Colour and the motor car

Really fast colours!

In the early days of the motor car very little consideration was given to colour. Henry Ford's famous offer of "any colour you choose as long as it is black" sums up the market conditions of those days.

Colour, design and image

It is generally believed that fashion design sets colour trends and is then followed by domestic interiors, architecture and lastly automotive design. This cosy sequence of events ignores reality.

It is certainly true that fashion design is first to influence the buying public, but many automotive colour designers establish their future colour themes coincidentally with fashion and other design areas. What differs are the lead times involved in bringing them to public view.