Anyone who has ever owned a black car will tell you that it's a rich man's color, but at the same time, it is extremely hard to properly take care of it. And professionals will say the same thing and then also go to the great length of showing us what can go wrong – and, of course, the possibilities are basically endless.
But there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have a couple of eloquent examples to showcase. It is all courtesy of the good folks over at Hollywood, California-based RDB LA, who have another YouTube vlog episode out and about, so we are certainly going to talk about their 'black beauties.' But first, some shenanigans, of course – as one of the guys must give us a progress report on that yellow widebody Urus they have been cooking for a while.
And naturally, he ends up driving a Lambo Aventador SVJ to try and impress the local LA residents. Anyway, after they are back in the shop, it's time for the 'black beauties' we initially mentioned, a Mercedes-Maybach S 580 that was treated in factory black and lots of chrome – mainly to mimic the S 680 looks, even though it lacks the M279 E60 LA bi-turbo V12 engine under the hood and it has to make do with 496 hp + 20 electrified ponies from the M176 bi-turbo V8 and mild hybrid EQ Boost assembly instead of the entire 603 hp stable. But it still looks nice, indeed, to be frank.
Now, back to the Braptor that posed a little black competition thanks to its full gloss treatment, this one was only in the shop for quick servicing, despite having just 4k miles on the odometer. That makes us wonder – was the owner just extra careful, or do the reliability-related jokes make everyone weary these days? Anyway, that was a chance to show how lesser-quality work impacts your black vehicle – where even a scratch repair can look like someone mocked the vehicle.
Well, that is going to be one expensive repair, indeed. As for the 2023 Ford Bronco Raptor, that is – of course – the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Blue Oval's reinvented sixth-generation Bronco and something the Jeep Wrangler 392 needs to be wary of. As a general reminder, everyone should be fearful of the legendary nameplate these days, as the eternal struggle of smothering those constraints issues has led Ford to post the limited availability notice on the ever-more-expensive SUV lineup.
For example, the $34,595 Base trim is not available to order right now. So, one must reconsider the choice toward Big Bend, Black Diamond, Outer Banks, Heritage plus Heritage Limited, Badlands, Wildtrak, or the mighty Raptor. The latter is a true flagship, indeed, complete with the 3.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 packing 418 hp in Baja mode, as well as a rising MSRP that has already surpassed the $83k threshold without any added options!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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