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So, I'm trying to determine if Matador Maroon was actually a factory color option on 51 200 Deluxe Sedans. Some sources show it as a color option...others do not list it. My car appears to have been painted very recently. It is a beautiful color, but not sure if it's the original color. Thanks.

A.B.

Matador Maroon (metallic) is a standard paint offering for 1951, Paint Code U.

Thank you for the answer.

A.B.

If you want to confirm the colour that you have is actually Matador Maroon Metallic there are photos of a few cars (including mine) that you could use for comparison.

Of course a photograph usually doesn't render the true shade but at least you can get a reasonable idea by comparing several different photos.

Looking at the (rather poor) pic of your car it seems reasonably close to the correct Maroon, so suggest posting a few different photos of better quality taken in different light conditions if you want an opinion. People could direct you to a few photos of Matador Maroon Metallic cars.

What is the paint code on your VN plate? That will tell you what the car was originally as built.

50 - 52 Matador red was available (possibly other years as well).

This site has a set of 1952 color chips, but the scan was made from deteriorated originals so isn't much help.

Looked at the Packard club and they are missing the second page (which has matador red, of course).

You might want to get a set of paint chips on flea-bay, where they turn up...

I spent some time with the sample here in Photoshop, but could produce nothing that seemed viable.

Good luck; it is a nice color.

I'd like to see sunset red, as well....

EDIT: Found a 1951 DuPont chip set on Ebay which does not show Matador red. Since other colors apparently could not be matched, Matador may have been a victim of that lack of ability....

Several years ago, I began compiling my own cross-reference of factory paint colors, based on parts book info and supplier charts. If a chart wasn't available here, I checked other known sites for paint. I have not (yet) tried to index color availability by model and only got through DuPont charts (and only back to 35) when I had to put that work on the back burner due to higher priorities.

Matador Maroon Metallic (Code U) is shown for 50-51-52-53-54. The DuPont DUCO code (1355-M) for that color is same for each year.

Due to the limits of scanning (especially with metallic in the mix) it's doubtful that you'd ever get a good representation of the actual shade - even if you had a color-corrected display. For example, every available scan of Mojave Tan Metallic (Code R) for 1956 (though not shown on a DuPont chart) looks like mud, when the true color actually lies somewhere between that of gold and that of a new penny.

Best bet is to use the online charts as a guide, then go shopping for an actual supplier chart for the desired year; they're not expensive. Some charts have much larger chips than others, but colors can vary a bit between suppliers - kinda like dye lots in yarn/fabric.

Do NOT use "paint chip" cards (usually just ink) as a basis for matching color!

There area number of reasons (some touched on already), why this is not accurate.

Old formulae using obsolete pigments in a no longer existing base are not the whole answer either.

Un weathered original paint (trunk lid inside, under trim) is the best bet.

I'm not sure what suppliers are providing these days, but the original charts for these old cars had chips that were samples of the actual paint - not like the ones for house paint.

Yes, if you need a digital sample to obtain custom mix using modern paint systems, then you should look for a concealed area on an original car - if you can find such an example.

A digital image or for that matter a spectrophotometer reading is not adequate either. For best result, you need a visual match by a trained person, especially for metallics. That's still how it's done at the OEM today.