Autumn, the season of turning leaves and pumpkin spice everything. Orange objects are suddenly obligatory. But in the automotive world the color of paprika isn’t particularly popular. We can think of only two eras in which orange was widespread — the late 60s/early 70s, and a brief moment in the 2000s when metallic orange had its turn in the spotlight. There are many JNCs that are iconic in orange, but is it ever the best possible hue in the palette of factory colors?
Which JNC looks most proper in orange?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What types of cars should be preserved?“.
The overwhelming response to last week’s question was that just about any type of car is worth preserving. That was the consensus for BlitzPig, dankan, Alan, ynori, and more. Kyuusha Corner simply said whatever is rare, Random Rascal said it should be the first car you ever fell in love with, and TheJWT nominated period correct modified cars. But no matter how you said it, the spirit was the same — cars that represented an era in time, rolling tributes to a certain snapshot of history. Let the millionaires preserve the dream cars. We commoners can spend our hard-earned dollars on the ones that don’t require a mortgage to maintain.
It was hard to pick just one, but the winner this week was returning champion Jim Klein, who conveyed the sentiment thusly:
The car your mom drove. Seriously. Every 2000GT will already be saved. Every still good EVO will be saved. Same with Skylines etc. Toyota’s building new AE86s ferchrissakes… There are more FJ40s on the streets now than when they were new. This won’t change.
The car I want to see and drool over in a museum or car show in 20 years is the ’88 Camry wagon my buddy’s mom had. In that shade of light blue that only Japanese cars were. And the white ’83 Corolla I took my driver’s ed training in. And the green ’92 Civic my friend Amy got after college. The REGULAR cars, those are the ones that don’t usually survive. Save them. Do it. DOOO IIIT!
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Honda 1300 Coupe in period “Pop Orange”.
Mine. From the old forums days if anyone remembered. 😎
Colt Galant GTO 197x . All are very nice.
I mean…the TE27 Levin above is a pretty big one. The Isuzu Bellett GT-R also just looks right in orange, with it’s black graphics and all. The SB1 Civic RS also looks amazing in orange.
You beat me to it with the TE27, which is the best looking to me.
I disqualify the Z432R as it’s probably the most obvious answer, and will go straight to my second favorite NSX (after the Charlotte Green NSX-T) : The Type S Zero in Imola Orange Pearl (YR536P).
I still remember that this was one of the main base colors available for the NSX in Gran Turismo’s arcade mode, that I would play over and over again when it came out as a kid, as I didn’t have a memory card on my PS…
I later saw it in the flesh a few times in Tokyo and it was WOW. Not as perfect as Charlotte Green but makes the NSX so flashy and exotic, waaaay better than the traditional, Ferrari wanabe and boring Formula Red.
To this day, this is my benchmark when it comes to orange on modern cars.
I think a Datsun 240Z in that orange looks very period correct. It doesn’t have to be that fancy Z432 model either, but it has to be that pumpkin orange color. The Watanabe wheels in gunmetal would really hit hard. White seems too common and almost of a “repaint” color that was done down the line; orange radiates hard, especially compared to all the drab colors that plague today’s cars.
Mazda MX-5 30th Anniversary edition in Racing Orange…harkens back to the LeMans winning livery of the early ’90s.
Thank you again!
The Japanese car most resplendent in orange would be the Mazda RX-500 in the orange it was originally shown in at the 1970 Tokyo Auto Show and, more importantly for my 6-year-old self 50 years ago, the Matchbox version of it that I (and perhaps many of us here) had back then which may still be in the box of old cars in the back of my mother’s basement…
As an MR2 owner, The Toyota MR2 SC (’88 and ’89) in Orange Pearl Mica. I was obsessed with that color but didn’t buy one when they were cheap because orange is my college rival’s color. I had a buddy that did a full on restoration of an ’88 SC and I lusted after it. It was a darker, more metallic hue of orange.
Fast forward to 2013, Scion had a Hot Lava Metallic on the FRS that was slightly lighter, but I loved that color too. It was like a Sunset Orange Pearl. Other than McLaren’s F1 team, those are my fave examples of orange looking proper on a vehicle.
I do not know if anyone would recognize the Mazda 787B if it was any other color than orange (and green)?
The orange (and green) is printed in our collective memory and this car can only be orange. (And green.)
TE27 was going to be my choice, so I’ll go with something a little left field – Isuzu Bellett GT-R
1972 Honda Z600 coupe. That flat black hatch trim gives it a great look. Screams 1970s. So cool.
My vote would have to go to the Honda NSX in Imola Orange Pearl.
Mazda RX-3 looks great in orange or the Datsun 510
Just a point of clarification: we aren’t just looking for cars on which orange looks good. It has to be the best factory color available on that particular make and model. Thanks!
While the 240Z/Fairlady may be AN obvious answer, that car would look “right” in just about any color. I think the one JNC that HAS to be orange is the Datsun 620. It’s such a default color that Hot Wheels released the very first version in Sunset Orange. I’d have it in orange, you’d have it in orange, everyone would have it in orange.
Agreed
Honestly? Whatever looks right to you. I don’t care if you own a citrus coloured S110, or a bright metallic orange S130, or if you daubed your CR-X with some orange paint. If that is what you like, then it is what I respect.
My initial thought was the Mitsuoka Rock Star, but then I realized it’s not old enough to qualify as a JNC. Therefore, I would like to nominate the C210 Skyline. Something about the front chrome hood trim of the car really plays well with orange, as well as the overall body lines.
https://response.jp/imgs/p/mSBHZs93KjT34JZkZm4W_4RJWEBBQkNERUZH/1645453.jpg
Every single one of them. Car came orange? Perfect. Car didn’t come orange – spray it!
Become the citrusmobile you always wanted!
You have a Crown you want to paint orange? Please stop, and think a liiiiittle bit.
918 Mexican Orange on a Datsun 510 wagon will always be my favorite. There’s a nice older couple who have ’70 down the road from me, rotting under a tree. They said they bought it brand new, and both their kids and their kids’ kids learned to drive in it. If there is one car on this earth I’d save above all others, it’d be that one.
Toyota Dyna Tricab, with orange strobes on the roof and traffic signage and pylons in the cargo bed.