The invention relates to a multi-layer coating for vehicle bodies which contains a plurality of different coating layers that differ from one another with respect to certain material parameter values and which separate on the substrate surface following their joint application and arrange themselves automatically layer-wise on the substrate surface in a sequence that is determined by the values of these material parameters. The top coating layer that settles automatically on top after application consists of either 1) plate-shaped interference pigments made of liquid crystalline side chain polymers which separate and automatically align themselves roughly parallel with the surface of the substrate, or 2) curable liquid crystalline polymers. The color phenomenon of this latter top layer is determined by the mesogens of the coating that have an interferential effect, are not crosslinked during coating application, and automatically align themselves roughly diagonally to the substrate surface. These mesogens automatically arranging themselves in a chiral-pneumatic fashion, forming a helix. The coating located in the lower layer is provided with color pigments with an absorbent effect, which are either black or the same hue as the hue of the color-determining interference pigments or helices in the top coating layer.