not too clued up on Lexus but a 5 series size I’d say) they were a pearl white and i was surprised how much I liked them.
I like colour
I would like a purple car next. I know I mentioned about white being boring but when I was on holidays most taxis were Lexus ES’s (I think not too clued up on Lexus but a 5 series size I’d say) they were a pearl white and i was surprised how much I liked them.
white_goodman said:
The standard features on even the most basic car in 2025 boggles the mind, as do the array of extra cost options available, particularly on premium cars but the one thing that consistently disappoints is the palette of exterior paint colours available. Typically, the choice is black, silver, white or grey and maybe a dark blue or burgundy colour if you're lucky. Even so called "fun" cars like MINIs and Fiat 500s have a pretty dreary colour pallete these days. This wasn't always the case, I remember working in the motor trade in the early 2000s and the manufacturers that I worked for (Mercedes/MG Rover/Volkswagen) had a great choice of colours available. 4 different shades of blue for example wasn't unheard of, so I'm not sure exactly what happened in the interim.
I have owned cars of most colours myself (including gold) but never an orange, yellow or grey car (although I did have a mk5 Golf company car in grey). I usually buy my cars used, so paint colour is secondary to spec for me. For instance, my current vehicle is white but given the choice, I would probably never choose black, silver, grey or white as my first choice. Having said that, some cars look quite good in those colours. I quite like Land Rover Carpathian grey and some pearlescent whites look quite nice like the one that was available on the Alfa 147 GTA for example but given the choice, I would tend to pick blue, red (or green) if available, which is a privilege that often comes with buying new I guess. My parents are quite particular about colour though and would never own a black, silver or white car, even at the expense of an optimum spec car.
I have only owned 3 cars new, so got to pick the colour twice (red and blue) but my first new car purchase was a bit disappointing, as I had to pick from stock and they only had black or silver available (I picked black). I guess the only time that I have chosen my car based on colour was my laser green 205 GTi and when we bought my wife's used Mazda CX5 last year, they had a crystal blue one and a black one in and we chose the crystal blue (but would have probably gone with the soul red had there been one available). However when I think of my "dream" cars that I would like to own, I often picture them in a specific colour.
So whether it be colours available on new or older cars, what are your favourite car colours? Just a few of mine.
Mazda soul red
Renault liquid yellow
Ford spirit/RS blue. I think the metallic blue on the Fiesta/Focus/Mondeo ST and the mk1/2 Focus RS was the same colour but I might be wrong. Nevertheless, a great Fast Ford colour and I didn't like the wishy washy blue that they replaced it with on the newer Fiesta/Focus STs nearly as much.
Alfa Romeo Montreal Green. I like the green available on the current BMW M3/M4 too but minus points as it's only available on a fugly car!
I have owned cars of most colours myself (including gold) but never an orange, yellow or grey car (although I did have a mk5 Golf company car in grey). I usually buy my cars used, so paint colour is secondary to spec for me. For instance, my current vehicle is white but given the choice, I would probably never choose black, silver, grey or white as my first choice. Having said that, some cars look quite good in those colours. I quite like Land Rover Carpathian grey and some pearlescent whites look quite nice like the one that was available on the Alfa 147 GTA for example but given the choice, I would tend to pick blue, red (or green) if available, which is a privilege that often comes with buying new I guess. My parents are quite particular about colour though and would never own a black, silver or white car, even at the expense of an optimum spec car.
I have only owned 3 cars new, so got to pick the colour twice (red and blue) but my first new car purchase was a bit disappointing, as I had to pick from stock and they only had black or silver available (I picked black). I guess the only time that I have chosen my car based on colour was my laser green 205 GTi and when we bought my wife's used Mazda CX5 last year, they had a crystal blue one and a black one in and we chose the crystal blue (but would have probably gone with the soul red had there been one available). However when I think of my "dream" cars that I would like to own, I often picture them in a specific colour.
So whether it be colours available on new or older cars, what are your favourite car colours? Just a few of mine.
Mazda soul red
Renault liquid yellow
Ford spirit/RS blue. I think the metallic blue on the Fiesta/Focus/Mondeo ST and the mk1/2 Focus RS was the same colour but I might be wrong. Nevertheless, a great Fast Ford colour and I didn't like the wishy washy blue that they replaced it with on the newer Fiesta/Focus STs nearly as much.
Alfa Romeo Montreal Green. I like the green available on the current BMW M3/M4 too but minus points as it's only available on a fugly car!
