You guys, have you noticed? Aqua is back.
No, I’m not talking about the shit band from the 2000s that had the hit about Barbie. I’m talking about the colour. On cars, specifically.
In even more specific terms, car brands are seemingly embracing the idea that not all cars have to be black, white, grey or silver, though the targeting is very much where you’d expect it – at the younger buyer group, the ones who aren’t going to be spending more than about $40,000 on a car.
The all-new Toyota C-HR is the car that most caught my eye. I drove past one the other day on the highway, and, as it whizzed by, it was as though it was yelling ‘aqua, AQUA, AQUA!!!’ as it went.
The precise colour, according to Toyota, is Electric Teal, and the hue is so bold that it makes the car look quite tame in its styling, and the option cost is $450. You can get it with a white or black roof on the high-spec Koba model, if you like, and that adds a further $450. Or, on the base model, you can have the full body in teal.
Of course, Toyota isn’t the only company with a bluey-green colour on its current car palette.
Above: A Suzuki Ignis with a guy who knows he is cool – just look how aqua his car is!
Suzuki calls its hue Neon Blue Metallic for the Ignis. That’s rubbish, it’s the best aqua they’ve got.
And before we go any further, the description for aqua is “a greenish-blue colour, often thought of as the shade of water”. So it’s open to interpretation, and I’ve heavily interpreted what I think classifies as aqua in this piece. (Tell me I’m wrong in the comments section!)
Actually, Suzuki has also got Atlantis Turquoise Pearl Metallic, which is available with a black roof on the Vitara. It’s pretty 1990s. See below, if you dare.
Above: An aqua Suzuki Vitara proving it is quicker than an orange one.
And while some brands may not offer the oceanographic paint on their colour-card, brands like Audi offer buyers the chance to choose whichever colour floats their boat and get their car painted with it. If you were to do so on an Audi Q2, for instance, it’d cost you about $7000.
Another German maker with aqua on its palette is BMW. You may not know it by that name, though: the Bavarian maker calls it Frozen Blue – but let’s cut the rubbish. It’s bloody aqua. I promise. The pictures don’t make it seem as so, but you can get it on the BMW M2, X5 M and X6 M.
And if you can afford a Bentley, we’re fairly sure one of their 108 colour options for the Bentayga classifies as aqua. Or you could, again, choose your own colour.
McLaren is another with a huge range of colours on its palette, and Fistral Blue – a $20,700 option on the new 720S – is close enough to aqua for me.
Above: The McLaren 720S – I swear Fistral Blue is actually an aquamarine sort of colour
How good is it to see bold colour options being offered again – not only at the high end as a huge option, but also at the entry part of the market, where it doesn’t cost much to stand out from the crowd?
I’m a huge fan, even though I’d never, ever buy an aqua car myself.
Aqua is gross, you guys.
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