Technical The subtle art of picking a color for a car

Hello yeah that thing is bitchen

 

It’s the whole package that works together to fit the attitude of the car.
I’m still all fucked up over that dress that’s white and gold but really is blue and black.

 

I've got that problem right now, looking at greens but some blues and burgandys also, would go with black but to common on '47 Ford's. Like and old car builder told me one time "I'm never sure of the color until I walk out of the paint store", he said most of the time he went in with the color in mind that he knew he wanted but usually saw something in the chip book that liked and that's what he bought.

 

To discuss......... Factory colors, out of the norm for certain makes/models, certain tastes in colors.......interesting....... Keep going with discussions.

 

I have a blue in mind for my 49 Merc, which is a bright blue metallic that was on a 92 Ford Explorer the wife had when my oldest was born. But I am not committed to it, and won't really know until the car is getting close to paint.
All I really know is that I want it to be blue, and the car will dictate how light or dark as it comes together.

 

I looked at a lot of hot rods & decided my 32 had to be gray, the shade was another story.
I shot a small die cast gray, my finished coupe was shot a much lighter shade. Everyone has different taste, do your homework, good luck.

 

So that's why I like gals in short black dresses!

That's my thoughts too, some colors just look wrong on some cars.
I'll never tell the owner they screwed up, it was their decision to live with. I'm just trying to point out some shades and some colors just don't fit the personality of some cars. Black and possibly white are the only colors that in my mind can look good on almost everything.

 

Sometimes a wheel change or other accents will help change the personality of a car to let the paint color that it is work better also.

 

Looking at all these early models am I even on the right site?

 

The Green really stands out, I like it!!!!

 

Yeah, we cover up to 1965.....

 

For me the vehicle definitely tells me what color it wants to be. The only one I've followed through with was my 1955 2nd series Chevy 3100. It had been blue originally, but was in primer when I got it. It needed to be green with a white top. The paint store was not able to make up the correct green for 1955, something in it was outlawed, so I went with 1958 colors. I was happy with the result.

I had had a 1957 3100 a few years before. Bought that one in bare metal. I asked a local guy to shoot it for me in black primer, he said he would tint the grey primer dark. It came back what sure looked like standard grey primer. I was never satisfied with the color, but I played with the truck a few years and sent it down the road.

My Henry J tells me it would like to be candy orange over a heavy flake. It would really pop in the sun. But from a practical point of view, I'm not a wash and wax kind of guy and it's a race car. It only has to look good from the stands. It's currently Rustoleum black, which would be horrible in a hot environment, but here on the cool coast it's fine. Body and paint is about the last thing I'll address on it.

Devin

 

I see one continuing theme in the photos that have been shown on the last two pages. TIMELESS colors that won't look dated in a couple of years, ten years or twenty years. I've seen too many cars painted the hot lick color (s) Of the year only to look extremely dated a few years later. When you stroll through a rod trot or show your brain automatically goes " looks like it was built about ____ by the paint color.

 

Should be a law against painting a deuce roadster lime and magenta
But I've seen one.

 

I'm a envious of the people who can put together paint, interior, and accents in just the right "wow" combination. I pick color by looking at the cars around me. In the old days I tried to pick one no more than three years old so I could get factory pack if I wrecked it. Once it paid off big time.

 

I like contrasting colors, but I agree, some colors just don't belong together!
If you're colorblind like me {red-green deficiency, I can see red and green but against other colors can't pick out the difference, green looks the same as brown in certain instances}, you have to get somebody who isn't colorblind to help with contrasting colors.

 

Hello,

Having been the young pre-teen and teenage maintenance guy (slave labor) for my older brother and his cars, I can honestly say that black is the color to show off to others. It is one color that blends with any situation, but will make the car stand out. Over the years, we have owned several black cars and with a lot of upkeep, there is no comparison to the color black on any car.

Personal preference aside, it is also the only color that takes too much effort to keep the look alive and clean. Any amount of dirt, rain, mist, just shows up on a daily basis. (covered or not, garage kept or not, it was a battle right after a wash and wipe)

Why is my brother smiling? Well, I had just finished doing complete Cadillac Blue Coral Wax job on that pristine black paint. The shine was so deep that we could almost see the twin engine, Catalina Amphibious Plane flying overhead in the reflection on the hood. Coming black from the factory was pretty good. The Cadillac Blue Coral Wax made it that much nicer. It was a bi-weekly job and in between, a clean dust cloth was used every afternoon, before we closed the garage door. My brother had the cleanest and shiniest car at the daily car show in front of the local high school.

The main high school entrance was the dead end of a street with the most popular parking spaces. It was a hot rod car show everyday, as teens walked to school from their cars. Of course, it looked like a drive-in restaurant, parking lot in Bixby Knolls on a Friday night, except this street was longer and used daily. If something was new and parked here near the entrance, by lunch, everyone knew about the “new” car, new paint job, new wheels, etc.

