Over the past few years, several major automakers have announced that they will no longer be equipping new cars and trucks with chrome-plated trim. Volkswagen offers alternative packages to chrome on many of its products. Porsche began introducing Turbonite accents on its top-performance models to provide a more exclusive alternative to chrome. Even Stellantis, long-time manufacturer of chrome-laden Rams and Chryslers, leaked that its designers are now wearing “Death to Chrome” t-shirts. While this anti-chrome movement might shock traditional automotive enthusiasts, it’s a predictable phenomenon that’s been increasingly foreshadowed by both sales and regulations.
The lack of chrome on Chevrolet’s extremely popular Z71 Trail Boss pickups illustrates changing consumer tastes.
Chrome Aversions
Over the past decade, the big OEMs have noticed a shift in consumer preferences. Sales have skyrocketed for appearance packages that feature either blacked-out trim or trim that matches the vehicle’s paint. To the point that, increasingly, these packages are being pitched as premium alternatives to traditional chrome grilles, chrome bumpers, and chrome trim. Of course, anyone familiar with the younger side of our hobby has seen this trend coming for a while. It seems ‘the kids’ don’t share the same affinity for chrome as people who grew up with 1950s or 1960s Detroit iron.
Could this be because our beloved 1950s cars, long considered the pinnacle of chrome, simply overdid it? Or could it be that most chrome on modern cars, with its often insultingly plasticky flair, simply isn’t as classy as the purposeful, metal-based shine so many of us adore on our classics? In the 1950s, chrome was considered a cheap and appealing alternative to the polished nickel and brass traditionally used on automobiles. It was often applied en masse to metal. But today, it is sometimes equated with the cheapest and least complex vehicles on the market, which turns off younger buyers.
Chrome 6 Banishings
Stylings aside, the other major issue in this shift is how most traditional chrome is created, and the impending regulations banning its creation. Simply put, hexavalent chrome isn’t good for the planet or the folks inhaling it. While hardened chrome, like you might have on the bumper of your classic, poses little threat to your health, the plating process creates fumes that drastically increase workers’ risk of cancer. Additionally, when the byproducts of this process leach into an environment, they also increase the cancer risks of anyone exposed to that environment. As automakers and society look to become more sustainable, processes that jeopardize the well-being of workers and their communities are increasingly falling by the wayside.
The infamous Chrome 6 green slime that leaked out of the Electro-Plating Services plant and found its way to Interstate 696 in Michigan.
According to some reports, hexavalent chrome, or Chrome 6, is 500 times more toxic than diesel exhaust. In 2019, residents of Madison Heights, Michigan, were directly exposed to environmental toxins when a hexavalent chromium leak was traced to a shuttered Electro-Plating Services plant. Why had that plant, which was already labeled a Superfund cleanup site, been shut down three years earlier? Improper storage of hazardous materials, of course. Some states and countries have already moved to ban hexavalent chrome plating because of its risk to workers and the public, and automakers expect that trend to continue.
Chrome 6 Alternatives
Virtually every company in the automotive industry is currently exploring alternatives to traditional chrome finishes. Black has become a popular option for trim pieces, likely because of its ability to complement almost any paint color. Speaking of colors, OEMs have now begun using specific colors to symbolize elevated performance. As mentioned, Porsche’s Turbonite trim is marketed on its best cars. Red elements have made a comeback on Chevrolet’s performance models, and orange accents trace Ford’s newly anointed Tremor line. Stellantis, arguably the king of modern chrome, is experimenting with paint that mimics the appearance of chrome. Polished and clear-coated aluminum is yet another option. And with every automaker itching to establish a ‘lighting signature’ in the growing EV market, even LEDs are being used to mimic chrome.
The big questions are: will a ban on Chrome 6 affect the classic car hobby, and if it does, will we see creativity with new finishes filter into our scene? While writing this article, we asked three major chrome plating companies for quotes and didn’t hear back from any of them. Now that the issue has been politicized, it is quite likely that those companies are maintaining silence to try and protect the massive amount of profit and business at stake. Not only is chrome plating used for all kinds of vehicle decor, it’s also a go-to for many industrial applications that could be much larger sources of income.
Is there an alternative for the chrome on our beloved classics?
Chrome Finishes
While the lawmakers who seek to ban this process are likely not privy to our hobby, they certainly understand the business aspect of plating. Their solution is for companies to switch to an alternative method called trivalent chrome. Trivalent chrome, or Chrome 3, is an eco-friendly process that, while nice, doesn’t look quite as rich as hexavalent chrome, which certainly matters to purists. Most plating companies are not opposed to switching to Chrome 3, they simply can’t fund the full changeover as quickly as it is being legislated.
Legislation or not, it appears that chrome, in some form, does have a future in the classic car hobby. The real issue is protecting those who are exposed to Chrome 6 toxins during the plating process. That means protecting their health and well-being, as well as their jobs and financial stability. Perhaps we can buck current political trends and find a great compromise.
