X paint color and visibility

carl

True Classic
Fatrat is red with yellow Hella 500 fog lights that I use as daytime running lights.
BrownX is...err...brown with no running lights. I drove it to the drugstore yesterday and as I was walking back to the car I saw that sandwiched between two cars in the parking lot it (a) appeared to be the size of a pedal car and (b) there was nothing a faded brown paint job will do to make the car visible to other drivers.

I will be painting the car and have been considering what color. Originally I thought maybe semi gloss black but realize I'll have the same visibility issues as faded brown. Red is the obvious choice as I can look at my red X and see what it would look like, but who needs two red Xs. My wife likes the light blue that came on some Xs but I don't know if Rustoleum comes in that color. I have my own choice but you will have to wait and see.

I may also consider some LED daylight lights but don't know which ones to try. I like the thin strips, had them on Fatrat for awhile but they started to burn out and were pretty cheap.
 
Agree on the brown being pretty invisible. I was thinking of painting it yellow as I think that looks good on an X.
 
Blue may be worse than brown. I used to say my old Scorpion color was “invisiblue”. I ended up painting it guards red to solve the problem. I vote for Rustoleum Safety Yellow.
 
Being seen is definitely important the way people are driving anymore.

Looking for a visible color doesn't leave a lot of options. Light blue, yellow, orange or something very different like lime green.
 
Carl, you should consider treating yourself to one of those ~$20 paint guns from harbor freight and then head to a local paint store.

I recently purchased a quart of Fiat code 258 (ring a bell?) With all the fixings for $63. It is a single stage PPG from a place called Single Source. Maybe you have one of their stores in your area.

I agree with your wife. If you have to change the color French blue, Fiat code 462, would be my first choice. But, I'm not a change the color guy and it's a shabby look when the insides don't get painted to match the outside.
 
DayGlo Magenta

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I second the thought of purchasing a HF gun and some inexpensive paint like paint for cars as it will hold up much better than spray cans and really is not that expensive. You can wet sand it to remove the orange peel and really get a nice finish and fix any mistakes and respray it again until you get it right.
 
In 1964 I painted my $25 Fiat 600 with 13 cans of Shamrock Green spray paint. I was just out of high school and only had odd chores money to spend.

I imagine at today's prices 13 cans of spray anything is going to cost more than the bundle I suggested.
 
I'm making mine Safety Yellow. Going to use a Yellow Toyota Priuses color "Sun Fusion", I'd been watching cars for a year looking for the right color. Saw this yellow Prius and knew that was it, had to pull over sneak up to it and take a picture of the Vehicle serial number to run the paint down, my daughter though I was insane who was in the car with me. Some black trim and black wheels, Perfect.

I also agree Karl that you should invest in a small spray gun. I picked up a LVLP gun that will work with 6 CFM, it does not throw as much paint which makes it more forgiving for armatures.

So my vote is Yellow or Lime Green.
 
Actually I'm thinking orange, always wanted an orange X. Was going to ask for pics and then saw Jim's in his signature block. Shouldn't clash too much with a factory tan interior...I think.

I have zero experience with a gun but plenty of experience with painting cars with rattle cans. Would last the usual 18 months I keep a Fiat, right?

Anyway, will be awhile, plenty of body work to do including replacing a one foot section of the rocker panel.
 
I painted my road racing X signal yellow, a 70's Porsche color. They also had Signal Orange.
 

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Obviously color choice is very subjective and a personal decision. However I will throw out a couple of my thoughts.

If you look it up there are certain colors that stimulate the eye receptors more than the others. That is want makes them more "visible" or noticable. Has to do with the spectrum of light waves, reflection of light off the surface, and the anatomy of the human eye. This is the reasoning behind those "safety" colors like bright orange, bright yellow, bright lime green, etc. So if safe visibility is your only concern then pick one of the ones on the high receptor range of vision.

Personally I think really bright colors on a really small car - like the X - make it look 'cheap' (even cheaper than it is?). What some may call a "clown car"....picture those little cars the Shriner clowns drive in parades.

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But as I said, it's a personal opinion and I mean no disrespect to anyone else's choice of colors. In fact I'm glad that we all have different opinions to make life more interesting. :)
 
Lots of good choices, that's why it's so hard. Maybe I'll make it into an "Xkart" and remove all the body panels, like the Miata Deathcarts or Roadkill's Vettecart.
 
Does anybody here remember the VW Golf Harlequin edition? They were basically nailed to the showroom floor in terms of sales, but now they are bringing substantial prices in the auction world because of their "rarity". (Kinda like the Lancia Strato's in a weird sort of way. They had a hell of a time selling those when they were new... wish I had a few now! 🤣) Check it out at https://www.hotcars.com/why-the-golf-harlequin-was-volkswagens-coolest-failure/

This was at a recent, central Illinois regional auction.... lots of pickups, muscle cars etc. and it STILL brought decent money..

And our favorite BAT site... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-volkswagen-harlequin-golf/

Looks like $25,500 is the going price.......
 
I never knew this was factory. When I saw 1 I thought it was some kind of body shop promotional car, like Maaco used to do with 1 half of the car painted.
 
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