This isn't a new thing at all. This is how cars all use to look!
This isn't some huge statement on how millennials want to be grownup and childish at the same time, or some other pop-psychology drivel. It's just the normal change of fashion over time. Non-flake paint jobs stand out a lot in a sea of cars with them.
In fact, I've already noticed a shift back towards paints with contrasting metal flake now that even the most pedestrian Japanese cars are coming with simple glossy paint. BMW has this new sparkling copper grey that's a cool grey in low light, a warm light grey in direct light, and has reddish specular highlights and it has this very 90s color changing vibe to it.
> UPDATE: A few ppl have also mentioned the important role of the “Nardo Grey” paint color from (Porsche-owned) Audi in this timeline — a wet-putty hue that came out in 2013 and became a car-head phenomenon.
Grabber Blue came out on the Mustang even earlier and is a throwback to the 70s color of the same name. Voodoo Blue and Army Green on the FJ Cruiser is also a simple glossy color on an even older car. I'd argue this kind of paint was popularized by the retro-modernism of the 00s mixed with the cool grey trend of the 10s.
This isn't some huge statement on how millennials want to be grownup and childish at the same time, or some other pop-psychology drivel. It's just the normal change of fashion over time. Non-flake paint jobs stand out a lot in a sea of cars with them.
In fact, I've already noticed a shift back towards paints with contrasting metal flake now that even the most pedestrian Japanese cars are coming with simple glossy paint. BMW has this new sparkling copper grey that's a cool grey in low light, a warm light grey in direct light, and has reddish specular highlights and it has this very 90s color changing vibe to it.
> UPDATE: A few ppl have also mentioned the important role of the “Nardo Grey” paint color from (Porsche-owned) Audi in this timeline — a wet-putty hue that came out in 2013 and became a car-head phenomenon.
Grabber Blue came out on the Mustang even earlier and is a throwback to the 70s color of the same name. Voodoo Blue and Army Green on the FJ Cruiser is also a simple glossy color on an even older car. I'd argue this kind of paint was popularized by the retro-modernism of the 00s mixed with the cool grey trend of the 10s.