Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

The 47 Custom Super Clipper is in the body shop !!!
Body work done, Primer on the body.......
Now I need some help with a Color Formula.
The Original color was Vanderbilt Gray Metallic.
Does anyone know of a Modern Paint Formula
Or name of the color that would be close
to the Vanderbilt Gray Metallic.
I read some place the the wheels should be painted
the darker Lowell gray metallic color.
The body is going to use base coat/clear coat formulation.

Vanderbilt Gray looks great on those cars, though I particularly like the two tone with Atlantic Blue lower and Vanderbilt Gray upper. The original DuPont code for Vanderbilt Gray was 202-39655 and any major paint manufacturer can mix that for you in any type of paint you like. The original paint code formulas are probably on this site somewhere, they are also on The Packard Club site under Reference.

I believe the wheels in Lowell Gray came with the 2-tone Gray, Vanderbilt over Lowell. In two-tone combinations I believe the wheels were the lower color. In single color cars the wheels were the same as the rest of the car.

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I found the formulas for my '48 Station Sedan on Autocolorlibrary.com. All colors are available through PPG, Ditzler was a subsidiary of PPG back then.

to make the paint you need a modern formula, not the original. Both the base and pigments differ today, so an original formula is of little direct use.

My PPG rep has the modern equivelants on file so I can match the original colors in addition to having the fine metallics that were in style in that era, unlike the bright metallics of todays cars.