Seeking Opinions on Color Choice

[TX82FIAT]

I'm not in favor of the silver given the number of silver cars on the road and that nice interior you have. The original green will pop with your interior. I like the red and had a red 83 spider years ago. Any imperfections will show and the red will be more expensive if that is a consideration. Go Green!

I'm doing the same thing with a White 82. Keep it original white, go black or a historic nimbus grey. My daughter wants me to go Burnt orange! Keeping it original will save money and avoid DMV forms..

[azruss]

i have painted hundreds of cars. when you do that you become detached about the color. Here are a couple of thoughts. the body style can dictate what colors work or dont work. of the 3 colors you picked, they all work well with the shape. the silver will show dirt the least, but any paint chips you get over time will show more than on the other colors and are very difficult to fix and have look right. reds are more expensive than the other colors. because it is a non-metallic, it will be easy to fix rock chips. the old reds were the worst for fading and oxidizing. the paint people tell me the new paints dont have such issues. If the green has any metallic in it, it will show chips worse than a solid color, but still not bad to repair. From a pure maintainence point of view, a light non-metallic is the easiest care. I use this as a choice criteria. as you look thru pix, pay attention to the ones that instantly grabs your attention. those are the colors you will like when it is on the car.

[81SPIDERMATT]

Hey 81SPIDERMATT
Is that my Silver spider you are calling hot???? I hope so....I thought the other one had a poxy looking door mirror, but do like everything else about it including rims

yes it was yours... do like the rims... similar to the ones i have now

[LStevens]

the guards red is a pretty red, but red cars aren't my thing. besides, they're cop magnets.

the bottle green is a lovely color, and it is the original color of the car. but to me, the darker colors tend to hide the spider's lines. for example, the hood bumps are (to me) kind of hard to see, but they pop right out on the silver car.

i tend to like the lighter colors.

but that's me. it's your car, and you have to live with the color. you also have to pick it

dhagood, were you stating that "bottle green" was color of my and M. Egan's car? The color of both of our car's is #312 Green (according to the placards on our firewalls) and not #317 Bottle Green.

Per the attached chart, #317 Bottle Green - came on '71-'72 124's and #312 Green - came on '73-79 124's

[LStevens]

I'm not in favor of the silver given the number of silver cars on the road and that nice interior you have. The original green will pop with your interior. I like the red and had a red 83 spider years ago. Any imperfections will show and the red will be more expensive if that is a consideration. Go Green!

I'm doing the same thing with a White 82. Keep it original white, go black or a historic nimbus grey. My daughter wants me to go Burnt orange! Keeping it original will save money and avoid DMV forms..

Why would 'red' be more expensive and show more imperfections? I thought dark colors like the green would show imperfections more easily?

[LStevens]

i have painted hundreds of cars. when you do that you become detached about the color. Here are a couple of thoughts. the body style can dictate what colors work or dont work. of the 3 colors you picked, they all work well with the shape. the silver will show dirt the least, but any paint chips you get over time will show more than on the other colors and are very difficult to fix and have look right. reds are more expensive than the other colors. because it is a non-metallic, it will be easy to fix rock chips. the old reds were the worst for fading and oxidizing. the paint people tell me the new paints dont have such issues. If the green has any metallic in it, it will show chips worse than a solid color, but still not bad to repair. From a pure maintainence point of view, a light non-metallic is the easiest care. I use this as a choice criteria. as you look thru pix, pay attention to the ones that instantly grabs your attention. those are the colors you will like when it is on the car.

