Boring colors seen as the safe choice

car colors since that time I came home with a purple AMC Pacer in 1976. The answer is fashion, Paul. Fashion is something that’s so ridiculous that we have to throw it out every six months and start all over.

And when it comes to less-expensive purchases, some people can afford to throw stuff out every six months.

But as we go up the expense ladder, people tend to get more conservative.

You’d hate to spend $30K on a new car and decide it looks ridiculous six months from now, with 78 months of payments still to make. So people tend to stick with (a) muted colors and (b) colors that lots of other people have already chosen, because that makes them feel they’re making a safe choice.

The truth is, if people wanted to buy lime green cars, the carmakers would be happy to paint them that color. It’s more or less the same to them in terms of cost. But what they don’t want is a lime green car sitting on the lot for two years waiting for a color-blind idiot like me to think it’s gray and buy it.

Still, you can find some fringe colors out there — you just might have to special order them.

Dodge, in fact, makes a Day-glo lime green Charger. Honda makes a bright orange Fit. You can get a Ford Transit Connect in school bus yellow.

As for me, I drive a “silver” car. But in my closet, just waiting for it to come back into fashion, I have a spectacular, double-breasted, pin-striped suit. Any day now, it’s going to be stylish again. I just have to hope it’s actually black, and not dark purple.

Got a question about cars? Write to Ray in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email by visiting the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com.