paint color for old cars

[fredtoast]

No need to start talking about everyone's favorite car color because it is mainly a question of individual taste.

But I have always argued that cars old enough to have chrome should be darker. I think the contrast is important to make the chrome stand out more. And it is more about the "tone" than the color. Yellow is not a "dark" color, but if it is a rich tone of yellow it will contrast just fine with the chrome. Just no silver, white, or light pastel version of any color.

I see a lot of 60's Corvette's done in silver, and today I saw a white Cadillac from the late 50's. Those old caddies had about 500 pieces of chrome on them. It just did not seem to show up as much on the white car.

Funny thing is that in the mid/late 60's Chevrolet had this beautiful light blue/silver color. I think it was called Elkhart Blue or something like that. I love that color on newer cars with no chrome, but I don't think it was ever offered in later years after chrome bumpers disappeared.

[grampahol]

Being I used to paint cars for a living along with body work I have an opinion you probably won't like, but here it is.. First..a color to avoid at all cost, green! Green is the color involved in most wrecks.. green tends to blend into the background of trees and such and the brain tends to delete it more or less.. I learned that from both experience and insurance claim statistics.. never buy a green car.. The color red attracting cops? mostly myth..
If you're going to repaint a car, truck or any other thing on wheels there's one color and only one.. WHITE! WHITE! & WHITE! No, it's not a racist thing.. White shows the fewest errors in the substrate..dents, scratches, dirt, etc.. Black in the least favorable because everything..every error shows..
I'm not wild about gray or silver because it blends in with the color of pavement for the most part. Check that out next time you're out and about.. Why the hell would anyone want a car the same color as the damned road? 
If you want to be safe? Dayglo pink!   That is a color..and it'll stick out like a sore thumb..

[fredtoast]

(05-15-2022, 09:47 AM)grampahol Wrote: I'm not wild about gray or silver because it blends in with the color of pavement for the most part. Check that out next time you're out and about.. Why the hell would anyone want a car the same color as the damned road? 

It seems like 90% of all new cars are some shade of grey/silver or black.  Even the "red" cars are a dull "brick red" or a darker maroon shade.

I thought that with the success automakers had with the "retro look" Mustangs, Chargers, and Cameros that they might start bringing back those old bright colors they used to have.

[SladeX]

For sentimental reason, I like the old Ford Canary Yellow, which is the opposite of what you like. It’s actually more of a cream color. My grandparents had matching colors, he had a 196x Thunderbird, and Mimi had a 66 Mustang with a straight 6, which was later my first car. Later, I had a 94 GT 5.0 that was the new Canary Yellow, completely different color. The yellows off set the tires nicely, if not the chrome…

Insofar as setting off the chrome, I think a dark color is best, but mot black.

[fredtoast]

(05-15-2022, 11:29 AM)SladeX Wrote: For sentimental reason, I like the old Ford Canary Yellow, which is the opposite of what you like.

I know that color.  I knew a guy who had an old Falcon I think was a 62 or 63.  He had a two tone paint job that was black with a canary yellow roof.  The interior was also yellow and black.  That was a sweet looking car.  I think that originally the whole car had been canary yellow.

I used to live in a very small town, but there was a local shopping center where car owners would gather once a month to show off their cars.  Nothing formal or organized beyond happening on the same weekend every month.  That is where I saw the two-tone Falcon.  Did not really know the owner.  Just talked to him there.

When it comes to "muscle cars" I like the older "boxier" ones from the early 60's like the Novas and Falcons.

[grampahol]

Paint em all with lacquer so they all loose their shiny looks after about 2 weeks and we can all make a fortune in a wet sanding and buffing business..    I was really good at those tasks and since I hated doing it I was always assigned to it in every damned shop I worked in.. 

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(05-15-2022, 11:15 AM)fredtoast Wrote: It seems like 90% of all new cars are some shade of grey/silver or black.  Even the "red" cars are a dull "brick red" or a darker maroon shade.

I thought that with the success automakers had with the "retro look" Mustangs, Chargers, and Cameros that they might start bringing back those old bright colors they used to have.

The new Impala was a big disappointment to me. If they had a retro Impala convertible I think it would be really popular.

[*bengalfan74*]

(05-15-2022, 09:47 AM)grampahol Wrote: Being I used to paint cars for a living along with body work I have an opinion you probably won't like, but here it is.. First..a color to avoid at all cost, green! Green is the color involved in most wrecks.. green tends to blend into the background of trees and such and the brain tends to delete it more or less.. I learned that from both experience and insurance claim statistics.. never buy a green car.. The color red attracting cops? mostly myth..
If you're going to repaint a car, truck or any other thing on wheels there's one color and only one.. WHITE! WHITE! & WHITE! No, it's not a racist thing.. White shows the fewest errors in the substrate..dents, scratches, dirt, etc.. Black in the least favorable because everything..every error shows..
I'm not wild about gray or silver because it blends in with the color of pavement for the most part. Check that out next time you're out and about.. Why the hell would anyone want a car the same color as the damned road? 
If you want to be safe? Dayglo pink!   That is a color..and it'll stick out like a sore thumb..

