Q:
I have come to the conclusion that I’m seeing a lot more new cars in various shades of brown on the road. Am I right?
A:
Good eye. Some years ago the death knell was sounded for brown, but, happily (in my opinion), many carmakers ignored that and we’re seeing an interesting array of browns from a variety of manufacturers, high end and not. Not all the browns being presented are new this year, but the more senior brown hues combined with those that have recently been unveiled add up to a notable mass of this color on the streets.
Buick, for one, seems especially enchanted with brownish hues; it’s got several. Its peppy Encore compact SUV is available in “cocoa silver metallic” (a freshlooking taupe), as well as “deep espresso metallic brown” (occasionally referred to as “deep espresso bronze metallic” in some of its own literature), a rich tone that gives a special elegance to the vehicle. Buick’s larger Enclave SUV is offered in “mocha bronze metallic.”
Even Toyota, notorious for its stunning lack of color sense, has some brown offerings — the Venza is available in sunset bronze mica, a stylish color with a reddish/ orange-ish flair, and the RAV4 is available in a decidedly mud color called “pyrite mica” (as is the Tacoma truck).
The Ford Taurus is available in “kodiac brown,” which is a gorgeous shade, as are the “brilliant copper,” available on the MINI, and the “Dakota brown metallic” from Mercedes.
Kia has come up with “metal bronze” which looks quite wonderful on its Optima and Forte, and would be terrific on many other vehicles as well.
Another color that seems to be growing is purple. Some are a little too purple for my taste, especially in the Honda lineup, like the Honda CR-Z’s “passion berry pearl,” and the “midnight plum pearl” in the FIT (which, of course, aren’t really aimed at my age group). The “black current metallic” on the Scion iQ is rather nice, but the very most wonderful of all, in my opinion, is the “black amethyst metallic” offered on some Jaguar models.
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