What colours are the best??
- Thread starter Robert Lawrence
- Start date
Hi Robert.
You should expect to get as many different opinions as you get replies to this one. It is such a personal decision.
For mine the cars look better in a dark colour. I think it is because the vents in the body are more hidden and it makes the shape look cleaner. My preferences are Dark blue, green or black.
I also like a stripe down the middle in a lighter colour (silver or white) which spreads out across the front. I have seen many cars decorated like this and I like all of them.
OK next opinion please.
Regards
John
You should expect to get as many different opinions as you get replies to this one. It is such a personal decision.
For mine the cars look better in a dark colour. I think it is because the vents in the body are more hidden and it makes the shape look cleaner. My preferences are Dark blue, green or black.
I also like a stripe down the middle in a lighter colour (silver or white) which spreads out across the front. I have seen many cars decorated like this and I like all of them.
OK next opinion please.
Regards
John
What's best? I don't know, but mine is going to be a dark Charcoal gray metallic with black stripes (2 big ones down the middle) or charcoal with a lighter gray for the smiley face. I may even use some removable stickers for the numbers if anyone knows the size of the round ones I would love to know. Then again the wife still wants it black with 2 silver stripes. Oh man now I don't know what to do. Thanks Robert, I know you meant know harm, but now I'm all concused again
Gotta finish sanding first and then the panels, the fuel lines, brakes. Oh man Robert why'd you do it? I have to go back to the garage now and clear my head. Better luck to the rest of you.
John
John
Peter Delaney
GT40s Supporter
I am inclined to agree with John about the darker colours giving an overall "smoother appearance". They also tend to hide the panel gaps better than lighter colours.
Stupidly, I set myself a goal of panel gaps "as good as a Lexus" - 2 litres of resin, 3 sq m of glass mat & 1 kg of filler later, I think I have got panel gaps "as good a Toyota" ! I've had enough of this sculpture work & am going to rely on a dark blue colour to take me from Toyota to Lexus !
Kind Regards,
Peter D.
Stupidly, I set myself a goal of panel gaps "as good as a Lexus" - 2 litres of resin, 3 sq m of glass mat & 1 kg of filler later, I think I have got panel gaps "as good a Toyota" ! I've had enough of this sculpture work & am going to rely on a dark blue colour to take me from Toyota to Lexus !
Kind Regards,
Peter D.
Ron Earp
Admin
Any problems with dark colors and heat build up in sunny climates? Other than the obvious "The car is very hot" are there any material problems that one should be aware of? I'm aware of the outgassing procedure with fiberglass/resin materials.
But, the actual surface temperature between say a white/yellow car and black/blue car would be very large on a sunny day.
I've got one of these infrared thermometers that I might try that experiment on as I've a black car and a white one at the office. Now, all I need is a sunny day (raining as of writing).
Ron
But, the actual surface temperature between say a white/yellow car and black/blue car would be very large on a sunny day.
I've got one of these infrared thermometers that I might try that experiment on as I've a black car and a white one at the office. Now, all I need is a sunny day (raining as of writing).
Ron
Robert Logan
Defunct Manufactuer - Old RF Company
Robert,
I supose that I am as well qualified as most to talk about colour combinations but I will not. I have seen many cars and have built my fair share and the thing that I must get right is that "WOW" feeling as the new customer first sees the car. By far and away the best colours are the dark ones such as dark blue and burgandy etc.. This is because the shut lines (those around the doors and front and rear clips) which are usually black because of the shaddow, just disappear into the dark colours. In stark contrest on white cars and say yellow cars these black shut lines are very evident. This means that particular care must be taken to ensure that EVEN shut lines are maintained.
For me the blue , silver and orange that I put on my first GT40 in 1994 is still my favorite. I think I was the first to put these colours on a GT40 and I took them from the Gulf Porsche spider which was the forerunner to the McLaren F1 also sponsored by Gulf. This forum calls them the NEW Gulf colours but there has been a few different Gulf colour sceems since that one.
I just love the GT40 that it would be hard for me not tolike one just because it was painted some INTERESTING colour !!!
Best wishes,
Robert
I supose that I am as well qualified as most to talk about colour combinations but I will not. I have seen many cars and have built my fair share and the thing that I must get right is that "WOW" feeling as the new customer first sees the car. By far and away the best colours are the dark ones such as dark blue and burgandy etc.. This is because the shut lines (those around the doors and front and rear clips) which are usually black because of the shaddow, just disappear into the dark colours. In stark contrest on white cars and say yellow cars these black shut lines are very evident. This means that particular care must be taken to ensure that EVEN shut lines are maintained.
