Car Colors

I am going to talk today about my car colors. My favorite car colors are blue, red and white. My least favorite car colors are brown, black, and silver. I am on the fence with green. British racing green is a nice color. Also green colors form the '60's and 70's were good "green" colors. The teal green Chevrolet used in the mid 90's on the Camaro is easily my least favorite car color of all time. GMC offered a "Sea Foam" green in about 1991. That color was cool because it was very different for the time. Only a small number of buyers chose it, but it really stood out. I also can't completely count out black either. The Buick Grand National only came in black and that is good because it looks great black. No other color would have looked as good on that car. I don't like black because it is so hard to keep clean. Black also requires more time and effort to clean it correctly. Sorry brown, just not a fan. I like the way the new "hot chocolate" brown looks on the Mini Cooper. It is not enough to sway my opinion of the color though. Silver as my wife would say "looks like they forgot to paint the car".
I didn't add it to the top three because it is not a real color. Champagne is a horrible color. It spread through dealer lots like a bad rash in the 2000's. It has gotten a little more under control now. I do think most car companies still offer it though. The color is expressionless and emotionless. it hides the lines and style of a car in a fog. Maybe that is the point. If you are thinking of champagne as a color for your next car consider white instead.
Blue, is a good color because it is vibrant yet not over the top like yellow or red. It is conservative but not plain. BMW has made some great blue colors the last few years. I especially like "Lagunda Seca" blue, and "LeMans" blue. I have bought three new cars in blue in the last 10 years. I will always consider blue when looking at a car to buy.
White is a nice color because it is easy to keep clean. It also stands out more than silver. if you want a plain color that doesn't say too much like yellow or red go with white. It will also keep your car cooler in the summer. Just ask the Floridians.
Red is a great sports car color. Almost all sports or performance oriented cars are offered in red. Ferrari, Dodge Viper, Corvette, Lotus Esprit, Mustang. These are all cars I think of when somebody says red. They all come in many other colors but red is the one you want for these cars. My Mitsubishi Evolution VIII is "rally" red. I wasn't sure about it at first, but it has really grown on me. I can't imagine the car in any other color now.My wife's PT cruiser is "inferno" red. She and I searched high and low to find that car in that color. She specifically wanted that color because it came with the matching dash panels.
In 1975 AMC offered 19 colors (4 different greens!) in every color of the rainbow and more. Now most companies offer about 10 and about 3 colors of the rainbow (blue and red). Mini offers the best variety of colors recently, including British racing green. Fiat is following suit with their new 500 being offered in 14 colors. I know there is cost on offering so many colors.
I realize as I write this column could go on forever. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. I am sure each auto manufacturer has done extensive research about this topic based on age, sex, geographic location and all kinds of other factors. Stay tuned for Car Colors II at a later date. I will discuss this topic some more.