10 Gorgeous Classic Cars With Two-Tone Paint Jobs

Look around any busy parking lot and it becomes increasingly clear that modern car paint schemes have become largely boring. White, silver, gray, and black models are perennially popular, with those four colors making up a combined 77% of all new car registrations according to data from Edmunds. Blue and red are moderately popular, holding 10% and 8% of market share respectively, while colors like orange, yellow, and purple all hold less than 1% of market share each.

The study didn’t collect data for two-tone paint schemes, but it’s safe to assume that new two-tone cars make up only the very tiniest proportion of registrations. In fact, the vast majority of manufacturers don’t even offer two-tone paint schemes. While it’s true that color can affect things like resale value, it’s hard to see any other good reason why buyers keep choosing such dull colors for their new cars.

It’s particularly odd since there are so many highly desirable, colorful classics out there, many of which can count their two-tone paint as a key part of their appeal. These 10 examples illustrate just how wide a range of cars can look amazing in two-tone paint, from seven-figure ’30s racers to ’80s Japanese econoboxes.

Chevrolet C1 Corvette

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While the earliest versions of the C1 Corvette might have been short on power, they certainly weren’t short on looks. Chevy’s seminal sports car was unveiled in concept form in 1953, and began production a few months later. It would take until 1955 for the Corvette to gain a V8 engine and thus the performance to match its appearance, with the car being gradually tweaked over the following years until the second generation Corvette came along in 1963.

As well as being arguably one of the best looking American cars of its era, the first Corvette introduced a number of design motifs that remain a feature of the current model today. The most notable is the quad tail lights, which debuted for the 1961 model year. That same year, Chevy would remove its factory two-tone paint options. Two-tone paint was available on certain later Corvettes, including the C3 and C4, but the C8 has no such options on offer.

Bentley S1

It might look expensive, but well-preserved examples of the Bentley S1 such as the pictured example that appeared at a Bonhams auction in 2023 can be picked up for less than $20,000. The S1 was the slightly more common and slightly less expensive cousin of the top-spec Rolls-Royce of the era, although both common and expensive are relative terms here. This was still a very exclusive, pricey car, and one that could be had with either a standard factory body or a coachbuilt body.

As was traditional at the time, Bentley buyers could spec the car in any configuration that they wanted, including opting for unique paint. Two-tone paint such as the pictured example wasn’t uncommon, and it gave the car a more distinctive, classy look befitting of its price and status. High-end British cars — including Rolls-Royce and Bentley in particular — have a long history of using two-tone paint, and contemporary models such as the Bentley Bentayga Speed still carry on that heritage today.

Studebaker Golden Hawk

A classic — and pioneering — personal luxury car, the Studebaker Golden Hawk was built between 1956 and 1958. It represented the very top of the manufacturer’s range, but its lifespan was kept short due to Studebaker’s financial woes. A little over 9,000 examples were produced over its three model years, with a significant number of those examples sporting two-tone paintwork. That paintwork is an easy way for owners to work out which plant the car was built at — if it was built at the Indiana factory, its firewall paint will match the lower body, and if it was built in California, the firewall will match the upper fenders.

Clean, low mileage examples of the car can sell for six-figure sums, such as the example sold at a Bonhams auction in 2014. Its supercharged 289ci V8 engine and two-tone Midnight Black paint were original, and the car had been through a restoration shortly before it was offered for sale. With only 59,000 miles on the odometer, it had covered lower mileage than many surviving examples too, making what was already an in-demand classic into an even more appealing purchase.

Austin-Healey 3000

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Originally starting life as the Austin-Healey 100 before morphing into the 3000 with the launch of a 3.0L engine, the last big Healey remains one of the best-known British sports cars of its era. It combined components from Austin with the expertise and design flair of Healey, with the partnership resulting in over 42,000 examples of the 3000 being built. Most of those were exported to America, where the car had gained attention thanks to its punchy powertrain and attractive design.

A key part of that design was the two-tone paint option, although it’s not clear how many examples left the factory with that option ticked. Production of the 3000 began in 1959 — although its predecessor, the 100 had been on sale since 1952 — and would end in 1968. Its demise was largely a result of corporate reshuffling, although changing emissions and safety regulations in America were also said to have played a part.

Bugatti Type 55 Super Sport Roadster

The Bugatti Type 55 Super Sport Roadster is rare even by the brand’s standards, with only 14 examples built. Both Ettore and Jean Bugatti worked on the car, with the latter, younger Bugatti chiefly responsible for its bodywork. It’s thought that 11 examples of the car survive in original condition, with one appearing for sale at a Bonhams auction in 2020. It sold for a whopping $7.1 million. The car in question was originally sold to a member of the Rothschild family, who reportedly used it to drive around Cambridge while he was at university there.

