Born With Car Color

My phaeton (1452H) is presently in pieces undergoing restoration. The original color appears to be gray. The interior certainly looks to be original what is left of it. It is not blue but a tan leatherette cotton backed material. It has not been redone as there is no evidence of any other tack holes in the wood. I suppose a car could be ordered with a different color or fabric interior if the owner wanted it. Tom Wilcock

I would suggest that you have new door panels done and paint it the original color which I think is beautiful color and rarely seen. Rick Hulett ( a Club Member) has the factory patterns and did my complete interior which I think looks great.

Considering my history since, it seems strange to write that I was not a great fan of Cadet Grey when bought Moonshadow back in 1984. It wore its original blue interior, too. Now I really love them, and am happy that I have only patched and replaced interior pieces as needed, rather than "reupholstering". It's a great talking (and teaching) point. Save the color and the interior, if you can. Please.

When I restoring another car of mine I really wanted to change the factory color. I agonized over this for literally years. Ultimately I did not and I have not regretted it. Unless you really dislike Gray I would paint it the original color. There is a a possibility that if you paint it another color you may eventually have second thoughts.

My person opinion is that I would repair the interior with as close a match as possible on door panels and such (there is a lot to be said for your car not being a pile of rusted parts and somewhere there should be a separation of the men from the boys - I would buy a car with an original interior over one that is restored). That being said, the original grey color is really pretty neat (and something to be said for the proper colors on it from new to today). ACD Museum sells a wonderful reprint of the original upholstery and paint selection book (they also own the original to and it is spectacular). If you do not go Grey, you may want to choose a proper color that would have had the blue interior (I assume that to be the dark blue color which the name of escapes me right now). ACD has also re-engineered the paint formulas for modern reproduction (I believe such is $20.00 per color formula - I picked up a formula for Rich Maroon at this past years meet)

My Cord sedan 1748 S came off the assembly line wearing Cadet Grey Luminesance and the Blue Broad cloth interior. I still have all the interior and the seats are nearly perfect with no rips. But the door panels will need to be redone. My question is does it make any differance what color I paint my car just as long as it is a color offered by the company.. I bought all the paint from Stan many years ago and have never opened the cans. Is there a judgeing issue with a car painted differantly from what came off the line. I really like what color my car came with but I also like several others too. I think Henry did a great job with the color he choose. I have no idea what it was but it was outstanding to look at.