Lol yes most certainly,
one time we had this guy on the forum in the U.S. ask about painting a Gran Turismo flat black. Another mechanically inclined guy and myself didn't like the idea for mainly two reasons. First is obvious, it's an Italian Supercar, but really if that was the only point of contention, honestly it's just about preference nothing more.
But, "hot rod" black, flat black, or "murdered out" paint jobs in the U.S. started back in the days of restoration of old hot rods. Essentially, people like my dad who didn't have a lot of money would buy an old Plymouth Road-Runner, or Mustang, etc. The body would need a paint job and the motor a bit of work. They would start the work but didn't own shops for this kind of thing. When you are in the lower income bracket projects took a little bit longer than just taking it over to a shop and dumping money into it. Essentially, the dents would be pounded out, body filler applied and sanded down and then.........it would be primer-ed. The Primer had basically two colors, flat Grey, and yep, flat black. Then the car would have that flat black paint job for years because it wouldn't usually be finished. It was sold to the next prospective buyer with the tag, "all the body work has been done, now you can paint it whatever color you'd like!" A selling point for the one who did the work. This paint scheme is big with younger guys in Brazil as well. But it stems from essentially a lower class status symbol. So if you're from a Trailer park (slang for essentially a white ghetto area) flat black paint jobs are not something that's a huge status symbol for you. Additionally, when a vehicle was stolen, it was also painted black. So when the guy asked people what they thought I relayed the information, and told him just not to forget the "wife beater" when he drives it. Slang term for a tank top in the U.S. because every time there's a poor white movie made, inevitability there's a white man who beats his wife, abuses his kids, and he's wearing a tank top,.....aka....wife beater!
Now, if you have an old american hot-rod, also big with Harley Davidsons , then I definitely understand it. It goes back to the history of hot rods, and that time period. But, when it comes to Italian Super cars the two paint schemes only mix when people don't see the history. Since I grew up in a lower/middle class environment, and actually benefited from the wealth of knowledge from my dad who actually is a master mechanic for big rigs now, I cannot say it was all bad. He fixed all the cars himself, and passed the talent on to his sons. But, I would never take a status symbol like the Prancing Horse, or it's brother the Maserati, a symbol of class and eloquence, and paint them flat black. Of course that's just my opinion growing up and understanding it from living and seeing the history. The irony is funny to me seeing someone drive by in a high end "blacked out" car. Either way, that's a short synopsis of the history from the U.S.
