New Seat Ibizas and Leons go white lightning

Seat knows a good thing when it sees it, so the Spanish car maker has captured the dazzling moment in Candy White, as this season’s least expected exterior paint success story continues to baffle the fashionistas.

Not that Seat didn’t see it coming. At the onset of 2008, Seat’s marketing men predicted that white was set for a colour comeback in the world of car exteriors, and since have witnessed 886 Candy White Seats finding favour on UK driveways. Which represents a 3,592% increase on this time last year when just 24 white Seats were registered with new owners across Britain.

Once the preserve of Essex finest denizens’ stiletto-heeled footwear, worn by every proud boy racers’ female Ford Escort XR3i passenger – itself loyal to the white cause - the colour white teetered on the fashion precipice for many a vintage year. So much so that at one stage it became the cheapest coloured car to insure, such was its unwavering popularity and downright unwillingness to be nicked.

That was then though, and thanks to a raft of supercar and sports car manufacturers rediscovering the rejected monotone in the bottom of the skip outside factory doors the world over, now is looking decidedly brighter all round.

For Seat though, the Candy White that’s sported by the new Leon Cupra K1 is just the tip of the colour-coordinated iceberg as it takes this opportunity to announce its latest palette of colours to be signed off.

With a working title of ‘Custom Palette Colours’ Seat’s new £550 selection of exterior shades is set to seize on the white initiative and hit British motorists right between the eyes. And possibly make them wince when you see what it’s got up its sleeve.

Leon owners can prepare their retinas for a Lumina Orange assault, to become available on Leon FR and Cupra models, whilst the more conservative might instead opt for less optical nerve-damaging Speed Blue that sets the special edition Cupra K1 model off.

Not to be left out, Seat’s new Kiwi Green and Furia Grey make up the numbers, with the latter aimed at the slightly more discerning buyer who may even – God forbid – wish to go unnoticed. Or for that matter, let the car itself do the talking.