Sushi vs. tapas? Who cares? The Kardashian empire or the hot-tempered Housewives? Total snore. The real debate is what your car paint color reveals about your personality. Some of our favorite colors? Obsidian (a flat black with perhaps a fleck of sparkle or two), Cayenne Red (a true, Red Riding Hood red), and Go Mango (a juicy, deep orange). The freeways are flooded with streaks of silver rides zipping by. But how about others? We’ve compiled a rainbow of hues you’re likely to see careening (or slow-poking) their way down the street — and what each shade might indicate about its driver.
1. Cherry Red
According to Thrillist, those who slide into the driver’s seat of a vibrant-red car are sexy, high-energy, and crave attention like nobody’s business. We totally get it — a candy-apple red car just screams “look at me!” And not always in a bad way. I mean, who doesn’t love love love the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT that nearly stole every scene it flew through in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? “Who do you love? You love a car.” Yeah, pretty much.
2. Orange
Oh, orange, you fickle friend. A person driving a vehicle the color of everyone’s favorite winter fruit is a bit of an enigma — friendly but fleeting (as in, “I like you butttt … I’m also tres intrigued by what’s going on over there ….”). According to color consultant and trend forecaster Leatrice Eiseman, who spoke to both Thrillist and Today.com about why color is significant, people who choose orange are usually very artistic, creative and original. No shocker they pick a color ripe with vibrancy. Some popular carrot-colored cars are the lush Lamborghini and the saucy Chevrolet Corvette.
3. Yellow
What can we say? It’s a sunshine day! At least, it is when your color of choice is bright, buttery yellow. The folks at Thrillist cite yellow’s brilliant visibility factor for attracting drivers. It has that whole safety component going on, plus it’s just a sunny, jovial hue. It reminds us of sunflowers, cornfields and, well, optimism. Yellow = ?. Two yellow trucks we love are Chrysler’s Ram 1500 and GMC’s Sierra.
4. Dark Green
Eiseman says dark green is considered “one of the most traditional and well-balanced colors.” It kinda reminds us of your favorite civics professor: earthy, woodsy, and rather no-fuss. You can’t really look at a deep emerald-colored car and not think about the environment, so in that sense, it emits positivity and pride. You wanna jump right in that hunter green Subaru and escape to the mountains. We don’t blame you one bit.
5. Bright Blue and Dark Blue
From love songs to spring dresses, blue is always brilliant. And if breezy azure is your color of choice, Thrillist says you are most likely faithful, calm, and dependable. Friendly, but not in a fickle orange kind of way. If dark, inky blue is more your hue, then we should just step aside, officer. We get a big-time NYPD Blue feel when we see a dark navy sedan patrolling the streets. Its vibe is all-authority, all the time.
6. Gray
Look at you, oh corporate one … with your fancy briefcase, sterling tie clips, and steely gray BMW. Gray pulls no punches. It’s practical, pragmatic, and wholly utilitarian. According to Thrillist, drivers who purchase gray cars are way more likely to keep their vehicles a long, long time. These are serious car owners, folks. Don’t mess with them. Just don’t.
7. White
Stop! You with the double-decker chocolate cone. Step away from the white car … slowly. The car owner is likely to wrestle it from your cold, dead hands if even one drop hits the hood of his lily-white car. Ok, that’s a tad overdramatic, but Eiseman says those who drive white cars are prideful, fastidious, and very clean-oriented. Bet your bottom dollar the owner of an ivory ride is gonna flip if you don’t wipe the grime off your shoes before you ride shotgun. You’ve been warned, friend.
8. Black
Sleek, powerful, rich. Yeah, we could use these adjectives to describe any handful of record-industry moguls, but we’re talking cars. Black ones. Classic. Empowered. And perhaps a bit menacing. There’s a reason the Batmobile is inky black and politicians love black rides — they evoke a ton of mystery, and so clearly say, “Get the heck outa my way.” So now that we’ve taken a colorful walk down the rainbow path of hue analysis, what about the hot new car colors? And the up-and-coming shades? According to the automotive paint company PPG, blue is the hue to beat — from steely cobalt to deep midnight — this may as well be the era of indigo. Color us excited. Now that you’re aware of a few more color choices to confound your decision making, let AutoGravity unravel all the other complications that can tinge the fun of finding and financing your next car.