I've been watching this interesting thread for a couple of days now.
Trying to duplicate these 50 year old colours that were originally a
nitrocellulose laquer base, which we can't get any more, is always going to
be a challenge. In fact whan the metallics are being attempted we face even
more of a challenge. Even during the production of the Healey the metallics
were being constantly improved. A truly original piece of Healey Blue paint
has simply faded, oxidized and deteriorated to the point where it approaches
an entirely different hue. See John Snyder's comment below re the car he had
in 1960.
Because of all these factors, and the many paint manufacturers "versions" of
the original colours, we find ourselves today actually probably much closer
to some sort of accuracy by eyeballing and comparing the brand and type of
paint we plan to use with some standard like the excellent paint chips found
in Pikovnik's paint guide. Even these can vary slightly.
When we judge and evaluate a colour in Concours, we look for "a reasonable
attempt at accuracy".
We constantly run into judging cars with possibly questionable paint shades.
Two good examples of this are the so called "Colorado Red" and "Old English
White".
Colorado Red when first introduced on the BN4 in 1956 was quite a bit more
orange than the Colorado Red that came later. On top of that, any shade of
red will start to fade immediately right from the day it dries. On top of
those factors we have Carmine Red on the Hundreds up to the end of 1955,
then the darker Reno Red on BN2's from the end of 1955 until the all new
Colorado Red takes over on the 100/6. The years pass and many owners today
become understandably confused in choosing which shade of red should be used
on which model car.
Old English White was a whiter shade than Ivory, yet the aftermarket
companies often combined them through the years to some shade part way
between. History gets rewritten!
How many times has Spruce Green, (the only green colour available on Healeys
until the end of 1955) been mistaken for so called British Racing Green. BRG
didn't appear on normal production Healeys until the lighter shade (GN25)
became available on the BJ7. The dark BRG (GN29) only came available on the
BJ8's.
The original inquiry regarding a non metallic version of Healey Blue is
another very confusing thing. On the build cards it isn't stipulated as
being a different colour at all. In fact there are some build cards for very
early Hundreds that note"Healey Grey". I have body #156 (built August 7/53)
in the shop right now that stated that on the build card, yet a metallic
Healey Blue has been found on it. I have seen this non metallic colour and
it is as described, similar in shade to Healey Blue (metallic) but with
absolutely no metallic.
The preproduction car AHX14 and the first production car (138031) body #24
were both metallic Healey Blue, so it isn't a question of early vs. later.
Interesting stuff anyway.
Rich Chrysler
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