Re: What was Packard's first red car?

Posted by fredkanter On 2016/10/30 21:18:13

Red paint was very unstable and tended to deteriorate/fade quickly. If you look at Packard paint chips on this site or in paint books I don't think you will find a real red until 53/54.

Fire engines/ambulances were almost always garaged except when in service. Garaged vehicles are not subject to fading from the sun

Yes, there are pinstripe colors in bright red, but few if any body colors red

Likewise with white which was really a cream white even in '56 (Dover White). There are no whites in the 20's, 30's, 40's early 50's in any make. As I recall it wasn't until '60 or '61 that GM had a real bright white when their use of very stable acrylic lacquer came into wide use.

In '56 Ford had Colonial White which was used in 2 tone combos with their bright pastels, turquoise, yellow, pink etc. It was a cream, not bright refrigerator white.

Deep question/ deep red explanation Cars in those shades were deep red/maroon. IN MY OPINION most early cars in bright red are that color due to a restorers choice or an unusual custom order. Thus I felt the question might better have been posed as to the first DEEP RED PACKARD.
Factory literature would reveal the answer

The relevance of when Packard/Essex/Velie/Maxwell etc first built a red car is lost on me