The typical method for producing a candy apple finish is to apply a metallic base-coat, followed by a translucent color coat.

[5] An automotive paint search of "apple" shows that historically the name was associated with a green color going back to the early 1930s.

[6] Candy apple red is a popular color for car companies to manufacture automobiles in because "candy apple red" colored automobiles sell quickly.

[citation needed] The "candy apple red" is not just the name of a color, it is also implies a specific paint process for cars and other objects: The phrase candy apple red, describes a very specific paint process first used on custom cars and hot rods sometime in the early 1950s (date not specified, per audio interview with Joe Bailon, candy apple red, inventor).

But because of the complexity and time (and cost) required to apply real candy apple red paint to a car, until the introduction of the Soul Red option by Mazda in 2013 along with its proprietary robotic painting process that mimics the laborious hand-painting process required by true candy apple red, no production cars have been factory-painted with true candy apple red paint other than cars (or trucks) from smaller specialty manufacturers willing to provide custom finishes per customer's request/sample.

Candy apple red paint with silver metallic reflective undercoat looks quite different from candy apple red with gold metallic reflective undercoat.

The original candy apple red car paint had no metallic (tiny flakes of silver metal or plastic) or pearl (tiny flakes of plastic or possibly real particles of the reflective surfaces from seashells).

Mazda's current signature "Soul Red" and "Soul Red Crystal" are genuine examples, having a metallic silver basecoat, red high-chroma (i.e. intensely hued) transparent color coat (called "translucent" by Mazda although this incorrectly implies a milky finish) and a top clearcoat for protection.