Henry Ford famously said of the Model T in 1916: “You can have it in any colour you like as long as it’s black.” The choice of vehicle colours has increased enormously since then and the advent of a ‘car wrap‘ has helped consumers to quickly and easily change the colour of their prized 4 wheel possessions to a shade of their choosing without making it a permanent feature.
In its simplest form a car wrap involves completely covering external paintwork with a specially manufactured vinyl film that effectively ‘wraps’ the car. The car wrap can be removed at any time, returning the car to its original colour and costs alot less than a good quality re-spray. The vinyl film also protects the car from stone chips and scratches – a real bonus when it comes to selling the car.
But if you are thinking of giving your loved one’s car the ultimate in gift-wrapping this Christmas then what are the most popular colours?
To help you make a choice, Totally Dynamic, the UK’s leading bespoke automotive vinyl transformation company has compiled a table based on the most popular customer choices and have confirmed that the top 5 car wrap colours in 2011 have been:-
Gloss White Car Wrap
This looks simply stunning and is particularly attractive to Audi drivers. The Vorsprung Durch Technik car adverts all feature a gleaming white Audi, but the resulting demand has made it almost impossible to buy one. However, using advanced wrapping films,you can take any base shade and completely cover it without any of the original colour showing through. Celebrities who have had their vehicles wrapped ingloss white include Premiership footballer Wayne Rooney and Radio 1 DJ, Judge Jules.
Matt Black (The Stealth Look) Car Wrap
The demand for the Matt Black look began with the Stealth fighter, a symbol of raw, unconstrained and untouchable power. Many high end cars replicate the aerodynamic features and styles used inaviation designs and wrapping a car in Matt Black cuts back reflected light and provides a deep, smooth stealth look. The Matt Black trend was fully embraced by Ford who wrapped all of their limited edition RS500′s in this colour. Celebrity lovers of this look include TV chef Gordon Ramsey and reality show star Peter Andre, who recently had his Ferrari California wrapped in the stealth look by Totally Dynamic. Peter said, “It’s great in the Ferrari now. It used to be metallic grey, but now the matt black goes beautifully with the red leather interior when the top is down. Not only do I love it but passers-by love it too.”
Pearlescent White Car Wrap
What would the WAGs – and the wedding limo industry – do without this head-turning shimmering Christmassey jewel of a colour? Just the thing when you’re meeting the rest of the WAGs for Cristal and a chat. Professional footballer David Bentley, who currently plays for West Ham recently treated his WAG to a pearl white car wrap on her Range Rover.
Matt Colours Car Wrap
Whilst Matt Black is the joint most popular colour, car manufacturers such as BMW, Alfa Romeo and Lamborghini have started to include matt colours in their paintwork ranges. The reason for this is that the matt colours help to show off the lines of the vehicle to much better effect than gloss. It was for this reason that BMW launched their new M3 in a ‘Frozen Grey’ colour option.
Leading vinyl manufacturers such as Avery Dennison and 3M have responded to the surge in demand for other matt shades by bringing out advanced matt laminates that can be applied to any of their extensive range of car wrap colour change products. Each company now offers more than 100 shades as standard which should be enough to satisfy most customers.
Chrome Car Wrap
A look that is definitely not for the faint hearted as it screams “Look at Me!!”. Apart from being the most blinging way to transform a vehicle into a Christmas tree bauble look-a-like, chrome car wraps are the ultimate challenge for any car wrapping company and a real most impossible to achieve. It is only the absolute cream of the wrap companies who can achieve this transformation as the material is completely unforgiving and requires the highest level of application skills.
Singapore-based technology multi-millionaire Guy Macgregor, wanted to make his brilliant white Ferrari 599 GTV Sports Coupe look completely unique when he took part in the Gumball Rally, which runs through some of the most demanding roads in Europe and North America. He said: “When you are dealing with cars of this calibre, you want the best people working on them and the important thing is that you research vehicle wrapping companies very carefully as there are so many who claim they are the best or most experienced. A flashy website is not enough, you have to look at companies who can clearly demonstrate a huge range of wrap experience and who are knowledgeable when you speak to them. After much research I chose Totally Dynamic as in my opinion they are the most progressive company working in this field. Their attitude is so refreshing – quite simply, whatever the customer wants, they will make it happen.”
Jennifer Rope, Director of Totally Dynamic said,“The car wrap trends this year have pretty much stayed the same as in 2010 with the demand for Gloss White and Matt Black being by far and away the most popular shades. However, it is interesting to see that more and more people are experimenting with matt colours in order to transform their car into something that is completely unique and personal to them.
“The possibilities are enormous as there are already a huge choice of standard colours available from the vinyl manufacturers and companies such as Totally Dynamic have the ability and expertise to colour-match to a loved-ones desired shade. But the great thing about car wrapping is that if your aspirations change (or your loved one absolutely hates the colour you have chosen for them), you can just take the car wrap off and start again.”
Prices for a high quality car wrap start at £1,200.
Visit our website for more information on car wraps
