Patches

As a born-and-bred OCD disciple, I went against my nature and bought a black H3 whilst already caring for a black C5. Like many of my brethren clean-freaks here, I fought the good fight for 5 years with an armory full of almost every cleaning weapon known to humanity. I'm not ashamed to say that I was defeated and ultimately sold both the Beauty and the Beast in order to restore my sanity. I now daily-drive a Blade Silver C7 and the freedom is indescribable.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...love-hate.html

rodsib

To Patches -- I still love my black Stingray, but that post was just awesome!

trivette

I've owned 56 cars-16 have been black-3 of them were Corvettes. Yes, it takes additional work depending on your level of OCD but nothing looks better! My wife's latest vehicle, a Caddy XT5, is Stellar Black (a metallic black) and that does seem easier to maintain than solid black. My next Vette (hopefully a ME) will be black. I alternate between red and black on the Vettes so they give more of a feeling that I got something new.

DWS44

I also went straight to silver immediately after the pair of black vehicles I owned...and couldn't agree more about the freedom!

I've since gone back and forth with silvers, gunmetals, and blue vehicles, but never back to black.

Phanni

Precisely what I did to my C5 vert. I haven't done my C-7 night race blue coupe, but it's probably be a good candidate for it too, except it doesn't show dirt like the black.

6spdC6

I have had 2 black vechicles. One was a 70 pu truck, the othere was a 91 454SS pickup truck. I turned that into what I called my show truck and it demanded a lot of time/ effort to keep it clean looking. (yes I did take quite a lot of awards with this truck)

For the record I think black is the sharpest color out there, but just not worth it to keep it up to par. I would have to get such a super deal on a car for me to even consider another black one!

MMD

No color looks as good as black when it has been cleaned. However, no color looks as bad when it is dirty. Unless you want to become a slave to cleaning your ride, you should seriously consider silver.

Steve Carter

I know this is just my thinking but, I don’t think black shows off the lines of the C7. I had two black C6 ZO6’s. The C6 looked good in black but as others have already pointed out, lots of time and work too keep it that way. I HOPE that I never have another black car.

davepl

I used to live in Saskatchewan where it's dry and dusty. I grew up with a black car and had to wash it several times a week as a result. I used a chamois in those days and would start at the center of the hood and work my way around.

There were several times where, when I got back around to the center of the hood, it was already dusty again on the already-washed side. That'd only happen on black.

Woodson

Yes it's that bad. Once and done for me.

08velocity

Black is great .....when its clean........once you commit to a black car as EVERY ONE has said you have to stay at it good luck and get ready for the madness

ZEEEE06

Black is just as clean or dirty as any other color given the same conditions.

Woodson

But looks far worse.

6spdC6

AND needs much more time to make it look good again, if only for a very short time!

Phanni

They do tend to show some dirt.
But they also clean up.

Glennm27

Black is tough. It shows every little swirl. I bought a black car once brand new (2014 Nissan 370Z). I ceramic coated it as soon as I brought it home. I’d highly recommend doing that. I work in a body shop and have seen hundreds of black cars and they ALL have some signs of scratches from very minor to horrendous. Even the guys who take extreme care of their cars still have swirls. There’s no hiding them.

pnsnkr

My last daily-driver car was black. It looked amazing just after a wash, which usually lasted a few hours to a day tops.

When I was in the market for C7s, I test-drove a black Z51 3LT. It didn't accentuate the curves quite as well compared to a lighter colored car such as the racing yellow. Another confirmation for me to move away from black.

fugly1

Black looks best when clean, but worst when not taken care of. I decided to *commit* to black and keep it clean. You need to not only clean it often, but I recommend getting paint protection (either film or ceramic) and learning how to clean it properly to avoid microscratches/swirls. But you will have the baddest looking vette. Depends on what is important to you.

orca1946

The best shiny color is black when it is clean --- for about 5 mins. !!!!

Kevin A Jones

When a black finish on a fine car is "right" there's few things more beautiful.
However it's a lot of work and precaution required to keep a black finish "right".