The quality of a car’s paint is often one of the most overlooked aspects of automotive technology. But certain automakers like Ferrari take painstaking lengths to ensure that it’s in front of the technological advances in that field. With that said, the Italian automaker is putting its considerable resources to good use by becoming the first automaker to use an innovative low-temperature paint system called Low Cure clear coats.

Give credit to Ferrari for a lot of things, but one thing not many people know about the Prancing Horse is its willingness to invest in new paint technologies. The partnership it signed with PPG to become the world’s first automaker to adopt the new Low Cure clear coats paint technology is just the latest example of that. In 2004, Ferrari was also the first automaker to introduce a water-based paint system that significantly lowered the environmental impact of its models. It’s a method that has since become widely used in the business.

Ferrari’s new paint gambit promises to be as revolutionary as it is complicated to produce. Essentially, the Low Cure clear coats paint tech is developed using a two-component paint system that incorporates a specially formulated clear coat that allows cars to be baked at 100 degrees, 50 degrees lower than the traditional 150-degree temperature. Not only does it cut energy costs, but just as important, it enhances the sustainability of the entire paint process.

The new paint technology also features Low Cure resins, which, according to PPG, contains a new hardener that helps improve a paint’s toughness, particularly to water and other environmental contaminants. This tech will allow Ferrari to bake both carbon fiber and compost components with the body shell, ensuring color uniformity across different body components. And if all that wasn't enough, the new technology also gives Ferrari the opportunity to go crazy with the base coat colors it wants. No fewer than 61 base coat colors can be produced using this tech through a process that involves combining a metallic base coat with a gloss or matte pigmented clear coats.

The process and methodology of the new paint technology can be complicated, and that’s putting it lightly. But the motives behind it are clear. Ferrari’s reputation for being one of the most tech-savvy automakers in the business has manifested itself in a number of different ways in the past. This new paint development process it’s diving head first into is just another example of Maranello’s continued push to be an industry pioneer. Soon enough, we’re going to find out first-hand what this new paint technology can do. That’s something we can all look forward to, especially if it ends up reinventing Ferrari’s iconic Rosso Corsa paint finish.

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