It passed through a significant number of owners in the following decades, but crucially, each owner kept it mostly original. After a restoration, the car appeared at a number of events and rallies, before eventually heading to the auction block. Most other examples of the ultra-rare roadster are reportedly in long-term collections, and so even seeing one — be it an example sporting the two-tone paint seen here or a monochrome example — is a difficult task for most car enthusiasts, never mind owning one.

Chevrolet Bel Air ’57

Perhaps the polar opposite of the Bugatti roadster, the ’57 Bel Air was a hugely popular car in its day and examples remain very common in classic car circles today. It was the last model year to be considered part of the Tri-Five, and was a tweaked and upgraded version of the previous model year. Those tweaks were significant, with additions like the fresh styling and Turboglide automatic transmission debuting for the ’57 model year.

Two-tone paint remained available throughout all three Tri-Five model years, although the car’s changing styling meant that the appearance of the paintwork also changed with each model year. Which looks best is a matter of personal opinion, and each of the trio of model years remains among the most iconic two-tone cars ever built. Here, we’ve chosen to spotlight the ’57, with its redesigned styling and more subtle two-tone paint giving it a timelessly elegant look that owners and enthusiasts still can’t get enough of almost seven decades later.

Lotus Elan Sprint

A simple, lightweight sports car that’s as traditional as a Lotus can be, the Elan Sprint was the ultimate iteration of the model. It sported a more powerful engine than previous versions, and was built between 1971 and 1973. Although, in some cases it was built by the owner rather than the factory — Lotus sold the car in both turnkey and kit form, with the latter being a way for buyers to avoid punishing car purchase taxes in the U.K.

An original example appeared at Bonhams in 2019 in the fetching yellow and white two-tone paint that was a popular factory option. Various other two-tone options were also available, including a red and white scheme and a brown and white scheme. Although production of the Elan Sprint ended in 1973, the Elan remained available until 1975. However, these later Elan models would do without the two-tone paint that was a distinguishing feature of the Sprint.

Rolls-Royce Phantom II 40/50hp Dual Cowl Sports Phaeton

Hailing from the golden era of coachbuilding, the Rolls-Royce Phantom II 40/50hp Dual Cowl Sports Phaeton pictured here in two-tone green was once used as a factory development vehicle. It appeared at a Bonhams auction in 2006 and sold for $238,000. Sporting the chassis code 25 EX, it was built in 1930 and spent three years being shipped around Europe and the U.S., entering a 15,000 mile endurance test along the way.

The Phantom II was being continually adapted over that period to ensure that Rolls-Royce remained as competitive as possible against both its European and American rivals. The pictured car played a key role in testing those adaptations before they were put into production, although it was eventually reverted to production spec and sold off to a private owner. Throughout its colorful history, it remained in an understated two-tone silver and grey paint scheme.

Buick Special ’57

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Although it was an entry-level model for 1957, the Buick Special was far from bare-bones. It featured the same 364ci V8 that appeared in the brand’s pricier models, and came with standard features including a light in the glovebox and a cigarette lighter. A choice of 36 color options were reportedly available, including two-tone options such as the car pictured here. The car combined luxury features with a hint of sportiness, slotting below Cadillac in the GM hierarchy.

Complimenting the car’s sporty appeal and its two-tone paint were a choice of roof and interior colors, with 47 different options reportedly on offer. This was, then, a car that could be customized more thoroughly than most at the time, and indeed more thoroughly than any of the modern cars in the Buick lineup.

The brand’s recent styling overhaul has injected some much-needed interest back into the range, although bringing back two-tone paint has not been part of the rejuvenation plan. Perhaps that’s a missed opportunity — the entry-level Envista is only available in a handful of colors, far short of the personalization that the ’57 Special offers. Then again, how many Envista buyers would opt for a two-tone color scheme even if it was offered is another question. Perhaps Buick buyers of the ’50s simply had more of an appetite for individuality than today’s Buick customers.

Toyota Corolla AE86 Sprinter Trueno

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It might be very different in both its appearance and its heritage to the other models on this list, but the so-called panda Toyota Corolla AE86 has just as many fans as any of the rest. Its two-tone white and black paint scheme has been immortalized as the tofu delivery car of choice in “Initial D,” the popular Japanese anime and manga series that sees a young delivery driver turn a humble Corolla into a legendary drift machine.

Toyota has played into this legacy over the years, unveiling a two-tone GT86 concept in 2016 to pay homage to the original ’80s classic and hosting Initial D-themed exhibitions in Tokyo. Its popularity as a drift car has meant that clean, non-modified examples of the classic two-tone AE86 have become increasingly difficult to find, with prices for those examples stretching into territory far beyond any other ’80s economy car. One particularly clean example even sold for roughly $64,000 in the UK in 2021.