I was reminded of this as I was searching for something today and came upon Smokin Joe’s comment on the forum board at JalopyJournal.com and it make me smile so I thought I’d share with you.

Ford has always come up with colorful names for their paint. Most of them give you NO idea of what the paint’s supposed to look like. Other factories followed suit. Mopar had some really strange colors for the cudas and challengers back in the 70′s. I tried to get some of the purple from a paint store once for an AAR cuda using the factory paint name and the guy didn’t know what I was after till I told him I wanted “Goofy Grape”.

Pic from http://auto.howstuffworks.com

I enjoyed this picture and the comments on Tech Crunch.

Others adding their voice to the conversation include:

New Scientist

AutoBlogGreen

The Truth About Cars

A bit of background: In 2006, California adopted the California Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as AB 32.  This law created a comprehensive, long term plan for California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Cool Paints was identified as an Early Action strategy, to be in place no later than January 1, 2010.   This strategy is based on measures to reduce the solar heat gain in a vehicle parked in the sun.

Early this week a report was released that brought this issue to the forefront again because black paint does not meet the levels required for compliance.

Although this was posted a couple of months ago I just happened across it this morning and thought you’d enjoy it as much as I did.

From Best and Worst Truck Color Names

Unfortunately, while making sure their paint colors stay unique from their competitors’, what often happens is trucks and SUVs get saddled with truly awful color names. Here are some of our favorites, which really were offered on trucks in the recent past. The colors might not be bad, but imagine bragging to buddies about your new Mocha Frost 4×4. 

Here’s his list of the worst names:

- Evening Orchid (El Camino)
- Beige Mystique (Chevrolet C/K)
- Seaspray Green (Ramcharger, vans, D-Series)
- Sunset Orange (Avalanche)
- Boysenberry Blue (Ranger)
- Desert Violet (Explorer)
- Mocha Frost (Ranger)
- Tahitian Yellow (Scout — 800 Series)
- Bright Bittersweet (Bronco II)
- Wild Strawberry (F-150)

For a list of the best names visit Motor Trends Truck Trend blog…

The article goes on to say that, “Red supposedly connotes an aggressive, high-speed personality, while yellow, theoretically, is for folks with sunny dispositions. But survey data show that people who drive red or yellow cars have below-average confidence. And black cars, supposedly a sign of power and elegance, are driven by the most downbeat drivers of all.”

The information in the article was based on a survery by CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, OR. Nearly 1,900 Americans were asked about their attitudes toward their own lives at several points over the course of a year and the color of the car they drive most often

According to CNW:

“CNW got a range of answers for each respondent over time, they were also able to calculate the “moodiness” of drivers—how widely their confidence varied from one extreme to the other, in the course of a year.”

I got such a kick out of the statistics on color and moodiness. Is it really reasonable to single out one item and its color to gauge an element of personality? Well yes and no. If the survey had been only among those that purchased a car where they had all available options and then selected a particular color it might be a bit more likely to reflect something that could be linked to other traits.

But what about those who end up with a color because that was what was available? Or those that had other outside factors that influenced the color? Does their acceptance of a color still say something about them? Do you think the color of your car says something about you?

Hmmm, I was skeptical but thought it would be fun to look at the statistics from CNW and see how they played against my personal experience. Does what I think to be the outlook on life of my friends and acquaintances match up with their car color? Well to my surprise for the most part it does. Not 100% but closer than I would have anticipated.

If you asked me to name ‘glass half empty’ folks a few people come to mind and true to the survey results they all drive black cars.

I know many people that drive silver and most of them are nice people that are usually upbeat and stay on an even keel but what keeps them from pushing higher up on the positive scale is that they tend to caught up in the blame game when something negative happens.

I have two very good friends that drive green cars and both are likely to be heard telling someone “forget about it” or “move on” or “look at the upside”. They definately fall into those super positive ‘get over it’ green drivers.

Very few people I am close with drive red or other brightly colored cars but that could have to do with age and practicality as much as outlook.

