I'ved ask family and frends and there half and half for red or slver. Vets look great red but I doint want to go to a cruse in and park between two other red vets. Should I just go red or something a little less flashy like silver. I would appreciate your vote.

 

go silver.

 

I actually belabored this same question when it came time to paint my 81. The answer is, there is no simple answer and no right/wrong answer as you know. That's what makes it such a difficult decision. First I would consider your interior color. If it's black, makes no difference. If it's green, well, then you gotta factor that in unless it's going to get changed out.

The nice thing about red is that everyone likes a red corvette. Yeah, its kind of cliche, but who cares? In the end it's YOUR car. If you want to look flashy, red is the way to go. Heck, it's not about being flashy either. Like most people, it won't get driven as much so when you show it to people in your garage, you are going to get a lot of "Ohhhs and Ahhhhs." Especially if you have raised white letter tires on it. When you go to sell it, it may help out being red as well. When I walk through the C3's at Bloomington, somehow the red and black vettes are the ones that capture my eye. The silver vettes, when crowded with other color vettes don't seem to stand out as much. The other nice feature about red is that it's a solid color and is very easy to paint and easy to touch-up and repair should that need arise. Of course, as a darker color, it'll show dust and dirt more than silver.

Silver on the other hand is very classy and reserved. Bill Mitchell thought it was the perfect car color (not that it means anything) and that's why almost all his prototype car colors were sillver. It is more difficult to spray (if you are doing it yourself) because you gotta get the metal flake to lay out evenly, and it's not easy to repair because you have to "blend" in the paint and clearcoat larger areas. It is more forgiving if your bodywork is not quite as good as you want it to be (doesn't show waves as much). If you are spraying the car yourself and you are a novice, then I would stay away from silver. You will likely get zebra stripes whereas red will look nice.

In the end, for me, even with all these considerations, I went with silver. I felt it was the best color that fit my tastes. It was also the original color of the car, although that was not a deciding factor. I don't regret my choice. My wife was lobbying for yellow, but I felt I would get tired of it after a short time. The silver paint on my car is very, very nice. It gets lots of compliments.

This is probably the longest non-answer you've ever read, but hopefully it'll help flush out some of your feelings a bit. It's a hard decision. Heck, I think I was uncertain which color to go with even when I was at the paint store ready to order the paint! Good luck,

Mark G

 

Which do YOU like????

 

Well after what Mark G said for me as A novice painter haveing only painted two other cars. One lacquer, rub out any problums and a blue metal flake one step that took three times to get it kinda good, I doint want to go through that again. It mite be best if I go with the red in my first base, clear coat. Silver still looks cool but with the cost of paint I cant afford to do it over and over till I get right. Thanks for the help. Allen

 

Yeah, I think that if you are a novice painter and you are on the fence and would be happy with either color, red will be a low-stress paint job that you can make it look great the first time. I'm not saying don't spray silver, we can give you tips on how to do it here at the forum. But it takes a lot more finesse and care to get the metal flake to lay out evenly w/o any darker streaks. And get this: you won't know how well it's going to look until you put on your first coat of clearcoat. Then it's too late. If I were in your shoes, I'd give red a hard look. What about yellow that I mentioned earlier? Yellow is one of those colors that you can really screw up and still look good.

Mark G

 

As i do have a car of each color. They are not all Corvette but it's a good comparsion. I have a Black '78, a Red 2010 Genesis Coupe and 2005 Silver pontiac Vibe. My pontiac look real good with 17'' rim and ground effect but when the other two are near by it kind of disapear. I would go with a color other than factory like a different red.

 

silver with red pin stripes,or silver with ghost flames.

 

What year is your car?

Do you have any current photos?

 

Red is too common for a classic like yours. How about something a bit more adventurous like a "black cherry" either a candy over silver base, or the single stage variety? Maroon perhaps (call it Burgundy if you like)... my 77 will be maroon. Solid dark greens like Goodwood green are classy, not often seen and easy to paint because they are not metallic. Mulsanne blue is a very nice color on a C3. Most "jewel tones" work well with the curves and lines on a C3... think a bit outside the box and make your car much more "yours" versus "the norm"!

 

my 82 is candy apple red over a gold base.

 

My 79 is silver and I wouldnt go with any other color. As soon as I can afford it, Im going to get the gun metal boss 338's.





Good luck

 

I was stuck between red and silver myself. It was silver w/dark claret when I bought it. I went with red and I am happy with my choice even though I am not a big fan of red.

 

Silver looks good! I like mine.



c-ya
ToddG

 

I was/at a paint crossroad myself and have picked red.

 

My '73 was already painted Purple/ Plum when I bought her. I like her color a lot. Her factory color was red.

 

Telling us the year, model, interior would be somehwat helpful.

Just for background, what color is the original color?

 

I'd go red. Red on a Vette is THE color. Silver is just too plain. Everyone will look at red. Most people just glance at silver. If you dont like red go blue. I've had 3 vettes....all were red and everyone liked the color.

 

Red maybe a polular color on Corvette but silver is a popular color on every cars. Just stop at a local shopping mall and lood what's the most popular color and the one that stick out from the croud and you could also see a color combo that you would like. Silver is a nice color if you don't wash you car often. My silver car seem always cleen compare to my red Genesis coupe.
On ImBlackMomba there also a silver car beside his car just to show how they are popular.

 

SILVER!!!