Traditional Mid-Century Paint Colors (for Cars)


When I found out that the 1956 Ford Thunderbird paint colors were the inspiration for the modern paint colors of one of my favorite modern lights, I started thinking, there's a whole set of people as obsessed with mid-century paint colors as mid-century housing fans: classic car fans.

It took me a little while, but I found where they're hiding all their mid-century color pallettes: The DuPont Historical Color Chip Library. You can search for nearly any year or model and it will give you back the mid-century color chips for that car. For example, the 1952 Cadillac color chips:


I think this could be a really helpful tool if you're looking for mid-century exterior colors. Not that houses and cars were painted exactly the same colors, but they'll give you a good idea of the general color palettes and color trends of the time.

And the right set of mid-century paint chips might give you a good set of similar colors to play with, like the blues on this 1955/1956 Chevrolet set:

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