Is Green Making a Comeback?
You could say we mostly have a greyscale for cars rather than real color choices. That said, we’re starting to see a little more color in selectors, and we’re all here for it. We’re also starting to notice that green is slowly making a comeback in some color palettes, which is a welcome addition to the choices.
Mazda has a new color called Zinc Green, and we have to say it looks fitting on the MX-5. Surprisingly, Mazda nearly didn’t include that choice in the roadster, as it was originally intended for SUVs.
Mazda
How it Started
Turns out, Mazda North America requested ‘strong green,’ at least according to Kito Seno. Seno is currently the chief designer of CMF at Mazda’s design department. In other words, he’s the person behind what colors, materials, and fabrics go into the brand’s cars.
In an interview with Japanese publication Response, Seno said that Mazda America was ‘looking for an outdoor-like, tougher, yellowish color that would suit the CX-50.’ It seems yellow turned green, as they wanted a shade that gave an air of quality. Translated from Japanese, the designer said, “We didn’twant a typical outdoor color that you see everywhere. Mazda has a lot of sporty cars, so we thought about a concept that would suit them, and that’s how we arrived at airplane paint.”
Mazda
Matcha Latte
Mazda had intended to make a different new color for the MX-5. At first, Zinc Green looked good on the SUVs, but when the company tried it on the MX-5, it was deemed ‘too soft.’ Turns out, green was hard to match on the MX-5. It looked more like blue on a ‘cool’ day and much lighter on a summer’s day.
To compensate, Seno added a hint of blue to give it a cooler hue and stay consistent under varying lighting. The black wheels were also a deliberate choice, as one Mazda executive had something to say about them. Originally, it was to be paired with gunmetal wheels, but someone pointed out that ‘it looks like a matcha latte.’ The black wheels also presented an odd challenge, as sensors in the assembly line couldn’t detect them. It was eventually resolved, though, but it sure looked like there was a lot of behind-the-scenes drama just to make everything happen.
Still, we’re glad Zinc Green made it to most of Mazda’s lineup. And now that we know its backstory, it sure makes this color a lot more interesting, as well as what goes into choosing colors for cars.
Mazda
