[JonOrangeElise]

OK, I'll confess: I think for better or worse, car colors send implicit messages about their owners, and I'm concerned that the color I pick will send the "wrong message" about me. So I'm going to list a few colors, and riff on what I think they "say about people." Please agree or disagree with my evaluations. I am really interested to hear the thoughts of people on this board. (And if you think this is a stupid exercise, sorry for wasting your time... just quit reading and jump to another thread.)

Storm Ti: Nice-looking, but so incredibly safe and conventional. If Storm Ti wasn't so similar to the color of "old people silver," I might get it. But I just don't know if I can bring myself to ordering the world's most popular car color, no matter how sparkly Storm Ti might be.

Ardent red: Mid-life crisis. Too flashy. "The owner is trying to compensate" -- yet I might get this color if I wasn't so irrationally concerned about drawing attention to myself!

Bordeux red: An awesome color! But is it perhaps a bit too feminine? A bit girly? I don't know why I equate this color with girlyness, but I do. But, damn, it looks great on the Elise!

Nightfall blue: Another great-looking color -- but I'm reluctant to choose it because (1) it may not be the safest as far as my own visibility, and (2) it's almost like the absence of color, i.e., "Why spend extra for a color that is designed to be so low-key?" Especially when the Elise is a pure toy that's meant to celebrate life itself. Nightfall blue comes accross as a bit morbid.

Racing green: Should anyone paint a technical masterpiece such as the Elise in earth tones? Aztec bronze is also an earth tone -- and lord knows we wouldn't paint our cars aztec bronze! So isn't there somteing rather dissonant with racing green as well?

Let me know what you think. The above colors are on my short list.

 

[Goose]

Okay, I'll bite.

I vote for Nightfall. Simply because it doesn't look to be too popular -- you won't see as many Elises painted the same. It would look really nice with a biscuit interior...

 

[babak]

Where does that leave CO?

 

[Biomax]

goose -

that's my order - hopefully should be here mid september.

Robert

 

[Lumn8r]

I don't see anything "earthtonish" about Lotus Racing Green. In person the car is beautiful. To my taste it shouts "British Sports Car" and is more subtle than the brighter colors. And the curves of the car are not lessened by the green.

 

[jml1952]

If you don't want to attract attention to yourself, the Elise probably is a bad choice.

I think that Storm Ti, Bordeaux Red and Nightfall Blue all are rather placid, conservative colors. Lovely in their own right, but much too "blah" for an Elise, in my opinion.

Ardent Red is spectacular, but if you are concerned about flashiness, may not be right for you.

British Racing Green also is spectacular, especially with the biscuit interior (go back and find LA Auto Show photos if you haven't seen it). But not so flashy as red and not so bland as the others above.

Racing Green would be a great choice. I was sorely tempted, but I'm not afraid of the splashy, flashy Saffron Yellow.

 

[JonOrangeElise]

to answer one question and to respond to one point: CO is balls-out wild... it is the best "thematic fit"for the car. But I will not spend that much on paint. As for ardent red I am not too concerned about drawing attention to myself (ergo Chrome orange would be ok.) But ardent red leans a bit far over to "Stereotypical sports car...mid-life crisis... this guy is probably an *******."

Which i very well may be.

 

[shay2nak]

avoid the confusion and get black or graphite. Colors that have absolutely no color in them. Therefore no one can apply any stereotype to you. Or white, if we had it available.

 

[agent.5]

I think you guys are overanalyzing. What about some of us who will be ordering yellow or orange?

 

[suv_bait]

Isn't white the most popular car color choice? I swear one out of every 3 cars I see is white, but perhaps that's because of its low-maintenence characteristics in the hot California sun.

Interesting you bring this question up, Jon, as I've been struggling with the same debate in my head recently (as well as annoying my girlfriend about it incessantly, I'm sure).

I've always been a "march to your own drummer" sort of guy, perhaps to a fault, naively caught up in principle to the extent to not bother to think about what other people might think about me. For better or worse that's the sort of person I seem to be.

My current car is a yellow BMW, which I bought at the time because I absolutely loved the color.

However, having had it for the last 7 years or so, I can tell you it's like a tatoo in a visible location -- there are going to be times when you wished you could cover it up.

Assuming you have another car for these presumably rare occasions (job interviews for example) no big deal.

But it runs deeper than that -- first time passengers are always shocked everybody is always looking at you! This was more true when the car was new... it happens less-so now, or I've stopped noticing as much. I have a feeling this is going to be ten times worse with the Elise, no doubt about it, regardless of color choice.

Nonetheless, it's a car I hope to drive as often as I am able. If not my daily driver, then a car I can use to run errands, commute, take a weekend trip (I pack light), etc.

I really hope it's not a car that I have to leave home when I need to go to the hardware store on the wrong side of the tracks and will wonder how people might judge me or worry about the car's safety. Though, I guess to an extent who am I kidding... trying to be low key with this car is about as futile as trying to sweep a ton of elephant crap under the carpet.

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling; in conclusion I think I've considered every single color (except for Aubergine and Aztec) and come to the conclusion that I love the way the bright, light colors look on the Elise, but don't want to make the same mistake again as I made on the M3. That, coupled with the safety factor of a bright color is going to make this a hard decision.

