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White? Silver? Black? Is that all there is these days? Car Colours: Good, Bad, and What's that Hue?
Filed under: Opinion, Mercedes-Benz
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One of Henry Ford's pronouncements that has long outlived the man himself is, "The customer can have any color he wants so long as it's black."
Clearly this does not apply today, as we have moved beyond monochromaticism into a wider color plalette for our vehicles. Let's see: There's black, white, grey, silver, some sort of sandy-beige color, and... Oh, yes, blue (sometimes), and light or dark red (sometimes) and green and purple (if you're lucky), and pink (only if you sell cosmetics for Mary Kay).
In short, cars today are sold primarily in North America in a few select hues. Why is this so? Looking back, it seems as though we had a wider selection of colors available in years past. This writer's grandmother once owned a 1973 Cadillac Eldorado in an orange-like copper color, and his father had a light green 1973 Grand Marquis and a bright gold 1976 Lincoln Continental Coupe.
But today? Just look around at a typical mall parking lot, and you'll see what I mean. White, black (though not so many black cars, especially in warm climates), and endless variations on grey and silver seem to predominate (the silver cars alone represent 25% of all cars sold), along with a sandy or beige color of some metallic variety ('Desert Sand' is Toyota's description of that hue). A shade of red is also usually available as well.
Car buyers who are hankering for a distinctive color -- say, green or purple or iridescent blue -- are either forced to wait for the dealership to find a car of that color from another dealership (which can take time), or be forced to wait weeks or months for a special-order delivery from the factory. If time is of the essence, however, the buyer may have to forego dreams of the Vivid Pearl Blue or Terra Cotta Bronze Metallic paint in favor of whatever variation on Desert Sand is popular on that dealer's lot.
Some people say that for resale reasons, it's not a good idea to own a car with a really distinctive paint job -- it's easier to sell a conventional (read: boring) color than an expressive (read: outlandish to some) color. Ultimately, however, it's the driver who has to live with the car for years to come, and why shouldn't the driver's tastes be reflected in the color of the car that she or he drives?
In fact, why do car manufacturers make it so difficult to pick unique colors? True, the factory may offer that shade of Emerald Green or Purple Passion, but a dealer may be reluctant to order that model for the new-car lot, figuring that it would be harder to sell. Still, there ought to be a way to speed up special ordering a car in this customize-your-Dell-computer-and-we'll-ship-it-to-you-overnight age. If you want your next car to be in Buttercream Frosting (reminiscent of a really pale ivory color found on old Mercedes Benzes) or Kiwi Green, there ought to be a way for more manufacturers besides Porsche to custom-mix a paint job for you besides you visiting Earl Scheib after you buy your car.
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