Infiniti Is Trying to Make Black Paint Interesting

Photo: Infiniti

There is, in the current state of the car world, not as much color on cars as there should be, with automakers prioritizing things like “sales” in trying to justify why customers can have whatever color they want, as long as it’s white, black, or a shade of gray. Infiniti said on Tuesday that they have a new color that is not white, black, or a shade of gray. Of course, it will be “extremely rare,” because let’s not get too out of control. But: Black Opal Metallic is what it’s called and it’ll be on some 2023 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400s.

The color of the car will change depending on lighting and view angle, Infiniti says. The color in the top photo, for example, looks green to my eye, while up close it looks more like a sparkly purple-ish green-ish black:

Image for article titled Infiniti Is Trying to Make Black Paint Interesting

Photo: Infiniti

While in this photo it looks actually black, or dark purple.

Image for article titled Infiniti Is Trying to Make Black Paint Interesting

Photo: Infiniti

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The color is inspired by opals, you might have guessed, which Infiniti informs me are “mineraloid formed from hydrated silica,” with the black versions most often found in Australia. This version of the Q50 will actually be called the Black Opal Edition, and the badges will be blacked out on the rear, too. A carbon spoiler, meanwhile, is intended to make the car more pleasant to look at.

The whole package will also be an extra $2,200, presuming you are good enough friends with your local Infiniti dealer to even get one of these rare and highly sought-after cars (at least one of those things is true.)

You might also remember the purple on a certain other car in Nissan history, which is very much intentional, as Infiniti says this purple is indeed Midnight Purple. The Q50, meanwhile, is still in its first generation, almost a decade old now. This new color is maybe trying to distract you from that, or maybe even hinting that a bigger update is around the corner.