Custom car enthusiasts have been known to customize everything from the suspension and wheels to the interior and engines of their cars. But true custom car enthusiasts must have a custom paint job. The custom car paint industry is growing, with an unlimited combination of paint colors and types to paint on your car.
Custom car paint doesn't have to be several different colors or have graphics all over it to be considered custom. There are several aftermarket paint options if you want a solid color paint job in which the car still stands out from the crowd. Candy paint is very popular for use on solid-colored custom cars. To paint a car with candy paint, there's a special paint system used that involves several steps and products not used in regular car paint. Candy paint gives a car a very deep-looking paint job, almost as if you could reach into the paint with your hand.
Flat colors, once popular with hod-rodders, are becoming popular again. Black is the most common flat color used. A special flattening agent is used in the paint and clear coat to make the paint look dull, almost like a chalkboard.
With today's technology, several new types of custom car paint have hit the markets in recent years. In the late 1990s, a paint was invented for cars that most people refer to as "Chameleon" paint. This paint is available in several different shades, but each changes colors. One shade has a base of green, but when looked at from certain angles, the paint looks purple or blue. Chameleon paints are available in colors that change either two or three shades within one paint job.
Another new paint for cars is chrome paint. Chrome paint isn't new, but now it can be painted on an entire car, not just trim. It's very expensive and not handled by most local paint stores.
Some very special paints are available with characteristics you may have never thought possible in a car paint. There's a paint that appears off-white in the sunlight but glows in the dark. Another paint is available in solid colors that change when heated. When sprayed onto the hood of a car, the engine heats the hood and it changes colors. This paint can be used to paint graphics that change colors when in direct sunlight.
No custom paint job is more recognized than a graphic paint job. Custom painters are considered artists; they can paint anything from lines and shapes to full art murals on a car. You can have your favorite colors painted in various patterns on your car. You can also have a self-portrait or other picture painted onto your car. Many custom graphic paint jobs include fantasy murals with skulls, dragons or smoke-like images in several different colors.
