Is Gray Unluckiest Car Color?

If you drive a gray car, some new research out of the United Kingdom suggests you might want to consider taking it in for a tune-up.

More than one in three of the U.K.'s 1.3 million gray-car drivers will call for roadside help, according to a report by online auto magazine iMotor.

In the U.K., there are more blue cars on the road than any other color -- 7 million are registered -- yet they are 15 percent less likely than gray cars to break down.

According to the study, the lineup of unlucky car colors is as follows: gray, green, yellow, gold, white, black, purple, blue, silver and, finally, red.

The magazine does note that the news isn't all bad for gray-car owners in the U.K. The majority of calls for breakdowns dealt with dead batteries or tire punctures, rather than mechanical failure.

"The results are genuinely surprising," wrote Mat Watson, editor of iMotor. "One theory is that many hire and company car fleets choose grey vehicles as the colour looks newer for longer, with dents and scratches less noticeable. These vehicles are often exposed to very high mileage, so perhaps their chance of needing assistance is greater."