Dear internet,

I’ve noticed something odd.

Cars used to come in many colors. Red, blue, green, black, white, silver, gold, and so on. Cars still come in lots of colors, but the frequency has changed.

I’ve been paying attention here in the Bay Area, ever since Shannon and I went car shopping in January. And this is weird.

Fully 40% of the cars around here are silver–yes, almost half. And another 30% are neutral–mostly white, a few black, and a handful of brown-gold. Meaning that 70% of the cars around here are neutral-colored. And that’s not even counting the really deep blue or green cars that look black if you’re not paying attention.

It seems to me that as recently as 5 years ago, there were a lot more colors in cars. Especially red.

Those are guesstimates, of course, but I’m curious about this. Is this the new trend in cars for the last decade? I’ve heard rumors of the “silver-gray clones” in vehicles, because silver cars hold the best resell value.

And is this local to the Bay Area or is it true elsewhere in the country? It might be a Bay Area thing. Folks here love neutrals and earthy colors. Often on BART, I’m the only person in the whole car whose jacket isn’t neutral-colored.

What are car colors like where you live?