At a time when inflationary costs are the highest they’ve been in decades and cars are more expensive than ever, it’s extremely disappointing to learn that the cheap Chevrolet Spark will no longer be available after this year. What’s worse is that the Spark has one of the best color palettes of any non-performance vehicle on sale in America, and all cars, no matter the class or type, deserve The Good Colors.
The Spark’s demise was first reported by CarsDirect this week. “The Spark is being produced through August 2022, then it will be phased out of Chevrolet’s product lineup,” a GM spokesperson confirmed to our sister site The Drive. “Customers seeking comfort, function and style at an approachable price still have strong options within Chevrolet’s family of compact SUVs.”
Strictly regarding vibrantly fun colors, the Spark is virtually unrivaled in the Chevrolet lineup. Only the Camaro and Corvette offer anything nearly as expansive and energetic (really, it’s just the Corvette) in terms of color options. The Spark currently offers 10 exterior colors, including Silver Ice, Summit White, Mosaic Black, Crimson (dark red), Red Hot (bright red), Blue Glow (dark blue), Nightfall Gray, Cayenne Orange, Nitro Yellow, and Mystic Blue (light blue). That’s not mentioning some of the excellent old colors that were previously offered, such as Passion Fruit, Raspberry, Jalapeno Green, Toasted Marshmallow, Caribbean Blue, Kalamata Olive, Lime Metallic, Grape Ice Metallic, and Lemonade.
In contrast, The Camaro offers two types of blue and two types of red but no yellow. The Chevrolet Blazer crossover is offered in yellow, but not in blue or orange. The lineup’s other small hatchback, the Bolt EV, is offered in two types of blue, a red, then black, white, silver, and gray. Chevrolet’s only sedan is the Malibu, and it’s only offered in Silver Ice Metallic, Summit White, Mosaic Black Metallic, and Cherry Red Tintcoat. How boring.
Even Chevy’s small crossovers that will essentially serve as bigger alternatives to the Spark, the Trax and the Trailblazer, are weak. The Trailblazer is offered in Vibrant Orange, but its blue and bronze colorways are dark and muted. The Trax might as well be called seasonal depression because its colors are an uninspiring collection of dark hues. It’s true that consumers love to buy black, white, gray, and silver, but c’mon, they’re not going to buy fun colors if they don’t have the opportunity. By the way, where are the greens, Chevy?
Sports cars shouldn’t be the only cars that get fun colors, and a consumer certainly shouldn’t have to pay absurd amounts of money to have neon body colors like yellow, orange, blue, or pink. The day the last Spark rolls off the assembly line will indeed be a sad one for people who use cars to express themselves. And of course, losing a new car with a $14,595 base price moves the lowest-MSRP-car award over to Mitsubishi — the Mirage starts at $15,640.
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