Technical The subtle art of picking a color for a car

For most people, color choice is a personal experience. Some people like loud, flashy colors, while others go for a more subtle approach. I'm of the opinion that some colors look better on some cars than others, and some cars have an aura around them that tells you what looks good.

For example, my 47 Lincoln Zephyr coupe is currently medium gold. I looked at a chart for the colors offered in 47, and gold wasn't one of them but it fit in well with what was offered. To me, the car carries a certain dignity that demands a medium hue color choice, something like a hemi orange or resale red or sunshine yellow would look entirely out of place on it. Those same colors work well on a 40 Ford or 41 Willys, where the more subtle colors look sedated on them.

Ole Henry painted a lot of cars black, probably for several reasons. Black was probably cheap, it covered good, and went with the body styles well. Public pressure caused Ford to offer other colors, and as body designs changed, so did the availability of colors.

So, in my mind, a 32 highboy can pull off a red or bright yellow paint job, while a Caddy or a Packard look better with a medium or dark color like a blue, green, brown or black. There are exceptions, of course, but the body style will tell you what looks best.

Opinions, agree or disagree ?

 

I am in this predicament right now. I have a 40 Chevy coupe... I was thinking Battleship Gray... but I don’t feel it fits the car. So many of these cars are a shade of red!! Would like another color. Just feel limited with the style of car.




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My 48 Plymouth business coupe told me it wants to be med/dark blue Like ford Washington blue.

 

I generally subscribe to Henry Fords paint it black mentality, but am impressed with others ability to pick the perfect color scheme for their vehicles.

 

Don't have a real good way to describe it, but as I work on the car eventually it tells me what color it should be.

 

Some 40 Chevys came from the factory in a shade close to battle ship gray, maybe just a little lighter. I like them painted gray. Light green looks good too. But you can't go wrong with black either.

 

When I started my roadster project over 20 years ago, I had planned to paint it black but keeping dark blue as a second choice in the back of my mind.
The prerequisite for blue was that it had to be non metallic and in certain light it had to appear black.
I stumbled onto a car painted dark blue but the owner didn't know what it was called so started researching and found a color by Dupont called "No moon blue", it was perfect and I liked the idea of the name, it has no metallic, pearl, etc. in it.
I haven't painted it yet but I'm still infatuated with the color, I hope it will still be available when I get to that point.

 

I spent over a year searching the internet for ‘32 Ford 5 window hi boy coupes just so I could look at colors. Found a lot of combinations I didn’t like, some I could live with and just a couple I really liked.

After I narrowed down the color choices I started on looking at different shades. As I worked thru mock up I looked at each part for what color would work well for individual parts and pieces.

Once it was designed in my head I went 3D in the form of 1/25 scale models. Pics of the 3 finalists below with a couple of the 1:1 car as it sits today. Chopped the tops to match my body, modified the frames to match mine, swapped in the correct engine and wheels. It worked great. Going in for the final paint on Tuesday!

SPark

 

This green is a little different

but yeah black is pretty nice......I like skirts and caps on these as well

 

For me, it's a 2 sides of the coin question. I like to pick an interior color that I can live with and that can dictate the color choice pallet for paint. I'm partial to interiors in the tan/saddle/camel/chestnut family. But that/those actually work well with just about every color. Which brings me full circle back to the original question of what color paint.?.
Owning and driving something fat fendered in burgundy or wine metallic is on my bucket list. I guess that's my answer to the title question.

 

I went to the Johhny Cash College of Color.

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Even if you go with basic black, there are numerous shades to choose from.

