Hi Hank! Automotive paint raw material specialist here, it feels like you made this video specifically for me 😁 You did some great deductions of figuring out the lack of metallic flake giving the "Nardo" feeling. I can maybe give you some more details into *why* automotive companies started going that way. #1 Cost: Metallic flakes are typically from aluminum sources, which can be difficult to source cheaply and reliably. Rising aluminum prices means that by removing them from the paint formulations, you save more money. #2 Complexity: Aligning the metallic flakes to achieve maximum sparkle is HARD. Seriously, it's like witchcraft and physics had a baby with how we figured out how to spray paint out of a rotating nozzle, get it to adhere to the coating layer, and also lay flat to reflect light in the best way. Any number of chemistry or physics related things can go wrong with the coating to make it not work the way you want it to. I bet there were a lot of issues making a new generation coating that flake was causing, so R&D just said, "screwing, we'll make it without any flake" #3 Customers: Some people genuinely like the softer, pastel looking subtleness of the "Nardo" colors. Ultimately we make paint for people to buy them, so customers get the final say in what succeeds in the market. You brought up a great point of culture shifts looking for something "new, but the same". Flake has become pretty standardized in most vehicles that Nardo really gives the feeling of it being the same color, but different. We deal with more than just the color as a physical wavelength, but also as a psychological perception.

@jediman05

4 ай бұрын

Thank you for adding your insight!

@nerdmythicalfighter_2130

4 ай бұрын

+

@neweyesable

4 ай бұрын

+

@lindsayrigby707

4 ай бұрын

+

@Chaotic_Pixie

4 ай бұрын

Bring back glitter! I own an orange car now because it was the only non putty option that wasn’t hi vis yellow. Also, why so many colors with gray bases? Minimalism is dead. People want color!

I can't express enough, just how amazed I am that you had this thought "Cars kinda look like clay or something." And OTHER people had been like "Why cars be lookin' like putty!?"

@JuiceTubes

4 ай бұрын

Would be super amazing if a whole entire book was written on his popularity thought! "Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity" (!) >Things become popular if they are new but familiar; stand out but also blend in; different but same; cultural trends go in cycles. 7:35

@AKcess_Dnied

4 ай бұрын

I literally had this thought this morning. This light grey glossy car color is just awful and will not look good in 5 years.

@KevwePatani

4 ай бұрын

I'm going to quote this in a project, I dunno what project but I'll know it when I have it​@@JuiceTubes

@chloepeifly

4 ай бұрын

humans just be like this i think

@ShannonLambert

4 ай бұрын

I had peripherally noticed it, but not formulated the thought yet, and I definitely thought I was trippin. Turns out, not so much!

It's the WAY TOO MYSTERIOUS glitter shortage, Hank. You need to look into this.

@plazasta

Ай бұрын

Glitter shortage? Also does this confirm that car paint is the single biggest client of glitter in the world and that they want to remain anonymous cause they don't want people knowing car paint contains glitter?

@pup.piston

Ай бұрын

@@plazasta I thought that was with boat paint? Now I've got something to obsessively research after my errands today.

@plazasta

Ай бұрын

@@pup.piston it's with boat paint, it's just at one point people wondered if it was car paint and the main comment fit that old myth perfectly and I found it funny

@pup.piston

Ай бұрын

​​@@plazasta Ah yeah that makes sense, and it is pretty funny to me bcs half of the people who would care about having glitter in their car paint don't want people to know it's glitter lol

@halolighta

Ай бұрын

​@@plazastaI'm pretty sure someone came out with it being the military

As someone who’s been surrounded by car culture my whole life, the metallic / metal flake being in most car paint is something I didn’t even realize other people weren’t aware of.

@Paul_Wetor

Ай бұрын

It's one of those things people like me don't notice until it's not there anymore.

@tainicon4639

24 күн бұрын

Yeah I was like wtf is this video even about… they paint is just color with no flake… why is that profound?

@AtomicBuffalo

14 күн бұрын

How can so many people have never looked at, asked about, or been told the names of the paint options? In brochures? On a "build your car" website? For decades most of the names ended with "metallic."

@EmpressLizard81

5 күн бұрын

​@AtomicBuffalo it makes sense particularly in light of that, that it's time for something new. There have been eras of more flake, and less flake, and I guess they went as far as they could with the edgy and futuristic metallic colors, and so now the new thing is flat cremes. I think they tried matte for a hot second but nobody liked those. It needs to look clean and polished still. And in 20ish years, we'll start seeing metallic again. As for why it looks different visually, the highlights and shadows aren't as pronounced. 😊

@AtomicBuffalo

5 күн бұрын

@@EmpressLizard81 Oy, the matte look was mercifully brief. I think it had something to do with the development of the market for wraps.

Yeah so turns out imma need like weekly installments of "hank feeds his curiosity in real time". Being taught something by an educator is one thing, but joining an educator in learning about something together is S tier educational content. Same reason i loved the reunion video where you talked john through the hypothesis that planets dont exist. I'll always enjoy learning from y'all but getting to watch y'all learn and explore ideas and think it all through in real time is a special kind of joy

@RodneyAndMeVideos

4 ай бұрын

+

@LanceCorporalKitty

4 ай бұрын

💯

@pikdame

4 ай бұрын

+

@geeksdo1tbetter

4 ай бұрын

1000 times, YES!

@ssun9074

4 ай бұрын

I think it will genuinely help a lot of people wh never learned how to use the internet for investigative question-answering! It's a very useful skill to have!

As a nail polish wearer, these colour/finish trends happen all the time and I had noticed this and thought "Ohhh cars are doing THAT now" in nail polish land we call it cremè colour when there's no metallic/sparkle and the colour is dense rather than sheer.

@cheesy.b

4 ай бұрын

Yes! I’m glad someone said it. It’s just crème!

@sofillustration

4 ай бұрын

Yeah I also came to the comments to say this. Car paint probably has more in common with nail polish that normal paints too so it makes sense to me.

@wrathika

4 ай бұрын

Yes! I said this out loud a couple years ago! "Oh cars are one coat cremes now" glad this makes sense to other people too!

@MarineBio30

4 ай бұрын

Do yall think eventually we will get “jelly” car colors with like a white base coat? OoOo or multichrome shimmer? or flakies?!?

@piecesofstarlight

4 ай бұрын

Is it in anyway like the colour of DIY furniture painting chalk paint? Because that was my reaction.

FINALLY. For years I have commented when visiting my dad that his TV looks like a Spanish Soap Opera and no one understood me. And I couldn’t describe why. I hadn’t heard of anyone else recognizing it, and it’s been so long, I was resolved that I’d never understand it. BUT YOU DID IT, HANK. Now I can learn all about motion smoothing. And to have it revealed to me the same day as the solar eclipse! How fancy. Also neat about the putty whips. 10/10 Great video.

@gavinkistnerus3895

Ай бұрын

Specifically, I believe it is 60Hz (or even 120Hz upsampling). Try watching The Hobbit in its filmed 48fps and compare to the 24fps releases. The higher frame rate looks like behind-the-scenes of actors playing the parts, while 24fps looks like a glimpse into the alternate reality of the story.