azruss, thanks for the great info. I'm in total agreement with you in everything you said and thought those same things. I've taken many walks around the car - stood in front and behind it at length looking at the lines trying to imagine the colors and which one would accentuate it the best. The front end looks very masculine, sort of like a pit bull. I think Silver softens the line of the car whereas the Red makes a bold statement. The Green appears to gives a little of both and it is by the way a solid. Metallics look nice if the flow is even. I wouldn't even think of trying to match a metallic color especially silver. It doesn't matter how experienced a painter one is, they will never match a metallic - it's all in the flakes. For this reason metallic would be my third choice. Solids are the way to go in terms of care as you stated. I also wondered about the oxidation of Reds (I've seen so many - Blues also), but like you said the new paints don't have the same issues as yesteryear. Now, shops can only use 'water-based' paints. I'm still undecided as ALL three grab my attention , but reading everyone's comments is helping in my decision

[LStevens]

I'm not in favor of the silver given the number of silver cars on the road and that nice interior you have. The original green will pop with your interior. I like the red and had a red 83 spider years ago. Any imperfections will show and the red will be more expensive if that is a consideration. Go Green!

I'm doing the same thing with a White 82. Keep it original white, go black or a historic nimbus grey. My daughter wants me to go Burnt orange! Keeping it original will save money and avoid DMV forms..

TX82FIAT, I am leaning towards the GREEN, but I'm wondering why a couple of you have said Red would be more expensive.
What did you mean when you stated "avoid DMV forms"?

[divace73]

Hey 81SPIDERMATT
Is that my Silver spider you are calling hot???? I hope so....I thought the other one had a poxy looking door mirror, but do like everything else about it including rims

yes it was yours... do like the rims... similar to the ones i have now

I actually have 15" on her now (still have the 'turbo' wheels in storage), that was an older pic, amazingly I just haven't taken some proper pics of her more recently. Back then is was too low as well. My avatar is what I have on now, I'll get around to taking new pics on day soon... I just want to put on the slim line bumpers first.....


EDIT.. added pic on my 15" wheels

[So Cal Mark]

red paint is much more expensive to buy

[LStevens]

red paint is much more expensive to buy

Thanks for the clarification - when i told the shop i was thinking of painting the car red the owner didn't tell me it would cost any more. He just said to make sure I picked the correct red for the car because not all reds would look good on the spider. He made suggestions & had me take the paint charts outside to see what they looked like in the sun.

[kbee00]

I am not a fan of silver - too many cars and too bland for my taste. Red is too common - not concerned about the PD, but more so that red is hard to match down the road and costs more upfront.

Green is a great color - with a tan interior - I don't know if there is a better combination. But alas, it has been done often.

I am going to paint my car a medium dark, semi-metallic blue. There will be a set of white stripes going down the passenger side of the car. The main stripe will be 2" wide, there will be a 3/8" gap to the 3/8" wide stripe next to it - the small stripe will be near the drivers side. I will have a black interior with blue and white accents, the wheels will be will be white as well as te top. I know, white top is asking for trouble, I am willing to replace it every 5 yrs. Cheaper than a car payment, right? In fact, my whole Fiat restoration is based on a typical car payment scenario. That is how I sold it to my wife and myself. Simple math, simple program, simple explanations. Simple

Anyway, I am going for blue, but I hope others will do what they feel is best. Then we can all enjoy our differences!

Loren

[divace73]

Just saw more of your pics, as much as I love silver the Green with tan interior does look the 'ants pants'...I'd keep it the same......

[NCArachnid]

Quite a dilemma.... I'm facing the same decision now with my '72. I considered red, silver, and cream with red interior. I couldn't do green even though my car was originally dark green. Personal preference.

What color spider are you most "moved" by when you see a photo? What style and look would make you love your Fiat even more than you do?

For me the answer is bright red. I know it has been done a lot, but it does it for me.

I did notice a new color that would look great on a Fiat. Ford Grabber Blue from the Mustang. I'll have to get another project for that color. Either a 124 coupe or an Abarth style spider might work.

Good luck. All 3 of the example cars look amazing. Pick the one you most want to look at when you open the garage.

[Kev659]

I can tell you in getting mine done go with the dark Italian racing green it looks amazing. Mine is currently in the paint shop and will be back at the house next week so i hope to get some pictures up once it is back. Ill Also post ones from the entire restore project.