The world is a hellscape, politics is a nightmare, a recession is expected and car sales are slowing but, by God, yellow is back. In a world full of uncertainty, yellow cars are certainly fantastic and thankfully here.
I got a little excited when Nitro Yellow was announced for the Supra. When Lexus showed off the LC Inspiration Series in Flare Yellow, I was almost convinced. Things got a bit hotter when Indy Yellow returned for the NSX. Then, finally, Rolls-Royce showed off a Wraith in Semaphore Yellow.
Yellow’s back. And it’s very, very good.
I’m not sure why colours come in and out of fashion. Maybe automakers are capitalising on nostalgia for the vibrant colours of the 90s. Maybe they’re taking note of the splitter guards that people keep leaving on their Challengers. I really don’t know.
What I do know is that I’ll take a thousand special editions in yellow over another “midnight” or “blackout” package on an already bland car. I know I drive a beige Lexus, but that was used and not offered in bright colours. If you can get a cool colour, you better. In Hogan’s America, buying a Rolls-Royce in black or grey is grounds for a lifetime ban from driving.
Now, despite what you may suspect from the tone of this article so far, yellow is not my favourite colour. I’d do a dark green or a bright blue before yellow in most cases. But I want to celebrate the return of colour, any colour, to the grayscale of modern automotive paint.
And more than that, I genuinely think these cars look spectacular in yellow. Plain, flat yellow paints have always looked cheap and ugly to me. But a deep and vibrant yellow like the LC 500’s is fantastic and reminds me of the LFA, which is the best car.
As our own Raphael Orlove says, let yellow cars be the flowers of your meadow.