@esoren9551

Ай бұрын

It’s the frame rate, it makes it look live video instead of film

@andypeters3011

25 күн бұрын

TV's come with all sorts of picture modes turned on by default. My first move with any tv is to go into picture and "extra" settings and turn EVERYTHING OFF. Digital smooth, dynamic contrast, de-noise, dynamic color, "real/smooth/ultra motion" etc. Each one *sounds* good by itself, but taken together they actually destroy detail and color. Turn it all off and then very selctively turn a few up them up (maybe low instead of off on contrast enhancement). Even better if you do it with a piece of content you're familiar with so you know not only if it looks right -- but if it *looks wrong*. Enjoy your TVs again (and yes i do this when I visit friends and families houses -- people that don't notice, won't notice that it changed, and people that do notice will never have their eyes burned)

@peetsaccount6368

24 күн бұрын

There’s tons of videos out there on this “soap opera” effect. Turn off the motion smoothing feature on your tv and it fixes it 👍🏻

@Rachit0904

23 күн бұрын

People got used to most film and television being at 24 fps or 30 fps and Spanish soaps and sports being at 60 fps. Switch them around and it feels wrong. Even though technically, higher frame rates are superior.

I noticed this too! When I’d mention it to friends, I always referred to it as “pastel” colors. It was the first thing that clicked and when I stopped at a dealership, I noticed that the contrast was that they lacked the flakes too, something that in other subcultures is sought after, like candy paint where there’s WAY more flake. I think it follows the trend now where we all want to be earthy, country music is more present in the top 40, and everyone wants to a nomad. It’s simple, like the way some folk prefer cop steelie wheels, or tiny homes made out of shipping containers, it’s the illusion of simple, of “built-for-purpose”, it’s.. modest. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap” just my 2 cents

Back in the '90s, when the SUV started to really take off, cars went from having angles and lines to just being lumpy round things. Color is just a continuation of the gradual metamorphosis into silly putty.

@n.g.l.

4 ай бұрын

“Lumpy round things” I love how simple yet true this is 😭

@masonjohnson4310

4 ай бұрын

I think it's an attempt to make cars as unoffensive as possible. No sharp edges, no wacky shapes, the same colors, and now dulling out the paint. Almost every car looks the same? Yeah, that's the point. That's the shape and look of cars that statistically sells the best.

@MomirsLabTech

4 ай бұрын

Yeah older generation vehicles used to have much more distinct looks, and now every car looks basically the same (even color palettes across brands are nearly identical). It's sad to see as a car enthusiast.

@ellefeldman

4 ай бұрын

There’s an art book I looked at in art school called Blobject

@rellethias

4 ай бұрын

​@@masonjohnson4310to be fair people buy what's available and what's affordable. It's not that puddy cars are more popular it's just what's available.

I need to know how many more times Hank said 'putty ass lookin' whips' in the unedited version. 😹

@bottyhammer

4 ай бұрын

Is it just me or does the BBSP "putty-lookin ass whips" land...odd. 😂

@Kaotiqua

4 ай бұрын

I need a supercut of Hank just saying those words, in various configurations... for like an hour.

@hallow_cat

4 ай бұрын

@@Kaotiqua People of the void, let's please make this happen! 👏😹

@Caddis496

3 ай бұрын

I just kept waiting for "wet ass putty" to come up and it just... it never did. I have to assume that somewhere on the editing room floor...

"I can't tell how I can tell" Great way to put it. It's funny because my first thought is that it's a matte color with sheen to it, which I think is an oxymoron. Definitely not metallic though, which I think is the real defining feature. I do think that the normal red we've been seeing for years DOES fall into the same category, but we're so used to seeing it that we just brush it off.

I noticed this 3-4 years ago and mentioned it to my friends but nobody seemed to recognize/care why this was happening. Thank you for pointing it out and researching the trend. BTW, I call it the "wet cement" look. Seems to be mostly gray and light blue.

I build and paint little table top gaming models and this is the exact color of unpainted models. We call it the "color of shame." It means you haven't painted your model yet. People are riding around what looks like an unfinished miniature toy.

@kristiestes22

4 ай бұрын

This is what I always thought too!

@flux.aeterna

4 ай бұрын

YES. It’s a dollar store hot wheels vibe

@JohnVance

4 ай бұрын

Jesus you know it’s bad when the 40k folks dunk on you

@felesnocis

4 ай бұрын

Oh my god I love this.

@victoriabarclay3556

4 ай бұрын

😂

Looks like thermal paste

@Arthera0

4 ай бұрын

YES!

@cydex580

4 ай бұрын

Yep! also looks like primer to me

@slepjo

4 ай бұрын

That's the connection I couldn't quite make!

@Eliweekly_da_crab

4 ай бұрын

sadly it won't fit in my PC case 😔

@aleks-33

4 ай бұрын

Oh my god yes

As a scale model builder, I will say that if you paint your model car with gloss grey paint, people will look at it and go "Why didn't you paint your model, it still looks like plastic". Whereas if you use a metal flake paint people will say "Man! That looks so REAL!" So when my wife and I started noticing the Nardo colored cars we thought that they looked like unpainted plastic model cars. We are not a fan of the trend. But absolutely if we see the non-flake red, yellow, black, or white, it looks just fine. Thanks for making this video, it answered a lot of questions we had about this weird-ass-paint-color trend.

I absolutely love this video. The editing just perfects the already great "slipping into madness" or "mental breakdown in real time" feel to it 😅

Please do more of these. Hank having questions, going down internet rabbit holes and taking us along for the ride. Love it.

@LaceyArtemis

4 ай бұрын

Omg yessssss please! This is the kind of Fri after work nerdy friend chats I used to have in college!

@nezuchizu

4 ай бұрын

ride? like, what you do in cars?

@matthewfullhart9187

4 ай бұрын

Hank Green, Internet nard detective

@repeatdefender6032

4 ай бұрын

i concur!

@edarddragon

4 ай бұрын

yeeees

Hank my beloved, in the nail polish community we call ‘nardo’ a CREME finish. Most older cars would be referred to as a satin/pearl finish. Thanks SimplyNailLogical lol

@Leslie-wb8cb

4 ай бұрын

I THOUGHT THE SAME THING!! Like, as soon as he showed it, I thought, "That's just creme." LOL

@Real28

4 ай бұрын

Satin is like a blend of matte and gloss. Pearl has an iridescent quality, you might even say it sparkles but it doesn't have flakes. That's metal flake. You are all missing the most basic way to describe this: it's flat. Flat gloss. The color is flat, but after a few layers of clear coat, you get the gloss. But the color itself, it's just flat.

@secretforreddit

4 ай бұрын

The funny thing is, Cristine got her start with colors/painting at her dad's auto body shop dealing with car paint! Hank should contact Simply to get her opinion on this trend!

@freetalkn657

4 ай бұрын

It would truely be a fantastic collaboration -- two curious, data-crunching, awesome people!! Hank, talk to Cristine about this!!!

@KristinaLJohnson

4 ай бұрын

Now I just want to cover them in flakey holo. 😂

Hey Hank! I worked in the Honda Factory, UK, I was appalled by the grey colour at first, until I saw it shining in proper lighting (mainly Sun light), it has a GREEN iridescent/pearlescent sheen!!! It is very unique, no metallic glitter, only the iridescence. If you look up sonic grey honda, when you see a greenish hue on highlight, that's not a lamp! Really cool stuff there. Unfortunately it's cloudy here most of the time, so it's not very visible.

I saw this and now I can't stop noticing the cars that look like this. My eyes are glued to the putty-like cars.

As someone who works in the auto industry, watching you work through this without the vocabulary has been delightful

@SamFerro

3 ай бұрын

I imagine that would be so irrationally funny to me

@jacih6396

3 ай бұрын

Now I know why I love that turquoise blue bronco so much 😂

@pattiheffernan2451

3 ай бұрын

Came here to say this exact thing 😂

As someone who actually has to work with painstakingly recreating those paints and colors and variants digitally for a major car brand I got a certain kick out of this video that I wasn’t prepared for tbh. Will definitely share this with colleagues tomorrow

@mayaenglish5424

4 ай бұрын

Come back and tell us their reactions lol. Are you a fan of the "Putty Ass looking Whips" you have to recreate digitally? 🤣

@mattwhaley1865

4 ай бұрын

Please make cars more colorful and less bland.

