......no, nothing to do with the Lone Ranger but something I've been wondering for a few years now and never bothered to ask out loud....
Why has Silver become such a popular colour for cars in the last few years? - Every other car, 4X4 or MPV I see on the road these days, no matter what model or marque seems to be Silver.
IMO the increase in popularity happened in the mid/late 90's - I especially recall seeing most of the "new" BMW 5's(E39) and Merc E class' coming out in Silver and it seemed that all the other marques followed suit. How many car adverts have you seen in recent years with Silver cars in them?
On a personal note, I have to admit that I'm a fan of Silver too but my favourite is a slightly darker shade such as Graphite Grey - a list of my previous/current cars to prove it;
Stirling Silver - E34 5 series
metallic Graphite Grey - Toyota Celica
metallic Dolphin Grey - E34 5 Series
Metallic Silvery Grey (name??) - Vx Omega
Chad.R
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It's a great colour for hiding dirt.
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difficult to colour-match, (especially noticeable here, where the new and old paint fades at differing rates!)
hard to see in rain and mist...
shows up swirl marks quite badly, IMHO
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Silver Omega here. I saw a dark grey one the other day which was close to being as good, but silver still does it for me.
We are changing SWMBOs car but she has a strong anti-silver prejudice (and anti black, and anti white, and anti dark blue) which is really restricting the choice of 2nd hand cars...
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I agree with the anti-white one, but at least you'll get the pick of the cheap ones because the colours she's named are the best for residuals (dark blue only if metallic though) so you should be able to pick up a nice orange A4 or something.
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A sickly mauve coloured Brava caught her eye at the weekend. It was alongside some other colour Bravas. She didn't like the other Bravas at all, and admitted it was the colour only that she wanted.
That was Great Trade Centre, they had 4 of them, Y reg, all between 11 - 16k miles for £4999 which I wondered was a bit pricey, given the colour!
Told her she'd have to wash it herself if she got it!
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In the case of my Vectra GSi Estate, because it suits the design better than any of the other colours, and it also sits with the 17", rubber band shod, alloy wheels, which are almost exactly the same colour, very nicely.
The V70 I am about to replace it with, will not, however, be silver. Light colours just don't work with the V70 IMHO, so ruby pearlescent it will be for me.
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The V70 I am about to replace it with, will not, however, be silver. Light colours just don't work with the V70 IMHO, so ruby pearlescent it will be for me.
I really like the silver ones with black leather, I was really tempted to go for the black metallic but common sense prevailed!
I previously had a Nautic blue pearlescent but it was very prone to stone chips for some reason, no problems with the silver finish though.
VD5D.
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I have also noticed the predominanace of silver cars these days, particularly since buying a silver OhMyGod; wondered if it is easier for the car manufacturers to buy environmentally friendly silver paint than other colours. Other than that no idea.
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My wife bought a silver Peugeot 106 in 1993.. still going strong and looks almost new. Back then it was relatively rare but now everyone is jumping (has jumped) on the bandwagon and the colour looks well common.
Remember silver is the national racing colour of Germany: perhaps the prevalence or the reputation of Geramn cars make others want some form of association.. by colour?
madf
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Silver accounts for 29.4% of all new cars registered, contributing to 14.5% of all cars currently registered.
Mal,
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Good point.
Silver is OK, I like most cars in silver but never owned one. 4 door Focus is not complimented in silver though, much better in black.
In the early 90?s I saw every jap car come by in red. Yuck. Then it went gunmetal grey for a while (sierra?s/golfs etc). So what will be the new Silver ? (fad)
I suppose there is a good point here, the marketing erm, Guru?s decide in advance what will be ?In? and ?Out?, (headlight shape, colours etc) and so every new model has similar features.
Or is there a stockpile of some colour that ICI need to get rid of?
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If silver suits the car, it's probably the most practical colour for not showing dirt and smears - but there are so many now it's a bit uniform - especially for BMWs & Mercs.
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"Remember silver is the national racing colour of Germany: perhaps the prevalence or the reputation of German cars make others want some form of association.. by colour?"
Actually, it was really white; but in 1934 it was necessary to get the weight of the Mercs down to formula, for the French I think, and the measures included polishing back to bare aluminium; and somehow that just stuck, even when the finish was paint.
Tomo
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Why has Silver become such a popular colour for cars in the last few years?
Didn't this fad begin from when McLaren won the F1 championship back in 98 or 99?
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So does that mean wer'e gonna see a lot more red cars about? Best colour (for Alfas anyway). :-) Although I do prefer the 156 in silver.
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Funny that. I've got a 156 Sportwagon in silver and thought it looked better in red.....
No Dosh ** Quick, talk motoring, Mark's coming! **
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Those Alpha 156's.
Is that flat red or metallic? I think they look good in silver, black (I know) met'lc dark blue or met'lc deep red.
