How do you choose a color?

[alexmak]

I remember about 4 months ago, while we were still waiting for a kit to arrive, I have asked the forum “what was the hardest part”, and was absolutely stunned when a lot of people answered “choosing a paint color”. Now that we have the body on, I completely understand that response. I mean, there are so many great options, and so many variables - body color, stripes color (or having stripes at all), stainless/black rollbars and exhaust, wheels color, personal preferences (of everyone in the household), other cars’ colors, etc, etc.

and it’s also an important decision, since painting is expensive and need to choose something that you won’t regret in a year or two. What was the point for you that helped you to settle on a certain paint color, and you are still happy with it?

[rich grsc]

It's not that hard. What color always catches you eye when you're out? If you pass a couple dozen cars on the road, and one or two always make you look, then that's where you start. I've selected the colors on three cobras, a yellow, an off white and now a gray. Only the first one was 'wrong', someone else picked the shade of yellow. The other's are perfect, because "I liked them". Don't let anyone tell you 'Oh it's a cobra, it has to be xyz color'. Or if it is too hard of a decision you can alway do the JAC color option.:rolleyes:

[Straversi]

I think most people know what they want on day one, but it takes a while to filter out the noise. Don't worry about what other people think or say. It's your car. Built it and paint it the way you want. These cars will stand out in a crowd no matter what color you chose so you don't need to get outlandish to get noticed. A plain white Mk-IV will get more looks than a color shifting Porsche at a car show any day. Advice I would give is don't spend a lot of time looking at new cars trying to determine if Miata red with BMW silver or Porsche blue or Mercedes gray is for you. If you think you want something in the red family or silver family, call Miller or Kleiner or one of the other painters on the forum and discuss it with them. They have seen all of the combinations and can help you narrow the field.
Good luck and have fun.
-Steve

[toadster]

if you know what color you want, or similar, its a good idea to see in person - I took the opportunity to walk around my local Ford dealer the other day when I had my wife's car in for service and looked at pretty much everything... noticing the dirty cars, the clean cars, etc... I was really focused on black metallic as that's my first idea, but 99% of them looked dirty, ugh... so check around and get ideas! also ask your painter if they have favorites - you may be surprised!

[KDubU]

It is a tough choice because they look good in almost every colour combo. As others have stated it’s your car so paint it something different or the same as another, it does not matter. I never did the walk around car lots as I had already targeted a light blue and it came down to Viking or Portofino. I wanted a classic colour combo so Viking with Wimbledon white stripes made sense to me and was very glad I chose that.

[silver_pilate]

Look at lots of pictures. Find what you like. Once you have a general idea of color combo, look at dealerships and see if you find anything you like or contact a FFR paint specialist and see if they have recommendations. I had an idea of combo I wanted, and Jeff Miller pointed me in the right direction for a specific color/code.

[swwebb]

I went to Huntington Beach Cruise-In in 2015, and I looked at all the Cobras there to get an idea what I liked. The dark grey colors caught my eye. I also met Jeff Miller there (da Bat), and we talked about getting my body (the car body to be clear!) to him and the painting time frame, etc. Where is SEPA (southeast Pennsylvania)? If so, maybe go to the London Cobra Show or the Factory Five Open House when they are back on. You can probably meet a painter there as well.

I'm still very happy with my color combination. Jeff is a great painter, but don't tell him that - it will go to his head!

[GoDadGo]

If you never intend to sell the car:
Pick any color that you like with any wheel combo that tickles your fancy.

If you think you will one day sell the car:
Pick a color that you really like that you feel will best be represented well and appealing to others.
These cars can look period correct, elegant, refined, overdone, and some times even tackie so be careful in your choices!

Purple Really Works For Me, But My Car Is Red Instead!

[Norm B]

Pick one you like. In my case, I had a T top version of the car in the first picture when I met my wife, and no, that’s not her sitting on the fender. When I asked her what colour I should paint my roadster, she said the colour of the car you had when we met. Easy decision!

