QOTD: Standing Out With Bad Paint Colors?
I sparked a minor Twitter argument this week after offering up an image of a brand new car that’s available in a truly horrible exterior color. Public Car Twitter opinion mobilized quickly and angrily against my take, and only a couple others were brave enough to take my side against such a visual crime.
Today we talk paint.
For reference, the Twitter thread is here. I’d seen a press shot of the new Hyundai Sonata, which happened to be painted a dreadful Hot Gold Metallic color. It’s too mustard, a bit downmarket, and worst of all, will age any car painted this color in short order. Some other gold-painted things which didn’t age well include the Jaguar XJ-S, the first generation Porsche Cayenne, and the 1998 Lincoln Town Car. And here’s another example:
That’s right, the Spicy Gold available on the similarly shaded Volkswagen Arteon is also bad. “Well, good luck with silver or black then, jerk,” they seemed to say. A bit hyperbolic, says me. I’m all for availability of different colors, and even personally stay away from silver or black rides. But some colors are just bad. The Arteon up there is great in other colors, and I’d go for an electric blue (available), that orange color from the Tiguan (not available), or teal like a C4 Corvette (not available).
That leads to our question today, which happens to be a two-part affair. First, I’d like to get your opinion on the gold metallic lacquers shown above — whether I’m right about the 1979 Dodge Monaco vibes, or if I’m just way out of touch. For the second part, let’s hear some more examples of factory paint colors that proved very questionable. Off to you.
[Images: Hyundai, Volkswagen]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
More by Corey Lewis
Comments
Join the conversation
The problem with that Sonata isn't the color. Who thought angry cat-fish was a good idea? It might look good in one of the dark chameleon colors from the late 90s. I like color choices, but that car...yeesh. FCA has a bunch of colors that I dig.
Admittedly, the yellow/gold color wasn't a great choice but at least it's not a shade of gray. The world needs to brighten up and fill it with cars that are a TRUE color instead of a shade of gray. I'll take a blue or green car all day long.