@insightful To me a lot of new cars look about the same; at least in the same size category.
I was watching a video of small CUV reviews and even the reviewers had mistaken a Ford Escape for some other car while on the way to the review.
Aerodynamics drive styling as never before. The Civic and Volt are of similar size and shape, though from the inside it’s quite obvious that the roofline is very different. In the Volt the heads of rear seat passengers are under the top of the rear window glass. This can be a good thing and give extra headroom, though in the Volt the framing at the front of the rear window is easy to hit with your head if you lean forward slightly. The Civic is more conventional, with the rear window not starting until behind the rear passengers’ heads. The headroom back there is pretty decent, with a roomier rear seat than in previous Civics. The taillights do look slightly like a Neon, though are mire dramatic as they are a C shaped swoosh of LEDs.
And for some reason white, black, and silver/gray seem to be the biggest selling colors.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chart+of+most+common+new+car+colors&qpvt=chart+of+most+common+new+car+colors&qpvt=chart+of+most+common+new+car+colors&FORM=IGRE
I’ve never bought black, because it’s invisible at night, but I like white best on most cars and currently own silver. I actually like copper colors best on sporty cars. Like the first new car I owned. Maybe it’s emotional, don’t know for sure.
Those shades of orange were big in the seventies. Really looked good on sporty cars. I’m so bored by all the shades of gray. Even a white car looks interesting to me, I’m so desperate for anything that isn’t silver or gray. I will give the European makes credit for offering more interesting colors, with the Japanese companies offering only the drabbest shades except on a few sporty models. I guess they know what sells, and the Japanese makes have always sold fewer different configurations than anyone else. Which I appreciate when it means they aren’t charging you for a ridiculous list of ‘options’ that should be standard, as the Germans do. Our Hyundai was a mid-level model and came with pretty much everything we wanted included at no charge There were only a handful of options even available.
@MarkM Mercedes did a detailed study on visibility and car colors. The conclusion was that bright orange was the best color, being very visible in snow as well as other conditions. Unfortunately a friend with a bright orange Nissan was hit by someone driving another bright orange car. Both vehicles wee totalled, but no serious injuries.
As Robbie Burns said; “The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee”!
As some who has a 1974 TR6, when I look at the Miata, I say to myself “It probably starts every time with first turn of the key, and I’ll bet the owner doesn’t even have to keep a spare set of plug wires in the trunk, where’s the fun in that?”.