What color is your automobile? Silver, perhaps?
According to this article by the Evening Times, silver is the most popular color for cars. It shows a desire to be seen as having wealth and prestige. What does your car color say about you?
My wife and I have only purchased one silver car, a Ford Tempo. At the time, we weren’t seeking to flaunt wealth or prestige. Just the contrary: We were getting a bargain on a left-over.
Our current fleet (pictured) consists of my Titanium Gray Mazda3 hatchback and my wife’s Deep Green Pearl Acura TSX sedan.
According to the story, gray is a sign of stability and reliability. Green is for those who are conscientious and try to smooth over tense situations. Works for me.
We always avoided silver and grey, wanting to be as visible as possible. The message I want everyone to read when I drive is not “I’m successful”, it’s “Would you please be so kind as to ruin someone else’s day, Mr. Moron? Ta.”
But the data are actually inconclusive. One study in the British Medical Journal (tabular summary, full report) finds that silver is a lifesaver and brown a deathtrap; others find only tiny variations.
So we’ll go with red when Subaru offers decent reds, blue when they don’t. Come to think of it, I guess driving a Subaru is a certain kind of statement itself. But so is flying a Cardinal, not to mention commuting on a bike, so one can only conclude we’re hopelessly confused about our family identity.