It started in the early seventies. All the cars that participate in rallies had that color scheme, the Volvo’s, the Fiat’s, Porsches, BMW’s Datsun’s, Peugeots. The whole bunch, they all believed in it! This color scheme was modern at that time because it reduced the sun reflecting in the bonnet. That rallies mostly where driven in the Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy, Greece, the Middle of Africa, and Portugal. They were a head of the world rally championship http://www.worldrallychampionship.net/ that is going on right now. If you visit this link a lot will be clear how ‘we’ did it in those rallies! Here are some nice links. I copied the pics from the Kyosho program. And as you could see, the rally cars and the Z432 from Datsun are equipped with a black bonnet. regards, Guus Z-point