[FWDLK] 1960 Dodge Paint Code

["Richard Woodside" <rwoodside@xxxxxxxx>]

Hello ForwardLookers

Jarno has come across one of the hazards of using non-factory original
sources of information about our old cars.

He wrote: "Secondly some literature tells about paint codes that letter
Y means Cocoa metallic on year 1960 and letter U doesn't exist, but my
car has code UU1 and it has had this color on it."

The Catalog of American Car ID Numbers 1960-69 contains the
misinformation above, along with a notation that no trim codes are
available for 1960 Dodge. Obviously, trim codes did exist; it's just
that the Catalog compilers didn't have access to that information.

But, American Automobile Paint Code Interchange Manual 1945-1995
indicates that paint code UU1 is Cocoa Poly, and that UU is the code for
Cocoa Poly, while 1 is the code for single tone. So, Jarno's car
departed the factory in a single tone Cocoa metallic paint. The PPG
(Ditzler) formula number for Jarno's Cocoa Poly is 50543, by the way.

For 1960 Dodge, there was no YY paint code. But in 1959 Dodge, YY was
used for Canary Diamond, while in 1961, YY represented Buckskin.

It's too bad that the factory service manuals don't have this info in
them, since they're a lot easier to get than the factory paint and trim
data books.

And if anyone knows whether Mopar used a publication similar to
Cadillac's "Optional Specifications Manual", please let me know. That
Cadillac booklet has a wealth of info that the dealers used to order the
cars from the factory, but even just the chart of paint combinations
(for two-tone paint) and the chart of trim codes that show what trim
codes were offered with which exterior paint colors is useful in
determining whether a car has been restored accurately.

Finally, if anyone has access to a 1958 Chrysler paint and upholstery
book (somebody outbid me for one on e-Bay last spring), I'd like to get
the right colors for seats, carpet and dash in my 58 NY T&C wagon.

Dick Woodside