Starfire? Area 51? Manganese Luster? Car Color Names Need to Chill Out
āThe dealer finally has a Subaru car in that color I want: Cool Khaki!ā I was on the phone with my mother. I asked, āOh, is that a beige-tan color?ā She paused, āNo, itās a light blue.ā I shook my head, āYou know ākhakiā is an actual word for an actual color that is very much not blue.ā She sighed, āI knowā¦the salesman told me itās really more of a marketing term.ā
Car color names have one jobāand theyāre failing
You can call me old-fashioned. But I think the words automakers use to describe their colors shouldāfirst and foremostādescribe that color. If I get a press release on someoneās latest colors and one of them is just listed as āPrecious Metalā or āHigh Velocity,ā I have no clue what quadrant of the color wheel it even hails from. That ācolor nameā is failing at its one and only job.
I like cool-sounding car color names as much as the next guy. Classics such as āPlum Crazyā and āHemi Orangeā set my heart racing. But notice that even those old āhigh impactā color names are each a phrase that includesā¦an actual color.
And itās not enough that after you see the color, the colorās name makes some sort of sense. Example: Jeepās āRocky Mountainā could refer to a brown, a granite gray, or even something sandier. When you see this dark gray/green car color, you might be tempted to think, Yeah, thatās somewhat reminiscent of Rocky Mountain National Park. But its cleverness doesnāt make up for the fact that before you see the SUV, you have no idea what color the name refers to.
So hereās my plea: Itās high time that car color names chill out and return to being the names of colors. They can certainly get spiced up with fun descriptors. But every single one should include an actual word for an actual color (or even two, if itās in between). The color should also describe the actual color of the car paint too ā weāre looking at you, ācool khaki.ā Can we please stick to the good, straightforward color words youād find in a standard Crayon box?
Read on for what I consider the most confusing color names in recent memory.
The most confusing car color names
There is a trend to make a splash with exciting car and truck color names. The result is some nonsense strings of words that in no way narrow down which color your next vehicle will be. Here are some of the most confusing:
āLunar Rockā ā What color is the moon? Some nights, it looks white/gray. Other times, pollen gives it a rich yellow-orange hue, or it even appears a bit blue. So, what color is āLunar Rock?ā Well, according to Toyota, it is a pale, flat green. Maybe the cheese our natural satellite is made of is finally molding.
āEarlā ā This latest Jeep Wangler/Gladiator color name could mean anything. Royal purple? Gray like the tea? In this case, it is a flat blue/bluish-gray.
āPrecious Metalā ā Which one? Gold? Platinum? Titanium? Rose gold? This Lexus color name couldnāt possibly be vaguer. And it refers to silver. But donāt confuse it with the same automakerās āPrecious white.ā I guess their colors are very important to them.
āArea 51ā ā Youāre probably wondering what in the world Fordās latest F-150 color looks like. Is it the tan of the New Mexico desert? Is it a green reminiscent of a cartoon alienās skin? Nope. Itās a flat blue-gray. In Fordās defense, it seems to have realized how confusing this color is, because it has begun to write it as āArea 51 (Blue)ā in some materials. GMC thankfully uses the same naming convention for some of its more confusing Hummer colors: āSupernova (Dark Blue),ā āAfterburner (Orange),ā and āDeep Aurora (Dark Bronze).ā
āMoon Dustā ā According to Toyota, āLunar Rockā is green. But what happens when the rocks of the moon somehow chip off into āMoon Dust?ā They transform into a silver with traces of blue. I guess naming colors isnāt rocket science.
āHigh Velocityā ā So this one is an unabashed marketing phrase. Ironically, āHigh Velocityā refers to a solid front axle, heavy full-frame SUV that even its fans wouldnāt call fast (the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator), which just happens to be painted yellow with a touch of neon green.
āStarfireā ā Lexusā confusing color names give Jeep a run for its money. Real stars range from blue giants to red dwarfs. But a Lexus painted āStarfireā is white.
āSunset Glow Metallicā ā Hereās one that makes sense after you see it (a sort of burnt orange). But before? The whole point of a sunset is that they can include nearly any color!
āAnvilā ā Arenāt blacksmith anvils so patinaed that they appear nearly black? Not according to Jeep. This Wrangler color is just a flat gray, probably because āBattleshipā was already taken by Dodge.
