Picking the color to have my car painted is nerve racking. My wife and I are trying to decide between two completely different colors.
So, have any of you picked a color, then been so disappointed you changed to something else?
I will follow up with our choice once we make our decision.
I'd originally had Viking Blue with white stripes as my choice but the pics I'd seen always different to how the car looked in real life. I also considered silver with black stripes and black wheels or Lexus Indigo Ink with white stripes.
However, not too far before I was due to paint my car, I saw a photo of our local Cobra club's meet. Blue, Blue, Blue, Blue, Silver, Blue, Blue. Seriously, six out of the seven cars were blue. I vowed I would not have another 'follow me' Cobra, and decided to go something completely different that hasn't been done in Australia. I went for McLaren Volcano Orange with black stripes and black wheels. Everyone who has seen the car has been blown away by the colour and I've received nothing but compliments. Some have also commended me for being bold and not doing another blue Cobra.
It's your car, your choice. I do recommend painting it a colour that is pretty much universally liked, as this will assist your resale value.
Not finished. Still have to paint the wheels black and letter up the tyres.
While I am still gel coat 12 years later, I was originally thinking the traditional Blue and White. Then started thinking a burnt orange solid.
Now, If I ever paint it, I will go with the new Ford Dark grey metallic, and paint on the stripes I have currently in tape. I know mine will be one-of-one, and the car is so unique, damn the re-sale.
I received an award a few years back with an image of my car painted that way in a pencil sketch, and it looked good! My avatar image is not far off either.
When I look at most cars with striping, I always think what would be a good accent color to thinly edge the stripes.
I have to agree with what some others have said. Close your eyes and what do you see sitting in YOUR garage?
I'm going with some shade of Blue. People always say, "but everyone's is blue. Why not be different?" My answer is always, "how many blue C@bras did you see on the way to work this morning?"
Point is, even if you pick the most popular color, it's still one of the rarest cars on the road.
With the advent of sprayable dip coatings we no longer have to be so limited to a single color scheme...
Paint your car something you love but will sell easy later (blue, red, black, gray, white, or silver), wait a few months until the paint fully cures, then spray it with dip in any color you want. The dip will protect your original paint finish, and you can peel it and respray new colors as many times as your pocket can afford.
Is this the same car? Looks REALLY similar, but slight differences. Either way, looks very cool. The stripes set it off.
Here's mine, yep it's Blue w/White Stripes, not very original, but it's what I wanted. I always wanted Blue, that has never changed, but when I saw this particular combo on a 2009 Mustang, I said that's IT! Vista Blue & Performance White. I've been on Cobra Cruises with 8 cars and mine was the only Blue and I've been on cruises with over half of them were blue. But the funny thing is, even the blues aren't the same.
Is this the same car? Looks REALLY similar, but slight differences. Either way, looks very cool. The stripes set it off.
Thanks...glad you like it. It's not the same car however. Gary's car (above) is what gave me the inspiration for my own build.
Mine has some subtle differences. Different body shape (mine's not an FFR), mirrors mounted on the windshield, taller more authentic roll bar, will have black quick jacks and doesn't have the Cobra snake emblem in the grille or silver mesh in the openings. This car has Billboards and I have Avons and I don't have the orange piping on the seats. I also have (removable) headrests for the sake of safety. But this particular car truly looks awesome and that's why I wanted my car to look like it! I did attempt to contact the owner through Facebook to ask some questions about his car but it appears he ignored me as I never received acknowledgement of my contact nor any responses to my (polite) questions. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - but I am not so sure he is happy that I made my Cobra look like his. I mean, my car is half a world away....what harm could it do to have another one that looks similar? Oh well. Horses for courses.
In 2009 when I ordered my complete kit it was a pretty simple decision, Screaming Yellow. Then, A couple months ago I saw a couple roadsters that popped out at me on pinterest. Burgundy and Black Cherry. Have it narrowed down to a couple shades of House of Kolor paints. At this point we are fitting the body panels and getting ready for paint.
Also thought it would more subtle with either black or grey stripes, so why not use the color of the Hilibrand wheels. Anyone know what that color would be?
I like the subtle look and those colors appeal to me.
Well after much thought and research I decided to have mine painted Ford Redfire Pearl with Wimbledon white stripes and border stripes. I am well aware this is not an original color idea but it what my wife and I like. I called "da Bat" to tell him of the choice. He was out skiing at Big Bear. He told me my car should be ready for color by the weekend. British Racing Green was a very close second.
Thanks for all your input.
Doug
Its great to finally decide on a color and then to stick to it. I would recommend that you stop looking at pinterest and other pics of other Cobras, lest you get confused and start thinking of another color.
All i can say is go with your gut. My gut was to paint it blue with white stripes but sometimes i would see a car that caught my eye. I say a silver one with charcoal stripes that i REALLY likes and almost painted it that color but i stuck with my gut and have been very happy. So happy that i built my second roadster and painted it the exact same color. see below!
I was torn between Blue with silver stripes and Black with no stripes. mainly because I had never taped off stripes before. In the end I figures what the hell and went with blue/silver and I am glad I did.
If you are picking from newer factory colors go to a dealership and check out the color in person, paint chips never show the true detail of the paint.
I saw you mentioned British Racing Green. If you had chosen that. The next question would have been "which one?" There isn't an official one, and at least 30 different ones used back in the day. That is why paint codes are so important.
I am sure that you made the right choice. It is hard to go wrong as long as you don't get crazy.
My wife laughs at me because I am always pointing out cars I like the red on as we drive arround. My current favorite is the new Ford metalic red with Lexus pearl white stripes...
Over the years I noticed as a group of Cobras would stop at truck stops, restaurants, etc people would walk pass my yellow Cobra, the blues and red ones to go look at the black Cobra. Once they had looked at the black Cobra they would then look at the others.
They "always" looked at the Black Cobra first. I observed this many times over several years in several states.
I agree with Dwight, black cars have that mean, wicked look to them. However, you need a very straight near perfect body as black will show all imperfections.
I went with silver as it is a light color and does not require as perfect a body. Doesn't show dirt and dust too bad either..
Some awesome paint out there!
I'm a year or so out from paint but right now its BMW Mini Cooper Surf Blue, its a blue with a lot of black in it, and satin black stripes with a deep maroon 1/4 in stripe outline...it has really worked on my previous car.
The color was definitely the most difficult decision for me. I knew before I started the car what engine, transmission, IRS, PS, PB, etc. that I wanted. I finally decided on either green, like British Racing Green, Dark Blue, or Orange. I spent a lot of time walking around parking lots looking at different cars, and looking the colors up on the internet. There really is (almost) no wrong color for these cars. Eventually I got to the point that I got a feeling with certain colors... it was either "That's a nice color... but not very exciting" or "WOW!" I guess everyone has those few colors that cause the "Wow" So for me, the Orange was the "Wow."
Jeff Kleiner made some paint samples for me with some of the Orange options that I picked (and the black stripe)
And I went with this combination:
So my final result was:
The best advise that I received about this choice was "Make it the color of the car in your dreams."
Had always thought I would do black, but I talked myself out of it. Went with Ford code gw - Orange Crush, with a little extra flake. This color gets comments all day long. The world did not need another blue cobra ...
Make yourself happy - don't worry about anything else.
If I was a "follow the leader" type Id be probably driving a red corvette and Id have a black Harley. Neither of which appeal to me. Yes, there are too many Blue Cobras, and black Harleys. There are too may follow the leader types. No, offense, But I like what I like, not what I think others will like me in.
Your color is cool, a friend of mine had a MOtorcycle that was called "Orange CRush" very original.
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