# Old Cars

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-cars/186857>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 7, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-cars/186857 "2003-07-07T20:57:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lestat915](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lestat915](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lestat915)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-cars/186857/1 "2003-07-07T20:57:55Z")

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OKay back in the old days there was no color video obviously but were cars different colors??? or were they just black? If they were just black how come they didnt use colors and when did colored cars start coming out?

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**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-cars/186857/2 "2003-07-07T21:18:47Z")

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[http://www.emediaplan.com/admunch/Brands/ford.asp](http://www.emediaplan.com/admunch/Brands/ford.asp)

> [@](#):
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> No one really knows if Henry Ford ever said that the buying public could have Model T Fords “in any color, so long as it’s black”, but it is commonly attributed to him. While this saying is true for the model years after 1913, earlier cars were available in green, red, blue and grey. In fact, in the first year, Model T Fords were not available in black at all. The switch to all black cars was likely due to Ford’s optimization of the assembly line and to reduce the time lost waiting for the various paints to dry. In 1926 colors other than black were once again offered, in an attempt to boost sales.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lestat915](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lestat915](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lestat915)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-cars/186857/3 "2003-07-07T21:33:20Z")

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i seeeee

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-cars/186857/4 "2003-07-07T21:42:39Z")

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And apart from the famous Ford dictum, early cars came in a variety of colors based on the whims of the manufacturers. After all, carriages were painted in a variety of shades, and many carriage makers started manufacturing cars, or at least automotive coachwork. IIRC, Stanley Steamers were often painted red - it was sort of a trademark.

In the early days, more upscale cars were sold only as a chassis, anyway. It was expected that the customer would have the coachwork done as a custom job, and they would obviously get to specify whatever color they liked.

Even when the Model T was produced only in black, there was a thriving aftermarket business painting them other colors.