āWind Chillā & āAvalancheā ā These colors could be an icy silver. Or they could describe a wintery blue. But both the F-150ās āAvalancheā color and Lexusā āWind Chillā are just other names for white. (Not to be confused with the F-150ās āOxford Whiteā or the Lexusā āStarfireā which are other shades of white). Different model years of Toyota/Lexus call white āBlizzardā and āIce Edgeāājust to keep you on your toes.
āFrostbiteā ā So, like āBlizzardā and āAvalancheā (above), this Dodge color should be a white, right? Wrong! Itās blue. And not even the Challengerās lightest, most silvery blue. It is a darker blue. So, you know, the color of the lips of a corpse that froze to death. Frostbite indeedā¦
āLatteā ā A single, layered latte can contain a range of colors. But Cadillac is using this word to make its latest shade of beige sound fancy.
āTiger Eye Pearlā ā Hereās a name that sounds like some fancy, sporty, pearly white. But this Acura TLX Type S special edition color is really a caramel-ish orange pearl coat.
āTitanium rushā ā Actual Titanium is silver, or even white. The GMC Sierraās āTitanium Rushā is a standard black car color that turns slightly gray in some lights. GMCās marketing team obviously needs to spend more time with the engineers.
āManganese Lusterā ā Manganese is also a metal. It can appear silvery, so āManganese Lusterā is redundant at best. At Lexus, it means gray. So, in the ballpark? Regardless, you would need a periodic table in your back pocket to even guess the right part of the color wheel for this one.
āRich Garnetā ā Garnets are a family of precious stones known for coming in a wide range of colors, so this Buick name doesnāt do much to describe this rich red color. Perhaps Buick was thinking of the wine? If so, it should have been more specific.
āFrozen Berry Metallicā & āSnazzberryā ā The Porsche Taycan (āFrozen Berry Metallicā) and Jeep Wrangler (āSnazzberryā) share a problem. Berries come in every color, from black to blue to light red. So, which one are these colors referring to you? The Wrangler is a darkish, almost purplish red. While a bright āraspberryā red Wrangler might have been fitting, that color is already taken. And the Taycan looks like some mischievous kid hand-painted a thin layer of Barbie pink over a still visibly beige car. So perhaps a very watery strawberry smoothie?
āSeaglassā ā If you take a walk along the beach, you may spot well-worn sea glass in a range of colors (blue, brown, green). So, while itās a cute name for Toyotaās latest light green color, āSeaglassā does little to narrow down said color before you see it in person.
āCool Khakiā ā The Subaru Crosstrek color that started it all! You know now that this is a sort of flat, pale blue. But did you know that Subaru obviously understands what ākhakiā means? I know this because it also offers the Crosstek in a true khaki, which it must call āDesert Khakiā just to differentiate it.
Some slightly confusing car color names
There are several car color names that didnāt make my āmost confusingā list because they are only slightly confusing.
āHunter Metallicā ā When you hear this GMC color, you might assume itās āHunter Green.ā But youāre only half right. Itās actually a light, silvery green. But Iāll take it over āLunar Rock.ā
āGraniteā ā As I recall from my 24-box Crayola days, this is also an actual color name. And that presents a problem because Lexusā āSmoky Granite,ā Jeepās āCrystal Granite Metalic, ā and the countless other variations in the industry are all very different colors. Their designers obviously arenāt all drawing with the same brand of Crayons.
āNight Movesā ā The Dodge Durangoās special twist on Stellantisā āMidnightā color might have you do a double-take. But you get the idea. Iāll allow it. And I feel the same way about GMCās āMarine Metallic.ā OK, alright. I see what you did there.
āRedwood,ā āRosewood,ā Mahogany,ā & āSmoked Mesquiteā ā Wood is brown. These cars are brown. If you arenāt a woodworker or BBQ grillmaster, you might be surprised at how red Subaruās āMahagonyā is or how flat the brown in Toyotaās āSmoked Mesquiteā Tundra is. At least you know what color family to expect before you see them. But does GMC/Cadillac really need both a āRedwoodā and a āRosewood?ā
āClaretā & āBordeauxā ā These cars are wine red. But that would sound too basic for Toyota (āClaretā) or Fiat (āBordeauxā), so instead, they threw a dart at a wine list.
Got a confusing car color name I missed? Drop it in the comments below!
Next, find out whether ordering your next car or truck in a custom color hurts resale value, or learn why good car names are so rare in the video below: