Most new vehicles in the past 15 years use a two stage paint system that starts off with a flat base coat and adds a top clear coat for gloss and durability however not every car needs to use a Clear Coat for good results.
Some of the earliest vehicles were painted with lacquer paint which was a single stage paint that required buffing for good gloss. Lacquer today normally adds a top clear coat for protection of the color coat that often contains metallics.
After lacquers came enamel paints. There are three basic types of enamel …