Black Cars In The 1970s

[Richard_FM]

In a discussion on another site someone mentioned that black was an uncommon colour for cars in the 1970s, with some manufacturers not offering it as a standard colour.

It was mentioned that black had a comeback in the 1980s, at first on sportier models.

A quick check of some of the scanned brochures seemed to back this up to a degree.

[tooSavvy]

..... I saw a 'red-cab' once.

[garethj]

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.

[Timewaster]

Black was usually an extra cost option at a time when a lot of car buyers were old enough to have at least heard about Henry Ford and his "any colour you like" schpeel which made people think black was a cheap utilitarian colour. 

[Shite Ron]

In the seventies and eighties, black was a special order colour at extra cost. Very few cars look good in black, the mk2 Capri JPS, Golf GTi mk1 and Mini1275GT are the ones that come to mind. By 2000 most cars seemed to be black, our company car parking area looked like a Taxi tank. When I had to get a nearly new car in 2007 it was very hard to find a car which was not black, it is the only colour I really try to avoid. The Mercedes I recently bought is Silver which is not the nicest of colours but it is infinitely better than black on a car. Gold needs a resurgence in popularity.

[Three Speed]

I had a holiday job in a BL dealer in about 1979/80 - prepping new cars. The only black car I saw was a Dolomite SE. 

[artdjones]

About 1998 on it was the yuppie colour. I remember my brother being quite chuffed to be called a yuppie swine around 1990 when he cut someone up accidentally while wearing a collar and tie and driving his black 1983 Fiat Panda.

[Spiny Norman]

I had this a few years back. Registered in '81 but very much a 70s car. Black suits some cars better than others I feel, and if there's loads of chrome to set it off together with a suitably lurid velour interior then I'm a big fan. 😍

[155V6]

Father_155 had a Chrysler 2 Litre in black in the eighties,I had this Granada in factory black in the early nineties 😁

[Alan_Green]

I recall a 1970's staff canteen conversation where young Charlie announced "I'm gonna respray my Capri black".  Upon hearing this the other forklift drivers gasped, dropped their shortbread, and begged him not to.  "Whoa Charlie.  Don't do it.  Black will show up every scratch and dent".  So maybe in the 70's there was a perception black brought out imperfections .  

[Rab]

[Asimo]

Black definiteley does show up blemishes which is why it was an extra-cost option. Silver and white disguise paint problems which is why they are so often the only colours available at base price.

[Rab]

My Pa used to joke about Saab in Australia...the heat n sun ate interiors..and black was simply a silly idea in Aussie as they were basically mobile ovens...

[R1152]

15 minutes ago, Alan_Green said:

I recall a 1970's staff canteen conversation where young Charlie announced "I'm gonna respray my Capri black".  Upon hearing this the other forklift drivers gasped, dropped their shortbread, and begged him not to.  "Whoa Charlie.  Don't do it.  Black will show up every scratch and dent".  So maybe in the 70's there was a perception black brought out imperfections .  

Black does indeed show up imperfections and back then, required a lot more careful surface preparation and post-application treatment - hence the cost. In the early 80s my mate wanted his Mk. II Capri spraying black after he'd fitted a body kit to it and even the people he took it to to do the job tried their level best to talk him out of it.

One of my uncles was a french polisher and the job he and his colleagues hated the most was if a grand piano was brought in - the large surface area of the lid showed up any minor flaw and if there was a mistake, the only way to deal with it was to strip the finish off and start again.

[eddyramrod]

As said above, black really came into mainstream fashion around 20-30 years ago, when everyone suddenly wanted to look like some sort of LA drug dealer.  Silver was a few years ahead of it; widely available from the mid-60s on, but not used so much for another decade or more.  The trouble with both - and all the dirty greys in between - is that cars ceased to have any significant brightwork about 35 years ago, so that any car now is simply a blob of whatever colour it is.  Black and navy blue, and to a slightly lesser extent dark grey, suck all the light that surrounds them, thus making car parks and streetscapes intolerably gloomy.  Brightwork - especially bumpers, which account for a decent chunk of the front or rear aspect of a vehicle - is essential to alleviate this.  

Back in the 70s, I remember reading that Lulu had ordered herself a new Mini 1275GT, and wanted it black.  She had to pay through the nose to get it as a special order.  Later a friend of mine had a black GT, but I don't think it was Lulu's; it had a local registration to us.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

23 minutes ago, Rab said:

.... black was simply a silly idea in Aussie as they were basically mobile ovens...

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

[eddyramrod]

In the southern US, even hearses are often silver or white for the same reason...

[warch]

Is there a perception that black cars are hard to keep clean? My mum (my dad isn’t really interested in the car buying process) alway bought black or white cars, apart from a Toledo in Apeshit Brown and a Mk IV Escort in Jewish Racing Gold that’s all we’ve ever had.

[Barry Cade]

I remember reading about mopars in the muscle car era. Triple black is a much sought after combo now, black paint,black vinyl roof and black interior. Was special order only as the cars had to be pulled off the line and extra prep done as the body panels were a bit wavy anyway, and some used fiberglass "hoods" and black made them look terrible 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I remember when if you saw a black Cortina , Cavalier or Montego , then it was invariably an ex-Army Staff car. I’m pretty sure the only non Coleman Milne Granny’s that were available in black would be Taxi spec or ex -Army.

Mrs N won’t have a black or silver car , which is why it takes so long to find her a new one, when it comes to change. Daughter No.1  on the other hand specifically wanted a black e90 and turned her nose up at a nice Imola Red 330 I found last week.

[Spiny Norman]

1 hour ago, warch said:

Is there a perception that black cars are hard to keep clean?

Bit of building work going on across the road and a light shower resulted in the Royale's bonnet looking like this the day after I washed it.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

[adw1977]

A few observations from my brochures:

Peugeot offered black as an extra cost option on all models in 1978, it was cheaper than metallic.  By the following year they seem have stopped offering it on the 104, I don't know about the rest of the range.

Peugeot September 1978

VW did not offer black on Golfs in 1975:

Vauxhall did not offer black paint in 1979:

Rover did not offer black paint in 1973 or 1974.

Rover Oct 1973 brochure

Triumph did not offer black in 1975:

The first appearance of black paint on 70s Fords appears to be as an optional extra on the Capri S in 1975.  It doesn't seem to have been offered on any other model in the 70s.

 

 

[bunglebus]

Triple black and triple white were offered on Beetle cabrios but I think was only on the run out cars in the very late 70s/early 80s

[Timewaster]

13 hours ago, warch said:

Is there a perception that black cars are hard to keep clean? My mum (my dad isn’t really interested in the car buying process) alway bought black or white cars, apart from a Toledo in Apeshit Brown and a Mk IV Escort in Jewish Racing Gold that’s all we’ve ever had.

Its a fact. Black cars look great when they are clean and polished,  and filthy the rest of the time.

The first time it rains, all the dust sticks and leaves drying marks. 

[Talbot]

Black is hard to keep clean, because to look it's best, a black car needs a deep glossy shine.  That shine usually disappears within nanoseconds of putting the autoglym away, and is most definitely gone within about 4.2mm of driving on UK roads.  Hence a solid colour often looks better, because it can "cope" with being dusty and dirty.

[406V6]

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).

[NorfolkNWeigh]

9 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Triple black and triple white were offered on Beetle cabrios but I think was only on the run out cars in the very late 70s/early 80s

It was a much admired colour with a specific demographic 30 years or so  before.

[cort16]

I had this black Cortina Ghia that was supposedly special order.

[JeeExEll]

Before he got married (1970) my father-in-law, a prawn-fisherman, had a new 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 with RHD and steel sunroof.  Don't know what was going on there, - South African, Cyprus or Malta, ???  Maybe special-order UK?