The fourth-generation Caprice occupies kind of a weird place in the world of customization. Like many of the most popular customized cars, the fourth-gen was big, relatively quick, rear-drive and V-8 powered. It is readily accessible and cheap to buy used -- not least of which because of the many available from police auctions. but unlike most, the "bubble" Caprice was almost instantly dated, and lacked the kind of definite character lines that made most classics stand out. That leaves paint as the go-to option for those looking to make a statement with their cool ex-cop car.
By far the bubble Caprice's biggest handicap when it comes to paint is the fact that it had almost no hard lines or shape to speak of. For that reason, the high-gloss paint jobs that would draw the eye along the car with liquid lengths of light and reflection just don't exist. No matter what you do, you're always going to get one, long light-line running horizontally from the headlights to the taillights along the bulge below the door handles. That's going to do two things. That's going to make the car look long, skinny and top heavy, and draw attention to the huge windows. None of those are things you want in a big custom. Ironically, some of the better-looking Caprices out there are old cop cars, if only because the black quarter panels, trunk and front clip make the car look shorter and wider. Another thing to consider is the Caprice's thin center window pillars, which you want to black out when possible.
Window pillars aren't the only things that look good in black. A bubble Caprice can look good in all black, even menacing if you've ever seen those headlights in your rear-view mirror. The trick with making this look work is to go all black, all the way. Sort of. You don't want a scrap of chrome trim on the car, because it's only going to draw attention to the odd proportions of the wheel arches and rear quarter window. Blackout tint, taillights and headlights are preferable where legal, but an HID headlight conversion with black buckets would look good as well. Chrome 18-inch rims are OK, as long as they're deep-dish with black centers. The key to making this work is to do a subtle two-tone, with the bottom a dark charcoal gray and the top of the car, starting at the beltline, a true black. That'll raise the visual beltline, minimize the bubble top, make the car look lower and wider and make your rim centers look blacker.
Black isn't the only color you can two-tone on this car, with a lighter color -- often white -- on the bottom. In fact, a two-tone upper and lower paint job is one of the few ways to make this car look really good. Many drivers choose to put the paint line at the door strip, which is fine if you're installing a lower, aftermarket front bumper or you're only doing the doors. The bottom of the stock front bumper is several inches higher than the bottom of the rocker panels, and a light strip around the bottom of the bumper is only going to draw attention to that. If you're going to two-tone this car, do as desribed with the black above and follow the beltline, starting just inboard of the front turn signals. A subtle metallic monochrome two-tone looks good on this car, as in silver on the bottom and smoky gray on top. You can use white below and chrome trim, as long as you pair it with stock-sized rims, wide white-wall tires and a classic Chevy color from the 1950s.
Those who like things a little on the wild side will often paint these cars up with all kinds of day-glo colors and "themed" or random cartoon graphics. But don't kid yourself -- those graffiti paint jobs and stick-on numbers aren't doing any justice to the car, and day-glo colors are tacky and visually overwhelming on a car this size. An Arctic White with blue pearl additive, or a Cadillac white, will visually flatten the paint enough to hide the lack of character lines, and would look good with reflective window tint -- where legal -- and plenty of chrome. On this car, you could actually get away with a flat white, and throw in a set of wide, deep-hued pearl racing stripes going over the hood, roof and trunk. Avoid narrow stripes, or the car will look long and skinny again. Whatever color you do the window pillars -- even if you cover them with stick-on chrome -- make sure you can get a legal window tint to match. Those pillars make the roof look spindly, and you want them to blend in with the windows.