Norm

[Papa]

I'm the poster child for struggling with color selection! Here's a brief history …

I started my project with the dark blue with white stripe combo in my mind.
I also liked the charcoal/sliver colors with white stripes, but not as much as the blue/white
If an effort to be "unique", I started looking at more exotic variations of the blue/white combo. I looked at some of the BMW blacks that have a blue "pop" in the sunlight only to toss that idea after getting some spray outs to look at from Jeff. They are black, not blue.
I then started looking at the usual dark blue colors with variations on the stripe color … silvers, grays, ghost stripes, etc.
I then found a cool looking blue that I saw on an episode of *itchin Rides, but thought it may be too faddish.
I finally resolved my conflict when I went back to my initial vision of my finished car and did the dark blue with white stripe. The only difference was a recommendation from Jeff to do a pearl white vs. a stark white. I couldn't be happier with the choice. Yes, there are a lot of other Cobras out there with the same basic combo, but that's what always came to mind when I thought of a Cobra. Besides, how often do you see more than one of these on the road at a time unless it's a show or club event?

Close your eyes and imagine what your car looks like -- go with that!

[DadofThree]

You will know, Grasshopper....

[Jeff Kleiner]

I think most people know what they want on day one...

A few do but trust me, most have it narrowed down to “everything” and then stay up nights agonizing about it. I heard something years ago and have repeated it to several customers...”Close your eyes and imagine a warm summer evening driving it on winding back road with your significant other in the passenger seat. You’re listening to the purr of the pipes and looking over the hood at the road ahead. Now, quick, open your eyes and tell me what color you saw on that hood!” :)

Jeff

[rich grsc]

A few do but trust me, most have it narrowed down to “everything” and then stay up nights agonizing about it. I heard something years ago and have repeated it to several customers...”Close your eyes and imagine a warm summer evening driving it on winding back road with your significant other in the passenger seat. You’re listening to the purr of the pipes and looking over the hood at the road ahead. Now, quick, open your eyes and tell me what color you saw on that hood!” :)

Jeff
The color of warm breasts. Oh you meant the car color.

[Papa]

The color of warm breasts. Oh you meant the car color.

Those are fenders, Rich!

[TMartinLVNV]

I spent a lot of time looking at the rolling chassis manufacturers' websites looking at all of the different color combos. I had narrowed it down to either a silver with black stripes or red with undecided stripes. Jeff Miller sent me a pic of a car that he was working on at the time and I loved it. I spent a little more time looking for the "perfect" shade of red but ended up settling on what he had already done. Easy Toyota colors that will always be available. For me, the engine choice was much more difficult.

[alexmak]

I think most people know what they want on day one,
-Steve

on day one I knew it had to be classic American racing blue with white stripes. but then we ended up with black roll bars and SS exhaust, and then started thinking about what works well with black parts, and then it felt like a dark red might be a good one, and then may be metallic gray is also a cool option, oooh, and black one is awesome too. and it's even before I've heard any "other people's" opinion, which I don't really care about in regards to picking a color. so yes, you are right, on day one I knew. but then day 2 came, and here we are on day 100, and I know nothing.

[CFranks]

Camaro red!

[David Hodgkins]

I definitely know what you are going through!! Here's my 6 year color evolution. I made all the mechanical decisions but final say on color decisions were subject to the CFO (Chief Family Officer, most decidedly NOT ME).

I'm a fan of single-stage paint, and my first color was British Racing Green. My ID was CNGreen when I signed up on the old forum. Punny, huh? This lasted quite a while, until I was on the road in gelcoat.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131281&d=1594076988

Anyway, that was veto'd. When I took it to Jeff Miller for paint, I said "I THINK I'm going for pure fire-engine red like Mr. Dick Smith. I mean, come on. Killer Color! No Strip of Course:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131282&d=1594077254

Denied.

Well then, How about Silver, with Chrome, lighter-silver-colored or white stripes?
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131284&d=1594077839

Nope, already have 2 silver cars .

Now I've been at Miller's for a while and body work is nearing completion. "Can you do all chrome so it looks like a polished Kirkham??
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131283&d=1594077529

DON'T DO THAT! Says the all-knowing Batman. (I won't go into details).

I peruse a bazillion color pallets in several of those color shade books:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131286&d=1594079000

My mind begins to melt. ARG! OK, just paint it classic Guardsman Blue / Wimbledon White!
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131285&d=1594078152

Ahhhhhh.... Perfection. That what I wanted all along! I LOVE this color! Nothing else would ever do!!

:D

[phileas_fogg]

I've always been better at figuring out what I don't want rather than what I do want, so for me, it was much easier to eliminate colors. I knew I didn't want a white, burgundy, orange, yellow, green, purple, black, dark grey...

I didn't care for black accessories (side pipes, roll bars, etc.) so I had to find something that worked with polished stainless. My favorite color is blue, but I LOVE the red that Mazda is currently featuring. My family is Norwegian, so when I saw Viking blue, that did it. I want stripes, but am not so fond of the cream tinge of Wimbledon, so I'm going with Arctic White. I may add a Mazda-like red pin stripe, but the foundation is set.