@msjkramey

4 ай бұрын

​@@mattwhaley1865let people like what they like

@dgonsoulin

4 ай бұрын

Do you make just the clay-looking paint or the metal flake or both? Which one cost more to produce? Which brand of car do you work for? Why are you recreating the paint instead of going with the original?

@blaireshoe8738

4 ай бұрын

@@dgonsoulin digitally

I love the live investigation style of this. Please do more. All these search attempts are cracking me up. "We're doing it! We're getting to the bottom of it!"

Hi Hank! You touched on color design a bit and I just got so excited to comment. So I work as a design professional in the commercial architectural space but we interact with designers and analysts in the paint and color spaces such as Pantone (color system), RAL (powder coating), PPG (they do automotive paint!), Sherwin Williams, etc. Color manufacturers have dedicated teams of color analysts/designers (or work with a trendscouting institute/group) that do a high-level version of what you just did basically. I visited a color studio once as part of a factory tour and it was wild to see all the things they’ll look at for research. Looking at historical color trends, current cultural trends, economic and supply trends, and connecting the dots on what’s going on between those trends and between trends in a variety of industries, so not just automotive. Then they announce the “color forecast” or “color reports” for the next year and that can trickle down into their product offerings or influence other companies own research. It’s not a guarantee what will be popular but I think it’s always fascinating to see how their predictions play out in the commercial and consumer spaces. Most of these reports are publicly available online and include descriptions about why if you want to google them. Funny enough as an example, I looked at RAL’s 2023 report specifically mentioned “clay-based colours”. ;)

I'm a music teacher and there are certain rhythms that kids always get wrong because they know things about rhythm without consciously knowing it. I tell them that too, "You got it wrong because you know way more about music than you know, and you know music never ends with (insert weird rhythm)." They love hearing that they know more than they think. Suddenly, their mistake is proof of knowledge, and that just amazes them.

@MasterHigure

3 ай бұрын

Small children, when they begin to speak, will be decent at conjugating irregular verbs and irregular plural nouns. Then at some stage, they suddenly start not being good at that. And that's because they have cracked the regular pattern. Until then, each verb conjugation is its own thing, and each plural form is its own thing, separate from all the others. And at that stage, talking about "irregular" is nonsensical, there is no "regular" to contrast it with. But then suddenly it's all "I eated sand" and "You sitted in my chair" and "My foots are cold", because that's the pattern they have discovered. It feels to me like your music students are at that stage with their music sense.

@szigtema

3 ай бұрын

Love this! Kids are so smart in so many ways!

@personwithhat1

3 ай бұрын

It's like how you don't think about adjective order but you know that size comes before color, you call it a small brown dog not a brown small dog

@robgonzo

3 ай бұрын

​@@personwithhat1came here specifically to mention adjective order.

@michaelduff2382

3 ай бұрын

Thank you for starting your comment with "I'm a music teacher, and..." instead of "As a music teacher..." signed, someone with a weird pet peeve

Watching a 10 minute video of Hank talking constantly about nards is exactly what I needed today.

@CasperInkyMagoo

4 ай бұрын

it makes him seem really out of touch with his subject matter :-\ Not what Im looking for from Hank.

@KnightRaymund

4 ай бұрын

@@CasperInkyMagoo he can't know everything about everything

@MWSin1

4 ай бұрын

I don't feel comfortable talking about Dahncke Nards.

@Call-me-Al

4 ай бұрын

​@@CasperInkyMagoo ​ he literally said he was that though. Cultural knowledge instead of active knowledge. He's only human, not a repository of all of the knowledge in the world.

@CasperInkyMagoo

4 ай бұрын

@@Call-me-Al considering the intellectual aspirations he's after, flake in paint vs not flake in paint seems sort of..... stupid. Its really simple.

For real though, companies right now want very much to present their products as modern, hip, and eco friendly. They want to use colours and designs that make us think of wellness, environmentally conscious, self care, sustainability- all purely aesthetic of course, but the association is there.

To be frank Hank, I have so much appreciation for you making this video. I have wondered what was different about these paints since I first saw the Tacoma's sort of coffee-tan-but-rich color. In my head I had been discribing it as rich, deep, phat, chalky. I'm so glad other people found the way to articulate it.

The “Nard” colors have no depth to them; the metallic, pearlescent colors have a sense of dimension since the eye sees “layers” and sparkles in front of and behind each other.

@apocalypse487

4 ай бұрын

On DipYourCar, they do some crazy stuff when painting cars

@gregkocher5352

4 ай бұрын

This is not Nardy, just a remark. In the early 70s metalic paint was new and very desirable. I had a 71 Pumpkin Orange Corolla that got rust fixed and I had it's color changed. I selected a Porsche color called metallic Anaconda Grey. It was an amazing upgrate to my college car. I wasn't Nardaconda Grey. 😂

@ivanheffner2587

4 ай бұрын

This is how I describe it: it’s lacks dimension. It’s glossy, but flat. Not flat like matte, but lacking depth.

@Carpedog2206

4 ай бұрын

I disagree, unlike matte, I see lots of depth.

@SlimThrull

4 ай бұрын

That was my first thought as well. However, whyy do the reds and yellows still look normal?

I work in 3D graphics and I think I see what's going on in terms of certain colors being more Nardy than others. Like Hank alluded to, it's a matter of saturation, the richness of the color. We're basically talking about pastel colors which do it. Normally pastel car paints with metal flakes end up pulling lots of colors out of the environment. So when you're not seeing those environmental colors in there, your brain goes wtf. With richly colored cars, the metallic reflections in the flakes will remain the same color as the car paint itself. So if the flakes are gone in a deep red car, it won't seem that different to you, since you're not expecting other colors in there. The Nardo effect is your brain noticing the lack of environmental color in desaturated car paints.

@bibliophilecb

4 ай бұрын

+

@8happyperson

4 ай бұрын

seeing nardo colors on cars out in the wild has been bothering me but somehow your explanation of things makes me feel less weird about them, thanks!

@tass466

4 ай бұрын

THANK YOU for this explanation

@MonsieurAuContraire

4 ай бұрын

Another way of talking about this is that metallic flake increases the *specular highlights* in the color, and so when it's not included those same colors soften while the reflections dull. It essentially looks like a matte color with a gloss overcoat as the gloss is the only layer still reflecting some of the environment back out, but it's very diffused.

@mirjam3553

4 ай бұрын

This feels right, but also: depending on where you live and how many old cars you see (old like 25+ years), you might be more used to seeing a non-flake colorful color. Bright cars were more popular some time ago - firetruck red is still firetruck red and doesn't have flake, neither does schoolbus yellow. Herbie the TV Beetle is non-flake grey. My 25 year old medium grey car has flake. I guess it went: car! not-black car! modern (50's, not Ford T) car! colorful car (non-metallic)! metallic car! colorful metallic car! (now) muted non-metallic car! I personally dislike the non-flake muted colors intensely, they look like the car is made of cheap plastic. And I so love that when the video popped up in my feed, I knew exactly what it was going to be about and went 'I think it's the metallic bits, wonder if there's a different thing going on in addition?'

1. Blackbird Spyplane seems awesome. 2. I LOVE this trend! the straight gloss gives you a lot of what I like in a matte (pure color) without the annoyance of a wrap/super scratchy paint!

I want you to know that this is one of the videos that have had the biggest impact on my life. every day I look at cars and mentally go "NARDS CAR"

I LOVE this stream of consciousness style of video making. More chaotic Hank, please.

@erinleal6463

4 ай бұрын

+

@zibbitybibbitybop

4 ай бұрын

Very yes

@Benabik

4 ай бұрын

Join Hank on his slow decent to madness.

