[JD001]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Well you can look at that a couple of ways.


First off it may seem that the "strange" colours survive but they may have been a perfectly normal colour back when the car was new. The popular or normal colours for cars change with different eras. I remember that up until the late 70s silver cars were almost nonexistent since silver paint that actually stayed on the car was expensive so only the top makes had it. Anybody that remembers the early attempt at a silver Cordoba knows what I mean. Was not abnormal to see a 5 year old car with all the paint peeled off it already.


Normal in 55





Another thing is that in more recent years as white, black and silver became more common the strange colours were used more for special versions (all 70s Mopar muscle for example) and these cars were simply more collectable than their plain versions.


Retro colours on Dodges now are pretty common



Many of the survivors that have been restored may not have been the colour they are now when new. If certain colours were more brand identified then restorers will paint the car in that instead of what it originally was. The classic 55 Chevy light turquoise comes to mind as a great example of that.


How many restored 55s ended up this colour?

The other theory could be that the stranger colours become difficult to move on to new owners therefore the cars stick and are used less or they get resprayed. When the cars become collectible the original colours come back.