A paint colour can say a lot about a car and a person, and you should never underestimate the effort that manufacturers put into finding the right shade for a certain vehicle.
It can also provide an excellent opportunity for car manufacturers to let their hair down and get creative when it comes to coming up with the name.
Volkswagen UK recently took a different direction and let the public decide on the name for a bright yellow finish for its new T-Cross SUV on social media, with the result being the rather excellent Rubber Ducky (see above).
But this is far from the only great car paint name over the years, so let’s take a look at some other excellent choices.
James Blonde – Vauxhall Adam
Vauxhall wanted to turn up the fun factor when it introduced its Adam city car in 2013, specifically designed for younger drivers and with more than a million different personation combinations available.
Is creative teams were working at their finest when it came up with some of the colour names, too, with Saturday White Fever, White my Fire, Goldbusters and Orange Alert all available. But the highlight has to be the brilliant James Blonde (yellow).
Green Hell Magno – Mercedes-AMG GT R
Back in 2016 when Mercedes-AMG revealed its GT R, it was one of the firm’s most advanced and powerful cars to date, and was billed as a road-going version of the firm’s race-winning GT3 race car.
It needed a name to go with it, and Mercedes chose the brilliant Green Hell Magno paint colour. Not only does it give it a brutish name to go with the vibrant matte green finish, but also references the Nurburgring race circuit in Germany where much of the GT R’s development took place, which carries the nickname of the, you guessed it, the green hell.
Tangerine Scream – Ford Focus ST
Ford has made some great colours over the years, and these have often been accompanied by brilliant names too. A few highlights are Nitrous Blue from the last Focus RS as well as well as Grabber Orange from the Mustang.
But the best name has to to go ‘Tangerine Scream’, which came on the third-generation Focus ST. We’d struggle to come up with a better descriptor for this bright orange finish.
Hella Yella – Jeep Wrangler
Jeep is another car brand that is known for its creativity, and especially when it comes to its iconic Wrangler 4×4. Renowned for its off-roading ability, you might expect that Jeep only offers it in darker shades.
But far from it, as there have been a range of bright colours over the years, with the best-named being Hella Yella from the latest model. You could even have it in a bright green ‘Mojito’ finish, though these are almost impossible to find.
Norfolk Mustard – Lotus Elise
Lotus is known for its British roots, with the firm having a factory in Hethel, Norfolk for several decades. This was acknowledged with the brilliantly named ‘Norfolk Mustard’ that perfectly describes this flat yellow paint finish available on its sports cars.
It could be found on cars like the Series 4 Lotus Esprit and the first Lotus Elise from the 1990s. A similar colour continues to be the iconic paint finish for this brand, although it’s now only called ‘Hethel Yellow’ referencing the town in Norfolk where Lotus is based.
Green Tea Latte – Kia Soul
Kia had always been a fairly safe and sensible carmaker, but the 2009 Soul crossover aimed to inject a bit of fun into this South Korean brand, and was fairly successful at doing so.
Kia offered its Soul with plentiful personalisation and also some vibrant colours with the names to match. Highlights include Green Tea Latte and also ‘Vanilla Milkshake’ that accurately describes an off-white colour this Kia was available in.
Frozen Berry – Porsche Taycan
Porsche has one of the most extensive range of colours of any manufacturer, courtesy of its ‘Paint to Sample’ (PTS) range that essentially lets buyers choose whatever shade they’d like.
But perhaps Porsche’s best colour name is Frozen Berry, which is a light pink hue that you would certainly have to be bold to choose. It’s available on the standard colour palette of Porsche’s electric Taycan, though can be had as a PTS shade on its other models.
Are there any other great colour names we’ve missed off? Let us know in the comments!