I'm a shiny guy - but if a primer look floats your boat - do it, but do it right.

Regular lacquer primer has no weather resistance so whatever is under it, i.e. bare metal, it's gonna rust, tho only a tiny bit slower then the uncovered metal.

Epoxy primer - a couple of good coats will protect your "investment". For instance, SPI has buff, white, black and gray. DuPont/Nason have gray and I believe white. PPG, I'm sure that they have a competitive color or two.

Even better, DuPont has a finish paint that is dull like primer, can be tinted and looks real nice. I asked a guy at a Goodguys last year what his final color was going to be - and his response was that this was it - that it was DuPont's primer look