Edited by white_goodman on Friday 31st January 15:52
Yes I agree that spirit blue takes some beating , can’t understand why they didn’t do mk8 in it .
keo said:
Some really nice colours posted on here. As mentioned it’s a shame that the roads are a sea of black, white, silver and grey!
I would like a purple car next. I know I mentioned about white being boring but when I was on holidays most taxis were Lexus ES’s (I think not too clued up on Lexus but a 5 series size I’d say) they were a pearl white and i was surprised how much I liked them.
Purple you say Keo ?I would like a purple car next. I know I mentioned about white being boring but when I was on holidays most taxis were Lexus ES’s (I think not too clued up on Lexus but a 5 series size I’d say) they were a pearl white and i was surprised how much I liked them.
alscar said:
keo said:
Some really nice colours posted on here. As mentioned it’s a shame that the roads are a sea of black, white, silver and grey!
I would like a purple car next. I know I mentioned about white being boring but when I was on holidays most taxis were Lexus ES’s (I think not too clued up on Lexus but a 5 series size I’d say) they were a pearl white and i was surprised how much I liked them.
Purple you say Keo ?I would like a purple car next. I know I mentioned about white being boring but when I was on holidays most taxis were Lexus ES’s (I think not too clued up on Lexus but a 5 series size I’d say) they were a pearl white and i was surprised how much I liked them.
Reminds me of Nissan's Midnight Purple.
alscar said:
Already done the Exige ( another bright colour ) but just didn’t get on with it.
Always fancied an orange car though.
Off topic now sorry. But did you buy that from Lotus Silverstone? I’m sure I looked at it on the internet, phoned up but didn’t commit as I wasn’t sure if my car would sell. It sold the next day (Friday) I phoned Silverstone Monday and it had sold on the Saturday. This is a 3 years ago this August/ September time.Always fancied an orange car though.
keo said:
Off topic now sorry. But did you buy that from Lotus Silverstone? I’m sure I looked at it on the internet, phoned up but didn’t commit as I wasn’t sure if my car would sell. It sold the next day (Friday) I phoned Silverstone Monday and it had sold on the Saturday. This is a 3 years ago this August/ September time.
Yup.I ordered / bought brand new from Silverstone in 2019 I think and then sold it SOR a couple of years later in September 2021. keo said:
alscar said:
Yup.I ordered / bought brand new from Silverstone in 2019 I think and then sold it SOR a couple of years later in September 2021.
Small world! I was gutted I missed out on your car! Enjoy your R8. Let me know if you sell that so I don’t miss out again 
Will do although not sure what I’d want to replace it with.
Although subjective, it’s possible to make some general observations. Small cars eg Fiat 500 and Panda look good in white, and appropriate to Italian style. 500 can also take tricolour side coach line and look good. However, large cars like BMW 5 can look naff in white, the largest other makes evoking elderly wedding limos. Black can be sophisticated but it falls short as it fails to accentuate the lines of the car and can make it look dull. Silver was once the ‘techno/ engineering ‘ finish but it became a cliche, as did the several shades of grey ordered by fleet managers because of predictable resale. Am aware that this post is becoming too negative, so will end by claiming that small cars can carry off yellow.
Lester H said:
Although subjective, it’s possible to make some general observations. Small cars eg Fiat 500 and Panda look good in white, and appropriate to Italian style. 500 can also take tricolour side coach line and look good. However, large cars like BMW 5 can look naff in white, the largest other makes evoking elderly wedding limos. Black can be sophisticated but it falls short as it fails to accentuate the lines of the car and can make it look dull. Silver was once the ‘techno/ engineering ‘ finish but it became a cliche, as did the several shades of grey ordered by fleet managers because of predictable resale. Am aware that this post is becoming too negative, so will end by claiming that small cars can carry off yellow.
Just to be ornery, some large vehicles look very good in yellow! I would agree that a 7 series in yellow would be a bit wierd.
Wadeski said:
Lester H said:
Although subjective, it’s possible to make some general observations. Small cars eg Fiat 500 and Panda look good in white, and appropriate to Italian style. 500 can also take tricolour side coach line and look good. However, large cars like BMW 5 can look naff in white, the largest other makes evoking elderly wedding limos. Black can be sophisticated but it falls short as it fails to accentuate the lines of the car and can make it look dull. Silver was once the ‘techno/ engineering ‘ finish but it became a cliche, as did the several shades of grey ordered by fleet managers because of predictable resale. Am aware that this post is becoming too negative, so will end by claiming that small cars can carry off yellow.
Just to be ornery, some large vehicles look very good in yellow! I would agree that a 7 series in yellow would be a bit wierd.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff