My choice is color then clear. I don't put color in my clearcoat. With the paint system I use, I don't think they're even compatible.

If you want good depth, SOP is to lay down a couple of coats of good basecoat so that you have color consistency. Do not sand the final color coat. After the proper drying time for the color coat, spray on clear coat according to the directions. Let it dry, then color sand and buff per the directions.

Did I say follow the directions? Get a copy of the product data sheets for the paint and follow them religiously.

I use Sherwin Williams' Ultra 7000 bc/cc system with ULTRA 7000® Super Glamour Clearcoat.

One other thing. If this is the first car you've ever painted, you better practice on some spare sheet metal. There's NO WAY to get it right the first time without practice. There are only a couple of ways to paint a car correctly . . . and a thousand ways to do it wrong.

Oh, and did I say . . . . follow the directions?