http://www.people.vcu.edu/~djbromle/.../autocolor.htm
interesting article - they said alot of cars during the 30-40's were dark due to the depression and many automobile manufactuers that produced luxury cars closed shop so your creams and tans dissapeared. They also mentioned leading up to ww2 companies sold "blackout" cars that didnt have alot of fancy chrome or embeleshments.