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Two toners (from top): Granada Ghia, Ford Ka, MINI, Skoda Fabia, Audi TT Quattro Sport, Alfa SZ

As the BBC wheels out another classic car (Audi Quattro) to co-star in yet another retro cop show (Ashes to Ashes), I wanted to take a little look at another trend which has been making a comeback of late - ‘two tone’.

No, I don’t mean the Ska-style of music purveyed by some great bands in the late seventies and early eighties including The Beat and The Specials, I’m referring quite simply to paintwork.

The first applications of contrasting paint colours to automotive bodywork probably date back to the turn of the 20th Century, but I recall that in the late 1970s and early ’80s , Ford was offering the Granada Ghia X in a blue over silver two tone finish. A similar graphic effect was also achieved with a popular extra-cost option of the time - the vinyl roof. Cortinas, Granadas, Capris , Escorts and even Fiestas, were offered with a choice of black or (if memory serves) a fetching speckled brown known as Tobacco. Some of you may even recall that in LWT’s The Professionals, Martin Shaw’s character, ‘Doyle’, drove a white RS2000 fitted with a black vinyl roof.

Recently, the blue oval has been promoting a limited edition Ka known, unashamedly, as the Two Tone, but it’s surely MINI that has really made the contrasting paint finish (and bold stripes) fashionable once again since the launch of the ‘new’ model in 2001.

That car’s tremendous sales figures have clearly inspired others to follow suit: Audi’s first generation TT in Quattro Sport guise featured a special black roof; Skoda offers the new Fabia with a contrasting white one (icing sugar?) while Alfa Romeo’s Limited Edition 147 Collezione may be specified with a gloss black version (prefer my SZ’s personally).

And now the encumbent Car of the Year, the Fiat 500, looks set to continue the trend with a vast array of graphics and stripework available to allow you to customise and personalise the car to your taste.

Have I missed out any of your favourite two tone cars?