Iconic car colours | Six of the Best

While it’s true that Henry Ford said, “any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it’s black,” it’s not actually true that the Model T was only available in black. His point, of course, was about production efficiency. But before he said it, and after, you could have a Model T in a variety of colours. Which says a lot about how important the choice was to customers, even then. These days, while the choice is virtually limitless, some shades of paint have achieved hallowed status, and are inextricably linked with a specific manufacturer. None more so than Rosso Corsa, considered sacred at Ferrari (it is reputedly the one paint code that cannot be tweaked or tampered with) and in Italy generally. Translated it means ‘racing red’. ‘Nuff said. NC

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While the Italians got red in the early days of motor racing, we got green. Specifically British Racing Green, and though the precise hue tends to fluctuate a bit, it’s at its best when as deep and as rich as fist-sized emerald. Seen on a ’50s-era Jaguar, it’s liable to make you weep with nostalgic pride. But we haven’t chosen that because we stumbled on this Lexus LFA in Fresh Green, and it’s had us weeping for other reasons, mostly lust. That’s partly to do with the supreme rarity of Lexus’s front-engined supercar (needless to say) and the reputation of its dry-sumped V10. But also the thought of owning one of only two examples said to have emerged from the factory in something very close to Viper Green. Talk about an attention-getter. NC

Of course, traditionally speaking, if you want to really push the colour boat out, you invested in orange. Lamborghini has had several delicious shades of Arancio dating back to the ‘60s, and, much like a blood-red Ferrari, it’s almost impossible to find a Raging Bull-wearer that looks bad when Tango’d. But McLaren has an even more intrinsic relationship with the colour it calls Papaya. This dates back more than 50 years too, when it first featured on a Cam-Am car. Now it’s integral to the firm’s brand identity – so it’s handy that it still looks the business when applied to one of its supercars. This 570S is a case in point. There can hardly be a more cost-effective way of seeing what all the V8-powered mid-engine fuss is all about (when on a high street). NC

It only seemed right for Norfolk’s tastiest creation to bring some extra tang to its most exciting carmaker. No ham sandwich is complete without a dollop of Colmans to bring it to life; similarly there’s something just so right about a mid-engined wedge of Lotus sports car painted that rich shade of yellow. Elise, Exige and Evora all suit it perfectly. So too, of course, does an Esprit. While the colour was a regular option, this 2000 V8 was a special order car with very fetching green leather inside. Just two owners have driven it 60,000 miles. Quite the car, quite the celebration of yellow. Alternatively, there’s Liquid Yellow done the Renault way; you’ll do well to find a classic in it given how pricey the option was, but a good few newer ones are around. The most recent Megane Trophy has arguably never looked better. MB

Ferrari aside, there aren’t many colours so closely associated with one manufacturer as Honda and Championship White. It stems from the manufacturer’s racing efforts, of course, the initial brief foray into F1 during the ’60s announcing the white cars with the red ‘H’ in memorable fashion. So when it came to performance Honda road cars, white with red had to be the trademark colour scheme. Every single Type R has looked brilliant in the milky off white. Today there will always be a premium for Championship Type Rs, especially with the red seats – this DC5 Integra Type R is the perfect example. Never officially offered here but more than popular enough for lots to be imported, this 88k-mile example looks brilliant for 22 years’ use. A front-wheel drive icon to this day, just like the VW Corrado VR6 in fact – it suits Alpine White almost as well. MB

Nowadays Estoril Blue is all too commonplace, found on every school run 320d and estate agent’s 118i. Once upon a time, however, when it was a lighter hue, Estoril was a proper M exclusive colour, so you always knew it was on something special. The M Coupe, of course, could have been daubed in blackboard paint and would never have struggled for attention; decked out in Estoril it was an unforgettable clown shoe hot rod. This one is now more than 110,000 miles and 25 years old, amazingly – if only this was what odd looking BMWs looked like a quarter of a century later. And while we’re on the subject of great-looking blues from the ’90s, it wouldn’t be complete without an RS Blue Pearl Audi RS2. The first Audi RS ever made, and still perhaps the best known, in its most famous colour, looking absolutely fantastic for almost 160k. No wonder it’s £50,000. MB