John

P.S. I LOVE KDubU's [former] car; he did such a great job with it. Kudos!

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Was easy. Roughly the same color as the 1967 Stingray I bought instead of the COBRA I was looking at. Only extra thing to think about was the stripe color. The Corvette had a black Stinger, the same color combo as the sales brochure. I did not want to do black stripes on the FFR so eventually went with a Jaguar silver.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131288&d=1594083201

Definitely did not want to have another Blue Cobra.;)

EDIT: Got some requests for the paint codes. My Whitby bill lists it as Chrysler Blaze Red RH. That said its not sprayed out of the can. had some sprayouts made & black tint was added to darken it to the shade I was looking for. Silver is Jaguar JKH out of the can.

[alexmak]

Camaro red!

how many red cars a person needs? :)

[j.miller]

You only have two choices (trust me I'm a professional ). (A) Your colors. That would be the colors you like judging by the clothes you wear and what you think looks good on you. (2) The polar opposite of "your colors"...….(D) well, there is one more option (kinda hate to say it) …..any color.....THEY JUST LOOK GREAT IN ANY COLOR ! Hope this helped...da Bat

[alexmak]

You only have two choices (trust me I'm a professional ). (A) Your colors. That would be the colors you like judging by the clothes you wear and what you think looks good on you. (2) The polar opposite of "your colors"...….(D) well, there is one more option (kinda hate to say it) …..any color.....THEY JUST LOOK GREAT IN ANY COLOR ! Hope this helped...da Bat

this definitely helps!

[Jeff Kleiner]

And if you absolutely can't make a decision just leave it with Miller or me and say "Surprise me." You can trust us.

Jeff

[Ray]

I knew before I ordered the car. I had a 1984 Honda Goldwing that was "Pearl Siren Blue." Dark, dark blue with a bit of pearl and it "popped" with a bit of purple in the sun.

When it got close to the time for body work, I went to Honda and discovered that this was a 3-stage paint, sold only in quarts and each quart was close to $90. So, that put it out of my price range. Luckily I had a buddy with a paint and body shop that let me take his color books home over a weekend. I found a PPG 1987 Ford SUV/truck color that was real close. Dark Lapis Blue Metallic (and it was very affordable!)

Ray

[miller7448]

You could go for one of a kind. 131393

[rich grsc]

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[NiceGuyEddie]

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It's a very difficult decision if you are doing a color combo that's never been done before, or at least one you have never seen, not even in a photo.

The best I know, I was the first to do black with brandywine stripes. (Metallic Maroon stripes did exist, different shade though.) I'll never forget the day Jeff Miller called me up and said, "Your car is done, let's just say it came out 'okay'."

It came out MUCH better than expected, and what was unexpected was how the stripe color fades to black when looking at it horizontally. This is notably cool when sitting in the cockpit. The ghosted stars are subtle enough to notice them ONLY when you get the right angle from the sun. Literally, hundreds of people admired my car and noticed the stars ONLY after staring for a few minutes. Like Jeff Miller said, "You want them to notice the CAR - not the stars." Wise, he is.

As far as resale, the stars were way to cool and personal to not do. It won't be a problem re-selling in California, and in fact, I've had several offers over the years, and I wasn't even trying to sell it.

A note about choosing a "stock" color from a production car: My stripes are 2004/2005 Porsche Carmona Red Metallic, a less-common color of a Boxster or Cayenne. A few times I saw these cars in person and I parked next to them to compare my stripe with their base color. Due to the quality of the work and the clearcoat, my stripe looked much deeper and richer than their factory paint. So if you chose a factory color, I it will not look exactly the same, but better.

Most important, it's YOUR car so do what you want, take no crap for blue & white stripes - I would have done the same if it weren't for the fact that I already owned two blue cars.

[GTBradley]

It seems like a tough decision, but in retrospect, it was quite easy, really. It's my theory that the best choice is your first, you know, the one you keep returning to and comparing the others to.

[j.miller]

And if you absolutely can't make a decision just leave it with Miller or me and say "Surprise me." You can trust us.

