The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[Betelnut]

Why are cars such boring colors?

White, black, gray, silver, tan/beige are the most common--all colors that are easily spotted at night and in the rain or fog. ( Not)
Red, of course and the very occasional green or blue (my car is that dark blue that you see).

BORING!  Where are the pastels?  The pinks?  Orange? Beautiful leafy green?  Deep rich brown? Robins egg blue?

[Tea Drinker]

I don't have an answer to your question, but I saw a car yesterday that was not merely orange, but International Distress Orange. One was striking; a dozen on the same block would probably have been hard on the eyes.

[jpcher]

RE: Big Box Stores

Thanks, everybody, for your replies. Especially Onyx_TKD for the wiki link.

For some reason I thought Big Box Store was an e-hell term, probably because I never heard of that term outside of e-hell, so I never even thought to google it.

Now I know!





RE: Why are cars such boring colors?

LOL!

DDs and I are looking for a car. We sat down with a dealer and chatted a bit then he asked if we were looking for any specific color. DD#2 piped up and said

"A pretty color, like Azure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_%28color%29) or a pale lime green. Not the shocking Woah! Bright! lime green but a nice soft pastel lime green. Something like that."

The salesman was all  Then he wrote down "pretty color" and looked at me. I said "Any color."

Just thought I'd let you know that you have a car-color soul mate.




I'm sure you'll get more technical responses, but I'm going to say Demand/Cost/Feasibility of repair.

Not a whole lot of people want an orange car so they stick to neutral colors. They paint their cars and parts in "lots" and it's cheaper by the dozen, KWIM? With any body damage people can buy touch-up paints in their specific lot color and it would be a pretty darn good match.

Just my thoughts.

[dawnfire]

Why are cars such boring colors?

White, black, gray, silver, tan/beige are the most common--all colors that are easily spotted at night and in the rain or fog. ( Not)
Red, of course and the very occasional green or blue (my car is that dark blue that you see).

BORING!  Where are the pastels?  The pinks?  Orange? Beautiful leafy green?  Deep rich brown? Robins egg blue?

I think it started out to make it easily identifiable to the motoring bodies and in accident reports. I've seen some odd colors, an orange (imagine if you mixed milk into tomato soup, it was a creamy orange color),  tree frog green (complete with the registration plate Kermit),  and safety vest yellow.

[Bluenomi]

Why are cars such boring colors?

White, black, gray, silver, tan/beige are the most common--all colors that are easily spotted at night and in the rain or fog. ( Not)
Red, of course and the very occasional green or blue (my car is that dark blue that you see).

BORING!  Where are the pastels?  The pinks?  Orange? Beautiful leafy green?  Deep rich brown? Robins egg blue?

Netural colours sell better and don't date as much. Every now and then a certain type of car will come in some fancy colour and for years afterwards you can say 'Oh look there is an x year model y!' The bright green Mazda 2s from a few years back come to mind.

[Luci]

Oooooo! 57 Chevy salmon! (Or was it oyster shell?)

We saw a light metallic green car this weekend with the plate "Lima Bn".

Our granddaughters have had a persimon car and an eggplant, but that was merely because they were the most appropriate used cars for them.

I've seen lots of interesting colors, but it is the more neutral ones that sell best.

[Slartibartfast]

My car and DH's car are both technically "blue," but they're about as opposite as you can get.  His looks black in all but the exact perfect angle in direct sunlight, and mine is BLUE blue.

[RingTailedLemur]

Someone near me has one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29133179@N06/3688990826/

[Diane AKA Traska]

Someone near me has one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29133179@N06/3688990826/

Whenever I see a Smart Car in the wild, I involuntarily burst into laughter.  It's a reflex.

[exitzero]

Someone near me has one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29133179@N06/3688990826/

Whenever I see a Smart Car in the wild, I involuntarily burst into laughter.  It's a reflex.

I LOVE those cars. I would love to have one, but sometimes I need to buy more than a loaf of bread at the store!

[magicdomino]

Why are cars such boring colors?

White, black, gray, silver, tan/beige are the most common--all colors that are easily spotted at night and in the rain or fog. ( Not)
Red, of course and the very occasional green or blue (my car is that dark blue that you see).

BORING!  Where are the pastels?  The pinks?  Orange? Beautiful leafy green?  Deep rich brown? Robins egg blue?

Netural colours sell better and don't date as much. Every now and then a certain type of car will come in some fancy colour and for years afterwards you can say 'Oh look there is an x year model y!' The bright green Mazda 2s from a few years back come to mind.

This.  Having said that, I have fond memories of my 1993 Dark Plum pick-up truck.  Metallic blackberry with a lavender pin stripe.  Not very macho for a pick-up truck, but I would have bought that color again if I could have.  Alas, I had to settle for red.

[wheeitsme]

And while we're on the subject - Why are dark colored cars usually only available with light interiors and light colored cars only available with dark interiors.  I loved the brown Subaru, but I have a black lab, so a tan interior was not going work for me.  I like the light blue I got, and the black interior works with my pup, but I did love the brown one.

[Mental Magpie]

And while we're on the subject - Why are dark colored cars usually only available with light interiors and light colored cars only available with dark interiors.  I loved the brown Subaru, but I have a black lab, so a tan interior was not going work for me.  I like the light blue I got, and the black interior works with my pup, but I did love the brown one.

My Subaru is silver with a black interior.  I wanted a black one, but they only had it with a tan interior which I really didn't like.

[Luci]

And while we're on the subject - Why are dark colored cars usually only available with light interiors and light colored cars only available with dark interiors.  I loved the brown Subaru, but I have a black lab, so a tan interior was not going work for me.  I like the light blue I got, and the black interior works with my pup, but I did love the brown one.

My Subaru is silver with a black interior. I wanted a black one, but they only had it with a tan interior which I really didn't like.

Sounds perfect for you. The dog would be partially camouflaged! (I know. He has a bright red interior.......)

[Mental Magpie]

And while we're on the subject - Why are dark colored cars usually only available with light interiors and light colored cars only available with dark interiors.  I loved the brown Subaru, but I have a black lab, so a tan interior was not going work for me.  I like the light blue I got, and the black interior works with my pup, but I did love the brown one.

My Subaru is silver with a black interior. I wanted a black one, but they only had it with a tan interior which I really didn't like.

Sounds perfect for you. The dog would be partially camouflaged! (I know. He has a bright red interior.......)

While the tan gets part of the dogs, the black would have to get the other part.  Maybe I should just get black and tan marble?