Actual 1:1 car color question

[82notch]

I first want to say it is a pleasure each day to come home from work each day and check out all the awesome builds that show up on this board..Heres is the question i want to ask, Are there any websites that tell what colors cars came in certain years,? Because i like to use rare odd ball colors when building. If so please post up any links....Thanks

[MrObsessive]

This site is a great place for a wide selection of colors for a bunch of model years. Check it out!

[82notch]

Wow that is exactly what i was looking for....thank you

[fury3]

Yes, the "Auto Color Library" is one of, if not the best source of factory color information....and it's at no charge. However, beware of a few minor things that I became aware of due to my "nip-picking" to make sure I was choosing the absolute correct colors for the subject I was researching/building. First, they list colors in most cases by manufacturer Division prior to aprox. 1978. After that it seems to go toward Corporate or Company....with footnotes denoting divisional applications. Prior to 1978 the list is very generalized. Example: 1968 Plymouth. Two light blue metallics are listed and were available: factory code DD1 "Pale Blue Metallic, and then code UU1 "Frost Blue Metallic". One might ask, "Why would Plymouth offer two light blue metallics?" Because they are two different hues, and code DD1, "Pale Blue Metallic" was available/exclusive to the Plymouth Fury models (and other Corporate C-Bodies..Polara/Monaco, Chrysler, and Imperial) and it was less red, or not as bright as code UU1. Code UU1 "Frost Blue Metallic was exclusive to the Valiant, Barracuda, Belvedere/Satellite/Road Runner/GTX models. There are other colors that had these restrictions as well, and in other years. The library does not break this down. On a positive note, they seem to do a good job of noting mid year or "Spring" introduction colors, such as code Q5 "Seafoam Turquoise Metallic"...it was a regular production color for 1969...only available on A and B Body vehicles, but was introduced in the Spring of 1968 in the Chrysler Division on the "Sales Success Special" C-Body Chrysler Newport and 300 series only. It was not offered in 1969 in the Chrysler Division or any other C-Body vehicles. Where does one find this type of detailed information? From the factory published color and trim selector books, sales brochures, and folks with the actual experience/knowledge of the vehicles in question.

Some cars are tricky to locate....Ford Thunderbird colors are listed mostly under the Lincoln Division's listings, as they shared many of those exclusive colors. I'm still tring to locate where some cars are listed, as some early Corvette colors seem to be omitted..they may be there, but I'm still looking, LOL. Since I use "Model Car World" (MCW) paints consistantly on all of my factory stock builds (yes, I know...boring) I use MCW's "Automotive Paint Reference Guide" book WITH the "Auto Color Library" website, along with my Chrysler Corp. factory publications. Even with all of this, I still can at times come up with unanswered questions...especially when straying from Chrysler vehicles. Hope this helps a bit! Fury3

[MrObsessive]

Here's another place that I've personally bought paint from. In fact the '55 Ford I'm painting this week, I've got from them.

The only drawback is you have to be very careful of what clearcoat to use over it. I've gone the safe route and have used Tamiya Acrylic Clear with no surprises.