Member of the Red Brigade

[Juvenal]

As I was finishing shopping just now, trying to find something for dinner, it came to me that--and I began to count--of over a hundred cars in the lot, I had the only bright red one--think classic lipstick red.  Lots of whites and grays and blacks, and a few whose owners might think they had a spiffy red car, but bronze or mahogany or cordovan or an unsaturated red-orange is not a real red anywhere along my spectrum.

My cars from last to current, well, let's see: very pale blue (a TR-3), cream (VW "Bug"), middle-tone red (a SAAB), two-tone brown/"champagne" (Datsun 280 ZX), middle-tone red (Honda Accord) and bright red (current Honda Accord).

I sense a certain favored color theme here.  I also drink only wine, not white wine.   

So, idle curiosity: among this crowd of academics, does anyone else have a truly red car?  Or ever owned one?  Or thought about owning one and was discouraged by, well, one of life's discouragers?

[ciao_yall]

As I was finishing shopping just now, trying to find something for dinner, it came to me that--and I began to count--of over a hundred cars in the lot, I had the only bright red one--think classic lipstick red.  Lots of whites and grays and blacks, and a few whose owners might think they had a spiffy red car, but bronze or mahogany or cordovan or an unsaturated red-orange is not a real red anywhere along my spectrum.

My cars from last to current, well, let's see: very pale blue (a TR-3), cream (VW "Bug"), middle-tone red (a SAAB), two-tone brown/"champagne" (Datsun 280 ZX), middle-tone red (Honda Accord) and bright red (current Honda Accord).

I sense a certain favored color theme here.  I also drink only wine, not white wine.   

So, idle curiosity: among this crowd of academics, does anyone else have a truly red car?  Or ever owned one?  Or thought about owning one and was discouraged by, well, one of life's discouragers?

My previous car was a black Miata. Black went with everything I might possibly wear, so that was the choice.

I had really wanted a red one but the red was a bit too orange and wouldn't look good with my olive skin. The silver Miata made my butt look too big.

[nescafe]

My last car was a Sentra in true red. I bought it used and had a choice between a blue one or a red one... and the blue one had an odd smell. I'm a discerning buyer, apparently.

My first car was a 1972 Dodge Dart (swinger model), though. It was "glad green." I miss that car so much.

[backatit]

I have a bright blue car :). I don't love the plain white or black ones - too hard to find in the parking lot.

I would totally own a red one - we saw a bright red Jaguar a while ago that I would die for. I'd certainly settle for the Red VW or Subaru ... :D

[RatGuy]

As an adult, all of my cars have been earth tones: a champagne Blazer (terrible vehicle), a tan Camry, and currently a slate Accord.

But I learned to drive on a crimson Oldsmobile Classic stationwagon. It seated seven comfortably. I don't know that my sister's friends ever had to take the bus to school, thanks to me.

[ab_grp]

Red is my favorite everything (wine, housewares... lots of red, and people tend to contribute more and more red as gifts), but I own a black car (another Sentra here!) because I like feeling a little more under the radar.  I saw the most gorgeous "red" truck, probably a year ago, when I was at the drugstore.  I put red in quotes because it was not the classic lipstick red mentioned by Juvenal (which I also like quite a lot) but more of a beautiful, shiny crimson/cherry? I am terrible with descriptives, and I don't think I've ever seen a vehicle quite that color.  It might be more the type of paint that just looked so sharp, who knows.  I think the guy driving it thought I was gaping at him rather than his truck's paint job.  And I went on about it to my spouse for probably too long as well.  Obviously, I still think of that truck.

[Hegemony]

My first car was a bright reddish-orange that they don't make any more.  But I've always just taken what's on offer rather than picked by color.  So the first one (bought used from an ad) was reddish-orange, the second one (bought from a desperate car dealership) silver, and the current one (bought used from a friend) is an unfashionable blue.  It was fashionable when it was made (1994), but now it's easy to find in the parking lot because they're all earth metallics or white.  It's only got 80,000 miles on it at this point, so I figure I'll have the unfashionable blue for the rest of my life.  But being able to find your car in the lot is not nothing.  It would also be a good reason to have a red car.

[Juvenal]

Red is my favorite everything (wine, housewares... lots of red, and people tend to contribute more and more red as gifts), but I own a black car (another Sentra here!) because I like feeling a little more under the radar.  I saw the most gorgeous "red" truck, probably a year ago, when I was at the drugstore.  I put red in quotes because it was not the classic lipstick red mentioned by Juvenal (which I also like quite a lot) but more of a beautiful, shiny crimson/cherry? I am terrible with descriptives, and I don't think I've ever seen a vehicle quite that color.  It might be more the type of paint that just looked so sharp, who knows.  I think the guy driving it thought I was gaping at him rather than his truck's paint job.  And I went on about it to my spouse for probably too long as well.  Obviously, I still think of that truck.

Perhaps some counseling?

[nescafe]

I don't love the plain white or black ones - too hard to find in the parking lot.

lol my spouse has a 2012 silver Camry. They are everywhere. I swear one of these days he's going to get into the wrong car in the parking lot and drive away in it.

[backatit]

I don't love the plain white or black ones - too hard to find in the parking lot.

lol my spouse has a 2012 silver Camry. They are everywhere. I swear one of these days he's going to get into the wrong car in the parking lot and drive away in it.

My former sister in law used to have one of those, and she actually DID get into someone's and try to drive it away. They'd left it unlocked, and it wasn't till her key wouldn't work in the ignition that she started looking around the car and realized that wasn't her stuff in the car. That's when I made my rule about odd-colored cars :D. She just sheepishly got out and found her own car, a couple of lanes over.

[wellfleet]

I drive a red car--a lovely, bright cherry red.

I particularly like that color because I live in a heavy fog climate; driving a fog (or sand or asphalt) colored car around here is just inviting trouble. I'm not such a fast or thoughtless driver that I worry about attracting law enforcement attention. I do worry about spacey tourists plowing into my car because they can't see it. 

[magnemite]

For a bit more than 14 years, had a red VW Fox (1988). No red cars since then.

Still own an orange-red Honda motorcycle, though.

[drbrt]

Not red, but my current car is metallic tangerine. This is (a) so students see my car and don't hit me again which is how the last boring colored car died and (b) so it is easy to find in large parking lots.

[mamselle]

My last VW bug (in a series of three) was the standard VW Bug fire-engine red.

I called it "Robin" (the first, a green one, was "Froggie" and the second, a light blue one, was "Skye").

Since 1978 I have been car-free, however.

-=-=-=-
But I have been noticing the shift to cars of bright color as opposed to the wash of white and silver that was peeling past me every day for the past few years.

I like the dark metallic red ones; I also like the variants on indigo/dark blue that I'm seeing now. 

Someone I used to do pet care for, a couple decades ago, rued the day they bought their orange-as-a-pumpkin Fit, but I thought it had some nice dark bronze undertones, too.

De gustibus...

M.

[Vkw10]

My current car is a dark red. I wanted a vivid teal, with neon green, fuschia, and bright purple as alternate choices. Sadly, family sedans in my price range are mainly produced in neutrals and earth tones, with a few dark reds for excitement.

I looked into a custom paint job. Dark red looks much better than several thousand dollars for changing color.