Black Cars In The 1970s

[cort16]

4 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

Before he got married (1970) my father-in-law, a prawn-fisherman, had a new factory black 1969 Mk2 Lotus Cortina, (yes yes, I know, not Lotus, -  it's Cortina Twin-Cam).  He sold it to a local doctor.  No pics unfortunately.

Check out this late Mk1 Granada 2-door.

Is that a European model as I didn't know they even did them as 2 door saloons?

[Spiny Norman]

The only other black car I had was my Mk2 Punto, chosen because the black paint made the black plastic bumpers look like the colour coded ones on the posh models.
Also discovered a benefit of black paint, a black Sharpie was an ideal bodger's touch-up pen.

[barrett]

4 hours ago, 406V6 said:

Black was very common on cars from the 1900s through to the late 50s and I suppose the disappearance of it as a popular colour was a reaction to this. In much the same way bathroom suites were always white up until the 1960s when every colour of the rainbow started to be used (cue the avacado bathroom) and continued up until the end of the 1980s when white took over. These days you can't buy any bathroom suites that aren't white. In the same way, with cars you generally can't buy the standard rainbow colours, just shades of white, blue and grey (there are exceptions, naturally, I'm generalising).

I think this is the most accurate explaination so far, except that before the 1930s black wasn't actually that common. I've looked through a great collection of early colour charts from various manufacturers, from the days of cars being hand-painted, and black was rarely a feature. In the 1920s when mass-production began to creep in, paint technology changed and spraying became more common. Even when the rot really set in to car design/manufacture in the mid-30s, most cars were a 'colour', albeit quite a dowdy one. After the war there seemed to be a shift where every British car was black or grey. I would guess limited colour palettes was a side-effect of a need to produce as many cars as possible in the shortest amount of time - if you only have two or three choices across the entire range, things can be painted and screwed together much quicker. Even non-black cars sort of looked black. Have you ever seen a British Racing Green Jaguar in its original factory paint? It's nothing like what people think BRG looks like today - it's so dark and mossy in certain lights it looks jet black.

By the end of the 50s, the economy had changed so much in such a short space of time that, for the first time in decades, consumers actually had power over manufacturers, and design departments had untold freedom to create eye-catching products to attract buyers. The American influence was enormous, again helped by improved paint technology, and bright colours were an easy way to make a product stand out in a showroom or an advertisement. By the start of the 60s, black would have been seen as something representative of the miserable Stafford Cripps era or pool petrol, rations and general poverty. It definitely was not 'cool' and had no positive connotations (see previous comments about funeral cars, police cars etc). From that point on, colour was dictated by fashion.

I suspect the recent trend back towards black, silver and white is a result of modern car design being so objectively bad that cars simply don't look nice in most actual colours. When the surface area of a car is made up of thousands of different intersections, as is the current trend, the way light hits all those different angles can become incredibly jarring on something that isn't neutral or hyper-reflective.

The most interesting thing seems to be how many 'special order' cars were actually built. I'm sure it's still possible, but I doubt many people would bother these days to approach a dealer and order a new car to a unique specification (but then I guess most things weren't on insane finance deals where you essentially never 'own' the car in question back then). A friend of mine has an early Spitfire in black, which his mother ordered as a special job in the early 60s. I recently drove a beautiful battleship grey XK150S which for various reasons is a completely unique spec. I really like the idea of something being built to the first owner's whims and it's great that a few of these things survive.

[HMC]

Sort of on topic from @barrett’S post.

Alan Clark picked up a new xk120 from city motors, Oxford. Shortly after he got in contact with the works and twisted lofty England’s arm. He said he wanted to do the Carrera Panamericana. Could they change the spec to suit? They stiffened the suspension, added bucket seats, high lift cams, removed the spats, competition wires etc.

After all this he changed his mind and didn’t enter. Anyway that was probably the only one owner from new xk120 when he passed away in 1999.

[Jerzy Woking]

18 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Black is ill-advised anywhere that has strong sun and decent heat. It's just asking for trouble. 

I have a white Doblo, and my neighbour has a black Citroen Cactus (I think that is what it is). Parked beside each other in the sunshine, his car is too hot to touch, where as mine is more warm than hot to the touch.

Don't know what the interior  temperature difference would be, but it must be similarly huge.

[barrett]

5 minutes ago, HMC said:

Sort of topic from @barrett’S post.

Alan Clark picked up a new xk120 from city motors, Oxford. Shortly after he got in contact with the works and twisted lofty England’s arm. He said he wanted to do the Carrera Panamericana. Could they change the spec to suit? They stiffened the suspension, added bucket seats, high lift cams, removed the spats, competition wires etc.

After all this he changed his mind and didn’t enter.

I have a feeling it's still at Saltwood, tucked away somewhere. His 356-engined Beetle is gently rotting away in a shed, as are his ripple-bonnet 2cv and the 1970s 2cv they bought new. And their Mehari is used as a potting table in a greenhouse. Jane won't sell any of them, of course - I have tried!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

37 minutes ago, Jerzy Woking said:

I have a white Doblo, and my neighbour has a black Citroen Cactus (I think that is what it is). Parked beside each other in the sunshine, his car is too hot to touch, where as mine is more warm than hot to the touch.

Don't know what the interior  temperature difference would be, but it must be similarly huge.

Quod erat demonstrandum, I think 

[PhilA]

Black was even a special-order color in '51 on my Pontiac.

Black has only come back as an option recently, but it still needs a decent clear coat here to protect it if the owner wants any chance of a car parked outside in the sun keeping the paint for more than 7-8 years.

Black, metallic blue, metallic gray, red... All like to shed their paint by about 10 years old.

[Muniphobia]

BL did a special edition of the Princess called the Special six Automatic that was only available in black

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austin-morris/princess/special-six/

I remember seeing one on the way home from school and asking my Dad about it as he had a Princess and he had never heard of it.

[JeeExEll]

On 8/22/2021 at 1:05 PM, garethj said:

Black cars were for taxis or funeral cars and who wanted to look like that?

Then someone realised that being the bad guy was cool and the bad guys drove black cars too.

Now you don't see that everyday,

3 hungry blokes on the way to a pie-shop.  Cowley first.

 

A friend had a black non-Custom T-reg RS2000  which had the plain black non-Recaro seats, basic door-card trim,  etc, but the RS2000 dash instruments.  Quite a quick car with it's Cortina 2000 engine and good to drive with the RS suspension and bodyshell upgrades.  Wide-dished steel sports rims.

[anonymous user]

I have had a few black cars, the one I didn't get to have was in 1986. Work were pushing lease cars onto the staff instead of the car allowance.

There was quite a good choice on the scheme, but the optimum seemed to be the Fiesta XR2. The car park had loads, mostly in the same shade of red and with a lot of consecutive registration plates. I could have had one in red straight away, but was awkward and wanted one in black.

It was ordered, but never arrived, delivery dates kept being pushed forwards. After a few months had gone by I kept being offered ones in other colours, that they could get straight away. In the end we agreed not to bother and I kept my own car. Probably just as well as I changed jobs within the year.

And a little anecdote regarding special order cars. My brother's mother in law was looking to change her car in the mid 90s. She had a very nice Cavalier CD at the time and decided to stick with Vauxhall. She had a look at what was on offer and came up with a specification that they didn't do.

Nothing too extreme, but paint colours and trim from different models in a low pressure turbo diesel hatch. (Things like the sporty seats from one model, trimmed in the material from another and downgrading to a radio cassette as she didn't have cds). They built it to order, nice car, cost way over the odds.

It sadly went for scrappage when she bought a new Skoda. That has since been replaced by a Kia. She is now 90 and still drives

[bunglebus]

Here's some black for you. Two ex-Met police Jaguars with registrations two apart, 55 years after they were made

 

[Muniphobia]

2 hours ago, JeeExEll said:

Now you don't see that everyday,

 

.

Going off topic but that is the (in)famous green beetle that appearred several times in the chase that someone has changed to red

anyway sorry for the off topic post lets go

 

[HMC]

On the Jag/ black theme; Bill Lyons used to insist on all mock ups in black to best assess the proposed lines of a car. He was also a fan of seeing the vehicle in the grounds of his house (wappenbury hall) rather than just in a studio or an industrial back drop; so they were often sent there from browns lane for an appraisal. So although black jags may have been rareish new, they were all appraised in black in period prior to the styling being signed off.

EDIT- Apols for thread drift but the house in question is or has recently been for sale

https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/2839277/doc_0_2.pdf

[sheffcortinacentre]

8 hours ago, JeeExEll said:

2-door saloon Mk1 and 2s available Germany, France, etc, as part of the general Ford range but we only got the 2-door Ghia coupes.   A friend in Aberdeen bought a 2-door lhd Mk2 saloon from a German student one summer late 1990s, it was basic 'L-spec' and had a 2.0 Cologne V6 and 3-speed auto.

Personally don't remember seeing a Granada Ghia 2-door saloon but who knows?  A sporty 2-door 2.8 Injection would have been rather good.

You could have had a 2-door Mk4 or 5 Cortina Ghia if you wanted one ( not UK) and they look fine.  Or a Mk4 2-door 'S'.  Probably badged Taunus and lhd though but same thing.

Some 2- door Mk2 1600E s made too but not generally available in the UK.

I'd like to see a 2-door Mk4 Zephyr / Zodiac.  Or a 2-door Granada estate.  (2- door Mk4 Zodiac Exec estate???).

But anyway, enough 2-door Ford geekery shite, back to black.

 

That 2dr MK1 Granada is in usual as to best of my knowledge only avl in LHD, SA got both types of coupe but never saloons.

Granada mk1-2 where av l upto GL in 2dr plus sporty trim , the only place the mk4-5 cortinas rhd where avl in higher spec than 1.3 base/L was Ireland ( this is said to be how crayford got them).

They where avl in all combinations of eng/trim Inc Ghia & S on the continent ( strangely no Ghia estate).

1600E 2drs where avl in LHD on the continent, 3 rhd ones ( all black) where made for ford exec's I believe 2 survive.

In the 70's black was a special order on fords (upto mid 70's usually with an svo sticker on slam panel denoting what the items where).

That mk4 Ghia was a special order in black also with vynil roof delete ( Std on mk4 Ghia).

[Richard_FM]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

In Yes, Minister Jim Hacker's official car is a black Princess, but I imagine these were fleet ordered & painted to spec.

My Mum had a dark grey Renault 12 with black vinyl seats which was torture to be driven in during the summer while wearing shorts because of how hot & sticky the seats were!

 

 

[eddyramrod]

There's an episode of The Sweeney in which Regan, undercover, is seen driving a low-model black Princess...

[warren t claim]

IIRC, back in the late 70s  Ford only offered factory black on the Capri S. 

This was also the time Ford offered Signal paint, whatever that was.

[UltraWomble]

1979 and black does not seem to be offered as a atandard colour by Ford

[Fumbler]

8 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

There's an episode of The Sweeney in which Regan, undercover, is seen driving a low-model black Princess...

Aye I saw it recently. 1975 Morris 1800 I think it was.

[UltraWomble]

1979 - Signal black only on a capri....

[UltraWomble]

Mid 80's and Black was back - but you had to pay extra....

 

[warren t claim]

An undertaker once told me this story.

Apparently for a while now, black cars made in the EU aren't as black as they used to be due to the paint that the factories have to use now. Cars made in Australia don't have to obey the same regs which makes Aussie Fords popular in the funeral trade.

[UltraWomble]

4 minutes ago, warren t claim said:

 

Apparently for a while now, black cars made in the EU aren't as black as they used to be due to the paint that the factories have to use now.

 

[warren t claim]

6 hours ago, JeeExEll said:

Now you don't see that everyday,

3 hungry blokes on the way to a pie-shop.  Cowley first.

Last of the line RS2000, all Mk2 RS2000s were built in Germany.  

Pic from 1981, nearly new.  Just as he likes them.  (Allegedly).

 

A friend had a black non-Custom T-reg RS2000  which basically had a combination of the 1600 Sport plain interior, basic door-cards, plain black seats, etc, but the RS2000 dash instruments.  Quite a quick little car with it's basic untuned Cortina 2000 engine and good to drive with the RS upgrades.  Wide-dished steel sports rims.

The Royal Family always had a bit of leverage when ordering slightly bespoke cars. This isn't an XR3i or RS1600i, it's an RS Turbo.

 

[warren t claim]

 

Does anyone know the story of this?

[warren t claim]

I think people's attitudes towards black cars was different back then. 

Back in 98/99 I took a tidy  E plate Scorpio in black with black leather in part ex against a 3.9 efi Range Rover I was selling. I thought it looked smart but Mutha_Claim took one look at it and refused to go in it, let alone drive the thing. Her exact words were "I'm not driving that thing! It's fucking followed the hearse".  In her defense, a couple of years prior we had a family funeral and every car in the procession was a variant of a black Mk3 Granada. 

[warren t claim]

IIRC, during the 70s I saw plenty of Opels painted black.

[sierraman]

8 hours ago, warren t claim said:

IIRC, during the 70s I saw plenty of Opels painted black.

Underseal. 

[MiniMort]

Never actually noticed how few and far between black cars were back in the day. The only black 70s car my family owned was a 1975 Mini 1000. It was bought second hand so I don't know if the original owner paid extra for a black car. In my lifetime, we had a black 1995 Xantia and I remember it was a right pain to keep it looking clean.