@Carpedog2206

4 ай бұрын

I second that!

@rainbowmusiclabs4123

4 ай бұрын

My D&D Character is going to be Chaotic Hank now. In both name and alignment.

I couldn't wait until the end- BUT HANK DONT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GLITTER SHORTAGE!?! THERE IS A SHORTAGE IT STARTED A FEW YEARS AGO!!! LOOK AT THE GLITTER DRAMA!!! That is why we have so much clay!!! It's cheaper than the glitter!

@SecretSexSkeleton

4 ай бұрын

😮 finally, my dreams have come true

@tastyshades

4 ай бұрын

BOOST!

@kbean

4 ай бұрын

Yes I remember hearing about this on TT like 2-3 years back.

@busomite

4 ай бұрын

+

@mzaite

4 ай бұрын

To quote Neil Innes, there's an everything shortage. Lie down and be counted.

Thank you. I've always wondered what was up wit these cars cause I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEMMMM❗️ Especially the grey, it really just scratches my brain somehow. My brother has that grey-green pick up truck that you showed & I get so happy looking at it in his driveway every time I go over to his house. Even the shape is so unique & cool to me....... But I will also say I've always been able to pick up when they would use this technique with red, white, & black cars, & in those shades I think it's just absolutely hideous LMFAOOOO

I saw this video 4 months ago and it has been lodged in my brain since as I keep seeing these cars so finally have come back to watch it - thank you so much for making this!

The bolder, brighter colors don’t look as weird because the intensity of the colors replaces the metallic sheen of the flake. It’s just less noticeable that something is missing.

@DanielMWJ

4 ай бұрын

Yup. It's when the color is desaturated (like you find in clays) to greyish that it's notable.

@DanielleReisch

4 ай бұрын

I think they also use color shift rather than plain glitter

@IDiggPattyMayonnaise

4 ай бұрын

Brighter colors also reflect light better. Bright colors basically do the opposite and mute the sparkles, because youre seeing so much light reflection already.

Car dudes have been complaining about this Nardo Grayification for a few years now, but this is the most eloquent take I've seen. I do think there are two factors: the reactive and cyclical cultural component as you mentioned, but also something substantive in the design. Mainstream car design has become visually much more complex in the past two decades: cars now have dozens of creases and cuts and body lines, are covered in plastic cladding pieces, with enormous grilles filled with ornate details. Meanwhile, the exteriors are covered in sensors, cameras, and other modern tech. When car designs were more conservative and restrained, metallics would have the effect of emphasizing body lines and highlighting design details. This works beautifully on a car with a shape we already consider simple and beautiful, like a Series 1 E-Type or a C3 Stingray. But on today's cars, the move to nonmetallic paints has the opposite effect of hiding body lines and concealing styling details, perhaps dulling down a design we unconsciously acknowledge to be excessively complicated and overstyled, visually resimplifying it to its simple major shapes and silhouettes.

@ReverendTed

4 ай бұрын

It's funny, because it seems that car design has had to _become_ visually more complex because the shapes of the cars themselves are becoming homogenized. Line up the compact SUVs or crossovers from a dozen different car companies and if you squint just a bit you can't tell them apart. Everything's just some form of blob. You've got your sedan blob, your CUV blob, your sports coupe blob, etc...

@cadentannery4626

4 ай бұрын

THIS THIS THIS THIS!!!!! complex paint and simple body vs complex body and simple paint. Personally, I like this trend in car design so much more then complex paint and body together. And it's so much better than our Grey black white colors that are everywhere. I like the flat earthtones of some of these, but also the blue civic R is exciting with the flat paint. Having a pleasing, solid, and simple color really gives a punch of personality.

@cadentannery4626

4 ай бұрын

*an easy-to-digest yet striking personality, just like cars of yesteryear.

@plushdragonteddy

4 ай бұрын

this is a fascinating take! i'm so far removed from Car World, so i had no idea about any of this, but the way you've explained it makes total sense to me

@SecretSexSkeleton

4 ай бұрын

#deep

definitely one of the best videos I’ve watched on KZread. I’m super excited to see more contents like this from you!

The coolest part of Hank’s curiosity is that unlike other people who are curious about the world or curious about themselves, his curiosity about the world ultimately spirals around to curiosity about his view of the world! It’s like spiral mirror curiosity!

I used to work at an auto car wash and the first thing I thought when I saw one of the new 23' or 24' accords with the "nardo paint" was "why does it look like a stormtrooper?". When you mentioned stormtroopers I nearly jumped out of my seat.

@JackieBaisa

4 ай бұрын

Hahahaha! It really does look like that. That should be a legit paint name.

This is a fantastic crash course on "how to find out the answer to a question". Like, how to use google, asking different questions and phrases, how to follow sources, how to adapt if things seem contradictory. (Also, yeah the nards do look weird)

@heatheronthehill100

4 ай бұрын

I teach students critical analysis and research skills for a living and I could very well assign this video

@percygallagher922

4 ай бұрын

I'm also a teacher, and I would love to assign this to my students for that exact reason, but I would need to censor it for my younger class 😂

@mrnubnub4584

4 ай бұрын

"Crash Course" Woah

@spacedudejr

4 ай бұрын

“Please stop tagging me on TikTok and do your own research” lol

@samaraisnt

4 ай бұрын

i read a book on how to optimize google searches so his web searching actually didn’t impress me. 😅

The "I just had the perfect cup of coffee and now I have super powers" feeling of this is incredible.

@nyanuwu4209

3 күн бұрын

Been there. It's a great thing.

Thanks Hank, now i've noticed this everywhere where I live and can't help but think Nardo every time I see it.

Hank, I think you've accidentally stumbled upon a fantastic format! I like you're capturing your entire research process to answer a question. I think it could be super useful as a way to exhibit how to use the Internet and sort through the firehose of information. Casual internet research is a skill I've found not many people have a great grasp of.

@jimjimsauce

3 ай бұрын

it’s really sad actually, even a previous commenter said “woah it’s so cool how you had this original thought and looked it up, finding out that there’s already literature about that!” but like you can do this with anything. almost 99% of the time you can look up an original thought that YOU had and the internet can back you up

@dasaf.2382

3 ай бұрын

I agree so much! Using the internet really is a skill and it’s sick for its to be presented here like this because we don’t really get to see examples from “skilled search engine users” that much and in such a raw way! Esp bc he succeeds so simply, all in one piece and we get to see the progression and that is really encouraging!! I could see this as a great classroom teaching video for online research (I am remembering now how many times he said “putty-looking ass whips” so hm.. maybe not lollll)

@secondstar101

3 ай бұрын

This!

@GoddessMisfit

3 ай бұрын

@@jimjimsauce fr it’s so sad that people hardly do that anymore

@valkeriejones3818

3 ай бұрын

I love this format too!! Please keep making this content Hank!

This "I wanna buy something but don't stand out" is also why in men's section in clothing stores, it's all grey, black, blue, red, and white, in that order, with one forest green hoodie and exactly one orange shirt if you're lucky. I buy almost exclusively "forbidden" colours, especially purple, magenta and pink. I like to stand out. I WOULD buy an orange car.

@mayaenglish5424

4 ай бұрын

Interesting, but there are different reasons for those things I believe. The car colors thing is more about getting pulled over. Red/ flashy cars are statistically more likely to get the cops attention I think. (Haven't checked my stat knowledge so take it with a grain of salt).

@BassLiberators

4 ай бұрын

I don't think that's the reason, white and black clothes cut a more flattering silhouette. Some people are confident enough to wear a bright shirt that highlights all their body's imperfections, but most people don't want to subject themselves to that.

