Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Where do I find the dash paint code/Formulas for my 56 Packard 400? The color is a pinkish red.

Paint cross reference on the left

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/paintxref/

The color sheets are in the literature archive

The paint charts linked on the side menu are for exterior lacquer colors which are not necessarily the same colors or names as those used on the interior. The available interior color choices were limited and was an air drying enamel..

If you are trying to match what you have it would be better to go to a paint dealer and take something like the glove box lid to have it matched. Reds in particular were one of the colors which seemed to fade more than others. Doubtful you could get a match to what is there now by formula and in addition to fading, the old formulas for the most part usually cannot be directly compared and followed item by item with todays materials.

If you want to completely repaint the dash to original color, then if you found some spot that was covered and protected from fading -- even it it was too large to take to a paint dealer -- you might possibly be able to match that by borrowing or renting a modern color chip chart or book. On the glovebox lid possibly under the lock cylinder rim or under a hinge there would be a bit of original color paint.

Here is the interior paint chart but will not be of much use since colors are generic named and listed by part numbers only. In 55 they only had one red option but what shade of red is the question.

Quote:

There are increasing numbers of 1956 Packards pictured online and at shows tuning up with wild a'never-were" mixes of colors on the interior. So, sooooo many V8 Packards that end up with confused colors and combinations that never were. A Naples Orange Caribbean with an interior that ought to be orange and white, but is upholstered in blood red!!! EEEeeek! This is usually because somebody insists upon seeing orange as "red" ... or pink as "red"...

If the exterior color of your vehicle is Scottish Heather, that is a rich PINK... and the instrument panel for that color exterior would have been a shade of pink... but not "red" or any variation of red at all.

The odd references to "red" in the listing are quite bizarre and leave actual colors out while referencing "red"...OMG. No idea how this came into being. But for 1955 and 1956 one can always simply look in the original Packard showroom color and upholstery samples in the dealer's showroom album. Both should be included on this site.

And yes, rather than searching for "codes" instantly translatable to today's paints, it is far better to simply take a component with good original paint to a professional automotive paint supplier. Have the supplier SCAN your part and mix a batch of paint for you. Done.