For me the blue , silver and orange that I put on my first GT40 in 1994 is still my favorite. I think I was the first to put these colours on a GT40 and I took them from the Gulf Porsche spider which was the forerunner to the McLaren F1 also sponsored by Gulf. This forum calls them the NEW Gulf colours but there has been a few different Gulf colour sceems since that one.
I just love the GT40 that it would be hard for me not tolike one just because it was painted some INTERESTING colour !!!
Best wishes,
Robert
I'm leaning toward white with blue stripes, although an interesting variant might be a pearlescent white (some Nissan and Infinity cars use this color) with electron blue metallic (i.e. 2002 Corvette Z06) stripes. It may sound silly, but the GT40 I first fell in love with was depicted on the cover of my 1967 Matchbox Collector’s Case, and, as you may have guessed, it was white with blue stripes.
A dark colour, not only hides body aligment and such.
It also hides the details wich i love.
the air ducts,body curves etc...
It all blends into one blob sort of...
A medium colour would be a little of both.
Both hiding and showing...
Some light colours can have the appearance of "plastic, not real, cheap " sort of..
Hard to explain.
Dark colours in the right light can be very "naughty" and agressive looking !
But they also alway´s look dirty !
Think of a black car, it seldom looks really clean, and it also shows Every "misstake" underneath the paint layers...
Also depends what suits the car...
MkI,II,III,IV. and sort of appearance..
Wheels and such...
Does it look like a 60s car or does it look a bit different with modern styling ?
A hard question for sure...
Depending on your mood, car and a million other things...
Ford original race colours were white with blue or black...
Shelby´s were often that special blue metallic..
Race cars had/have alway´s been very colour full.
Great !
I like basic colours the best.
Sort of also keeps the GT40ies in the 60s when talking about them.
Shelby blue is also great....
Anyway, just my personal opinions...
Like most but have my favourites...
A good thing thou, is to get it in the colour you first thought of, sort of...
Saves up on thinking about it and i think seldom get´s you in too much remorse afterwards.
Well, i mostly work that way...
i mostly know sort of in advance what i want.
Not just a new thing, mostly i´ve been longing for a long time as well as dreaming colours as well as dreaming overall !
Happy choosing !
It also hides the details wich i love.
the air ducts,body curves etc...
It all blends into one blob sort of...
A medium colour would be a little of both.
Both hiding and showing...
Some light colours can have the appearance of "plastic, not real, cheap " sort of..
Hard to explain.
Dark colours in the right light can be very "naughty" and agressive looking !
But they also alway´s look dirty !
Think of a black car, it seldom looks really clean, and it also shows Every "misstake" underneath the paint layers...
Also depends what suits the car...
MkI,II,III,IV. and sort of appearance..
Wheels and such...
Does it look like a 60s car or does it look a bit different with modern styling ?
A hard question for sure...
Depending on your mood, car and a million other things...
Ford original race colours were white with blue or black...
Shelby´s were often that special blue metallic..
Race cars had/have alway´s been very colour full.
Great !
I like basic colours the best.
Sort of also keeps the GT40ies in the 60s when talking about them.
Shelby blue is also great....
Anyway, just my personal opinions...
Like most but have my favourites...
A good thing thou, is to get it in the colour you first thought of, sort of...
Saves up on thinking about it and i think seldom get´s you in too much remorse afterwards.
Well, i mostly work that way...
i mostly know sort of in advance what i want.
Not just a new thing, mostly i´ve been longing for a long time as well as dreaming colours as well as dreaming overall !
Happy choosing !
Jim Rosenthal
Supporter
Dark maroon, I think the color called opalescent maroon, which seems to be the color that Bill Wonder's GT40, #103, is painted. Which was, by the way, the first GT40 to win a race, and is still owned by the same person since the early 1970s, bless him, now that's continuity. And the blue steering wheel,and the blue or black interior. Which is what mine's going to look like. And wheels sprayed to match the body...