@supernova622

4 ай бұрын

Drive your grey car to your grey house with the gray flooring...

@ReefTheManokit

4 ай бұрын

​@@supernova622with your gray cat and gray walls and gray phone. Not to mention your gray bed and your gray couch

@pendlera2959

4 ай бұрын

@@BassLiberators I don't think green or purple show more imperfections than red or white.

Yes, it's a candy coating type finish (looks like an M&M kinda). They used to be popular decades ago in every color. And then metallic and pearl finish and duochrome paints took the top spot and now it's changing back. There also seems to be a semi-gloss finish instead of gloss on some of these.

As an artist who obsesses about color, art classes that talk about paint colors discuss three elements of the color: how dark or light it is, which is called value; where it is on the rainbow spectrum… Red or green, for example… which is called hue; and how bright or dull it is, which is called saturation or intensity, or chroma. We teach our youngsters that there are three primary colors… Red, blue and green, but it doesn’t play out in real life. The Munsell color system has five primaries based on how the eye actually receives the color ; yellow, green, blue, violet, red.(no orange… that would be a secondary color to the eye). When working with opaque color, such as acrylic paint or polymer clay, you also find yourself working with non-color-related characteristics such as translucence versus opacity and also the texture… Shiny versus matte. in fact, translucence can even impact knitting yarn (mohair is translucent and cotton is opaque). Just to make things interesting, there is also a set of colors related to light, such as prisms or computer monitors (RGB) And there’s also a set of primaries for transparent color media, such as watercolor paint or dye inks for rubber stamping, or dyes for coloring textiles, or inkjet printers (CMYK). These putty-like colors that you’re talking about basically have gray mixed in as a base, in addition to the lack of Flake. If you remember, when Martha Stewart first became a designer of Home goods including sheets and paint, all her colors would go well together, including orange and green and purple, and nobody could figure out why it worked. It was because all of the colors were tempered with a light gray to bring down the saturation. In the yarn business, Debbie Bliss also got the same memo. She did a lot of yarn for Baby projects and it worked great with a bit of gray to unify her palette. Also, I had a shiny blue 1998 new beetle. A few years after my car came out there was a series of new Beetles that came out in 1970s no-flake beetle colors including baby blue and a light chalky yellow. I think the difference now is that the no-flake colors are on expensive cars.

btw, Nardo (grey) is named after the Nardo Ring Test Track in southern Italy. Originally built by Fiat, it is now owned by Porsche which is, like Audi, part of Volkswagen

@lev3k

4 ай бұрын

This was my exact thought, and I'm guessing he didn't know about the test track.

@Fractured_Unity

4 ай бұрын

Volkswagen is owned by the Porsche family, it’s crazy that most people still don’t know this

@jimbrookhyser

4 ай бұрын

One country and four car brands later, I'm more confused than when I started.

@dreadus8125

4 ай бұрын

@@Fractured_Unity Sort of, you aren't wrong enough to say you are wrong, just not very "correct" either. They currently own 42.6% of the company, with stock options for another 31.5 % more.

@mzaite

4 ай бұрын

@@dreadus8125 The legal limit in Germany BTW. Because Germany don't play when it comes to publicly traded companies.

I love this “Hank is curious about something and takes us on a journey to learn it with him”. I want more of this, please, Hank!

Thank you for doing this at home and not in a dealership lobby ranting to a randomly stranger 😂

It started over here 1/2 years ago over here. I love these new colors! Thanks for putting a name to the colors!

I used to work for Sherwin Williams Automotive way back in 2000. You'd be absolutely floored by how many greens and yellows and reds are in black or white paint. We'd add blue, green, yellow, and red mica (kinda like metal flake) to colors that had no business having them in there, like blacks. There are also additives that make colors look 'milky' for touch-ups on classic cars. I think the lack of these nuances is what is giving you these feels. I think they're just straight up single tone colors with a shiny clear over the top. There is also a theory that ALL companies chase the Babyboomers. From Gerber and Pampers for babies to Matel and Hasbro for children. Muscle cars for the late teens and early 20s. All the way up to now with hearing aids and luxury retirement homes. I think this is an attempt to give a modern car a 'classic' feel since those cars pre-date metalics and micas.

@pyranna2003

4 ай бұрын

I used to work with auto paints too, there's alot more to matching and mixing than most people realise. It's still a mix of pigments in these nardo style paints, just no pearl or mica.

@dragoneye1589

4 ай бұрын

It isn't until you start working with colour objects that you realize that even when you are buying a "neutral" colour you are almost never just getting something that sits on the gradient of black to white, there is always a bit of some other colours in it. Not to mention things like texture, lighting, angle, etc. can all make colours look more similar or drastically different. I've looked absolutely insane on dozens of occasions walking around with things while holding them up in different ways to get a handle on their colour.

@Bloodhoven

4 ай бұрын

"I think they're just straight up single tone colors with a shiny clear over the top" remember how people were calling these colours "candy" ~15-25 years ago. because - well - it literally looks like candy, but rarelly in a good way

@iansteelmatheson

4 ай бұрын

*Lamborghini* laid the groundwork for Audi to bring this to everyone else (Audi has owned Lambo since the late 90s). first, they came out with the Murcielago LP640 in like 2006, and the colour of the car in all the promo pictures was a glossy grey, which highlighted the crazy lines of the thing. it looked like a friggin' weapon. then they had other models (Gallardos, iirc) come out in army green, tan, brown or whatever, and then came the Murcielago LP650 Roadster, which was *only available in grey with orange trim.* look it up. Audi wasn't first. I was very into cars at the time and these things were my favourites.

@Yixdy

4 ай бұрын

Well, the boomers are the only ones with any friggin money, to be fair. So it makes sense every company tries to advertise towards them. Plus they were the last generation to live all the way into adulthood without the Internet opening up access to culture(s) from all over the world, hence why we still constantly hear popular music from the 60s-70s, it was the last like truly universally accepted music before people's tastes began to atomize

Hank the organization of this video feels like I'm sitting with my older brother at the family computer going down random Internet rabbit holes, this was wonderful thank you 😂😂

I just got an ad with John in it and I watched through the whole thing so that more of them show up on your channel.

In hypnosis spaces, we call that "What? Is it putty?" moment you had looking at the nardo paint a "transderivational search". Exploiting expectations - and the subversion of expectations - is an art form, and multi-billion-dollar corporations have absurd funding and absurd amounts of data to turn it into a science. If you want to learn more about all that cultural knowledge we don't know we have about everything all the time, talk to sales and marketing experts, and hypnotists. Anyway I loved this video. Thank you for all you do.

I was starting to feel crazy wondering why this gray was so popular, and thought I was totally alone. Like, I get your "it's different, but not that different" theory, but if I can just wildly speculate... I started noticing this color during the pandemic, and its popularity growing as we were coming out of it. Something always irked me about it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Why did I loathe this color and why was I so appalled at its pervasiveness? Like, it bothers me waaaay more than it should. Then I realized, this color is just... depression on a car. Not necessarily of the owner, but of the society. It reflects our environment. It's an authoritative color, but not in a stealthy badass superhero matte black kinda way, but in an "I live in an autocratic technocracy with no agency over myself or institutions while we backslide into fascism" type of way. It's futuristic, but without hope. A cyberpunk dystopian fantasy. It's numb, and maybe reflects an ultra-postmodernist world where nothing matters, nothing is true, and any effort is in vain. I hate this color.

@coalblooded

2 ай бұрын

Wow, thank you for putting words to my mental/emotional confusion. That is _exactly_ what this is!

@spec_opsgaming

Ай бұрын

I started noticing this color on toyota cars in like 2015, it started with just a basic grey..but then slowly more and more colors started showing up with the "nardo" look.

