Photography critique? Hard color to shoot...

[Derek69SS]

I think I finally got a decent picture of my car (lighting and background anyway - used a crappy camera, and scanned it, so the image quality sucks)

I just can't seem to get a picture that shows the color in its best light, yet shows the car well without shadows or glare.



I think I remembered all the "rules" but I'm looking for more pointers, so that I can hopefully get a good quality one before winter hits, so I can finally have Scott do a Lateral-G feature on it.

I shot this on a very cloudy/hazy day, late in the afternoon, and the lighting turned out pretty good I think, but this color is very hard to shoot, because it has a lot of pearl in it, and it looks different in every picture. It really "pops" in bright sunlight, but then the glare and shadows always tend to ruin the picture...

...kind of like this one (which breaks every rule )



Here's another one, with the car inside, under artificial light, that shows the color very well, but obviously a rusty old tractor doesn't make a good background.



So, in your opinions, which is better? a photo with glare & shadows that shows the color well, or a photo with good lighting but makes the color look pale or dark? Note: the 3rd pic is a more accurate representation of the color than the other 2.