Lights, colour, action. Experts suggest that colour produces a chemical reaction in our bodies. We can feel preferences for, or an aversion to, differing colours.

Walter Sargent, author of The Enjoyment And Use of Colour, underscores the view that the preferences which we feel for some colours, and the equal dislike for others, show that colours have an evident effect upon our emotions.

"The colour and type of car you drive is part of your self-image and who you are," says consultant psychiatrist Valerie Freckleton.

"It's part of the self image ... it's a part of who I am", she said.

The psychiatrist explains that when a person drives a red car it attracts people to them.

Dr Freckleton says that the character traits will determine who you are.

"When it comes to colours, a dominant personality/extrovert will go for a brighter colour; a more submissive person or an introvert will go for a sober colour, one that is less flashy," she says.

Preferences for certain colours also depend on culture. For example, dignitaries and VIPs are usually transported in black or dark blue cars.

Human attitudes to colour, however, may depend on the pleasant or unpleasant associations made with a particular hue.

- Paul Messam