@Joseph-zh7fm

Ай бұрын

Thank you, as a car enthusiast, I’ve finally now realized why this color irked me in a particular way, and the reason for that it is make me feel depressed. Like I feel a sudden shift in my mood, literally.

@Joseph-zh7fm

Ай бұрын

Thank you, as a car enthusiast, I’ve finally now realized why this color irked me in a particular way, and the reason for that it is make me feel depressed. Like I feel a sudden shift in my mood, literally.

@theshunnedBandersnatch

Ай бұрын

Yes, thank you! I didn't notice this color on cars, but I did see it on everything else. In the planner community, a lot of companies got rid of bright, saturated colors for these flat, muted earth tones. Clothing and athletic stores, too. I panicked internally because it felt like an external expression of how depression sucks the fun out of everything. I have gone out of my way to keep bright colors in my life since noticing.

I buy the whole primer story. I work in paint shops for various car companies ( I program paint booths). When I saw this trend, I immediately thought of primer. Most if not all cars are primed before the main colour is added. Primed cars have a flat colour with no depth or metal flakes, and if you add a clear coat, the colours usually become glossy. These cars look like they skipped the main colour and were just primed and clear coated.

@R3LF13

4 ай бұрын

Totally. The funny thing too is that you can now go and get a matte clear wrap to turn your gloss car flat, which looks pretty sick on the right car. Ironically, I like the nardo trends, I like the matte wraps, and I like a primered rat rod, but I very much didn't like when Mercedes and BMW tried to offer matte factory paint - that didn't work at all IMO.

I have a photo somewhere from YEARS ago of a Ford Mustang parked at a hotel that I LOVED the color of and couldn't put my finger on why. I told my friend, "It's like Pepto Bismol, but if it was blue instead of pink." This is the best explanation, didn't even notice it lacked the metallic flecks.

Hank acting like a conspiracy theorist while factually explaining an interesting trend is just delightful.

My boyfriend and I, a few months ago, driving around Utah, kept seeing "milky" cars. But yeah, the grey ones look like wet putty 100%! I love that we've all noticed this and pondered it. Like you said, we have this background knowledge we didn't even know we had!

@maxmiller5370

4 ай бұрын

this video made me think of football helmets, there was a huge matte craze about ten years ago (compare minnesota vikings old helmets vs new), and of course the big chrome/mirror phase (notre dame, oregon ducks), and I always liked the washington state gray helmets, they are super nardy

@TheLalalalani

4 ай бұрын

MILKY YES

@stevehoge

4 ай бұрын

We call them "latte" cars, so...

@squidge7698

4 ай бұрын

Milky was exactly how I described it too!

Metal flake creates highlights and shadows that accentuates lines, plain gloss obfuscates those lines and the color seem to flow evenly over the curves. Creates a wet (soft) rather than crystalline (hard) look.

@seanrowshandel1680

4 ай бұрын

It looks more like the paint on police cars (OVER the original paint).

@ToucanTorte

4 ай бұрын

Yes, the contrast of highlights and shadows is higher in the metallic flake paint--there's a wider color value range. There's less contrast in the perceived colors on the nardo cars because of the reduced light reflection.

This was one of those thing where I never noticed these colour until I watch this video, then the day after I noticed them everywhere!!

I've been going through the same thing!!!!!!! I quickly noticed these new paint colors had no sparkly effects and also muted colors. Combined I could instantly tell it made cars look verrrrrrrry different

Nard nerd here 👋 I just had this conversation yesterday in someone’s car (yes my phone was listening). I was theorising that this aesthetic might be coming from the familiarity we now all have with the look of raw CG renders, now that 3D printing is commonplace. It may not be a direct lift from this digital look, but I think it’s definitely an influence. There’s even a 3D sculpting program called PUTTY 3D. On the issue of some colours looking more “nardo” than others. These “new” colours are not only devoid of metallic flake, they’re also all opaque, seeming to have a higher than usual white content in the mix. Grey and cool colours look the most nardo because they’re low frequency so the pigments don’t overwhelm, or cut through, the white content, which makes the colour look sort of inert and wetly trapped under a layer of gloss. Warmer and brighter colours may have a similar white content, but the higher frequency pigment either overwhelms or at least balances out the milky flattening effect. White doesn’t look nardo because we expect white to contain… um… white. That, combined with the lack of subsurface light scattering from the metallic flake normally suspended in car paint, makes the colour appear shiny yet dimensionless. They are looking less weird every time I see them… and that’s how eras form aesthetically 👀

@ashproductions

3 ай бұрын

This is basically what my sister told me, she knows nothing about cars or colors, but when I asked her why these new colors look so creamy, she was like "They probably mix more white into them."

@sirbxnny

3 ай бұрын

@@ashproductionswell she was spot on 😂

@GloFazo

3 ай бұрын

I was gonna say the same thing. They kinda look like video game cars. Also it looks more like smooth plastic than puddy to me

@DrTheRich

3 ай бұрын

Funny thing is, there is nothing new about this. Google "grey ford model A" and you see cars looking exactly like this. Non metallic, flat grey with a thick non transparent layer of paint. Just old trends recycled. btw technically you're incorrect about the lack of subsurface light scattering. Because it's exactly what makes this effect. It's just that the mechanics are different. Pure metal on it's own does not have sss, because it reflects 99.5% of light. And non metallic always have some level of sss. If you put metallic flakes suspended in a non-metallic substance though, the metallic flakes bounce the light around more directionally inside the material giving you a different effect than a pure metal surface, or a pure non-metal surface. Non-metal surfaces like flat paint, or plastic, have a totally diffusive sss creating that matte feeling even if the surface is shiny and glossy.

I'm laughing hysterically, imagining what the uncut footage of this ordeal of discovery must have looked like. Mad props to Milo for editing it down to what's a surprisingly coherent narrative.

I was just walking down the street and thinking that cars look weirder now! I think I was paying more attention to the shape looking less like the classic “face” and more sleek & futuristic, but I think the color definitely contributed to the vibe! Now that I’m actually thinking about it, I’m seriously noticing it. Love these kinds of videos where you’re exploring something and feel like sharing. Feels very human

Colors have been trending this way for years. I am most aware of it in home decor because of my background. In home decor, colors are more earthy and neutral. People are liking natural feeling materials, handmade “wabi-sabi” vibe (Japanese for perfectly imperfect). Think nubby linens and clay pots. You said high-tech earthy, which is spot on. People love their tech but they want to be in touch with the natural world too. I love that you referenced even water bottles in these colors. And yes, trends start in the high end companies, or those high end companies work hard to be on the cutting edge of trends, to be elite and aspirational. Then those trends trickle down into mass consumer markets and products. Once the “poor” people have caught on to a trend, the wealthy elite move on to new trends to differentiate themselves. And thus spins the consumerism cycle.

I'll tell you why you notice it. It's that the paint colors that they are using are *unsaturated*, low-contrast tones. A bright or dark color will show off the underlying contours of the bodywork, but the low-contrast, unsaturated colors just eat up the detail, because the light is absorbed more equally by the highlights and shadows of the car body contours. What I don't understand, however, is what coked-up graphic designer thought that making your car the same tone as dried baby vomit was a good idea.

@emusandwich724

4 ай бұрын

exactly this! it's not just the lack of metallics/flakes/pearls, it's also the desaturated colors - when the colors are pushed towards white or grey. Dark saturated gloss only blues and greens don't suffer from the putty look.

@WoWChik23

4 ай бұрын

@@emusandwich724 they're basically uninteresting baby crap colours, i agree lol

@DigiFrogMage

4 ай бұрын

Agree. It's not the hue but the saturation that allows this phenomenon. The reason red looks fine is because no one has a desaturated red color car. I guarantee if you had a terra-cotta ass lookin' paint job it would for sure be nardo.

