Piston Slap: The Last Insane Interior Color?
TTAC commentator econobiker writes:
Related to my comment her e, the Japanese makers were early on this common car interior colors. But when did the US makers kill the goof-ball color combos? Like the white Cornithinan leather seats in a brown interior Cordoba posting the other day.
Regards,
Sajeev answers:
Porno Red velour. Deep Blue carpets. Green dashboards. I miss them all, son!
The Big Three rolled deep in funky colors well into the 1980s, but things changed in the 1990s. The Chrysler LH cars, for better or worse, ushered a new era of Euro-centric interior colors for American machines: boring grey, black and tan interiors were the norm for these machines. In fact, I only remember some goofy speckled seat fabric as the only splashes of color in 1990s Chrysler products.
GM was a different story: I remember a fair number of orangy-browns in Caddies, dark reds/blues in “bubble” Caprices and Fleetwoods…even the Corvette and certain Chevy trucks were seriously red inside…until their late 90s redesigns.
Ford was even better…or worse. 1990s Lincolns came in some seriously bizarre colors: powder blue, cream (i.e. 100% white), dark blue and even dark green (very rare, for a reason) were on the option list. The 1996 Taurus written about here was probably the last Detroit redesign to sport an odd color palette, including that bizarre dark green color.
Which leads to my answer: the 1997 Taurus’ Willow Green interior was the last insane interior option for a Detroit carmaker.** Crown Vics and Lincoln Town Cars also lost them in 1998, but they were lame ducks this year. The Taurus was still a hot number, hence why I’m singling it out.
Best and Brightest, off to you.
**But wait, the 2002 Ford Thunderbird came in some seriously insane colors, and you can still get some interesting accent colors on Corvettes, but I chose the Taurus to focus on the color palettes of mainstream machines.
Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.
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Didn't Audi offer the TT with a baseball-glove orange (complete with stitching!) leather interior?
Okay, since the late 90's you could have any color interior in American (and most import) cars as long as it was a non-color such as Mouse Beige or Mouse Grey (the greys varying only in intensity from Light Dust to Dark Dirt). What is wrong with color? If a broad spectrum of color choices are good enough for Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Jaguar, and the like, what is wrong with having a choice or three in a Taurus? I once bought the last of the Roadmaster wagons because it had a dark red leather interior. I imagine how a new Chrysler 300 with a navy blue paint job and a saddle color leather interior would take a big step up in perceived luxury and style. Such is the power of color. The original 300s only came with saddle color leather, seems a shame the new ones don't. I recently bought a new Charger because it had the option of a red leather interior. The same car with a beige or black interior is a yawn. So what is wrong with any of the colors from the 1960's automotive interior palette. A premium is paid for a first year Toronado with a plum color interior. A 67 Eldorado with a turquoise interior will shine brighter in a collector's eye than a similar model with a black interior. Beige was available then, but it was thick glossy leather rather that the dull sun-baked looking stuff they call leather in modern cars. And it was accompanied by color options of dark green, dark brown, red, plum, turquoise, blue, white etc. so you weren't stuck with a non-color as your only interior choice. Automakers are slowly dipping their toes into the paint pot for interior colors. GM is to be commended for adding color to trim in some of its Cadillacs and the new Impala. Hopefully, this trend will accelerate and flourish and we will no longer be greeted by a wave of depression when we open our car doors!