Why don't cars come in two-tone any more? SUV's do.

Factual Questions
1

I realize that fashions go back and forth, but there should be someone out there who would say that if SUV’s can come in elaborate two-tones (e.g., KIA) that there would be a market for two-tone cars.

2

I think you answered your own question. Two tone paint on a car might see as anachronistic on modern designs. Most trucks and SUVs are still rather boxy and can look awfully plain with a single color. Fashions change and we may again find two-tone passenger cars as popoular as two-tone shoes once were.

3

The new Volvo V70 Cross Country comes in two tones - but that’s almost an SUV. The Lexus ES300 comes in two tones.

4

Well, that’s a couple, at least.
Volvo has never been much of a trend setter, but a lot of cars compare themselves to the Lexus.

I guess the original concept was to make a regular car look like a converatble. Maybe the next twotone will be to make a regular car look like an SUV.

5

I’d add that today’s cars look very different from the two-tone cars of the past. Back then, most cars had a wedge or box shaped body with the ‘greenhouse’ (is that the proper term? The windows, pillars and roof part) stuck on top. If you wanted to paint it two-tone, it was obvious where the dividing line would be. Today a car is a single aerodynamic (well, pseudo-aerodynamic) shape. There is no natural dividing line between two colors.

6

Check out the pre 98 Camaros. Some of the red ones had red body / black pillars and roof. Mostly T top ones. Some Eagle Talons were blue / black or red / black. They still make two tones. Just not as much.

–Tim

7

Actually, two-tones preceded the sedan. In the Behring Auto Museum in Blackhawk CA there are old horse-less carriages with different colored fenders and running boards. One old car there had 4-tones, all shades of blue, but it was a novelty demo car for the dealers’ showrooms.

In the 50’s (56?) Packard came out with 3-tones. The third color was on a side stripe between rows of chrome. They could only find a few good sets of three colors though.
I saw red(top)-white-black, white-pink-red, and an awful white-yellow-green.