Tag Archives: nitrocellulose lacquers

A short history of the color of cars:

When the Model T Ford first started coming off conveyors belts in Detroit factories and onto American streets in 1908, it was said that Henry Ford stated “You can paint it any color you’d like, so long as its black.” In his extremely efficient and streamlined process of car assemblage, the time it took for paint to dry was slower than the capacity of men during the rest of the assemble, therefore Ford picked the fastest drying color for his assembly line: Japanese Black.

Model T Ford

www.hfmgv.org

The public was freed from the monotony of black cars in 1914 when the Dupont Company invented the first quick drying nitrocellulose lacquers which were available in new colors. Then came alkyd resins in the 30′s, lacquers and acrylic resins in the 50′s. This type of painting coat dominated the industry for twenty years. Lacquers are a high solvent, pigmented paints that dried very quickly leaving a hard and shiny finish which, unfortunately for color lovers, did not weather well.The paint would become brittle with age and rain exposure and dim with UV light exposure. (The paint also happened to be very bad for the environment, leeching volatile organic chemicals into storm water runoff and groundwater.)

Some may see the car below as vintage looking, others may see it as a lacking texture. The color is bright and the surface is smooth.You might not like it but it definitely does not lack character.

1954 Car

slate.com

Primers and overcoats were invented some thirty years ago in the 1980s. Primers were very effective as they used an adhesive technology called electroplating which applies ions to the pigment which was then moved by electricity to cover the desired material, which practically obliterated rusting.

It is the polyurethane overcoats that create the greatest distinction between cars in the past and modern cars. Modern cars are painted with a base coat which determines the colors of the surface. Afterwards, a clear coat is applied which creates a thick highly shiny, protective layer.

But not only that, modern cars shimmer, sparkle, shine, and swim in the deep complexity of their fancy coat. This is due to the invention of mica-based paint which gave cars a certain micro-cut gem-like iridescence or what we could call “metallic” today. The Toyota Highlander serves as a good example:

2008 Toyota Highlander

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As technology provided new textures in paint, the market for bright colors diminished. Now the most popular colors are black,gray, white and silver.  However, market for black cars may be taking a hit soon, at least in California. The California Air Resources Board has concluded that dark cars take more energy to air-condition the interiors, therefore using more gas and  therefore polluting more than other cars on the road. (For the same reason, it is encouraged that buildings’ roofs be painted white, since they trap less heat underneath in the summer).

Japanese Black, it seems, may truly become a thing of the past.