Jeff



YES, YES, YES....I love those words. Time to get rid of all those partial cans of paint. It doesn't matter what they all are or the amount left in each can...they all come out PUKE Gray but leaves room in the cabinet for those picky guys that have to have a color "THEY" like. REALLY ! Some peoples kids ! Hmph !...da Bat

[Jeff Kleiner]

...Time to get rid of all those partial cans of paint. It doesn't matter what they all are or the amount left in each can......da Bat

Truth be told I painted some metal patio furniture with a leftover "boilermaker" concoction a couple of weeks ago. I really like the color and just wish I'd kept track of what all I put together 'cause I'd put it on a car!

Jeff

[KDubU]

P.S. I LOVE KDubU's [former] car; he did such a great job with it. Kudos!

Thank you John. Now if only I had not sold it. :(

[Ernie67]

A car's color says a lot about the person driving it-especially if you built and had it painted. Reds that are driven by men are either a pick-up (got a deal on) or a corvette, but either way - craving more attention. Yellows and Orange kind of fall in that area, but getting the complimenting stripe color is hard. Black is nice, and so are the grays, but getting the stripes to compliment is the hard part there as well. Of course, there is blue, which comes in so many varieties-it's like it's own color spectrum! It let's the world know 'you are THE man'! Green's are also very cool and show confidence. The complimenting color (I feel) has to be white stripes. This is the one thing you see from a half mile away that makes every person's heart start running a bit faster-'cause you know what they mean-the color and proportion- it can ONLY be!!

[rich grsc]

YES, YES, YES....I love those words. Time to get rid of all those partial cans of paint. It doesn't matter what they all are or the amount left in each can...they all come out PUKE Gray but leaves room in the cabinet ...da Bat
I'm so glad I got to help Captain O with his 'hazardous' waste. I didn't even charge a disposal fee. :p
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[DadofThree]

131439

That really turned out great, Rich! Love the combination! Congrats!

[j.miller]

I'm so glad I got to help Captain O with his 'hazardous' waste. I didn't even charge a disposal fee. :p
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Ah ! Now I get it.....Way to take one for the team brother !...da Bat

[rich grsc]

That really turned out great, Rich! Love the combination! Congrats!
That may have been its prettiest day. It's been over a year, plenty of hard miles on it already. I drive it, sometime hard:rolleyes:, she ain't no trailer queen.

[JohnK]

In my mind, cobra aesthetics break down into two basic categories: "race-inspired" cars and street cars. The race car-inspired look (to me) is typified by black wheels (with bare aluminum spinners), black roll bar(s), and black side pipes. Street cars (to me) more typically have polished side pipes, chrome roll bar(s), and a wider array of wheel finishes. In my mind, paint selection starts with deciding which of these two categories you envision for your car. I knew that I wanted a "race-inspired" look from day 1, so this narrowed down the paint choices I was considering from the get-go.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Well darn it Rich, now you done let the cat out of the bag. You're supposed to call it a "custom mix" and not tell them that it's just leftover hash ;)

Captain O

[rich grsc]

My bad. Was just trying to make Miller feel better, we know how he get's when no one pump's his ego. All alone in his paint fumed garage. :rolleyes::eek:

[Derald Rice]

Best advice I have seen in this thread is it "Looks good in any color"

But wait...... Get a diecast model of a cobra, and paint it what you think that you will like. Then put the model on your desk, nightstand, workbench, wherever you will see it every day. After a month or so, you will still like it or you will have other ideas..

Then be sure to get a look at your color choice in different degrees of sunlight. Some colors will really flip from daylight shades to nightime shades. Have your painter paint a mailbox so that you can see the curves and flat areas.

[Chilly]

I agree there are plenty of color combinations, I have settled for the Ruby Red with Black stripes and the car blacked out.

[Avalanche325]

Picking a color is easy. Here's how i did it.
Blue / White.,...no Silver / Black,..... no Blue / White, wait Red / Silver, nope Titanium / Charcoal, no Blue / White, hmmmm Pepper grey / Silver, nope Indigo ink/white, hold on Indigo ink/silver, ........Blue / White.

My car is Black / BMW Dark Silver...........perfect.

Easy as that.

Honestly, the BEST thing you can do is go a an event with multiple Cobras and see what does it for you. That might be a little tough these days. But, there is nothing like seeing the cars in person. Don't just go by what looks good on a different car, it might not look good on a Cobra.

[delta0014]

I probably had 200 screen shots of different cobras in a variety of colors. Ordered several cans of paint from auto touch up to see what they looked like.
I really wanted something unique, but I just really liked the indigo blue with white stripes better then anything.