AND, speaking of paint and nothing else relevant to this discussion, yesterday we started pulling all the paper off my boat, which got a pretty much complete respray this winter, along with a lot of restoration work. She looks fabulous. And, if you're looking for an incredibly durable paint with an amazing gloss, you might look into Awlgrip, which is a polyester urethane made by US Paint, mostly for airplanes and boats, but can be used on anything metal or fiberglass. Boy is it tough and boy does it shine. Wow. And boy is it expensive.
AND, speaking of paint and nothing else relevant to this discussion, yesterday we started pulling all the paper off my boat, which got a pretty much complete respray this winter, along with a lot of restoration work. She looks fabulous. And, if you're looking for an incredibly durable paint with an amazing gloss, you might look into Awlgrip, which is a polyester urethane made by US Paint, mostly for airplanes and boats, but can be used on anything metal or fiberglass. Boy is it tough and boy does it shine. Wow. And boy is it expensive.
G
Guest
Guest
Interesting to see that there are no comments on the original gulf colours. On my car, which is not a concours car by any stretch of the imagination (I have "built in" the patina of a race car!), it always creates an amazing amount of interest as it is one of the most recogniseable colour schemes of any car out there.
Then again no one has gone for red as in Porsche guards red or a ferrari kind of red. It is a popular colour here but if I wanted a ferrari I would have bought one!
Think on this. How many yellow cars get great coverage in magazines? Especially in custom car mags. Yellow is one of the better photogenic colours and suits the shape as well. All shut lines start off good or you wouldn't paint the car until you got them right. However over the years plastic multi panel bodyshells move a bit and if you start dismantling and refitting doors etc you could be in for a shock on trying to recreate those original high quality shut lines.
Green is a colour hardly used over here. There is the Linden Green as seen on the Ford press car as allegedly driven by Mario Andretti (not) but no one here has gone for it. One car here has a bronze/lime green combo. With a veneered dash! Tony Marsh's MK2 is close to BRG.
White with blue strips is a good colour scheme. I only know of Chris Melia's car as a black colour by itself. Perhaps he knows of more.
Silver or metallic grey with a yellow strip was used on the old factory demo car at GTD in Poole.
As said above do the colour that you like the best as you are going to live with it and no one else is!
Malcolm
PS I am planning on a respray one day and guess I will have to choose between repeating the same scheme again or having something new. Most likely stick to the same as it creates such a stir whereever I take it.
Then again no one has gone for red as in Porsche guards red or a ferrari kind of red. It is a popular colour here but if I wanted a ferrari I would have bought one!
Think on this. How many yellow cars get great coverage in magazines? Especially in custom car mags. Yellow is one of the better photogenic colours and suits the shape as well. All shut lines start off good or you wouldn't paint the car until you got them right. However over the years plastic multi panel bodyshells move a bit and if you start dismantling and refitting doors etc you could be in for a shock on trying to recreate those original high quality shut lines.
Green is a colour hardly used over here. There is the Linden Green as seen on the Ford press car as allegedly driven by Mario Andretti (not) but no one here has gone for it. One car here has a bronze/lime green combo. With a veneered dash! Tony Marsh's MK2 is close to BRG.
White with blue strips is a good colour scheme. I only know of Chris Melia's car as a black colour by itself. Perhaps he knows of more.
Silver or metallic grey with a yellow strip was used on the old factory demo car at GTD in Poole.
As said above do the colour that you like the best as you are going to live with it and no one else is!
Malcolm
PS I am planning on a respray one day and guess I will have to choose between repeating the same scheme again or having something new. Most likely stick to the same as it creates such a stir whereever I take it.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Green is a colour hardly used over here. There is the Linden Green as seen on the Ford press car as allegedly driven by Mario Andretti (not) but no one here has gone for it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I believe green is regarded as a bad-luck color in the racing community, at least here in the US. Several racers are highly superstitious about the color green, and I've even heard stories of drag racers shooing away from the pits people who are wearing green and looking at the race cars.
Regards,
Mark
I believe green is regarded as a bad-luck color in the racing community, at least here in the US. Several racers are highly superstitious about the color green, and I've even heard stories of drag racers shooing away from the pits people who are wearing green and looking at the race cars.
Regards,
Mark
Some original´s are in different green shades.
One particulary (1061)ex Bib Stillwell has a dark green with another couloured "smily".
"Gulf" body work..
It looks awasome !
Body lines really "shine" !
Green is the British invasion colours....
BRG !
What about Leppla´s 1019 in "ferrari" red with silver Halibrands...Awasome...