But what about me? I may do this for a living but I’m no different than anyone else when it comes to reports like this. I wanted to know what it says about me!

In this case I’m happy to report that as a driver of a midnight blue car I fall into the above average group and have a consistent positive attitude. Whew, I’m glad my car isn’t black!

I read this article just a few days before I was asked to comment on the Dupont 2007 Car Color Popularity report for IBSYS broadcasting. Here what the chart says about North America:

But what if I was to combine these two car color reports? Just like the companies that created them I could use the data to arrive at my own conclusions and here’s the result — my tongue-in-cheek look at what it reveals about the mood of the drivers I might encounter.

Kate’s Color Guide to Driving on the Highway

If you want to reduce your stress when driving on the highway let color clue you in to who to steer clear of.

Just under 20% of the vehicles you encounter will be in white with driver with an average outlook in regard to their attitude about the course of their own lives and only experience modest mood swings.

These are the people that usually leave on time, listen to the radio and accept that traffic is part of life. You don’t need to worry too much most of the time about those driving white cars. Just keep in mind that extra long traffic delays that make them late for a meeting or daycare pickup could raise their anxiety level and temporarily increase their aggressiveness on the road.

About an equal number of drivers would be behind the wheel of a silver car. These folks fall into the slightly above average category when it comes to having a positive outlook and their moods are very consistent.

These are the people happily signing along to the radio but always at the ready to better their position and get through the maze of traffic a bit more quickly. They will usually give you room to merge but if you don’t keep up with the pace they’ll take the first opportunity to go around you.

Then we get to black and the 16% of drivers who have te the least positive attitudes, are consistent about it and are subject to the greatest number of mood swings. These drivers are happiest on the open road because they truly think they own the road and that traffic laws don’t apply to them.

In traffic you might recognize them by the scowl on their face and if you were in the car with them you would probably hear complaining and griping about other drivers –you know the ones that don’t know how to drive. It is best to avoid those driving black cars.

But what about those red car drivers who are often thought to be aggressive and bold? Perhaps this is the persona they take on to mask a less than positive attitude or at least that might explain why those that drive red cars are just behind black when it comes to having the least positive attitude and most pronounced mood swings.

While they might not cut you off with the same sense of entitlement a black car driver does they will race by you and slide in with a grin and sense of satisfaction.

Though far fewer, if you do see an emerald green or blue car these are the folks to follow because they drive happy!

So what color is your driving?

Resources:

U.S. News article ‘What Your Car Color Reveals About Your Psyche’…

What Leatrice Eiseman says about ‘What Your Car Color Says About You…’

The complete report from Dupont…

Overuse of this color however coupled with the fact that many companies that claim to be ‘green’ do not in fact follow environmentally sound practices (also known as ‘greenwashing’) has reduced the positive impact of this color.

Companies looking to differeniate thenselves are choosing to use blue to communicate their commitment to the environment and as Ann Mack of JWT put it so beautifully, “represent a much broader spirit of good citizenship”.

With growning concerns over having sufficient clean water and clean air to support the global population blue, a color associated with the the ocean and sky, is a natural choice.

Add to this the fact that blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable, and committed and it simply makes sense that forward thinking companies like Mercedes-Benz that want to distance thenselves from ‘greenwashing’ and be seen above the glut of green have chosen to incorporate blue into their ‘green’ marketing. For example Mercedes-Benz coine the term Bluetec for their clean diesel fuel technology.

VW also uses blue. BlueMotion badge is an environmental sub-brand, denoting the most efficient model in each VW car range. But it’s not just automakers but also the French government that are going blue rather than green.

Blue will not replace green as the color of nature but in 2008 the color will be seen with closer associations to the enviroment and global issues.

Blue will also be a color that is influencial in many other areas. Pantone named blue the color of the year for 2008 and as we ushered in the new year many hues of blue from sky to navy were already appearing in home and fashion stores everywhere.

Related links:

Pantone 2008 color of the year…

Automakers going green with blue…

Are consumers being greenwashed…

Health conscious buyers attracted to blue…

JWT predicts trends to watch in 2008…