Right now I vacillate between Lotus Racing Green and Chrome Orange, then Storm Titanium vs. Lazer Blue. After seeing the pictures of the Symbolic deliveries, today I'm thinking Starlight Black.

So, in conclusion - for real this time - I think what we Eliser's are losing sight of is that the impression that will be made by our car choice is going to far dominate the impression made by our color choice.

I think a black or burgundy Elise will draw far more attention - and lead an onlooker to think many more things - than a yellow Spyder or an orange Mustang. What do you guys think?

Best,
John

p.s. Hey, why can't the Elise have removable color panels like Smart Cars, so you can change the color depending on your mood?

 

[smoseley]

If you're worried about looking "too flashy", don't buy an Elise at all. Those are all good color choices, IMO. If it were me, I'd pick between Ardent and BRG, though.

 

[Need4Speed]

Kinda like debating favorite tastes. I think a color strikes a person - or not - on a deep, visceral level. If it does it for you, who cares what others' feelings on the matter are.

Personally, Krypton Green offends my retinas, and approximates baby caca, but if it gives someone else a chub, hey more power to them.

I ascribe no value judgments to a particular hue...

Unless Randy were to respray in pink!

:huh:

 

[ConeFusion]

If you're uncomfortable with the flashy colors (which I think work best for the car), I would go with Racing Green. I haven't seen it in person yet, but from all the pictures and the color sample it looks very classy without being boring. And to me it also looks very... British! Just a very good match for the car.

And yes, you're overanalyzing!

 

[Surferjer]

BRP is a bit "girly"? Well, the Elise is my girl. My wife is my woman LOL.

 

[JonOrangeElise]

If you're worried about looking "too flashy", don't buy an Elise at all. Those are all good color choices, IMO. If it were me, I'd pick between Ardent and BRG, though.

I misspoke (misswrote?) when I made that original comments of "too flashy" and "yet I might get this color if I wasn't so irrationally concerned about drawing attention to myself!"

I don't mind flashy when it's not loaded with a lot of baggage. And if I was only allowed one color choice (like, say, I was buying an Elise used), I would take any color save maybe bronze and krypton. Because c'mon, color isn't THAT important.

But ardent red isn't just a flashy color. It's a color that sends a message. I hate to say it, but if you park an ardent red next to a nightfall blue in a mall parking lot, that jealous punk youth is going to key the red car first. And when your Elise pulls up to the fox in the lane next to you, she's more likely to think "rich *******" if you're in an ardent red than if you're in any other color. And you know, in my survey of people at my office, I was impressed by how many people actually said bright red sports cars signify "mid-life crisis purchase" (and one even said "compensation for a small dick")...

So this doesn't necessarily come down to concerns of flashiness... It's just the baggage that comes with owning any bright red sports car. But you know what? I STILL might get ardent red!!!

BTW: As I was driving home last night, I noticed that red-maroon is NOT a chick color. No, it turns out it is an old-people color -- and typically painted on big, old American sedans.

Thanks for humoring this thread everyone. It's really all in good fun.

 

[JonOrangeElise]

BRP is a bit "girly"? Well, the Elise is my girl. My wife is my woman LOL.

BRP is so, so spectacular... I think it works wonderfully with the car's black molding pieces, and just somehow perfectly complements its lines in a way that many other colors don't. Plus, judging from photos, it's just got a richness that's very unique.

How much BRP change hue in various types of light? (How pearlescent is the pearl?)

 

[genieman17]

to answer one question and to respond to one point: CO is balls-out wild... it is the best "thematic fit"for the car. But I will not spend that much on paint.

Are you serious...I mean yea at first when i thought about getting the car the idea was to keep the costs down choose one of the metallic colors, but after thinking about it some more, why would i try to save 700 bucks on a car that I'm already paying over 40 grand for? compared to 40 grand another 700 is nothing, i mean it's not really nothing, but for the pleasure of having the car of your dreams in the EXACT color you want, i'm not gonna give that up for a mere 700 bucks...I say pick your favorite color. No one can tell you what color you should choose, because their tastes and thought process on what the colors represent to them may be totally different. Someone may look at storm-ti and say reminds me too much of old people...i may look at it and say looks very classy...and though yellow and red may look flashy, Chrome orange is flashy in a different way, like fun flashy versus, "hey look at me" flashy. Personally graphite grey looks good to me...thats what i would choose...and just because i would choose it, doesnt mean it's nicer. I would love to have a chrome orange one, but like someone else said...there may be times that i wish i didnt have that color, but with graphite gray that wont be an issue...But like i said, "the opinions presented in this posting are those of the poster, and in no way portray the feelings that other forum members should be feeling."

 

[fitfan]

well... we all know YELLOW is the BEST choice

 

[jml1952]

So, does this mean that women who drive a flashy red or yellow car are compensating for having small tits??

Anyone who is that concerned about the "statement" made by the color of their car has my sympathy. Buy a silver Lexus and be done with it.

I don't know how to create a poll, but clearly we need one matching color selection with wiener size. I'm assuming that if you order Aztec Bronze, you must have brass cojones and be endowed like a horse.

 

[RedwineGuy]

Be unique...go Aztec

I think the Elise makes any color look good