So, this is a bit of an experiment. I was excitedly bragging to my wife, Sally, driver of the money-incinerating machine that you can ride in and looks like a VW Tiguan, about our traffic numbers recently, and how our percentage of women readers is greater than I’ve ever seen on a car site. That’s fantastic, because cars are for everyone, and we take that seriously. This got her thinking, and she decided to have some fun and celebrate our female-identifying readership, or, really, however you identify, as long as you like painted nails. That’s because she came up with a palette of automotive-inspired nail colors, and was wondering if, maybe, these existed as a thing in reality – Autopian curated car-inspired nail varnish sets – would people be interested in them?
The palette she picked has five car-inspired colors:
Fire Apple: Based on Hunter S. Thompson’s fire-apple red 1971 Chevy Impala convertible from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Yellow Beetle: Based on my own 1973 Beetle! VW called the color Texas Yellow, and it’s just a great, bright, friendly, plucky yellow.
Angelyne: An unashamed, confident pink, based on LA’s famous, enigmatic Angelyne, a woman famous for being on billboards and driving her pink Corvette around LA, and that’s about it
BRG: British Racing Green! The color of all those Jaguars and Bentleys fast enough to escape the clutches of Lucas, the Prince of Darkness
Pao Pow: Okay, so I got two of my cars in here. This one is based on my 1990 Nissan Pao, but the retro quality of this aqua-like color stands in for so many wonderful midcentury cars.
It’s a good palette, with good car references. So, car people who paint nails or know people who do, is this something you might be interested as Autopian merch? We’re just exploring ideas at this point, but we’d love your input, so comment away!
Jason – unrelated to the article, but I was reading the news and noticed something. Are you a republican lawyer?
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-us-supreme-court-north-carolina-election-2020-state-courts-712d5aa719884bab9652d3c132ee56c6
Also, your article reminds me of the episode of Home Improvement when Jill tries to cover a scratch on the Nomad with nail polish.
Nah, Torchy is crazy but not that crazy.
I’m shocked that there’s no Turn Signal Amber.
Or Headlight Clearcoat. TM
Or just plain chrome
BRG isn’t a vibrant enough color to hold up against the rest of the palate.
I’m partial to Chromium Oxide, which is a bit “greener” and very rich. Plus, it’s a single chemical pigment, so QC never has to fret a bad batch.
We need “hot brakes” orange for marking tools.
Also, I’m now looking forward to the series of articles where Torch swaps a 2.4 from a Camry into Sally’s Tiguan.
Just make sure it sticks well to and doesn’t “melt” styrene plastic, on behalf of the automotive scale-modeling community.
For extra degree of difficulty, BMW Motorcycle Red Smoke, which is a multi tone fade similar to a sunburst guitar
Much like and would buy. I’d like some variant of Tracy Rust, too. Maybe something in honour of the Changli.
I think you have yourself 5 color themes for the site, I like them all.
Soul Red by Mazda
Millennium Jade by Nissan
Grabber Green by Ford
Imola Orange by Honda
Bleu Petrel by Citroen
Diesel Engine Oil Black
Antifreeze Green
DEX-III Red
Pink Vitz (from Gran Turismo)
Oh, also, I would absolutely give you money for any version of this product.
I like the way you think. The only difficult call for me would be Millennium Jade versus Midnight Purple.
Of course, I appreciate the inclusion of Pink Vitz. (:
Somehow a David Tracy “forever rust” is missing….
Anything is better than BMW 50 shades of grey.
One color per finger:
I’d go Apple Red, Bright Orange, Lemon Bug, Pao pow and BRG. Lemon Bug middle finger needs the black stripes and blue doesn’t get a finger to ride on.
As a fan of old Mopar colors, Plum Crazy and Go Mango might work. Top Banana and Panther Pink are close to your existing picks, so maybe a whole lineup of those 70’s colors could work if anyone is crazy enough to want their nails painted Sassy Grass or Butterscotch.
You forgot the favorite of High School Age Mopar fans…Grabber Cherry.
I know..but we were 17 and it was the 60’s.
The BRG is way too dark. BRG historically is not any particular shade of green, much less one that is almost black. Make it a bit greener.
Porsche signal orange / VW amber L20E . A surprisingly complex paint with little contrasting speckles.
You could also have “BMW turn signal”, which is just a transparent glaze.
One suggestion… you need some variant of black to appeal to the Goths.