There’s a lot to consider, but I sometimes tend to overthink things. As others have said, the car will tell you. Choosing a color was the most difficult aspect of my truck build. I knew it was going to be green, but what shade of green? Choose something trendy and it would eventually look dated, but the factory greens in ‘58 just didn’t float my boat. To make matters worse I decided to two tone so I had to choose 2 colors. Since the build style was my vision of a 60’s mild custom I started to focus on ‘60 to ‘65 color charts on paintref.com and narrowed it down to a handful of options. Then came the process of looking at countless pictures and studying actual cars to try envisioning how the paint flop and highlights would look on the contours of the truck. I kept coming back to a ‘63 GM passenger car color that Chevrolet called Laurel Green. For the two tone I wanted a pearl white so I started looking at all of the new cars on the road, pearl white is a pretty popular color so it was easy. I settled on Lexus Starfire pearl.

I knew as soon as I finished the first coat inside of the cab that Laurel green was the right choice. This past summer was the first season of cruising and car shows, the first thing most people commented on was the color. The truck was built to suit my tastes, but it’s gratifying that other folks dig it too.

 

What color should I paint it thread disguised as science

 

When I painted my Pontiac in 1975 I chose the colour because I saw a new Chrysler Cordoba that just stood out from all the other cars because of the colour. After it was done, I loved it but it seemed like I was the only one. Didn't care then or now because I thought (and still do think) it suits the car.

 

More art than science...

 

I chose my color (or lack of) for a few reasons:

1. Bodywork and paint by me. In the words of Dirty Harry: A man's got to know his limitations.
2. I'm not a wash and polish kinda guy.
3. I am a scratch and dent kinda guy. Single stage, solid color, easy touchup.
4. Same color as my work truck that needs the roof and tail gate repainted (see #3).
5. Easy to add a two tone later (maybe even red and blue)

Now if I could just find the time to put it back together.

 

I love that color, it's where I'm leaning with my '59 T'bird. Which after 13 years hasn't been painted because I can't decide what to do with it...

 

I was screwing around at work,didnt feel like doing the hydraulic tank change,found this color in the shitcan..subtle huh?.Bodywork,paint,mechanicals all homemade,most of the good stuff bartered,hustled or found..ranch auctions,custom work for other cats,found some neat shit combing cars for sale ads,buying the parts stash.Pay retail? sure,I guess I could,no where near as much fun though.

 

Can't wait to see the finished car! Building models to get the full impression of what a particular color would look like is quite ambitious, but I think the final result will have been worth the effort.

Lynn

 

I think the color my car came from the factory is perfect. It's one reason I bought it and if I had bought it new it is the color I would have picked. Olympic Blue and white.

 

Art, science, voodoo, whatever. Not asking what color to paint mine,everyone has their own opinion. Just a little discussion on how some colors fit some cars and some don't. No right or wrong here, just each ones thoughts. Agree or disagree,makes no difference.

 

Good choice on the color, although I like all three renditions.

 

Another thing I should have mentioned earlier is that the "Guards" red paint on a Porsche (as an example) will look somewhat different on a body with more flat, square lines with the same primer, conditions and paint batch being equal.
Luckily this is just a discussion because I'm really not a paint expert, just what I've read.

 

I'm of the opinion that black or other very dark colors make a car look smaller and light colors make a car stand out and look larger. Now, someone will come along with a photo that will blow my theory/opinion out of the water.

Lynn

 

The same holds true with ladies dresses!

 

My Roadster is a 48 / 49 Kaiser color called Doeskin # 246-32390 I like it because it is different. I like straight colors on hot rods,
but you can never go wrong with Black. JMO

 

i layed awake at night trying to decide on a color for my nearly off topic convertible. originally went with a gold . then the day before i planned to shoot color i bailed on the gold and went with a mid 2000's green found on a bunch of ford products coded DV , i'm glad i went with the green . i'll have the the same struggle with my coupe when paint time comes.

 

Looks good to me!
No where near OT, first gen Novas are in the thick of it.
I worked with a guy that had a beauty of a silver/black top 63 Super Sport convertible, love them.

 

The car always tells me and they have not been wrong yet. Customer choice's on the other hand where always a crap shoot. Larry

 

Picking a color is the hardest part for me but I see some hotrods that are definitely the wrong color