Special Paint

[resto4u]

special order paint to me, example a cadillac color on a pontiac. An rpo color available on certain car lines used on other cars. The paint had to be ordered and usually was painted by hand. New cars have extra cost paint, GM tint coat colors. But i would not call that special order paint.

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by resto4u

special order paint to me, example a cadillac color on a pontiac. An rpo color available on certain car lines used on other cars. The paint had to be ordered and usually was painted by hand. New cars have extra cost paint, GM tint coat colors. But i would not call that special order paint.

That seems too buttonholed. You are saying If I wanted my 1967 Chevelle SS 396 painted in 1965's Evening Orchid or my 1969 Camaro SS350 painted in 1967's Royal Plum - that doesn't count?

[442w30]

No, he's saying those colors would be considered special-ordered.

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by 442w30

No, he's saying those colors would be considered special-ordered.

I beg to differ. He said:

special order paint to me, example a cadillac color on a pontiac.

[442w30]

The cause for your confusion is this part of his comment:

"New cars have extra cost paint...."

He's using a situation from the past and bringing a contemporary example for comparison.

But why not let him explain what he said? :-)

[DW31S]

I had a '72 GS Conv. with 31 options and 9200 miles that was painted Dark Chestnut Poly (a Riviera only color). Still had original paint that was hideous, horrendous, horrible!

[resto4u]

442W30 you 100% correct, that is exactly what i mean by my post.

[Lee Stewart]

1969 Q Code 428 Mach 1 - Special Order Paint - Ford Fleet Red







1972 Trans Am - Special Order Paint - Cardinal Red (1 of 1)

[njsteve]

My old 1972 Formula 455HO. 1 of three known special ordered black cars. In 1972 for some crazy reason, GM decided you couldn't get black on a Firebird or Camaro. But if you paid the $79.01 (Canadian) you could special order any color you wanted.

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=117705

[StealthBird]

An extra cost color was a color available on a particular model, but the manufacturer charged an extra amount to apply it. These colors were usually marked with a "*" in the dealer albums and listed as "Extra Cost". For instance, Carousel Red was an RPO color on the 1969 Firebird, but Pontiac charged you $12.64. Some of the confusion here is because on invoices Pontiac lists an extra cost color as "PAINT-SPECIAL" and people think that means special paint. But it's not, it's an extra cost color, not special paint. These cars would have a regular paint code on the invoice and trim tag.

A special paint car is a color not available on that particular model. For instance, Carousel Red on a 1969 Firebird was extra cost for $12.64, but Carousel Red on a 1969 Bonneville was a $115.85 charge because that color was not available on the Bonneville. The same $115.85 charge would apply if you wanted your 1969 Grand Prix painted Dodge Hemi Orange. It was for a color outside the normal operations for the manufacturer. A special paint car would not have an RPO paint code on the invoice and would have a "- -" on the trim tag (some exceptions, like with 1965 Tiger Gold, so it depends on year and model).

Steve, just an FYI (and it's not relevant to the discussion here), but the cost of a special paint was much higher than $79.01 in Canada in 1972. That's the cost to the dealer, not the MSRP charged to the customer.

A few special order black Firebirds made it through, including this special order 1970 Formula 400 in Starlight Black. Car was built with manual brakes, manual steering, no radio, M21 4-speed, and 3.73 gears. It has around 433 original miles on the odometer. Watch for a full feature on this soon in POCI's "Smoke Signals" magazine.