Matte Paint Becoming The "New Black?"

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa!

Matte paint is catching on? We totally didn't see this coming. Yeah, right. Anyway, The Wall Street Journal recently published a piece speaking about the dull finishes and how 3M is taking advantage of this with its wraps.

Uh, maybe WSJ should just stick to covering the world of stocks and bonds.

Purveyors of high gloss paint sealants (and high margin up-sells for car dealers) read with horror the story in today’s Wall Street Journal that matte finish is the “new black” for cars. If this trend catches on – and the WSJ says it does – then the sparkling profits will be a goner.

The WSJ is increasingly seeing “production cars from Audi, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz and others with matte paint that harks back to the 1949 Mercuries and ‘32 Ford highboy roadsters that personify the 1950s and 1960s when young hot-rodders on tight budgets often saved the paint for last. Concentrating on making cars fast before making them good-looking, they drove their ‘rods on the street and the dragstrip covered in primer, which at least kept their bodies from rusting...

[Source: The Truth About Cars VIA The Wall Street Journal]

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LexSucks - 12/29/2010 12:23:03 PM

+3 Boost

"Matte Paint Becoming The "New Black?"

- Doubt it. At least you can leave a black car outside in the elements and not have the finish get damaged. BMW doesn't warranty the matte finish like they do regular paints. When matte painted finishes become as durable as the finishes available today then we can talk.

The people who are calling it the new black are stupid. The normal bird droppings that we encounter daily will leave permanent stains on matte finishes.

B7FAN - 12/29/2010 12:42:12 PM

-2 Boost

I agree with you matte paint has to be a little more pampered than a gloss paint job but it looks GREAT on "CERTAIN" cars like the Gallardo above....that looks spectacular in matte black I love it. as for it being the new black I doubt that HIGHLY cause aint nothing sweeter looking than a black gloss paint job especially at night when the car is clean. but my style is different from what it used to be because if I get Matte paint on my car I would get chrome wheels or if i have a gloss paint job id rather the Aluminum look on my wheels just to give it some contrast.....as far as im concerned gloss paint and chrome wheels together dont do it for me anymore i need that contrast

MorePower - 12/29/2010 5:47:46 PM

+1 Boost

A matte is gaining in popularity, but it is not the "new black". The effect only works well on high-end luxury automobiles owned by people who take the extra steps of having it professionally done.

I'm sure that a lot of these matte finishes are simply well done 3M vinyl applications applied over the existing factory paint(makes it easy to remove before sell or if the owner gets tired of the look).

geoff448 - 12/30/2010 12:56:49 AM

-1 Boost

i love matte! it looks amazing

AtoB - 12/30/2010 4:11:55 PM

0 Boost

Matte treatment is not really a bad thing in my opinion. They definately don't have that cringing effect on me as did they chameleon paint jobs of the late 90's Fords.