New car colors I've been seeing

[TonyC28]

What's with these new paint colors they've been putting on cars this year? This picture is a Honda Accord with their version of it called Sonic Gray Pearl. To me it looks like polished primer gray with a clear coat. It seems like all the automakers are using these colors now on certain models. The tan version has a militaryish look to it. I've been thinking about a new car and these colors are popping up everywhere.

 

[three]

Flat or flat-ish colors are very popular these days! Sonic Grey is one of my favorites, if you look at it in certain lights, it shows a hint of green!

 

[TonyC28]

Flat or flat-ish colors are very popular these days! Sonic Grey is one of my favorites, if you look at it in certain lights, it shows a hint of green!

This is going to take some getting used to for me. It looks so dull and boring to me.

 

[44267547]

It’s a not a new fad or anything, but it’s more of a low tone melodramatic color that’s not very eye-popping, but has a unique shade to it. Dodge has been doing this for a while with the example of the Charger/Challenger in ‘Destroyer Gray’. It’s more of a murky looking gray, I personally like color schemes like this, but I understand for others, it’s very subjective. I think it really helps depending with a paint job like this, what kind of wheels it’s paired with in terms of high-gloss black or flat black also makes a difference.

I love the contrast here:

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Don't they come in other colors? I was just looking at the Ford Maverick, it's a new mini-pickup for 22, and it comes in yellow, red, red with black roof, a few shades of blue, plus your black/white/grey.

 

[TonyC28]

Don't they come in other colors? I was just looking at the Ford Maverick, it's a new mini-pickup for 22, and it comes in yellow, red, red with black roof, a few shades of blue, plus your black/white/grey.

Ha yea, all of the usual colors are still around. I was just curious where these new ones came from. The real headache is the lack of inventory going on right now.

 

[icanhazmac]

Toyota has at least 3 of these colors, a gray, a darker green and a tan, they look great on trucks and I'm considering one for a '69 C-10 I have.

 

[Richard8655]

I hope more car colors are coming and hopefully catch on. So tired of the current blandness fad of black, gray, white, and even silver.

 

[icanhazmac]

Mitsubishi has an absolutely stunning red over the past couple of model years, I think they call it "diamond red" must be seen in the wild to appreciate it. A couple of other manufacturers have it too but I see it mostly on Mitsu's.

 

[glenthompson]

The greens are very close to British Racing Green (BRG). Just doesn’t look right on anything but a sports car or race car.

 

[chown33]

All the grays look like they should be called "Seattle Sunshine". The off-whites should be "Mukilteo Fogbank".

 

[Euroamerican]

The grays are dangerous. I have a hard time seeing cars that are gray enough to blend into the pavement, concrete walls nearby, or those gray days when even normal colors don't pop!

 

[ejb190]

What I've always wanted to know: Who names these colors?

 

[Nhwhazup]

I think they more look like a cream nail polish - shiny but without metallic or sparkle.

 

[44267547]

What I've always wanted to know: Who names these colors?

Marketing teams differentiate color schemes opposite of the competitor with similar flavors with something that would be…different. Consumers generally don’t care about the label of a car color, it just comes down to if you actually like the color itself.

I own colors of vehicles like ‘ruby red metallic’, ‘Cybergray metallic’, ‘Pitch black clearcoat’. Manufactures are just trying to make it kind of -fun and unique-, but essentially, it’s meaningless with the title.

 

[Clix Pix]

My 2021 Honda Civic Sport Hatchback is what Honda calls "Polished Metal Metallic," which name indeed really is rather meaningless; many people would look at her with a quick glance and say, "oh, just another grey car." Actually, though, there is a nice richness and depth to the color, she's not just a basic flat grey, and in the sunlight she sparkles. Must be that "polished metal" along with the "metallic" part. LOL! All that said, though, it wasn't long before I decided that actually, she's just about the same color as my MBP, iPhone and iPad -- Yup, Space Grey. She matches my Granite/Space Grey iPhone 12 Pro quite nicely! 😀

 

[kildraik]

The grey you speak of was most popularized through Porsche's GT2/GT3 and Turbo lines on the 911 and Cayenne in the early 2010s. It was very eye-catching and McLaren quickly followed, and almost too close to tell who was first. Often called a "Ceramic Grey," other makes hopped in, and Kia introduced their rendition on the Stinger GT with great success. Mazda followed suit with the MX-5, then other manufacturers began trickling in their own versions on choice (and sometimes questionable) models. Late to the game, Chevy is the most recent adopter of a "Ceramic Grey," on the C8 Corvette, but did quite a spectacular job with it, leaning closer to a white while still staying true to a grey that is "just a little different."

An alternative to flashy metallics and boring silvers or darker greys, the non-metallic and non-pearlescent shades make use of minimizing luminance and reflectivity to bolster contrast in the edges and creases of modern vehicles where shadows are present without using a matte finish. Often they appear blueish or eggshell in the right lighting conditions.

The greens and tans mentioned above have been in and out of style, but the launch of the JL Wrangler in late 2017 re-popularized these shades with massive appeal. Toyota has been embracing them the most between their Tundra, Taco, and 4Runner. They are highly desirable still and look great.