Or speaking the mighty Gulf Schema´s..
Why not 1049 the first "Gulf" car.
Dark blue and orange, as in "some" newer "Gulf" painted cars...
Or White 1058 in original "Ford" white with "Ford" blue stripes and original type body and Borranis.
Or our Forums AMGT2/Driven.. in Guardsman blue..former red...
Whit white Ford/Shelby stripes...
Etc.. Etc.. are they just not lovely...
And if am not totally wrong the "Andretti" letters on 1008 are to tribute him.
As he did drive the car.
But not racing it in the 60ies or so...
He drove it later, at a "vintage" get together...
One particulary (1061)ex Bib Stillwell has a dark green with another couloured "smily".
"Gulf" body work..
It looks awasome !
Body lines really "shine" !
Green is the British invasion colours....
BRG !
What about Leppla´s 1019 in "ferrari" red with silver Halibrands...Awasome...
Or speaking the mighty Gulf Schema´s..
Why not 1049 the first "Gulf" car.
Dark blue and orange, as in "some" newer "Gulf" painted cars...
Or White 1058 in original "Ford" white with "Ford" blue stripes and original type body and Borranis.
Or our Forums AMGT2/Driven.. in Guardsman blue..former red...
Whit white Ford/Shelby stripes...
Etc.. Etc.. are they just not lovely...
And if am not totally wrong the "Andretti" letters on 1008 are to tribute him.
As he did drive the car.
But not racing it in the 60ies or so...
He drove it later, at a "vintage" get together...
Our decision wasn't so much what color, but if to put stripes on or not. After seeing GT40's with and without stripes, we decided that they're too much part of the character of the car to not have them. So, our car will be a medium blue WITH stripes.
Dave
Dave
I had mine painted Porsche guards red as I was trying to replicate 1030 and 1061(Ithink) which I remember fondly when they lived here. MY next choice would be the Yamaha colours of 1077(Ithink) which is now back in U.K. Just on the subject of black cars they appear to look better painted in metallic than non-metallic,and you get time to turn the hose off in between washes.
G
Guest
Guest
Robert
My first answer would be to paint it whatever
you like the most. Don't worry what others
prefer. It's your toy!
But after reading some of the comments above,
I can see where a few things should be considered, particularly the climate
you live in. As far as the gaps are concerned, unless they are WAY off, don't let
that stop you from painting the car a light color. No one cares about Lexus anyway.
I painted a scale model Cobra three times
differently to see which combination
I liked the most. Cheaper than repainting
the real car. And it did help somewhat.
One thing I can tell you FOR SURE...all things equal, bright colored
cars receive more attention than
dark colored cars. Just ask any car show judge...(or police officer).
MikeD
My first answer would be to paint it whatever
you like the most. Don't worry what others
prefer. It's your toy!
But after reading some of the comments above,
I can see where a few things should be considered, particularly the climate
you live in. As far as the gaps are concerned, unless they are WAY off, don't let
that stop you from painting the car a light color. No one cares about Lexus anyway.
I painted a scale model Cobra three times
differently to see which combination
I liked the most. Cheaper than repainting
the real car. And it did help somewhat.
One thing I can tell you FOR SURE...all things equal, bright colored
cars receive more attention than
dark colored cars. Just ask any car show judge...(or police officer).
MikeD
Royal Blue with white stripes. Yes, please.
Guards Red with white stripes. Yes, please.
I'm also partial to green, but my last two Mustangs have been dark green so I'm getting a little burned out on that color.
One option I have not seen explored on a GT40 is one of the new color-shifting paints. A relative of mine painted his fox body Mustang race car in BASF's green based color shifting paint (I think it's called Ocean?) and it looks incredible. It changes colors at least three times when it drives by, even more if the sun is just right. Would make an interesting choice for a GT40, especially if you put stripes on it in a different color-shifting shade!
Guards Red with white stripes. Yes, please.
I'm also partial to green, but my last two Mustangs have been dark green so I'm getting a little burned out on that color.
One option I have not seen explored on a GT40 is one of the new color-shifting paints. A relative of mine painted his fox body Mustang race car in BASF's green based color shifting paint (I think it's called Ocean?) and it looks incredible. It changes colors at least three times when it drives by, even more if the sun is just right. Would make an interesting choice for a GT40, especially if you put stripes on it in a different color-shifting shade!
