Resale friendly color schemes around the globe

Crema is really popular in the UK but would never sell in the US.

It is odd that point.

I saw a 5 Series BMW at the LA auto show in complete white leather and people literally puked!

 

I really like the red with crema combination but I imagine its a nightmare to keep clean.

 

+1

 

I love crema interiors especially with all blue exteriors. I would fit in with the Brits.

I think tan or black work well with most colors.

Red interiors can be striking but are not safe in any country I would say.

Blue interiors are also not safe.

Robb

 

I always buy my new cars based only on the resale value.

There really isn't good data out there on the effect of color on resale value for a specific make and model outside of dealer sales (which is often inaccurate) and auctions. Most of the information regarding this is outdated at best and apocryphal at worst.

I personally have yet to see any hard evidence that any color combo for an F-car sells quicker or for more money. The only evidence of color affecting resale I have seen is for a particularly garish blue with green interior 456GT that was for sale at Park Place Motors in Bellevue, WA for quite a while. Of course, the slow sale and declining asking price (there are no records of selling price) also reflects Park Place's sketchy reputation.

Brown was always called "stick around brown" due to poor resale and "resale red" for top price...but that was based on early 1980s conventional wisdom for sports cars...when in actuality, Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes, Corvettes, Cadillacs, and other brands sold very well in shades of bronze and brown. In the 1990s, softer gold hues became among the most popular colors, thanks to Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura featuring the color.

If you want the best price for resale, buy what you like, treat it well...and advertise it appropriately and give yourself enough time to find a new owner when you want to sell it.

 

Exterior color depends a lot on the car style. A recent poll in the Corvette forum showed that the biggest choice for the new model would be one of two types of red (metallic or bright red)

No way that's common amongst all cars overall. Not even close.


So they resale color also depends on what car you're talking about.


There's an old saying in design school: you can never go wrong with mixing red, grey, black and white in a design. If you use silver as a grey, you'll see that 90% of all cars call into this category.

 

Corvette sales over the last decade have favored black over red, although sometimes a darker red/maroon has also been offered. This is a very interesting issue, because from 1970 through 1976 you couldn't even buy a new black Corvette. Black was so 1940s!

 

The reason why you couldn't get black on corvettes back in the 70s was because of chevys poor quality body work with the fiberglass, ie; black shows imperfections too easily. The paint quality was so bad in those years dealers had to repaint cars that came from the factory with seams showing and just bad paint in general.

 

With Ferrari, I think red will always be safe. Black, yellow, and blue are also popular, along with shades of silver/grey. Interior wise it's just best to stick with basics that are easy to clean. I like black or grey I interiors, but living in Florida, I've always had a tan interior. I've been in convertibles with a black interior, it's not fun.
The model also has a lot to do with it. A yellow FF is never going to sell as quick as a silver or blue car. But a yellow 355 will probably sell quicker than a white one. Not that any of it matters, as long as you like it.

 

That's an urban legend. (You're venturing into two of my wheelhouse areas here -- automotive urban legends and Corvettes.) Black was introduced to Corvette buyers in 1956 as Onyx Black -- it was the second most popular color in '56 and the most popular color in '57. In '58 the name changed to Tuxedo Black and was a mainstay through '69, but new color introductions meant black became less popular for Corvettes, not to mention all other cars throughout the 1960s.

When the color was dropped, the fiberglass was far better quality than back in the 1950s and 1960s. The largest issue was not when the car was new at the dealer, but as the higher torque big block engines combined with tissue-paper chassis ridgidity to cause stress cracks over the years. This was an increasingly common issue as used C2s and C3s were modified for more power and then shod with more modern soft compound radial tires in the late 1970s, 1980s and beyond.

In general, Chevy's Corvette fiberglass quality was far ahead of most automakers. You should see what passed quality control on the S1 Lotus Elan or Lotus Elite. Makes Corvette bodies look straighter and flatter than Mitt Romney!

 

Yellow has definitely suffered in the past 3 years in favor of white. How long that will last is questionable but it's harder to sell yellow cars now than it ever has been. I don't know about 355 but for F430's, it's become a problem.

I agree you should not buy a convertible with a black interior if you live in a sunny climate.

 

Thank you for such a timely post - I'm pondering the exact same on my 1972 Euro Dino which has been Rosso Corsa red. With the Dino Compendium book being released I found out the original color was FLY Yellow. I have two Dinos and this one is slated to be sold, being down to bare metal now.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

On classics, you can't go wrong with yellow. But fewer and fewer modern Fcars are coming in that color.

I love yellow on Dinos -- works great with the badge. Yellow is for sure... classic!

 

You can never go wrong with "original". FLY Dinos are gorgeous. Of course, all Dinos are gorgeous!

 

I wonder if the size of the car has anything to do with it. I like yellow 360s, but I have seen very few yellow 430s. The 458 looks good in yellow, but I prefer other colors. It seems colors cycle, look at all the satin black and other matte cars.
And I think the Dino would look awesome in Fly yellow.

 

Hard to go wrong with a company's racing colors.
F=red
Porsche=white
Ford=blue
Britain=green
Chevy=yellow (?)

 

I recently got back from the factory in Maranello and the Enzo Ferrari museum in Modena. I was curious about the history of yellow because I just bought a yellow 355.

In one of the videos, they said that Enzo wanted to race his cars in Yellow but because Alfa had already chosen red for so long, that Ferrari had to follow suit with red for their racing cars because of the country standards.

Great story in the museum about his logo development and his life.

Robb

 

I would go with whatever the original colour was for the Dino. Fortunately they look GREAT in yellow.

M

 

Yeah, it really is interesting. Maybe it does have something to do with the climate, the amount of sunlight. Or maybe it has to do with some other cultural factors.

I'm not a fan of crema and red carpets, too bright for my taste. But hey, vive la différence. Thank God we all have different tastes!

-F