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Questions for the black owners

7K views 90 replies 60 participants last post by  J Rock 
#1 ·
1. Does the car still attract attention and elicit interest? Close to that of a brighter color?
2. Do you really have any moments where you say "holy crap, that guy almost ran me over, wish I had a brighter color"?

OK - so maybe they're dumb questions, but I am trying to justify myself here. :D

I was going to get either red or grey, but am seriously considering a black car.
 
#2 ·
Wow, I seriously thought you were directing your question to black (as in *****) people. I thought you were going to ask about profiling or something. I'm not a big fan of black cars because it doesn't show off all of the details in the body work, but it does look classier.
 
#10 ·
Wow, I seriously thought you were directing your question to black (as in *****) people.
Welcome to 1963. :thwack:


.
 
#15 ·
Wow, I seriously thought you were directing your question to black (as in *****) people.
Man....haven't heard "*****" in a looong ass time. It was African American before it went to just "Black".

Anyways... concur with the comment "good luck on keeping it clean"
 
#7 ·
The only negative with my starlight black is keeping it clean:rolleyes:

The car still attracts plenty attention but definitely not as much as one in a look at me color, which helps, as I really don't want any more attention than I already get. The fun busters don't seem to take much notice of it, which is nice.
As for others seeing me..... yeah its a small car but a brighter color won't make a difference, plenty of bright ones have been hit (eg sector 111s spider). Idiot drivers are idiot drivers either way no matter what car you drive.
 
#8 ·
1.) Yes (too much actually). Don't know - I've never been too bright (or had a chance to directly compare to a brighter color).

2.) No. An oblivious driver will hit anything.

I will say that I have never been a fan of black cars and the care required, but I do feel (IMHO) that it is classier than some other colors. But then again, I prefer Aubergine over Krypton. :shrug:

I would still enjoy driving my SB Elise even if it were Krylon primer (your choice of color) and shaped like a shoebox.
 
#9 ·
1. More than I ever thought.
2. Like this morning? Yes it happens all the time.

I only considered getting black when I was looking for my car. I thought it would attract less attention but I was way, way wrong. Good luck keeping it clean. :D
 
#20 ·

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#21 ·
It's not like it did not start out on an odd footing, but this is certainly one of the most strange threads here. It has drama, twists and turns.
 
#27 ·
I had a few Haitian and Jamaican friends when I lived in Miami, and they didn't like being called "African American". I always thought that term was an unnecessary use of additional syllables.

Regarding the color of cars, until very recently, I owned three identical Lotus Esprits -- all S1s: one bright red, one white, and one dark blue.

The red one got lots and lots of attention, and in 15k miles I never had an incident where it seemed like another driver didn't see me.

The white one gets noticeably less attention.

The blue one is almost completely overlooked, to the point that I receive barely any attention on the road, at traffic signals, gas stations, etc. I have also been nearly run over with it a few times in 4k miles, and the PO of over 20k miles installed a louder-than-stock horn on it for the same reason. :eek:

Be careful!
 
#29 ·
Jesus wants to know just where this thread is headed...
:huh:
 

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#32 · (Edited)
Staying on topic, I think...

Life's strange twists have had me owning 3 05 Elise's and an 06 Exige.

The Elise's were Starlight Black, Saffron Yellow, and currently Ardent Red. The Exige was Graphite Gray.

My experience in order of attention was Yellow got the most, then the Exige, more because it was an Exige than it's color, the Red, then the Black.

A lot of the attention the black got was a bit more because I took delivery in January of 05, so it was still pretty much an unknown car. Any color would've gotten a lot of attention then.

I will say that I've had the Exige parked next to blue and red Elise's at car shows, and the brightly colored Elise's drew more gawkers than the gray Exige. People would look the Elise's over carefully while almost totally ignoring the Exige.

YMMV.
 
#36 ·
Black is Beautiful!

A clean black car is, in my opinion, elegant. That said, my 72D is certainly difficult to keep clean. It does not attract the same amount of attention as, say, an AR or CO Elise (both beautiful cars), but my personal style is relatively low key. Added advantage: less likely to attract the attention of our state police (personal experience confirms this).

I do not feel that the likelihood of being T-boned or rear ended is significantly greater for a dark colored car during the day and not much greater at night with running/tail lights operating. It is more of a size issue for the Lotus IMO.

fredkto
 
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