What's the best looking car ever made? Most will focus on the 1950s, '60s and '70s with the usual suspects, including the Jaguar E-Type, Ferrari 250 SWB, Aston Martin DB5 and Mercedes 300SL. Look closely at each of these contenders, and you'll notice a fair amount of chrome adorning each car. Chrome is quite simply gorgeous on the right car.
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40 years ago, even the most humdrum of family saloons featured lashings of chrome (if you were high up enough on the company car roster), which made every car park as fancy as doing your weekly shop at Fortnum and Mason. And while chrome has fallen out of fashion in favour of black plastics and faux carbon fibre, look closely, and you'll see it delicately added to premium city cars and crossovers.
The only downside we can find with chrome is that it needs a fair amount of TLC to keep it looking its best otherwise, tarnishing, rust, and tiny scratches can take hold. Thankfully there's no shortage of excellent chrome cleaners and polishes, and we've chosen our favourites right here.
The best chrome cleaner for cars
Best chrome cleaner
Autosol is one of the most respected names in car cleaning, and the Liquid Chrome Cleaner is our top choice because it's such an effective chrome cleaner.
Best chrome cleaner for dealing with small scratches
Designed to polish chrome, aluminium and stainless steel, this polish from Turtle Wax is a good liquid option for slightly tarnished chrome, as Turtle Wax claims the product can help polish out fine scratches in chrome. It's also designed to remove contaminants and oxidation for a really deep shine.
Best premium chrome cleaner
Need a little bit more from your cleaner? This paste from 3M may be more expensive than the other options, but it's incredibly effective at restoring tarnished chrome as well as other metals, even if the abrasive nature of the polish means it may slightly dull the finish. And the fact it's a paste as opposed to a liquid means there should be less product waste from spillage and dripping.
This polish from Jenolite features enough product to clean the chrome brightwork of a Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz with ease. It's the least abrasive option here, so won't be much good for heavily tarnished chrome, but it won't dull the metal and will leave a protective layer. It's also really easy to apply, it comes out like shaving foam and simply needs to be wiped away for the best results.
Best chrome cleaner for brightening
A rich and easy-to-apply cream, this option from Mothers is ideal for gentle yet deep cleaning of your car's brightwork. It deeply cleans your metal and will brighten chrome up nicely. Mothers claim it uses advanced polymers to help protect against fingerprints, spots or even rust and corrosion and will not streak, scratch or smear.