Why Is Los Angeles (and Everywhere Else) Obsessed With Drywall-Colored Cars?

It’s not exciting, but it sure looks good.

For a really long time, metallic paint colors have been the standard for passenger cars. While they initially got their start in the 1930s when they used fish scales to get their sparkle and were only available to the super-rich, now even basic no-cost colors like black and white have metallic flake in them. Except now there’s a trend that’s been going on for a few years that’s been kicking that flake to the curb.

Whether it’s Porsche’s Chalk, Audi’s Nardo Gray, or Ford’s Cactus Gray, among others, the resurgence of non-metallic paints as popular choices has been sort of surprising. It’s such a big thing, even here in car-obsessed Los Angeles, that the friggin’ Los Angeles Times took notice and wrote a whole story about it, which you should read.

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