You could lay part of the blame for the limited availability of colorful cars on the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, since banning a few toxic substances made colorful car paint more expensive. Paint tech hasn't sat stagnant for 50 years, and those of us who are old enough to remember the 1990s saw plenty of colorful cars on the road. For a lot of buyers, though, new cars are expensive, and worries about resale value appear to be pushing them away from anything that feels like a risk. As the Atlantic points out, a 2024 iSeeCars study found that cars painted yellow, orange, and green held their values better than grayscale cars, but the belief that colorful cars depreciate faster still persists. The average person may have a hard time picking paint colors, but it isn't easy for professionals, either.