Weekend Edition Last Call: On Promotional Material Yellow

mazda_rx-7_2
Thinking back on the cars posted, dissected and discussed this weekend, it dawned on me that perhaps flat-out cynicism isn’t always the best way to treat a car sprayed in a radiant shade of yellow. Some time in the past, maybe in a simpler time like the 1970s, a yellow served the car the best, as every other vehicle on the street wasn’t white or silver. There were unapologetic bright shades, sometimes even lurid choices, and it almost seems like the perfect way to seize the moment, to celebrate the ability to slip behind the wheel of a sports car of your own. Go for yellow. You might as well.
A great example of this is the Mazda RX-7 seen above. Roulette wheels, fender mirrors, a removable sunroof, and a colour choice so careless and worry-free it jumps at me from the screen and gives me sunburn between the ears. It makes me consider early September road trips, when the mornings aren’t yet cold and the evenings don’t yet force you to escape indoors too early. It’s almost a shame my NA MX-5 was sprayed Silverstone at the factory and not Sunburst. Almost.

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  1. Tanshanomi Avatar

    I am just so glad that there is now a legitimate alternative answer to, “Honey, what does PM yellow mean?”

    1. wunno sev Avatar
      wunno sev

      Preventive Maintenance Yellow. because you’ll never miss it when you look around your garage, and then you’ll remember to grease the bushings.

  2. Rover 1 Avatar
    Rover 1

    One of my favourite P6 colours is what Jaguar called Primrose and Rover called April Yellow on the Series 1 P6s, usually with a black interior. http://www.federalrovers.com In pictures it often ends up looking almost off-white.
    http://www.ruediger-wicke.de/aprilyellow.jpg

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      I like it. Spend a part of my weekend to convince a friend, Mazda guy, to buy this glorious 616: It’s beautiful, cheap (1800$), newly inspected for two more years, and it has so much style, rainbows come out of its exhaust:
      http://www.finn.no/finn/car/used/object?finnkode=63629963
      http://finncdn.no/mmo/2015/8/vertical-3/29/3/636/299/63_1044447017_xl.jpg
      http://finncdn.no/mmo/2015/8/vertical-3/29/3/636/299/63_44464342_xl.jpg
      Styling reminds me a bit of the Peugeot 504, too.

      1. Rover 1 Avatar
        Rover 1

        So much style-except the silly wing mirrors.
        Of course Japan has many talented designers, (one of them designed the Ferrari Enzo when heading design at Pininfarina), but at the start of Japans push into the world with their cars they used European, specifically Italian, designers.
        Mazda used Bertone for the 1500 and the FWD Rotary Luce and it looks like they kept the studio on for the 616/RX2 judging by the similarities in the grille and windscreen treatment
        https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Mazda-LUCE-1st-generation01.JPG
        https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Mazda_R130_or_Mazda_1800_aka_Mazda_Luce_coupe_manufactured_1969.JPG
        https://autopolis.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/1969-mazda-luce.jpg
        And the designer who was working for Bertone was Giorgetto Guigiaro, and he also did some work for Isuzu.
        The Isuzu 117
        https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/1973-1976_Isuzu_117_Coupe_XC.jpg
        Which shares many similarities with the Fiat Dino Coupe, also by Bertone
        https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5459/9710381835_6ca54d8c26_b.jpg

        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          All of them look outright gorgeous! There’s also a beautiful 1800 for sale here:
          http://www.finn.no/finn/car/used/object?finnkode=63583723
          http://finncdn.no/mmo/2015/8/vertical-3/28/3/635/837/23_879212178_xl.jpg
          http://finncdn.no/mmo/2015/8/vertical-3/28/3/635/837/23_1784795772_xl.jpg
          Exhibited for the last 20 years at the dealership selling it today.

  3. CraigSu Avatar
    CraigSu

    Despite the stigma of being a shade of PMY I’ve always found Ferrari’s Fly Yellow to be a refreshing change from their palette of Rossas.
    https://madwhips.s3.amazonaws.com/photo_1_fly_yellow_ferrari_575m_maranello_1_87345_original.jpg

    1. Maymar Avatar
      Maymar

      http://s3.andrewtweber.com/cars/70.jpg
      I approve of Fezzas in ANY non-red colour – saw a 360 in this blue today, and it looked fantastic.

