The Wildest, Craziest Car Paint Colors for 2022

Like we said, there’s an awful lot of orange going around these days. The Audi Q8‘s version is dubbed Dragon Orange Metallic, and it is worth mentioning because, well, the Q8 is an awful lot of SUV to be painted orange.

BMW understands what compact sports sedan and coupe buyers are looking for—at least when it comes to color. With an in-your-face front-end design, it’s no wonder that the new-generation compact M cars are available in this eye-catching Sao Paulo Yellow. Here it is on the M4. This way, as the meme goes, even if the turn signals aren’t used as often as they ought to be, rest assured the car is seen by everyone in close proximity.

Ever heard of an SUV sporting a color named for a mid-engine supercar? Now you have. Meet the 2021 Acura RDX PMC edition. This limited-run RDX (they’re only making 200) is hand-built in Ohio next to its supercar sibling, the NSX. A major part of the PMC package is the NSX Thermal Orange Pearl paint, making it absolutely certain that you’ll never arrive unnoticed.

For those of us who recall constantly visiting the paint booth in games like Need for Speed: Underground 2 or any of the Grand Theft Auto titles, the Lamborghini Ad Personam Studio customizer is a dream come true—assuming your dreams have already come true and you have the bank statement to put it to work. Lamborghini will allow you to customize any portion of their Huracán or Aventador as you see fit. Of course, this includes any paint color that you can imagine. You provide the swatch, they make it happen.

If you’re ever worried about being separated from your pals while hitting the trails and tackling tough terrain, let the Ford Bronco calm your nerves. Among the options list is a Cyber Orange paint job, a steal at only $595. Between the road presence of the Bronco’s broad frame and aforementioned improbability of being overlooked, it’s a tough call to skip past this check box on the configurator.

Given the aggressive styling of the 10th-generation Honda Civic Type R, it’s a tall task to make it stand out even more. Yet Honda found a way to make it happen. Designed as an even more track-focused variant, the 2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition is decorated in a throwback hue known as Phoenix Yellow, which was last seen in the U.S. on the 2001 Acura Integra Type R.

Have you ever seen a vintage Porsche and thought its color would be an excellent match to a current model? Good news. That’s absolutely possible thanks to Porsche’s Paint to Sample program. For a five-figure dollar amount, you can pick through the catalog of old colors and apply any of them to your new Porsche. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, they’ll make a color custom for you, though be ready to shell out twice as much cash.

If you’re in the market for a compact sports sedan cosplaying an SUV, look no further than the 2021 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. In the event the sound of the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 isn’t enough to pique the curiosity of passersby, wrap your new ride in the optional Ocra GT Tri-Coat paint. That’ll get their attention. (We cannot, however, confirm whether that attention will be good or bad.)

There are a number of ways to tackle configuring the aesthetics of your new British luxury vehicle. You may choose the subdued white over tan or a stronger black-on-black look if you’re a more typical buyer. For the unconventional types, Aston Martin offers a wide selection of bold paint schemes, including Lime Essence. While you may think a hue so vibrant would be reserved for their sports coupes, the option is available across the entire lineup, including on the DBX, Aston’s new SUV. The buyer even has the choice of either a glossy or satin finish in this particular shade of green.

If you find yourself particularly fond of the fall months and the colors they bring, but you still enjoy an exotic thing or two, you may want to check out the palette of colors available for the McLaren 765LT. Among them is a striking shade of orange, Papaya Spark. In a car like this, you’re guaranteed to catch eyes wherever you drive, whenever you drive, whether it be a Halloween party in late October or an L.A. Cars and Coffee event in the dead of summer.

In the past, when it came to high-end luxury cars like Rolls-Royce, Duesenberg, and Isotta Fraschini, buyers seemed to primarily enjoy the black, white, and off-white colorways more than the rest. Nowadays, it seems the super-luxury car market is a hotbed for brighter and more expressive uses of their metal canvases. This is especially true for Bentley, as their Continental GT and Flying Spur are available in this light-blue Jetstream II Metallic paint—a soothing color to accent the luxury style while remaining bright enough to announce your arrival at the country club with ease.

While the dynamics of the new Acura TLX Type S are worth writing home about on their own, the Tiger Eye Pearl paint sure does add a little something special to the more driver-focused Type S, a trim returning to the States for the first time since 2008. As an exclusive option for the highest-performance-variant TLX, this gold color is sure to cause at least some gawking while jaunting down the road.

When it comes to performance sedans, Cadillac has made a name for itself in the past two decades. Starting with the first CTS-V for the 2003 model year, Cadillac’s high-powered sedans have been on the minds of enthusiasts wanting a dash of luxury with their burnout machines. Fast-forward to the 2022 model year and we’re blessed with the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings. The Blackwing siblings, powered by a twin-turbo V-6 and supercharged V-8, respectively, bring incredible performance for road or track use, even offering a manual transmission for these last gas-powered V models. Wrap your choice in the Electric Blue paint for only $625 and you’re sure to stand out no matter where you go.

With the exception of the 800-unit limited-run GTS model, colors for Kia’s performance sportback model remained mostly standard throughout the Kia Stinger’s first run. Along with other updates for the 2022 model’s refresh, Kia added a few more options in the paint department, one of which is Ascot Green. While subtler than the more ostentatious choices on the list thus far, at least Kia is offering something of substance that isn’t grayscale or a primary color.

Even if there were some duds among them, Dodge has historically provided some of the most potent American muscle cars of all time. After reviving the Charger in 2005 and the Challenger in 2008, they’ve gotten back to those strong roots and continued to build on that notion. Introduced for the 2020 model year, the Hellraisin metallic purple exterior reminds us of the good ol’ days when hues like Plum Crazy, Lime Metallic, and Go Mango were present on every Chrysler Corporation dealer lot. Opt for such a color on a Hellcat-model Challenger and you’re sure to entrench yourself as a main character in this game called Life.

Generally speaking, Porsche’s vehicles tend to stand out anyway. Whether it’s because of the exhaust, strong styling, or the murmurs of folks expressing their distaste for the pretentious, a Porsche is bound to be noticed. You’ll have to trade the engine note for an electric whir, but the Taycan keeps the attention of a crowd just as well as most other Porsche models. With a car wrapped in this gorgeous Frozen Berry Metallic purple, you can easily make up for the lack of audible announcement with the added visual flair the color brings.

Audi has had some distinct colors in the past, and it doesn’t seem to be shying away from that past. Look no further than the new RS3. Available in stunning Kyalami Green, the RS3 continues the Audi tradition of always staying in the limelight. Sadly, the five-door variant isn’t available here in the U.S., but we hope buyers elsewhere will enjoy it as much as we would like to.

As one of the earliest adopters of hybrid technology, it’s no wonder that Toyota’s Prius is the bestselling hybrid of all time in the U.S. An ever-improving platform, the Prius is now on its fifth generation (the fourth to come to North America). As part of this fifth-gen car, Toyota developed a plug-in hybrid trim, the Prius Prime, available in a teal shade titled Blue Magnetism.

If you’ve ever been in the market for a four-door sportback model with a 3.3 second zero-to-60 time, check out the Audi RS5. This luxury missile will pin you to your seat thanks to its 2.9-liter V-6 pumping out 444 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. Coated in a militaristic-looking Sonoma Green Metallic paint, the RS5 has an abundance of road presence at its disposal.

Since its initial launch in 2007, the R35 Nissan GT-R has been a thing of dreams. The brutal launch and unexpected handling prowess from such a large hunk of metal was astounding then and remains so to this day. Due to the ongoing popularity of Nissan’s highest of high-performance models, the GT-R has once again been given a special edition. This NISMO Special Edition model features an exclusive Stealth Gray paint covering its exterior, with the exception of the exposed carbon-fiber hood, as is standard on all NISMO GT-R models.