@lauramoore8823

4 ай бұрын

Yes! I think these colors would still look weird with flake. They'd be like Buick colors circa 2010. A sparkly tan. A sparkly forest green. A sparkly desaturated light blue. It's taking colors that we no longer put on cars and making them boring enough to be mass market.

@awsomazingllama

4 ай бұрын

Every time he showed a picture of a car, my brain was seeing where in the color selector it would be, and you're right it's always in the unsaturated zone. It's the area where I pick a color that I think looks fine on it's own and then go to add another color to the design and everything is just flat and muddy.

The grey and putty colors remind me of filing cabinets. Offices used to have walls of them, and "Putty" was an actual color for metal office furniture. I think there are enough people young enough to have never worked in an office full filing cabinets that these colors look new now.

@notmenotme614

3 ай бұрын

The grey colour reminds me of a dolphin or a whale

@ParasolWench

2 ай бұрын

I have also referred to that mentally as “file cabinet color,” thought what it really reminds me of is industrial machinery that’s got that sort of opaque enamel with a gloss finish, usually on a kind of hammered-texture surface. It’s creepy and I hate it.

Bless you for doing this. I didn't buy the redesigned Prius because I love the design, but every color is nard and I CANNOT ABIDE

I "get" the "clay" sensation, but to me, it looks like a fresh crayon.

@hankschannel

4 ай бұрын

YEAH! Fresh Crayon!

@mgmchenry

4 ай бұрын

Not crayons that have been dumped into the bin, mind you. Right out of the package, from the factory, open for the first time in all their Crayola glory. Fresh crayons

@Jeffertoya

4 ай бұрын

I get what you mean but my very first impulse was to wonder how large a part of your diet crayons were. 😊

@zadtheinhaler

4 ай бұрын

@@JeffertoyaHey man, don't be harsh on Marines...

@Bloodhoven

4 ай бұрын

I always called it "candy colour" and for a long time this was even exactly how this colour was called by people, painters and tuners.

Like any trend those colours instantly communicate “new” which helps make the metallic old cars feel old. Driving sales. However the trend will fall hard I suspect after a few years and become dated.

@TDownit_Strider

4 ай бұрын

I dunno, car culture for a long time has been chasing things like this. This might be the final form. It saddens me, but…yeah.

@marietailor3100

4 ай бұрын

I have a suspicion that they’ll look dirtier and have more visible scratches. One of the reasons you have the metal flake and stuff is because it makes unevenness less visible. It’s the same reason why so many people often have a problem with getting white or black cars - you notice EVERYTHING on them.

@Mahongler

4 ай бұрын

@@TDownit_StriderI really think the whole point is there IS no final form. For stuff to look new it has to look different so it will never stop.

@cynnimini2650

4 ай бұрын

Which is also super interesting. How amazing is it that we can collectively point to something feeling old. Outstanding pattern recognition. And then we can also collectively point to something that's so old it's cool again. It's an ominous culturally connected feeling

@JLK89

4 ай бұрын

The same thing is happening with kitchens too. I helped my parents design a kitchen 20y ago, and then it was all about wood-effect plastic wrapped cabinets with granite tops. Now granite is 'old fashioned' and cabinets are flat grey or f'n milk paint colours. Like how is this in any way an improvement?

this feels like a "guess the tell" kind of game where you need to key in on what the actual detail is but it all seems incredibly inconsistent and doesn't make sense xD i love hank green

This video is amazing. Hank I have had this exact same question in my head for a couple months now. It’s crazy they we both noticed this problem. I thought it was crazy that people were spending so much money on new cars but choosing those colors. They look terrible in my opinion. I also had a suspicion that it was possibly due to a supply chain issue. Aka, metal flake stuff and stuff that makes car paint shiny is in low supply. So car manufacturers just used what they had and then “wet putty” cars were made instead. Either way I love the video. I loved the fact that we both noticed something was odd. I figured I wasn’t alone, but I never thought that you would be the one to finally say something. lol Much love.

Thank you Hank. I've been driving around for ages wondering why so many cars have not been finished. They look like someone started a total respray, but stopped after the primer. Now I know it's not just me. 😊

@guimauve2000

4 ай бұрын

This! This is exactly what I've been thinking. Thank you.

I'm facinated with Hank's hair. Chemo be giving free perms!!!

@yes_anotherone3260

4 ай бұрын

Exactly!

@chronic_payne5669

4 ай бұрын

Chemo curls are wild

@DeadBore

4 ай бұрын

“free” 😂😂

@MWPdx

4 ай бұрын

@DeadBore maybe they're not in the US

@Nakisha112

4 ай бұрын

Right?! I clicked on the video because the car colour really interests me. But Hank's curls are just fascinating to look at when you're used to seeing him with straight hair.

How crazy it is driving you and actually learning from this video is awesome. Reminds me of Brian David Gilberts Unraveled series he used to do. I need more videos like this lol

I have not stopped noticing these cars since I watched this (and muttering putty-looking-ass whips to myself each time)

I love videos where someone searches through google, it’s like hanging out with a friend doing the same thing

@christianc559

3 ай бұрын

I need such friends!

@readabookdummy

3 ай бұрын

my first time coming across such videos, defo wont be my last…he earned a subscriber

@Pallamut

3 ай бұрын

Never thought i needed it but now i want more!

@gedeo

3 ай бұрын

or with someone who didn't research before hitting record 😅

Someone else has probably said it but you are talking about specularity. The tightness of the reflection blobs is the difference. “Classic” paint has a large white reflection of white light, and the putty cars have tight tiny white light reflections. It’s a concept commonly used in 3D

@christalyu635

3 ай бұрын

This is an underrated comment

Hank. I'm mad. Ever since watching this video last week, I keep seeing all these Putty Lookin' Ass Whips on the road and I can't stop thinking about this video. You've ruined me. Thank you for the entertainment.

Without the metallic flake or pearl inside the top coat, the color stays more uniform at various angles. It makes the color look much more consistent across the body panels.

I think the uncanny valley factor might come from the fact that all the colours you mentioned looking weird, are (at least in my mind) METAL colours - even the blues and greens have that "oh this is metal" vibe to them. Which means, without the (well, metallic) sparkle they look weird. The vibrant colours though, we're used to them being non metallic so they don't seem weird without the bling.

This should be shown as an instructional video for how to research! He generates multiple search phrase combinations to find any useful information. Then, he immediately finds a second source and tries to verify the first one. Then, he checks the source of the article, and further verifies the other two. And finally, he forms his own opinion based on his own observations and how they relate to the new info. Very cool to see how naturally it comes to Hank from all his years of experience researching stuff.

@jpdemer5

4 ай бұрын

There would be far fewer flat-earthers and Q-morons if everybody was this diligent about "doing their own research".

lmao I'm so glad you made this video, I can relate so much to the confusion. I tried to think of it in terms of 3D models or how car videogames simulate light and it was still a head scratcher. Thanks for the video

My Honda HR-V kinda has that gray “Nardo” look. It has a hint of pearl in it but still a very solid color. I think it was due to covid that they started making these more muted and “nardo” looking colors because it was less expensive. At least thats what i think the car salesman said. At first i thought it was weird, but i don’t mind it now

As a car enthusiast, I love getting non-enthusiast takes on this. Another factor that plays into the "just hip enough" aspect, is that while manufacturers choose the colors to produce, dealers often choose the colors they will order for their allocations, and dealers want safe sales. Black, white, and silver are "safe" bets for them because a wacky color example of a car might sit and take longer to sell. This reinforces the trend toward grey tones and becomes self-fulfilling, but then manufacturers look for other ways to stand out, and you get the just hip enough gloss variations. Personally, I love the gloss blues like that Toyota 4 Runner example. That might be one of the best colors in all of cars right now.

