Company cars are usually silver or white and not just sports cars. most Brands from Italy are usually red, and luxury limousines are black: color says a lot about the car and its owner and is therefore an important buying decision.
The color of the first cars was not interesting. They were basically motorized horse carriages. And even today, almost all cars are unpolished and therefore only in wood color.
Every country has its own color
The idea of different car paints only appeared in the first car races. Polish-American Count Eliot Morris Zborowski came up with the idea to paint cars according to a color code assigned to the pilot’s country of origin. This should make it easier for viewers to distinguish who is placed where.
The first use was on the Gordon Bennett Cup in 1900 on the way from Paris to Lyon (F). Blue went to France, white to Germany, yellow to Belgium and red to the USA. But red is Italy, right? This developed only later, the division has not been definitively determined. A good example of this is British pilots’ cars. Light green but has become a darker “British Racing Green” over the years.
Lambo adds color to life
But on production cars it has remained achromatic for now. The Ford Model T was available only in black, the Opel P4 only in green – hence the name “tree frog”. But after the Second World War it really took on color. Getting rid of the post-war mold of the 1960s was also visually important. And Ferruccio Lamborghini noticed this and opened all the paint cans. Even softer colors are in vogue when the Lamborghini GT series hits the market. The finishes were named Azzurro (light blue), Blu Notte (midnight blue), Verde Scuro (dark green), Argento (silver) and Biancospino (hawthorn). Special colors like Grigio Argento Metallizzato (metallic silver grey) were the greatest emotion.
With the new Miura in 1966, the choice of colors became even more aggressive! Stars and billionaires clamored for the sleek sports car, and Woodstock’s liberal zeitgeist, flower power, and “Don’t fight, make love!” shape. The production data sheets of the 763 Miura produced reflect the rainbow: A total of 86 different shades were used. These included yellow-green with red stripes, Mexican blue, or a red with more orange for a Persian king to distinguish him from a Ferrari.
color disappeared
In the 1970s, the streets remained colourful. Porsche’s 911 Targas rolled in toxic green around the cities, the Ford Capri was available in various shades of orange or blue, and the VW Golf joined that color game. Even in the 1980s, blue and red were still at the top of the order slips.
In the 1990s, customers again asked for calmer colors: silver and gray were the order of the day. As the VW Polo Harlequin demonstrates, the color didn’t stand a chance. The flashy special model, as the name suggests, did not get a successor. Color doesn’t stand a chance. Silver and gray tones are the most popular colors. White is back, black remains a classic.
colorful exotics
Extremes like the pink Fiat 500 or the orange Renault Captur are prettier. Not to mention the exaggerated desires of the rich and sportsmen. Bentley is proud to welcome customers in any color they want, as long as the customer brings a sample. This can range from the woman’s hair color to the coffee stain on the initial sales contract. Some football players did not even take their hand from gold.