Speaking on behalf of my inner 90’s goth teen: we’re cool with the dark green.
Just about anything in a dark hue (red, green, blue, violet, especially) would work. Plum Crazy, Midnight/Deep Wedgewood/Le Mans Blue, Red Wine, to name a few.
Also, Vantablack courtesy of BMW… That’s just as dark as it can get.
Prowler/Midnight purple would work, too.
You forgot Imola Red or Estoril Blue
Forgot Techno Violet/Laguna Seca Blue, too.
I’m not just the resident designer around here, I’m also the resident goth (it wasn’t just a phase, mom!), so I fully support this suggestion.
For all my skill with a ball point pen, I’m surprisingly bad with a nail varnish brush. This is why I pay someone to do it for me, being as I am a great believer in the dignity of other peoples labor.
I just commented with the inclusion of an idea, Diesel Engine Oil Black.
Get that lovely big end bearing glitter catching in the sunlight. Marvelous.
W here is Plum Crazy Purple?
If you have Plum Crazy, then there also needs to be Go Mango Orange.
“Rolling Coal”; think something like VantaBlack
I’m aware that brown isn’t the most popular nail polish colour, but Jeep Rust would make for a novel accent stripe.
Manual Diesel Wagon Brown should be one of the options ????????
Root beer metallic is awesome
A sprinkling of Tracy Oxide Red should be applied liberally to all nails worn by Jeep enthusiasts.
Jeep Rust nail polish, guaranteed to get David Tracy’s attention! Buyer beware, he’ll make you feel all special when you first meet, but if you go home with him, you’ll discover your just another rusty rarity in his driveway trying to keep his attention.
Just make sure to clean the grease from around the nails before applying.
I’d buy some Leased Base Model 3-Series Black! Actually that Pao color slaps too.
“Leased Base Model 3-Series Black”
Does that paint on automatically with heavy swirl marks?
What, no Forest Service Green?
Good call! i have one of the last, an old Silverado with a manual and a droopy headliner- they are almost all white now!
If you decide to sell these, I’ll buy a bottle of the Fire Apple. Not for personal decoration, but to match-mark parts which need to be clocked. My last thumb-sized bottle of ‘Hoe Red’* nail polish finally gave out a decade back, and paint pens, tho eminently more practical, just don’t have the same ethos. See, 2-3 decades back, most any junkyard would have a white Jetta with Sylvester or Tweety seat covers. There would invariably be a Nirvana or Jewel CD prominently visible, and, under the Social Services and Child Support documents, a tiny bottle of bright red nail polish.
*as I typed that, it was clear that I need to retire that term: we’re well into the 21st century, and it’s derogatory. So, last use.
There’s weeds in your roses.
Subaru blue? I like that colour on the WRX and the BRZ, not sure how it would look on fingernails.
How about Mustang Mystichrome? Over the top pointless or possibly amazing.
BUT it’s not sold retail, you must make an appointment for an authorized shop to put it on, and any left over is sent back to Autopian Enterprises…
Didn’t Angelina Jolie have a bit about matching nail polish in the cheesy-but-kinda-good version of Gone in 60 Seconds, when they boost I think a pink Barracuda?
Or is it the kinda-good-but-cheesy version? I confess to not being sure which one is which.
Lipstick, if memory serves. And I’m gonna go with “kinda fun up until that stupid implausible jump but ultimately made watchable by Robert Duvall and Chi McBride.”
Damn…you’re right! I’m like Delroy Lindo, always one step behind the action.
(Could a such a silly movie have better actors?)
I think the scene is with a Diablo in Pink. They wanted to know why it was in Pink.. and the camera pans behind them to show that it matched the woman’s dress.
Then they get into it…
I THINK Jolie and Nic Cage, had a brief very tight scene where she “had” to climb over the gear shift lever and he mentions… becareful not to damage the NON-SYNCRO mesh…
Either way…
I came for the 50 cars was deterred by the 68 GT350 (not the 73 Mach 1), and stayed for Duvall, Chi McBride and the SPINX.
P.S
There was some amusement to how the bad guys wanted to fight Memphis Reigns’ Crew. As they waited for the fight to happen, Memphis’ Crew wrapped a steel cable around the undercarriage of the car attached to a crane (I believe).. and eventually ripped it apart.
Chartreuse or bust!!! Ooooor, just play some AC/DC and go BACK IN BLACK!