[GTBradley]

Blue / White.,...no Silver / Black,..... no Blue / White, wait Red / Silver, nope Titanium / Charcoal, no Blue / White, hmmmm Pepper grey / Silver, nope Indigo ink/white, hold on Indigo ink/silver, ........Blue / White.
Exactly the order I did it in!

[alexmak]

Picking a color is easy. Here's how i did it.
Blue / White.,...no Silver / Black,..... no Blue / White, wait Red / Silver, nope Titanium / Charcoal, no Blue / White, hmmmm Pepper grey / Silver, nope Indigo ink/white, hold on Indigo ink/silver, ........Blue / White.

My car is Black / BMW Dark Silver...........perfect.



yeah, very similar to my process. have more pics of your car? (of course you do!)

[bobm488]

Jeff Miller suggested going to a PPG dealer and looking at their color samples. I new the color I wanted was purple. Finding the correct shade was really hard. Going to the PPG store and looking through the colors really helped finalize the color. You will be surprised how many different shades there are, and different color metallic flakes. Picking out the strip color has the same challenges as the body color.

[Avalanche325]

yeah, very similar to my process. have more pics of your car? (of course you do!)

I have 1 or 2 laying around....
I sprayed out a test panel (washing machine front from the side of the road) with a light silver stripe and a BMW dark silver stripe. The light silver looked like it was sitting on top of the black. The dark silver looks like it is embedded down in the black.

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[narly1]

This is going to sound cliche but I've got the body colour figured out already.

When I finally get my FFR33 it's going to be Ford Candy Apple Red as a tribute to my late brother.

That was the colour of his pride and joy, a '67 Mustang.

It's just the rest of the colour scheme that I need to figure out LOL.

[alexmak]

I love blue and a million shades of it. Guardsman blue, I guess, is our default choice. But I love new Mazda’s Soul Red Crystal so much, so we’ll see.

BTW, does anyone know these colors?
131886

[cnutting]

If you want a vintage look, check out the AC color samples. Might see something interesting, yet different there.

[John Dol]

Do a search for cobra’s online and see what you like.
Also look for cars on Instagram and Facebook pages. Many color ideas out there I was set on white with black stripes and a red outline until my son showed me a flat black Audi R8 with a black shiny stripe. That changed my mind and it stuck.

John

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[Jetfuel]

I asked my wife to pick a color...then I go to the color wheel and pick the opposite...

Jet...;)

[rickscobra]

I had an open mind when it came to picking my color and am lucky to live within a 3 hour drive to FFR. Attended the 2015 FFR open house where I went to the roof that over looked roughly a hundred Cobras and took mucho photos. The car color that just popped out over all the rest was Ford deep impact blue with Wimbleton white stripes. Still haven't seen another color that blows my skirt up.

[CraigS]

We went through the problem too. At one point, although I wasn't going crazy on the old school look, I wanted a color that was available on the originals. So I researched and found there were only maybe 8 colors. But that works OK. Do you know how many whites there are? Easily 100s. Same for all the others. So I picked silver. Oh dang, I was working as a tech in a large Lexus dealer at the time. One day I walked into the shop and there were 3 silver cars next to each other. They are ALL silver? Yep. Finally said the he11 w/ it and chose the silver that was on my 08 Civic daily driver. But I did pick a wonderful red that had a gold flake in it that was a Lexus color for the stripes. When I picked up the car there was an extra couple $100 on the bill because that red was a 3 stage paint. I didn't really mind but was disappointed later. The way that color slightly shifted on a whole car was completely lost on an 8 inch wide stripe. Oh well.

[rich grsc]

Any color as longe as it ain't blue. :rolleyes: :p

[Papa]

Any color as longe as it ain't blue. :rolleyes: :p

Them thar is fight'n words! :p

[alexmak]

Any color as longe as it ain't blue. :rolleyes: :p

50 shades of blue

[Chilly]

Is it better to paint the car while you are building or wait until it is finished. Looking for feedback.

[Ray]

Unless of course we are talking about car/truck/motorcycle paint.......

[alexmak]

Is it better to paint the car while you are building or wait until it is finished. Looking for feedback.

from what I understand, you need to be able to fit body on the build, so whatever adjustments/trimming for perfect fit can be done before painting.

[Chilly]

from what I understand, you need to be able to fit body on the build, so whatever adjustments/trimming for perfect fit can be done before painting.

OK. I have been watching the FFR videos on the body adjustments and Tony mentions after everything is gapped and trimmed send the shell off for painting as painting sometimes takes the most time.