@emmarabenhorst3106

4 ай бұрын

I got a car in 2022, when new cars were not sent out to dealers unless ordered, so I actually got to choose the color of my car straight up and didn't have to pick from their current options on the lot (which were none). So now I have a nice, blue car that doesn't look like putty cuz it's got FLAKE. And I get compliments on it! Because it's not black or gray or white, it's *different,* and people don't expect it.

@R3LF13

4 ай бұрын

@emmarabenhorst3106 yeah I think a lot of people would benefit from a shift toward more order-and-wait style car buying but many are still tied to the drive-it-home-today model. I went through this when I was buying my jeep because I wanted a particular trim package with a manual transmission. Dealers feel about manuals the same way they feel about vibrant colors, so I was prepared to order it but it happened that one of the 5 in the whole country that matched my criteria was "only" a couple hours away from me so I made the drive to get it.

@anthonyrowland9072

4 ай бұрын

Nobody remembers that flat or matte cars are just purposeful take on the primered cars that people drove without painting. Many colors look weird now because every vehicle has been a version of metallic silver for 20 years. You used to could just get smurf blue or purple cars and trucks. Dodge and Ford have leadfoot and destroyer gray that I call cartoon gray because it looks like a throwback to old cars.

@jceggbert5

4 ай бұрын

I like some of the more muted nardy colors happening lately, especially the two blue-green hues Ford primarily markets the Maverick with

@anthonyrowland9072

4 ай бұрын

@@jceggbert5 Have you seen those dealerships that take new slightly lifted regular cab 4x4s and gives them two tone paint and white spoke wheels and makes them look 70s or 80s models?

Videos like this are why I love Hank Green. I mean he's great in tons of other ways too. But this? Perfect.

@CasperInkyMagoo

4 ай бұрын

he's talking like a child about a very basic topic he doesnt grasp. thats your hero?

@abavendarlocke5455

4 ай бұрын

@@CasperInkyMagoo 🤓

@bobspongieux

4 ай бұрын

​​@@CasperInkyMagoo yes! Thinking like a child is probably the reason behind so many scientific discoveries. Re-discovering the world with a naive mind (at first, then cleverly digging) is probably what made Einstein discover gravity!

@awaredeshmukh3202

4 ай бұрын

​@@CasperInkyMagoo the joy of learning? Yes, absolutely.

I had the same thought a few months ago, and while I was staring and thinking, the owner of the car came up and he said he’s been thinking of it too so we stood there for a bit and concluded that the color didn’t seem different, but it seemed like the color coat was just matte, while the clear topcoat was glossy. Which I now know from the comments is referred to as “crème”. Glad to know i’m not alone!

I love this video. I thought battleship grey but clay is a close match too! Although I'm old enough to remember when car manufacturers charged more for optional metallic paint finishes. Non metallic white or black were base colors but if you wanted something sparkly you had a small upcharge. Some cars still charge more for special finishes.

if i was still a school librarian, i would assign this video to show how the research process goes. just a joy to watch. also, this reminds me that we don’t know where most of the glitter manufactured in the world goes, but some of it goes into car paint!

@avae4883

4 ай бұрын

I think it goes to radar chaff!

@user-tz4le7yt2f

4 ай бұрын

Please do. For their sake. I write technical documents at work. I'm only in my mid 30s. The amount of gray hair I'm literally accumulating from the lack of basic research skills and self-help being the last thought they have is.... It makes me sad. Like, they hired a bunch of helpless puppies that have never encountered Google in their lives. I really feel bad for them, because no wonder many of them are struggling in certain areas of basic life skills. Adulthood is not going to be kind to them if they are unable to even have basic research abilities to teach themselves anything.

@sirleebutler

4 ай бұрын

@@user-tz4le7yt2f i'm no longer in that field, unfortunately.

THANK YOUUUUU for making this video! These flat color cars have been bothering me for a while! My mom bought a blue SUV that is definitely a nardo, and I havent gotten used to it even after several months. And yet they had a white SUV that has no flake or glitter, but it doesnt feel weird. My sister's yellow car is also flat and doest look weird. But that blue suv is almost uncanny. Please I want sparkly cars back!

@stellviahohenheim

4 ай бұрын

key her car then she have to change the colour

@Lord_Marquaad

4 ай бұрын

I never seen that colour in that finish before in cars so It's like seeing new colours.

@meganofsherwood3665

4 ай бұрын

Yes! Thank you! Sparkly cars, please!

@JosiahWendell-sr8vi

4 ай бұрын

I'm with you there. I want my little ford focus to be visible on the road, and therefore sparkly, not dull pavement color. Little side note here, I like it when cars have excess sparkles, to the extent that it appears to be different colors from different angles. My sister has a very sparkly Honda, and it looks gray from some angles and green from others. That's not an effect you can get with nardo cars. God bless, and may you always have sparkles in your car paint :)

@mirjam3553

4 ай бұрын

I have a hunch that flat yellow doesn't look weird because you're used to seeing it - think school bus, ambulance, construction equipment, taxi... And when metallics were extra hip, yellow wasn't (cool silvers, not warm golds and coppers)

The satisfaction I get when I satisfy my curiosity and can go to sleep is really evident in this video

I CANT STOP SEEING THEM! And no one else has watched. So when I mutter…another putty-ass whip… they all just think I’m crazy. 😅

I think the "Just Hip Enough" theory is mostly whats going on here. Never really gave it much thought but it makes sense. Manufacturers for years usually just produced your basic 5-6 colors and then the premium colors were so insanely retina assaulting that people dont want to drive it. My dad got the 4Runner in the new Underground and it looks sick but not too flashy.

@linmonPIE

4 ай бұрын

It seems to be part of the larger trend of everyone gravitating towards neutrals in everything from home design to even children’s toys. I’ve heard people say things like “bright colors assault my eyes” and “color makes things look cluttered and it overwhelms me”. So maybe it’s all coming from us being in a state of overwhelm and wanting our environments at least to be calming in as much as we can control them. Minimalism ties into it too, I think.

@peterrose5373

4 ай бұрын

It's always sort of pissed me off that the basic low end car colors are night, pavement, fog, and snow.

I literally had the same hyper fixation 3 months ago and literally read those specific reddit posts this feels so gratifying.

@critter.kitty3

3 ай бұрын

When the stars align and the same flavor of autism hyperfixation hits more than one person

Hank, thanks to you every time I drive around now I keep yelling “Nard!” at passing cars 😂

So strange, but I noticed the same thing just about the time this video came out. I am just watching this now, but there are even MORE non-metallic cars on the road since then. The grey stood out to me at the and I really liked it. It was soothing, classy, and different, but also stood out in a not-so-gaudy way. Now that greyish color is all over the place! Anyway, thanks for this, Hank! This is information that I didn't know that I wanted to know. 😉

As a guitar refinisher, I am pleased to see my kindred spirits in the comments: model painters, nail art enthusiasts, and of course, car geeks. One of the things that others have mentioned here: metallics, particularly the translucent metallics that are so popular on automobiles, are both costly and difficult to spray. There is the additional problem of having to run metallics and flat gloss finishes on the same production line- a single drip or swirl of leftover metallic flake from a sprayer on to a flat gloss finish might ruin the product at the very end of the production process, where the loss is most costly. I think the reason you see flat red, yellow, white and black as "normal" car finishes has to do with those formulations being historically popular- old Ferraris and Porsches, yellow NYC Taxis (those might actually have some pearlescence to them now that I think about it), and of course flat white and black automobiles of all stripes (pun not intended).