      1. Krautwursten Avatar
        Krautwursten

        Even Jay Kay’s bright green new ride?

        1. Vairship Avatar
          Vairship

          I prefer the green of Prince Bernhard’s Ferrari’s:
          http://paul-wouters.nl/denhaag133.jpg
          http://paul-wouters.nl/denhaag132.jpg
          Source: http://paul-wouters.nl/ferrari.htm

        2. Maymar Avatar
          Maymar

          Sure, why not?

  4. CraigSu Avatar
    CraigSu

    Of course, as a Saab fan I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to their own PMY, Monte Carlo Yellow.
    http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/bd/2a/b4/bd2ab49719f8e2428064bae36c55a425.jpg

  5. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/2/3913/4481/22282240001_large.jpg
    It saddens me that Mazda neither offers anything this bright anymore (even if that red they’ve been pushing is pretty attractive), and that every Protege5 up here is rust brown even if it didn’t leave the factory that colour.

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Without the rust issues, I’d have a 5 now. Also, I found this:
      http://content.worldcarfans.co/2007/11/medium/9071127.010.1M.jpg

    2. salguod Avatar

      I find it ridiculous that the new Miata is only available in white, of-white, grey, black and the red in all the promo shots. If you get the top trim, which cannot be had with the Bilstien shocks or the LSD, you can get a gray-ish blue too.
      Shades of gray are prevalent throughout, but everything else in Mazda’s line up has more “color” choices except the base CX-5.

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        Agreed. Might be that this is a nod to quick customization? Take your new Miata to the painter – at once!

  6. Stephen Avatar
    Stephen

    One year only on the new GTOs: Yellow Jacket

    1. Cameron Vanderhorst Avatar
      Cameron Vanderhorst

      Two years, ’04 and ’05. It was replaced in ’06 with an orange color whose name escapes me.

      1. Stephen Avatar
        Stephen

        AH! You’re right! I forgot 05 had YJ. 06 got the very polarizing Brazen Orange Metallic which I was never a fan of because it just never looked clean to me.

  7. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    All these Euro and Japanese cars in PM Yellow. Have we forgotten the time when this color visited a disco?

  8. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    I had a Duster in yellow once. I really liked the color and would have a yellow car again if my wife were willing. There is a small window I like. For me, it can’t lean too far to orange (taxi) and it can’t be a pale yellow. It has to be vibrant and be on the right car. It worked on RX-7’s and Miatas. A new Challenger with black striping and a shaker hood…..

  9. Krautwursten Avatar
    Krautwursten

    Yellow is also one of the safest colors you can possibly put on your car in terms of traffic visibility if your car is easily overlooked. Imagine this thing in British racing green, absolutely invisible. And as a bonus it’s a very energetic color so it fits sports cars well. That is all.

  10. CruisinTime Avatar
    CruisinTime

    Owned a hundred cars,not one of them was yellow.

  11. Mope Avatar
    Mope

    Sunfire Yellow 1974

  12. mdharrell Avatar

    Corvette Yellow, because Dave Edmonson, founder of High Mileage Vehicles, insisted upon high-visibility colors that were already formulated for fiberglass.
    https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/1978342_736899639680921_963108349802419126_o.jpg

  13. Preludacris Avatar

    Honda Y-49 is said to be bad luck… to the point that when you type “Y-49” in Google, it fills in the blank with “curse.”
    http://www.hondareference.com/colors/prelude/honda_prelude_88_Y49_02.jpg?random=1438734750
    Personally I like the colour, but can’t remember ever seeing a yellow Prelude in real life, and only one yellow CRX.

  14. Fuhrman16 Avatar
    Fuhrman16

    I’ve only owned one yellow car, a ’78 Mercury Grand Marquis I got from my grandparents. It was simular to this one, but a little more banged up.
    http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j15/Fuhrman16/5637736742_13e6e1f9f4_o_zpskyz4gjtx.jpg