I had a gray Impala years ago and that was the bird killingist car I ever had. I bet no exaggeration I hit 10 or 12 birds with it. I always said it blended in with the road and they just couldn't see it well. 

[fredtoast]

(05-17-2022, 03:14 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: The new Impala was a big disappointment to me. If they had a retro Impala convertible I think it would be really popular.

'59 Impala was the peak of the "spaceship" era.

[*rfaulk34*]

This is the color right here. 

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(05-15-2022, 09:47 AM)grampahol Wrote: Being I used to paint cars for a living along with body work I have an opinion you probably won't like, but here it is.. First..a color to avoid at all cost, green! Green is the color involved in most wrecks.. green tends to blend into the background of trees and such and the brain tends to delete it more or less.. I learned that from both experience and insurance claim statistics.. never buy a green car.. The color red attracting cops? mostly myth..
If you're going to repaint a car, truck or any other thing on wheels there's one color and only one.. WHITE! WHITE! & WHITE! No, it's not a racist thing.. White shows the fewest errors in the substrate..dents, scratches, dirt, etc.. Black in the least favorable because everything..every error shows..
I'm not wild about gray or silver because it blends in with the color of pavement for the most part. Check that out next time you're out and about.. Why the hell would anyone want a car the same color as the damned road? 
If you want to be safe? Dayglo pink!   That is a color..and it'll stick out like a sore thumb..

I concur about the white.... I've had three black vehicles, and I worked my ass off to keep them looking good. I've had my white Dodge pickup since 2003 and it still looks good. 

[Bengalzona]

(05-15-2022, 09:47 AM)grampahol Wrote: Being I used to paint cars for a living along with body work I have an opinion you probably won't like, but here it is.. First..a color to avoid at all cost, green! Green is the color involved in most wrecks.. green tends to blend into the background of trees and such and the brain tends to delete it more or less.. I learned that from both experience and insurance claim statistics.. never buy a green car.. The color red attracting cops? mostly myth..
If you're going to repaint a car, truck or any other thing on wheels there's one color and only one.. WHITE! WHITE! & WHITE! No, it's not a racist thing.. White shows the fewest errors in the substrate..dents, scratches, dirt, etc.. Black in the least favorable because everything..every error shows..
I'm not wild about gray or silver because it blends in with the color of pavement for the most part. Check that out next time you're out and about.. Why the hell would anyone want a car the same color as the damned road? 
If you want to be safe? Dayglo pink!   That is a color..and it'll stick out like a sore thumb..

Out here in the Valley of the sun, the white cars sell off the lots a lot quicker than the black cars. But that has to do with deflecting/absorbing the summer heat.

[Bengalzona]

(05-15-2022, 01:35 PM)fredtoast Wrote: When it comes to "muscle cars" I like the older "boxier" ones from the early 60's like the Novas and Falcons.

My parents had a '68 Ford Falcon wagon. They passed it on to my older brother. Man, that thing had some power behind it!

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(05-17-2022, 10:33 PM)fredtoast Wrote: '59 Impala was the peak of the "spaceship" era.

A retro version of that is exactly what I'm talking about. With a top of line Snoop Dogg limited edition model . . .  Or a retro version of the '67 Impala SS. 

[fredtoast]

(05-18-2022, 09:26 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: A retro version of that is exactly what I'm talking about. With a top of line Snoop Dogg limited edition model . . .  Or a retro version of the '67 Impala SS. 

67 "muscle car" is much more likely. That is all they have done so far.

But who doesn't want to see these wings on their Impala and big fins on their Cadillac 

[grampahol]

(05-18-2022, 09:26 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: A retro version of that is exactly what I'm talking about. With a top of line Snoop Dogg limited edition model . . .  Or a retro version of the '67 Impala SS. 

59 eh? No wonder I used to see those things everywhere as a kid.. I was born in 59.. ... Snoop what edition? C'mon..At least use a name that existed in 1959..The Dwight Eisenhower limited edition or something..   

[grampahol]

(05-18-2022, 11:15 AM)fredtoast Wrote: 67 "muscle car" is much more likely. That is all they have done so far.

But who doesn't want to see these wings on their Impala and big fins on their Cadillac 

People who had their heads cut off by those fins probably don't want to see them anywhere..  They disappeared for that reason..To many SERIOUS injuries...not necessarily decapitations, but that wasn't too uncommon..  I know, I know..Bloody stumps of necks were way cooler than the fins alone..    Also one of the reasons all that chrome disappeared as well..The stuff became flying spears in wrecks a lot of times..
Don't underestimate just how much fun being a killjoy really can be. 

[WeezyBengal]

I've been a huge fan of light blue lately.

Something like this:

[grampahol]

(05-19-2022, 09:59 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I've been a huge fan of light blue lately.

Something like this:

i once painted an old mustang blue like that..looked pretty slick till my niece wrecked it..

[fredtoast]

(05-14-2022, 01:50 AM)fredtoast Wrote:  And it is more about the "tone" than the color.  Yellow is not a "dark" color, but if it is a rich tone of yellow it will contrast just fine with the chrome.  

And here is a perfect example.

(05-17-2022, 10:38 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: This is the color right here. 

That version of yellow looks sick with chrome.  It is one of my favorites.  That is why I specifically used yellow as an example.