Does your Challenge car wear a neutral color?

A request from the editorial and art departments: More color, please!

We just ran through the forthcoming coverage. Out of 40-odd entries, only about a dozen aren't black, white, silver, gray, anthracite, charcoal, summer smoke, midnight dusk, racing beige, champagne, tan or something equally neutral. (And, yes I'm calling anything in/near gold a neutral.) Here's a hint: This makes it tough for us to pick a car for the cover.  I'm not saying that we didn't put a neutral car on the cover, but more color (and some gloss) would definitely help all involved. 

Your bogey should be this:

Love you long time. 

reminds me of the #nowhitepads movement in hockey trying to get pro goalies to use something other than boring white gear. I love it.

Be careful what you ask for. 

Stampie said:

Be careful what you ask for. 

We'd love to be in a position to make this statement prophetic. :)

But, yeah. Gimme gimme gimme some color, people. Anything you wouldn't see in an Enterprise rental car lot would work fine.

MazdaFace said:

reminds me of the #nowhitepads movement in hockey trying to get pro goalies to use something other than boring white gear. I love it.

Thanks. And I realize that this request is coming from someone whose wardrobe is almost entirely black but, yeah, this year's field was really devoid of color. (Note: I am wearing my blue Vans today, not the black ones.) 

While I'm in the Challenge photo file. A few more bogeys:

Not glossy, but not gray, either:

Seriously. Sand the car with some sandpaper, enough to take the shine off. Go buy your choice of on-sale rattle can, and do thin coats until you can't see the base color anymore. Let it dry, and then hit it with rattle can gloss. Looks damn good and costs next to nothing if you wait for sales

Darn, I was planning on going from ecru to white white. 

We did this in $2010, but it was mostly black and white.  (Yellow is expensive.)  :)

No mention of salmon! Does that mean I got the cover?

David S. Wallens said:

Out of 40-odd entries, only about a dozen aren't black, white, silver, gray, anthracite, charcoal, summer smoke, midnight dusk, racing beige, champagne, tan or something equally neutral. (And, yes I'm calling anything in/near gold a neutral.)

But that's all cars come in these days, so unless you're painting or wrapping, that's what you get.  When we were shopping new cars for DW recently, manufacturers from both eastern and western hemispheres offered the following:

• White
• 3-4 shades ranging from silver to dark grey
• 2 shades of black (!)
• Some other color like washed-out blue or brick red, but only one other

That's all most normal cars are made in anymore - certainly all they are inventoried in.

Lucky me, I have a Darn near Day glo Orange ,  Kinda Hugger but BRIGHT

Was copper considered neutral?

Also, what would constitute "too loud"?

I've been trying to tell Mazda the same thing.

Dusterbd13 said:

Also, what would constitute "too loud"?

Well, the Mumpkin wasn't too loud, so I don't know if there is a practical limit:

Funny thing,I just watched this last night

spin_out said:

Darn, I was planning on going from ecru to white white. 

We did this in $2010, but it was mostly black and white.  (Yellow is expensive.)  :)

Despite being largely white, you still added enough color to make it visually exciting. Perhaps that's the question to ask: Does my car look exciting and engaging? Is it bright or kind of washed-out? 

Also, a PS: Some of you might remember the Rabbit GTI project car I did a million years ago. The paint was the pure white base tint. Looking back, I should have been a bit more daring. (I still stand by my red-oxide primer Civic Si.)

Hey i threw the tail stripes on this year so i would have a shot at the cover!  Plus my car is white AND black(and red and blue now)

ed literally said “please don’t paint the corvair black” to me.  It’s black already.  You can have your bright colors for the $2020 and $2021 cover cars I plan on bringing.  

David, you’ll get this punk reference.  Originally I planned, if it needed filler work and paint immediately, to paint the Corvair orange(Agent Orange) because corvairs are <Insert song title here Mr Wallens>

Because Corvairs are A Cry for Help in a World Gone Mad. 

Duke said:

Dusterbd13 said:

Also, what would constitute "too loud"?

Well, the Mumpkin wasn't too loud, so I don't know if there is a practical limit:

Funny, earlier today JG and I were discussing some kind of possible trophy for the best retro visual package. If that becomes a thing, bonus points for screaming chickens. 

David S. Wallens said:

Duke said:

Dusterbd13 said:

Also, what would constitute "too loud"?

Well, the Mumpkin wasn't too loud, so I don't know if there is a practical limit:

Funny, earlier today JG and I were discussing some kind of possible trophy for the best retro visual package. If that becomes a thing, bonus points for screaming chickens. 

Let us know in advance I am all about trophy' s that I have a chance of winning. I can do retro...

If going retro, someone do this, please:

David S. Wallens said:

Because Corvairs are A Cry for Help in a World Gone Mad. 

 

This made me laugh on an otherwise crap day 

David S. Wallens said:

If going retro, someone do this, please:

That can be arranged....

Rock on. 

You didn't like my beige over silver??!?

I call it rallyx camo. Kinda disappears in the dust.