What Car Looks Best in Red?

I suppose there are a few slightly different ways to interpret that question. What I had in mind is, simply, name a car that you see in red and go “hell yeah.” But you could also think of it as “what car would you pick red for” or “of all the world’s red cars, which wears it best?” So choose your own adventure.

It’s a classic sports car color, right? The unofficial color of Ferrari, there’s that Prince song about the Corvette, and I bet you could think of a few more red-car cultural references easily enough. It’s a vibe.

Red is not for everyone. My first car, a ’96 Acura Integra, was bright red to my delight but everyone in my family thought it made me look “too fast.” They might have been right, because I crashed it not long after buying it. But the color’s always been one of my faves; I’d rock it on almost any car.

If I had to pick an all-time favorite for “car that looks good in red” though, I’d have to call out the third-gen (FD) RX-7. That car’s electrifying design looks good in any color. But for me, that old-school ’90s basic red adds just the right amount of pow to the car’s presence.

A red FD was also one of my first manual-transmission driving experiences. A family friend had bought one new, and let me wing it around the block a few times throughout its life when I was a teen. Core memories, to be sure.

I have flirted with the idea of buying a red FD a few times, but it’s always been a few financial rungs out of my reach. And the older they get, the more commitment they’ll take to keep alive! I might just settle for a poster or something someday, but an FD RX-7 will always be one of the best-looking cars my eyes have ever seen—in red, of course. What’s yours?