If July could be a color, it would be yellow. With the golden light of our sun shining brightly as ever, beating down on us, and giving Superman his powers, it is perhaps time to ponder a hue not so common on cars as they once were. One of the most distinctive shades of yellow ever created was simply called 112 Yellow in Nissan’s palette. Like a highlighter on wheels, it set Datsun 240Zs aglow, but you don’t have to take our word for it.
What’s the best shade of JNC yellow?
What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which nostalgic feature should be brought back?”
Sammy B demands the return of the graphic equalizer, Mazdax605 calls for a resurrection of the “man vent”, Ricky Poole wants the restoration of soul in general, and just about all of you clamor for pop-up headlights, but the most lol-inducing comment this week came from Spudenater‘s plea for flow-through cabins:
You know, there are a lot of basic design elements that get overlooked by modern car shoppers (and designers) that were simply done better back in the day. New cars have belt lines so high my grandpa would even be embarrassed, and doors so thick you think they’d be bulletproof. Not to mention the dashboards look like landing strips nowadays due to the low angle windshields. I get into a new Fiesta or something, which is outwardly larger than my ’80 Corolla, yet still feel very boxed in; I can’t imagine what it must feel like for someone who is legitimately claustrophobic.
The one thing that really makes me feel like I’ve got some elbow room is the feeling of rolling down the windows at 60mph and feeling that refreshing breeze (unless it’s high summer in which case the breeze in Texas feels like opening an oven, but I digress). Modern cars rarely accommodate such nonsense, pulsating your eardrums uncomfortably like an over enthusiastic pub DJ. Modern cars just aren’t designed with that flow-thru cabin it seems (since A/C is pretty much standard on all but the most scantily clad “strippers”), and a couple seconds of annoying buffetting quickly sees the windows rolled up and the A/C cranked down.
When the compressor on my dad’s old Dakota busted, and we couldn’t afford to swap it out, he would always make jokes about the situation. “We’ve got that two-sixty-five air conditioning. Two windows down at sixty-five miles’n’hour!” When the current batch of econo-boxes eventually rattle their way down through enough neglectful owners that they end up, dented and A/C-less, in the hands of a geasy-face 16 year old or “economocially challenged” parent, I will pity those poor souls. Their choice is either cook to death, or get buffetted to death, neither being particularly fun.
It’s for those reasons that I nominate “flow through cabin design” as the nostalgic feature that should be brought back.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
While I’m very partial to the Spark Yellow on my 79 Mazda RX-7, I will have to go with another Mazda shade. In the early 70’s they used a color called Flair(flare maybe) yellow on the RX-2/3/REPU that was just a very cool, but rarely seen shade now. I defy you to find a picture of a Flare yellow old school Mazda, and not like how it looks. It is just so right, and this is coming from someone who didn’t even care for yellow cars until he owned one.I like the old single stage paints a lot as well, and this was one of them. I don’t know why I like single stage paints, but I just do. Maybe it is due to the fact that I like older cars more than new cars, and they mostly used single stage paints back then.
Single-Stage paint seems to be easier to buff out/polish up, though it takes more effort to keep it from oxidizing, but it doesn’t get that spiderwebbing that clearcoat paint jobs do.
On the other side, when you see a gallery of clearcoat failure, the work involved in SS paint seems really worth it. SOME reds, whites (not pearl), and blacks are apparently still being done in SS.
Been spending WAY too much time at a couple of detailing sites lately.
If you have time to play:
autopia (dot org)
meguiarsonline (dot com)
autogeekonline (dot net)
I actually like the MR2 Mk2 Solar Yellow. Not too fluorescent. Not too pencil-colored. Just right.
I’m biased since I have a 112 yellow 1972 240Z that I’m repainting the original color. Very cool color.
How about the 1976 Honda Civic in that screaming bright yellow!
I really like Sonic Yellow on bug eye Imprezas; it’s too bad they aren’t JNCs yet. That shade of yellow just looks perfect.
Nope gotta be 280z yellow simply because of the infamouse pic
http://tinyurl.com/yellowdat
Nice car.
Why’s the chick leaving smudge marks on the paint?
Do the ’88 CRX Si and ’88 Prelude Si count as JNCs? If so, they were both offered in a great shade called Barbados Yellow. I thought it looked great, especially on the CRX.
I really like the Yellow Pearlglow “EH7” offered on the 1990 & 1991 Z32 300zx. A little over 1500 made and not sure how many of those in Twin turbo form.
http://www.picturesdepot.com/wallpapers/207066/nissan+300zx+twin+turbo.html;
Not bad. I like the light yellow pearl 3000GT. It’s like that but a bit lighter.
I’d have to agree with the 112 Yellow on a 72 Z. Partially because I own one, but also because of the conversations it stirs up at local car shows.
Is it yellow? Is it green?
