BMW’s Vantablack Experiment: Now You See It, Now You Don’t
BMW loves a theatrical reveal, but the Vantablack X6 they rolled out a few years back was on another level. Car folks and supercar collectors immediately lost their minds. Videos made it look like you were staring at a photoshop fail: outlines gone, body lines vaporized, nothing left but wheels and lights floating in darkness.
Even Joe Rogan got on the hype train. He called it “the darkest thing ever” and joked about not being able to find your own car in the parking lot. He’s not wrong—park one of these at night and you might actually have to feel around for it.
What Is Vantablack (or Ultrablack)?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Vantablack isn’t paint in the traditional sense. It’s a coating made up of carbon nanotubes. Each tube is about 3,500 times thinner than a human hair. When light hits the car, these little tubes swallow nearly all of it—over 99%. Reflections, shadows, surface shapes: gone. Whatever’s underneath just… disappears.
This means the usual curves and edges on something cool like a BMW X6? One big black void instead. It’s such an effective light trap that artists and scientists use it for telescopes and crazy space projects, not just wild custom cars.
That said, getting Vantablack on your own ride isn’t as easy as picking a new color at the dealership. It’s sensitive stuff. It can’t be touched or polished. Rain, dust, and fingerprints all leave marks. Some supercar owners have managed similar finishes, but good luck keeping it clean.
How Do You Find a Car Painted in Vantablack?
Funny enough, that’s a real concern. Park one of these on a dark street, and it basically turns into a low-poly video game glitch. The taillights and license plate become little beacons floating in thin air. For safety (and sanity), owners usually throw on something reflective—just so you’re not playing “Where’s My Car?” every time you leave a restaurant at 10pm.
Vantablack is pure car nerd magic. It’s impractical, a little outrageous, and totally fascinating. It turns heads not because of shine or style, but because it turns invisible. If you lose your car at night, don’t blame old age—blame cutting-edge science.