It was the gathering spot before, at lunch, and after school, so it was the showcase of our high school. Those were prized parking spots. It did not hurt to see the teens walking by your car, either. The banter must go on between friends, guys or girls.

So, black is the color if treated correctly or how much work it is for upkeep. But for older coupes and sedans, a subtle light grey would be more appropriate. Our friend’s 51 Pontiac sedan was a light grey called, Sand Grey. It was stock, nice looking, and made the 51 Pontiac look attractive and almost white. The car was not a hot rod, but a daily driver and cruiser. The color was just right.

Jnaki

Over the years, we have had red, blue, silver, black cars and 2 El Caminos. In high school, white was a business coupe color and there was only one 57 Chevy Bel Air that was white. These days, we only have one white car. That white is a pearlescent tone that shines really well and stays clean for weeks. It is on my wife’s station wagon. The maintenance on the black 58 Impala was by today’s standards, horrendous.

If I had my wife’s pearlescent white paint color on my 58, my Impala would have been called a custom car. Daily and weekly maintenance jobs for the black paint were ok as a teen, but as an older guy, not so in line with daily/weekly jobs and the time it takes to get it looking just right.

My current car is a silver that also shines well and it gives the white car a run for the money as to how long I can keep the car looking clean without a full wash and dry. Being in the garage helps any paint color, but the maintenance is the key. The less you have to do, the more enjoyment you get out of driving a cool car. So, any shade of white might be too stark for a hot rod coupe, (unless the goal is a custom pearl white paint like the custom cars from the early days) but a subtle shade of grey would probably look the nicest. YRMV

 

The biggest issue I have with many cars I see at shows is the exterior color clashing with upholstery colors. It just ruins the whole package. Reds, blues, greens etc, the body color just the wrong shade for what the interior was. Notice I said "body color" the wrong shade. Upholstery colors are very limited in choice, so if your upholstery is going to be something other than black, neutral, etc, get your upholstery FIRST, then mix your body colors to coordinate.
BTW, one of my favorite colors is a really dark root beer brown. Seems to work on just about everything in my eye, but it's rarely seen???

 

Digging up this old post as I went through months of trying to choose a paint color. I went black on my interior, except the dash, which I intentionally went with "desert sand" to offset all the black. But I never planned on matching the dash color to the interior, or exterior color as I like it as a stand alone color myself.
After considering, nd solidifying probably 5-6 colors, I finally settled on a Ford Wimbledon White because I wanted a color I didn't see hundreds of other 30's coupes done in. And since my bodywork is usually lacking I didn't want a dark color for sure!

 

Black looks good on most.

 

I like dark blue but todays dark blue paint seems to have too much red in it...

 

I'm sticking with OEM 1946 2-tone scheme that my 46 Olds left the factory with in 1945. Many years ago after I purchased the car I did consider a hideous 2-tone SR scheme before I came to my senses and reconsidered the error of my ways. Pawnee beige metallic over new ivory.


P.S. To compliment the exterior colour scheme, I'm also using full OEM interior trim and colour scheme from Hampton Coach (GM) before LeBaron Bonney folded. I'm going for the entire package so everything looks right.

 

The last time I had any issues with the color on a car people were painting them in (GAG!) pastel colors (gross that is, illegal, downright wrong, not right that is)


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I never get to that stage of car building.

 

My very wise wife requested that this car be painted red. She also demanded that the red interior( my choice) material be found first.
We were able then to have the paint matched to the leather color.
An open car really needs the interior to match or contrast.


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Curse every day looking at colors for the 39 Ford that was that plum color from the factory and my 64 Daytona that came in a pretty dark blue.....then there's the Turbine Bronze metallic - yep that Mopar turbine car color that my hard top 4 speed car came with......dang lots of close but no cigars....yet.

 

Like BamaMav pointed out, not any one answer or the perfect paint color/car combo.
Just pick a color that you are willing to look at EVERY time you get in your car...................
For A VERY LONG TIME!

 

All mine are as found in the junkyard color.
However, the mono-chrome street rods of the 80s and 90s fully demonstrated that most bright colors and Easter egg colors don’t age well on large cars.
I personally like older commercial/fleet and vintage European car colors.
Can’t explain exactly why, but looking at old VW, Porsche, Volvo, British.......colors, I seem to identify those with full fendered or older body style cars due to the fact that their styling seems older. An old Jag or you name it 50s and even 60s (like Volvo) European car have an older vibe than what the manufacturer date suggests. . The body lines resemble older American iron. Makes it easier to imagine those colors on older cars.

 

I've been bouncing all over deciding on a final paint color for my '32 five window. One day it's super-bright orange, then I see some original style subtle colors and I think those would look classy & proper for that body style. Then later I see those subtle colors and they seem BORING! So I'm still searching.