You get a few old guys arguing about that and they’ll walk circles around the car trying to find an angle that proves their perception of the color. That’s also a neat thing about the Z’s color, you think it looks too much like a tennis ball? Wait a few hours and it’s a different shade in the sunlight. Kids also love it! I’ve had a few little kids point and think its a Lambo or something exotic. Always puts a smile on my face.
bellatrix yellow please
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/1967-Toyota-2000GT-Bellatrix-Yellow.png
Why no jdm pickup love??
I choose the Suntan Yellow, found on Toyota Hilux, FJ cruisers and on Peanut or the TE27.
This color is just ganster, perfect for color for a cruise down PCH.
This color just screams nostalgia, or back when Japanese automakers just had fun
practical ideas. It also ages gracefully hell I seen a Suntan Yellow Hilux 1979 being used
to carry water inside a nursery, down in Azusa,CA 300k miles on it. Im sure the dato 620
comes in yellow.But it cant top the Hilux.
Adding to that. I dont see many slammed Toyota pickups like 1980-1992 era body styles.
Maybe I dont get out much, Maybe there are alot or Maybe its Maybaline. . .
Maybe they all got run into the ground…
Haven’t seen any of those, nor a “Ford Courier,” or “Chevy LUV” in a LOOOONNNNGGG time. Salt belt…
Seen the new ones? Nissan’s comes in a whopping FOUR colors, and Toyota’s pretty limited, too, with nothing showing yet for the ’16’s colors. To add to that, they’re relative monsters.
There’s this guy who lives in Alhambra, dude has a luv. This guy in Arcadia has like 2couriers . I even got to see the old Mazda repu pickup in rosemead. Things are pretty rare to find. As for the new ones… The only thing that caught my eye was the xrunner. Other than that pickups became “americanized”.
I love the 112 yellow on the 240Z as well. My 72 is silver with the red interior, but if it ever goes in for a full restoration I’m planning to paint it 112!
I’d have to agree with wantyerknobbies.
Seen it on pix of pickups. Was it available on the little rocket ship / atomic cockroach-looking Cherry?
Honda’s would be my number 2 for overall shade.
That 112 is a cool color, but I can’t call it yellow… Datsun had a Chartreuse Green, that was VERY green, but in reality I’d call 112 Chartreuse.
http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1972-Datsun-pg01.jpg
Compare it to the ’76 Chartreuse Green.
http://s27.postimg.org/k24in1yfn/image.jpg
My McAfee doesn’t want me to go there…
it’s not belize
Yeah, it’s a pain sometimes…
I did a search, and there was a model of one in yellow, but the closest the real ones seem to come is this “butterscotch pudding” kind of a color. Not really me…
Would look cool in real yellow with a black front-roof. In today’s world, I’d go with that carbon-fiber-look vinyl wrap.
I’m split between two yellows from two nostialgic Suzukis. They’re for all intents and purposes the same yellow, but what it really comes down to is a “Who wore it better?” kind of situation. Since you should always respect your elders, I’ll start with the older Suzuki.
First up is the 1970-72 Suzuki LJ10 Jimny, sometimes called the “Brute” in America. Something about the knobby tires, fender mounted mirrors, and canvas top & doors just goes so well with yellow! It’s sort of a rugged, industrial look (like a dump truck) that just screams “No terrain can stop me!”. It’s like Japanese Rambo with a 360cc motor, just picture it crawling out of the jungle covered in mud and bugs. I’ve never seen such a no-nonsense yellow before this, especially on such a little bugger.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Suzuki_jimny_lj10_1st_gen.JPG/1024px-Suzuki_jimny_lj10_1st_gen.JPG
The other car I have in mind is the barely nostialgic 1988-1998 Suzuki Escudo, sold in the USA as Suzuki Sidekick/Geo Tracker/Chevy Tracker. When I see these, especially in the two-door-ragtop configuration, the only thing I can think is “Cute-Ute”. For yellow in particular, I can imagine one of these rolling down the Pacific Coast Highway with four well tanned twenty-something chicks, all singing along to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” on their way to the beach. It’s such a fun, almost ditzy shade of yellow.
http://i47.tinypic.com/n2zs6o.jpg
So there it is, two nearly identical yellows, from two nearly identical (for their times) Suzukis, which I find so fitting for each for two WILDLY different reasons.
Am I the only seeing the first car as more of a green and the 2nd as more of an orange? Or do I need to get my eyes checked?
Yeah, they are both very borderline yellows. The Datsun looks like Key Lime green to me, and the Subaru is like like Citus Orangey-Yellow..
Easy: The shade of yellow on Doctor Yellow JR Central Class 922 train set: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:922_T2_Gifu-Hashima_19981011.jpg
Spot on with this write-up, I truly believe that this site needs much more attention. I’ll probably be returning to read through more, thanks for the information!
I’d say the shade of yellow from a typical era can age a car badlyThe yellow on the Honda S800. I usually feel like yellow is an option color for those looking for something a little different from the stock color used for publicity photo (typically red), but this yellow looks so good on an S800 you’d think the car was designed with this color in mind. I’d say most shades of yellow from the 60s 70s age a car pretty well, but
Good lord I hate typing on a phone, let’s try this again. Haha I’d say that a shade of yellow can determine what era a car was from