That powder puff light blue or the silvery fish oil colour - yuk!
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Dave
I think the metallic silver thing all started in 1977 as a response to the queen's silver jubilee. I don't htink silver cars were around before then.
Or so my grandad told me :o)
Terry
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Silver has something to do with confidence and affluence. Different colours reflect different moods so when the next recession (unless we are all in one now) hits we will all be buying dark greys and blacks. Also a local dealer (car not drug) and you will see fifty shades of Silver and maybe the odd red/black/white/green/blue.
Never understand why Beckham had a silver ferrari when they look better in red or black (but I expect his wife chose it).
Ho hum....
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I think Audi has a lot to answer for this. The A4 and the TT were both originally marketed primarily in silver and they are very popular cars and incidentally, another German marque. We have a silver 91 Sierra in our family which must have been quite trend setting at time. (For the colour if nothing else!)
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Silver has something to do with confidence and affluence. Different colours reflect different moods so when the next recession (unless we are all in one now) hits we will all be buying dark greys and blacks.
Won't we be buying silver cars when the next recession hits as the silver will be cheaper through over supply?
Ben
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Won't we be buying silver cars when the next recession hits as the silver will be cheaper through over supply?
Interesting point that - has anyone in the trade got any "stats" on this one?
Chad.R
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Silver has something to do with confidence and affluence. Different colours reflect different moods so when the next recession (unless we are all in one now) hits we will all be buying dark greys and blacks. Also a local dealer (car not drug) and you will see fifty shades of Silver and maybe the odd red/black/white/green/blue. Never understand why Beckham had a silver ferrari when they look better in red or black (but I expect his wife chose it). Ho hum.... I wonder who helped her?
Regards.
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In the past, I'd always go for dark metallic grey if buying new. However a few years ago I bought an 'old banger' which happened to be silver and only then realised the advantages......stays clean looking for longer, doesn't show up imperfections anything like as bad as other colours......and, as a rule, looks smarter than many other colours. Additionally, the bodywork repair/spray job was very difficult to spot - much better than the white 'old banger' that I have now. A body repairer told me it is as easy to do metallic as it is solid due to the abiity to merge the colour coat half way along the panel, then do the whole panel in clear coat. Now my new cars are always silver.
KB.
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After seeing round the Ryton Peugeot plant making 206s in white metal, all silver cars look to me as if someone forgot to paint tnem.
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1968 Ford Cortina 1600E - Silver Fox
Regards
Paul
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Didn't some silver cars (I think it was fords) have a habit of shedding their paint ?
I can remember seeing a few Silver Cortina's with paint flaking off bonet and roof.
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Didn't some silver cars (I think it was fords) have a habit of shedding their paint ? I can remember seeing a few Silver Cortina's with paint flaking off bonet and roof.
Yes, a friend of mine had a silver grey mk1 escort that he learned to drive in.
When he took the self adhesive l plate off the paint came off too. Funny at the time.
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Silver Mk3 Mondeo Ghia X here. It's a futuristic colour like spaceships and UFO's etc.. Beam me up Snotty!...I reckon the next generation of plastic bodied cars will be in transparent colours. No drivin around in yer underpants in the summer then eh?
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Ok, time for another HF-ish question -
WHY does the colour matter so much???
HF
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It doesn't if you're colour blind, but if you're not then it's like saying why does colour matter on anything. It's a matter of fashion and /or preference. What looks good to you or what you feel good in, what stands out, or what blends in etc..
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Silver is becoming a bit of a company colour here...
Merc 180
L/R Disco
Ford Ranger super cab pickup (very expensive to service, but thats another thread)
and just bought for my daughter a Yaris 1.0 GLS (looks "the dogs" with alloys
Silver is the only colour dos'nt show the dirt to badly, and on a farm that's important.
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I have a black Scorpio which I polished when I bought it (as you do). It got very dirty very quickly.
Since then I haven't polished it any more, and might wash it once a year because it doesn't get dirty now the polish has worn off.
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I agree with Old Golfer, silver is making a comeback unprecedented since the days of the Cortina in Silver Fox (the colour went with the "Cortina" in the steering wheel and with the badges).
Not only is there a German racing theme to today's silver cars, they also fail to stand out - in a recession, everyone keeps their heads down...I'm sure I read recently silver accounts for more than half all cars sold, then dark blue (this is a big change from the browns and reds which used to be prevalent).
IMHO I don't think silver really suits chunky cars like Audis with little glass (A6, TT etc). I do think silver looks good on curvy cars with plenty of chrome or glass, like the Saabs or the 2000-02 Subaru Impreza, when stationary in the sun.
It concerns me from a safety viewpoint though just how many fast cars are hurtling through the fog at me with all the visual presence of a B2 stealth bomber...!
pat
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"I'm sure I read recently silver accounts for more than half all cars sold"...
...in Germany that is....
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