Matte Black paint finish, a hot new trend or return to the old.

In 1979, my friend Ed Fender restored his old El Camino. The old bird was all rusty, being parked for months at a time by the Pacific Coast Highway in San Francisco. Eddie put his heart and soul in repairing the rust, filling car with lead and straightening the body. It was a lengthy project which was performed as time allowed in the back yard garage. By the time Eddie was finished with body work he was broke and could not afford to get a decent paint job for the old bird, so he improvised and sprayed the whole vehicle with black primer. It turned out to look a lot better than Ed had expected. The old bird’s paint job was very popular with local gangsters and low riders from Mission boulevard. Eddy got offers to sell it on a weekly basis.

Thirty years later Matte black is back and it is back with a vengeance. Very high end vehicles, such as Ferrari’s and Rolls Royce’s turn up at car shows with a matte black finish. Two customers this year have inquired about matte black finish for their vehicles. Young man with a charcoal gray Chevy Silverado wanted to refinish it flat black, as he described it. Long time customer and a big time car enthusiast, Dave De Sousa asked me if I could paint his shiny black corvette in matte black. “It would look really hot!” exclaimed Dave: “I can’t wait to see it done.”
I had to investigate. Basically a matte black finish of today is a regular paint job with a clear coat that looks like satin or flat black. The cost is the same as a regular paint job, but because of flat black finish it requires more extensive preparation. Black finish is the hardest color to take care of on an automobile, matte black is even worth, because every little blemish on the paint is exposed. Obviously this paint is not for everyone, personally I would rather drive a white car; you do not have to wash it every day. But for real car fanatics this is a hot new trend that is spreading like wild fire.
What do you think?

Most Expensive Car Wrecks

#10. Bugatti EB110 ... $500,000
This 1992 $500,000 super-exotic Bugatti EB110 was being driven by a mechanic as part of its annual checkup. He claims there was an oil slick on the road which caused him to lose control and crash into a pole. The owner of the Bugatti is a famous feel good guru named Emile Ratelband. Not sure how good he was feeling after this wreck.

#9. Pagani Zonda C12 S ... $650,000
Only 15 Zonda C12 S were ever built, but that didn't stop this owner from driving it like a mad hatter. He crashed this beauty in the wee morning hours while driving in Hong Kong .
#8. Mercedes Benz SL 300 ... $950,000
The SL 300 Gullwing represents the very finest of Mercedes. The owner thought it would be a good idea to race this million dollar car on the streets of Mexico , at the annual La Carrera Panamericana race - limited to classic cars produced before 1965.#7. Jaguar XJ220 ... $1.1 Million
The XJ220 once held the record for highest top speed for a production car (217 mph).
#6. Ferrari Enzo ... $1.3 Million
The most famous Ferrari Enzo crash (shown above) was at Malibu , California in 2005, when the driver, Fat Steven Eriksson crashed the car at 196 mph.
#5. Bugatti Veyron .... $1.6 Million
The Bugatti Veyron is the most expensive production car in history. Only 300 are expected to be produced, and already two have crashed. Above is the first one. The driver thought it was okay to speed at 100 mph in the rain. He only had the car for one week.
#4. 1959 Ferrari 250 GT TDF ... $1.65 Million
This extremely rare classic car, the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France , crashed into a wall at the Shell Ferrari-Maserati Historic Challenge in 2003.
#3. Ferrari 250 GT Spyder ... $10.9 Million
The record price for a 1961 250 GT California Spyder at auction was set on May 18, 2008 when a black one was sold for $10,894,900. So what is one doing buried in the sand? The unlucky owner had it stored near the beach when a Hurricane hit. #2. Ferrari 250 GTO ... $28.5 Million
The 1962-64 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most valuable car in the world. In 2008 an anonymous English buyer bought a 250 GTO at auction for a record $28.5 Million.The crash above represents a car worth more than the combined value of all 14 Enzos (see #6 above) involved in accidents. After a track event involving historic cars,the owner rammed into the back of another car after traffic slowed down.
#1. Tiger Wood's Escalade... $55 million and rising
The most expensive car crash ever?Final estimate to be determined by Elin Nordegren!