I have certainly never heard complaints before about new paint being too shiny. However, it is possible to get the new paints in a semi-gloss finish, which is what is currently called "suede".
Over the weekend, I saw a nice hotrodded and slammed stovebolt truck being sold at Barrett Jackson, and it had an extremely nice and glossy paint job on it. By the way, I couldn't believe the price it sold for. It was something like $90,000 for that truck!
The glossier the paint, the more it shows every imperfection, which could be a problem, because as old as these trucks are, you either have to put in hundreds of hours of bodywork to get the panels perfectly straight, or buy new panels at $400 apiece. (Holy run-on sentence, Batman!).
Anyhow, yes, you can clear coat a single stage if you wish, and it will look exactly like a 2 stage. If you don't, the sun will tend to attack the glossy paint surface and you will have to keep compounding and waxing to keep a shine on it.
