Just like automatic shifters, two-tone vehicle paint jobs are nothing new, but manufacturers keep coming up with different versions of them.
You can put new vehicles into drive using buttons, a lever, or a dial. If you want something a little more dynamic than one solid color, certain models allow you to select a two-tone color scheme. Some of those are more conventional than others.
The 2025 Ford F-150 King Ranch comes with Marsh Gray lower-body trim, then lets you select from a range of colors for the rest of the truck. If you really want to mix things up, there are options out there. For $68,000, you can add the Ombré by Mulliner finish (which gradually transitions from one color to another) to your Bentley.
In the realm of more affordable vehicles, there’s the Toyota Crown and the Ford Expedition. Toyota’s high-riding, all-wheel-drive hybrid sedan is available in a variety of solid colors, with four that are paired with black for part of the nose, hood, roof, trunk lid, and part of the tail. The blacked-out hood brings the carbon-fiber hoods installed on some modified Asian cars to mind, so it works. The roof does as well, but all that black at the rear throws things off and makes the Crown look a little odd.
Then there’s the 2025 Expedition. I thought the first one I saw out on the road was a police cruiser. Why? Because it was white and the top part of its Ford Split Gate was black. I was surprised to learn that civilians can get theirs like that from the showroom floor. I can’t say I’m a fan because I think the key to an attractive two-tone paint job is flow. If you see a handsome bi-color Chevrolet C10, its two colors are stacked, start at the front, and end at the back. The same goes for ultra-luxury cars such as the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and Rolls-Royce Phantom.
There’s a flow to the Toyota Crown, but all that black pools up in the rear. In a way, the Ford Expedition has a flow: its profile has the roof as the top layer, darkened B-, C-, and D-pillars below that, and the rest of the body at the bottom. But then there’s that seemingly random black liftgate, which makes the vehicle look out of balance.
What do you think? Have automakers gone too far with two-tone? Tell us what you think in the comments below.