Question of the Weekend: Should there be more choice in Interior Colors?


This is in a similar vein as the exterior color choice question I ran a few weekends ago. I just want to know what happened to color choices in the interior of the car? Have we all gone color blind? Read more after the jump…


During the late 50’s and early 60’s there were dazzling color choices that was only an option tick away. Interiors with 2 tone vinyl or cloth, stripes, metallic hues, all color coordinated to match the exterior paint color of the car. Luxury cars were more muted, in keeping with the conservative nature of the buyers who were attracted to those cars. Late in the 60’s and early 70’s, these wild color pallets started to wane, but the interiors still offered a wide array of shades, again matched to the exterior.

Late in the 70’s and early 80’s colors became a bit more vibrant, with red becoming a popular option that can be ordered in most any exterior color scheme. It was common to see a white car with a vibrant red interior, either in vinyl, or crushed red velor. The dash pad, seats, carpet, steering wheel, door panels, and headliner were all bathed in the same (or nearly the same) color. Japanese cars were offered in a white interior option during this time period (I had one!) except that the dash, steering wheel, and carpet came in black.

However, things began to change in the 90’s, with charcoal becoming the predominate color choice for interiors, followed by light gray, and taupe. Some cars offered a light tan interior, while others were offered in a rich tobacco brown. The charcoal was the most popular, and I feel that it makes the car feel like a cave. What happened to all the different shades?

Some manufacturers are taking this plight to heart and have started offering interiors in Wine Red, Medium Blue, and Cashmere. So I pose this question: Would you be willing to take a chance in choosing an interior color other than Black, Taupe, or Gray? Please comment below…

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  1. FuzzyPlushroom Avatar
    FuzzyPlushroom

    Honestly? Anything but beige or light grey. Black or charcoal are great in most cars, blue works when the car's white or blue (my daily driver is blue-on-blue), red's usually a fair choice, brown has its place… Even cream-coloured leather seats can be lovely, but they only really work when there's real hardwood on the dash.
    Even this holds a certain appeal for me…
    <img src="http://my.execpc.com/B0/BE/pav/pav/Mark8c.jpg&quot; width="600">
    …even if it is a squishy, somewhat-plasticky '90s Lincoln interior.

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