Jeep Wrangler

Jeep's 2027 Wrangler JL-2A recreates the 1945 Willys CJ-2A, the first Jeep built for civilian buyers. The package lists at $4,995 but Jeep says it costs $115 more than a similarly equipped Rubicon, with Gobi or '41 paint, Joose-painted 17-inch wheels, and Heritage Tan Nappa leather. Orders open in October.

It's not the badge. It's not the wheel size. It's not even the color, though color contributes. The single feature that makes any car look cheaper than it is, regardless of what it cost, regardless of how good the rest of the design is, is unpainted plastic cladding on the lower body panels...

White is demanding. Black is unforgiving. But neither of those is the hardest color to wear on a car. The hardest color is yellow. Not orange, not lime green, not any of the other colors people think of when they imagine a car color that requires commitment. Yellow specifically. And the reason has everything to do with what yellow does to proportion, light, and the viewer's eye before any design quality is even registered...

Most cars look worse dirty. A dusty black sedan looks neglected. A water-spotted white crossover looks like it spent a week in a grocery store parking lot. But there is a specific category of vehicle where a layer of dirt, dust, or mud does not hurt the design at all. In some cases it actively improves it. These are those cars and the reason is more interesting than it sounds...