Driven to tears

You know how it is. You've a million or two burning a hole in your pocket, nothing else to do, so you pop along to Gloucester Road and bag yourself a brand new luxury motor. And with all the colours under the sun to choose from, you plump for ... metallic beige.

It's always been a mystery to SAR why Hong Kong's expensive cars are often sprayed the most putrid of hues. Only yesterday morning, we passed a Porsche Carrera resplendent in dazzling bright sky blue. And remember crime boss 'Big Spender' Cheung Tze-keung, who spent his ill-gotten gains on a Lamborghini V12 Diablo - a bright yellow one.

So what is Hong's Kong's favourite car colour? Judging from a tally of Gloucester Road's showrooms the other day, silver tops the list followed by black, white and grey - all very dull. Then we popped our head round the back. Yellows, reds and, yes, metallic beige. So that's where they come from.