The Crittenden Automotive Library

Silver cars are so boring. Blue is the new silver

Silver cars are so boring. Blue is the new silver

Matt Hubbard
Speedmonkey
September 9, 2013

This is the Jaguar C-X17, concept SUV. It's based on a new aluminium platform and will form the basis for a whole new breed of future Jaguars.

Silver cars have been around for almost as long as cars have been around. But the original Silver Arrows were a product of weight saving and bare metal. I've no idea when the first silver cars started to become really popular.

My own car is silver. My last car was silver. But I'm bored of silver. Silver is so old. My next car will definitely not be silver.

I'm just observing here (i.e. I didn't look into it thoroughly or anything) but from memory silver cars started becoming popular in the late 90s. That's when the shiny, deep silver with sparkly bits in it started to appear.

This article from 2003 is interesting. It's a survey from New Zealand which claims drivers of silver cars were 50% less likely to have an accident than those in white cars. Silver was never seen as sexy, but it was regarded as pretty cool for a decade or so.

Until now. When did you last see a silver car that looked cool because it was silver? New paint techniques have seen some previously humdrum colours really stand out. Silver is now so safe it's boring.

My current favourite is blue. Mica Blu, Blu Sofisticato, Frozen Blue. All damn fine colours that enhance the car. I also love the Jaguar F-Type in Firesand, which is a deep orange. I saw one in the factory. In the metal it looks awesome. A silver F-Type would look terrible.

Reds, yellows, greens, even browns look good on modern cars. I don't really like white cars but plenty of people do.

Just, please, nobody mention chrome, gold or matte black.

Here's a gallery of my favourite blues. I took the first few photos. It's so easy to photograph in almost any light. The penultimate is the Jaguar F-Type in Firesand. Under that is a yellow Clio for Leah Rebecca's benefit. She loves yellow to an unhealthy degree!

What's your favourite car colour?