But what about the rest of us, who aren't rich enough to pilot Enzo's or Ettore's creations? I've never really put much thought into it but a letter from one of our readers, who drives a yellow car, got me thinking. What does the colour of your car say about you?
The reader had taken umbrage at a suggestion in The Champion - I'm looking at you, One Man and His Dog columnist Jim Sharpe - that drivers of yellow cars hold people up. I took it to be a quaint reference to Noddy, in which case said yellow car would have to be a Fiat Gamine and the driver would have to wear a silly hat, and nothing more serious than that. I reckon a car's colour only says as much you want it to, given that whether a car comes in metallic or pastel shades is way down my shopping list, even below what I like the seats to be lined with.
I think the only car I've ever wanted in a particular colour was my MX-5, because I think it just looks better in red, but I'd rather take a good ‘un in Mariner Blue, my second choice, than a pup in Classic Red. Which is exactly what I did.
I also have a yellow(ish) car - an MGB in Harvest Gold, or Horrid Seventies Mustard as the missus calls it - and it's emphatically not something I use as a mobile chicane, but more importantly I didn't choose it because I liked the colour. I chose it because it was a clean example of a car I've always liked. It is, despite what all the Laurence Llewelyn Bowens among our readers might argue about the significance of shades, as simple as that.
The only time I can think of colour playing a role, really, is when you buy brand new. In which case you go for silver like everyone else, because you're frightened that going for the green one you actually wanted will hit you hard when it comes to selling it on in three years' time. Other than that, I honestly think most people aren't really that bothered about what colour their car is.
Translated into Llewelyn Bowen speak, quality is the new black.
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