Bare metal must be primed under laquer.
A few years ago I bought a dirt cheap Olds Cutlass convertible. My goal was to restore it just enough to have a blast with the family, so I stayed on the cheap side of everything I could. I spent 2 months prepping for the paint job...removing chrome, trim, priming and sanding. The prep was meticulous and took hundreds of hours till I was satisfied. But, hey, my labor was free!
Then, I topped it with the cheapest Dupont laquer I could buy, to stay within my "cheap" plan. Even in the 1990's the laquer cost $500. It looked absolutely beautiful. After a couple months, the red started to dull, so I waxed it. A month later, same thing, so I waxed it. By the time I sold the car, the finish would not even buff back to beauty. This happened after just a year. The time I spent buffing and waxing was , again, in the hundreds of hours. Worst of all...it never looked right after that first month.
What I learned from this ordeal is that I will never go with a paint just to save money. In my 30's, I looked at my time as "free". In my 50's, I know it is anything but free. The $1,000 it costs for upper end paint is just a fraction of the total cost, when you look at the labor involved in a good paint job.
I understand where you are coming from, but I would not spray the laquer on my cars, even if you gave it to me for free. I'd save it for projects around the homestead.
Also, the new paints can be thinned to flash just as fast as laquer. The clear coats, no, but the one stage, yes.