2 Tone Paint Scheme ? Anybody do it Gen III ?

My first thought is I like the idea, thinking that it would be retro-50s-60s. My wife, who tells me she didn't like the two-tone idea even at the time, would say UGGGGGG-LEE.

But I suspect that historically, the place to look would be at any color pictures which might exist of the 1939 NY World's Fair (a good bit before I was born). The Gen II-III Prius is the second mass-production car which I think really reflects the futuristic design spirit of that event--the first was the original Ford Taurus. (I heard that name before I saw it, and wondered why Ford was naming a car after the shape of a donut.)
Anyway, if what you want to do is reflect the design spirit of the Prius in 2-tone, you might want to look at whether any of the streamlined, forward looking transporation objects of the time were two-tone. If they were, you might want to see if you think the way they were done would look good on your Prius.

If not, you gotta make it up.

 

Good idea, now get rid of the distracting side moldings because you're going to paint over it with Barcelona Red anyway.

 

My advice?

Photo Shop a picture. It should be relatively easy to do and give you a real good idea of how it's going to look.

In my imagination I have a hard time knowing how a two-tone Prius would look to me. I suspect I'd either love it, and think it's great and/or hate it and want it forever removed from this viewable reality.

 

If you lived in a warmer area the idea of painting the roof white and leaving the rest of the car Red, Blue, Black ect....

The reason for doing this in the fifties was the lack of AC back then and it made the interior much more comfortable in the summer.

Example:

Mini Cooper.



A color fade might look nice. The top is white then it would intensify to a solid color as it got closer to the bottom. Similar to what happens with this Prius front to back.

 

Try Vinyl first. Much easier to apply and remove if you want to change it.

 

Better yet, make it 3 tone. Blue ribbon metallic below the side moldings. That'd make the moldings less distracting

Seeing the 17 wheel Gen III made me automatically love its appearance. The other trims need options more than this one.

 

Although I'm not a fan of side body moldings, my problem with them on your particular car isn't so much the fact that they're there but that they clash badly with the pinstripes. Breaks up the sides of the car too much, hence distracting.

 

Just for fun on a Sunday morning, decided to give your suggestion a try. Didn't spend all morning on it, but you get the idea:

 

Two tones, like this?

 

See if this works....

 

I don't think the Prius looks like a cheese wedge. (some Japanese sedans and Volvos of the mid-late 80's--now THOSE were cheese-shaped.)
The Prius looks like a 30s-60s sci-fi illustrator's idea of a personal spacecraft--with free bonus wheels. That's kind of what I like about it.
I like the idea of photoshopping various ideas--I can't say the ones I have seen thus far make me want to run out and two-tone my car, but there are lots of ways to do it, and your striping may provide a good base for designing a better one.

 

It's not a bad combination, although pinstripes go in and out of style very quickly. Was popular on 1989-90 Mustang GTs, etc.

Some owners of SBM hate the blue emblems on sandy beach though, as do some owners of Barcelona Red.

 

Ripley44224
The first thing I thought of when I saw that picture you put up of that red and white Prius was a Nerd Herd car.