What's With Car Colors?

September 30, 2021 6:12 AM

I'm noticing a lot of new cars who look like they missed a color coat of paint. What's up with that?

In the past six months or so I've been noticing a lot of new cars painted what I can only describe as "gloss coat over the primer". The paint is non-metal-fleck -- which used to be pretty much just white, black, or red car colors -- and some slightly-warm or slightly-cool shade of grey like a coat of primer, but glossy like a car normally is. To me these look like unpainted cars, so I'm wondering if anyone knows what's up with this trend?

posted by AzraelBrown to Travel & Transportation (13 answers total)

Are you talking about this type of car color? I think it's simply just a color trend, perhaps taking inspiration from the popularity of grey tones in interior design for the last decade or two.
posted by mosst at 6:19 AM on September 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

It's definitely a trend, but just like a lot of things in fashion it's pushed by the car and paint manufacturers rather than consumers suddenly deciding they all like this new finish.

I also believe the change is a long-term plan to get away from using mica in car paint. Mica has been linked to child labor abuse in third world countries.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:43 AM on September 30, 2021 [9 favorites]

My personal guess is that it's a nod to the matte trend but that it's prohibitive to do that from the factory (although some of the high end German makers offer it).
posted by ftm at 6:45 AM on September 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: This question has come up on Reddit a few times in the recent past (1, 2, 3, 4) and the consensus is that it's a trend and involves a simple paint color and clear coat, but no metallic inclusions/pearl/flake or anything that gives most cars their sparkle.

See a lot of gray Dodge Chargers and Durangos, gray or tan Toyota Tacomas, and older light blue or light orange Subaru Crosstreks around here.
posted by papayaninja at 6:50 AM on September 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

It sells. I love two of these flat colors Honda sells, especially the sonic grey, which they just started offering on more of their cars. Toyota made a big announcement out a new blue paint that didn’t actually contain any blue pigment. JoeZydeco’s comment makes wonder if that isn’t related to how cobalt is mined.
posted by zenon at 6:52 AM on September 30, 2021

Another possible link: painting your car with Plasti Dip (a rubberized spray paint that can be peeled off) was a DIY trend in the last decade.

The manufacturers may have picked up on this and realized that people like the flat/matte finish of the paint.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:54 AM on September 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would add to this that these desaturated flat colors with gloss have been a trend in the VW mod/tuner scene for awhile. If you looked through photo albums of prior events like the Player's Show, I think you would find VW tuners using dull earth tones going back at least a decade or more. I don't know why that became a trend in that community... if I had to guess it might be that it was a way to stand out from the Japanese and American modded car scenes, which have tended to favor wilder colors and metallic paints. Perhaps it's also a playful nod (amongst VW tuners) to older European, particularly Northern and Eastern European, car styles? Like, if you look at Volvos, Mercedes, Skodas, Ladas, Volgas, etc. of the past, particularly in the 70s-80s, you would find lots of greys and beiges that are flat with gloss coats. So, I think it might have migrated from the European car tuning scene to the European automotive design community and then outward from there.
posted by Tchozz at 6:59 AM on September 30, 2021 [5 favorites]

Not saying it's anything other than a trend that sells, but metallics and reflections are issues in autonomous vehicle offerings.
posted by librarianamy at 7:02 AM on September 30, 2021

Agreed with a color trend. There are a couple VWs in town sporting a very interesting shade of non-metallic light gray. I kind of like it.
posted by xedrik at 7:51 AM on September 30, 2021

Desaturated, monochromatic colors seems to be a trend that reflects the economics of a given time and place. In the late 1940s, Saab (originally an aerospace/defense manufacturer) used a flat green paint leftover from its WWII aircraft on its first cars off the production line. A lot of European companies re-purposed materials after the world wars as they shifted from being bike/marine/truck manufacturers, to military suppliers and manufacturers, and then back again. Shortages in materials, including paint, led to these limited and more earthy/subdued colors following the world wars.
posted by cocoagirl at 8:05 AM on September 30, 2021 [3 favorites]

It's not just a matter of fashion. Pigmented paints (that is, paints with colors, not just grayscale) are harder to get right—they're especially prone to fading over time, some pigments more than others. So they cost more. My guess is that grays are having a moment because they're an alternative to the already ubiquitous black/white/silver, without using pigment. Some of the grays are very slightly pigmented, giving them a bit of a putty or mint cast, which I'm guessing is easier to get right—or cheaper—than a vivid color.

The car that I bought, in 2015, cost $300 more in red than in black or white. When I was car shopping, I noticed that VW offered three different shades of silver, which reinforced for me the idea that people want variety without paying extra for pigments.
posted by adamrice at 10:49 AM on September 30, 2021

I think maybe the Fiat 500 helped popularize this, including its interior. Like Anthropologie designed a car based on a Vespa.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:05 PM on September 30, 2021

I first noticed this with a blue Toyota Tacoma in my neighborhood the last year or so. The color reminded me of the old Pactra ‘Namel plastic model paints from the ‘60s.
posted by lhauser at 7:07 PM on September 30, 2021