www.montereycountyweekly.com august 17-23, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 19 So where have all the colors gone? Despite the proliferation of grayscale over the past two decades, automobiles have a colorful past. There were the names—Sassy Grass, Panther Pink, Calypso Coral and Venetian Yellow. The palettes paint an image of time and place, from Henry Ford’s obsession with black to the exuberant two-tone pastels of the 1950s. “It’s one of the reasons vintage cars are a big business,” explains John Kraman of Mecum Auctions. “They are different—that’s what makes those cars have so much appeal.” When a potential consignor contacts the auction house popular for its televised events about the value of a particular car, Kraman’s standard response is a quick “What color is it?” He is not being dismissive when he asks the question. A lot hinges on the appearance of a vehicle. Red and black, he says, are valued in the collector market. Plum Crazy is one of the signature shades of the sought after 1970 Dodge Challenger or Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda. “I can tell you a beige car is not going to have the same appeal,” Kraman says. There are three eras when bold colors ruled the road. American muscle cars rode on Baby Boom youth culture through the early 1970s. In 1972, as ’60s car culture was coming to an end, Ontario Orange Metallic was one of the leading sellers for Corvette. This period followed the turquoise, lavender and corals of the 1950s. “Those ’50s colors—I call them Esther Williams bathing suit colors,” Gross says with a laugh. But it was the Roaring ’20s when the auto industry first realized that a paint scheme could pay dividends. Despite Ford’s famous quip that a buyer could have any color on a Model T, as long as it is black, scholar and vintage restoration expert Gundula Tutt says, “There was an explosion of color—especially at General Motors. It suited the age.” Chevrolet offered the likes of Chermonte Cream and the clever Bolling Green (yes, that’s their spelling), as well as shades of blue with names that would not pass today, such as Buddha and Coolie. An advertisement for a Victory Six Sport Sedan by the Dodge Brothers highlights a stunning yellow body with slick black trim. Hupmobile displayed in their ads an orange car with black trim and a beige roof—a tri-tone effect. At Buick, to go along with the evocative Etoile Blue and Longchamps Green, there was Romany Red—among 48 color options for the 1930 model year. During the decade, manufacturers began to assemble teams to develop new and distinct paint schemes. GM sent representatives to the Paris fashion shows to learn what was trending. Companies also began employing catchy names. Why would anyone buy a plain brown car when they could have Connaught Brown? By the late 1920s, even Ford had opened the spectrum. An advertisement for their 1928 Ford Sport Coupe touted the Arabian Sand tone, gushing in part that “Women’s eyes are quick to note and appreciate the trim, graceful lines of the new Ford, its exquisite two-tone color harmonies, the rich simplicity and quiet good taste reflected in every least little detail of finish and appointment.” The revolution began with the development of Duco, a new lacquer paint technology from DuPont, working with GM. Duco dried in hours and accepted different pigments. After flirting with a few different colors when the Model T was released, Ford backtracked to black because it dried quicker than other colors—an important factor for an assembly line operation. When Duco was introduced in 1923, everything changed. Advancements in paint and application technology continued in the following decades, allowing for new looks over time. “I can tell you a whole story about that, but do we have the time?” Tutt says. She is highly regarded in the international collector community. Through her company, Omnia Restoration in Freiburg, Germany, Tutt and her team work with concours quality vehicles. She is also known for her forensic work to uncover the precise shades of the past. Tutt also wrote the book on automotive coatings. Her doctoral dissertation is a study of the “History, Development Materials and Application of Motor Vehicle Painting Between 1900 and 1945.” “Somebody told me ‘that sounds as interesting as watching paint dry,’” she recalls with a chuckle. The professor is more troubled than perplexed by the current modesty when it comes to color. “Today’s ownFrom left to right: The 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird painted in Vitamin C, introduced to cap a colorful decade. Yellow is more common to collector cars than modern vehicles. Cream was often seen on luxury vehicles. Middle: But the 1920s—a 1921 Paige on display at Concours d’Elegance—was when the automotive palette exploded. Daniel Dreifuss Daniel Dreifuss Dave Faries Dave Faries Dave Faries Dave Faries Dave Faries Dave Faries
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