Colour options in Ford vehicles have shifted over time hand-in-hand with shifting consumer preferences. To show the many shades of Ford, we took a look at how colour options have trended over the years, focusing on the always-trendy Ford Mustang. After all, is there a better fashion accessory than a pony car?
The Classic Colours
What we see is that there are some timeless classics – red, blue, white and black options, for example – that have stayed the test of time. Every year since the Mustang was introduced in 1964, those four iconic colours have been offered in some shade or the other. Although the hue shifted over time – some years the red variation was “Rangoon Red” (1964), and others it was the more electric “Vibrant Red,” (1994) – but year over year, these four colours have been diligently offered as stock options.
The Seventies
However, other colour options ebbed and flowed freely with the style of the times. For example, brown and green. In 1974, the Ford Mustang was offered in 16 colour variations. Nine of those options were either brown or green. Fortunately that fad was neatly quarantined to the ‘70s and early ‘80s. In fact, after 1984, brown was only offered as a colour option 5 times.
Orange You Glad There Are Options for Everyone?
Pink (or purple) has occasionally popped up as a colour option, but it never seems to have gained much traction. (For those of you who have a 1996 Deep Violet Mustang in the garage, you are truly in rare company.) Similarly, Orange has phased in and out as a colour option, but never for more than 3 years consecutively. Competition Orange has been offered in both 2015 and 2016 models of the Mustang, and considering how gorgeous they are blazing around the track, maybe the colour should become more of a mainstay.
Silver Stallion
The 2000s and through the saw an influx of grey and silver models – indeed silver seems to be the green/brown of the 70s, as colour options seemed to trend a bit more conservative.
The Full Picture: Colour Options Over Time
In the timeline below, you can see the changing tastes in colours as evidenced by colour options offered in the Mustang over time. We love the Mustang regardless of paint, but are happy that there are options for everyone.
If you fast-forward to the colour options on the 2016 GT350, there are only a few – but all equally stunning. You can check out in the neat little montage below. They look even better when in motion:
