Alpine White

[Eldo55]

 Dear all, thank you in advance for your help. Currently in the process of having a 1955 Eldorado restored. The original color code for the car was number 90 alpine white.  The car was sprayed last week and to my eye  the finished product  looks more like the color code 40 Cape Ivory.   The paint was mixed by an experienced automotive paint shop that's familiar with restorations, and was applied by an experienced painter. The paint is a PPG mix that PPG says is alpine white.    I am curious  to know what sources other restorers are using for alpine white automotive paint, and if by chance anybody has an example of the comparison between alpine white and cape ivory.  Thank you again.

[Paul Tesone]

 Big difference between Alpine White & Cape Ivory . Cape Ivory is a light yellow . Paul Tesone CLC # 6876 .

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

The first thing I thought of is wondering what you are using to compare the
two different whites (Alpine vs. Cape Ivory) to determine why you believe
the color is off shade.

I have a set of salesman's pocket color samples from 1955 and I agree,
that based on how these look, Cape Ivory has a bit of cream / yellow tint
vs. Alpine White which appears to be a pure bright white. These samples
were kept in a sealed bound book so they preserved quite well.

Photos of any kind such as you provided, especially when viewed on a
computer, are not known to be very accurate.  It appears that your car
has a bit of tint to it but lighting and color reproduction make it difficult
to make a judgement.

I had the same problem when having my '55 Eldorado restored with Bahama
Blue.  The best thing is if you could find a small section of painted surface on
your car that was not exposed to the sun and have it spectro analyzed you
could have it matched to the original.  The best place to look is in an interior
nook or door jamb, etc.

Any good paint shop can do this.  Best of luck.

Mike

[Eldo55]

Thank you very much gents.  You're confirming what we're seeing, that the car had a 3% yellow mix percentage and is much closer to the cape ivory than the alpine white.  So the next question is if there is any advice on where to obtain the correct paint?  thank you again.

[bjorn1230]

Here's my '56 SDV with the original Alpine White door jams, inside trunk and lower dash. The outside was repainted in a brighter white color many years ago, so when I strip her down, I'll match up the original color from the door jams instead of having someone mix it just to make sure it matches. Yes, it definitely has a yellow tint to it

[Roger Zimmermann]

Some time ago, I read that white paint was not suitable for cars because the paint was unstable. White paint on cars began in the fifties if I'm correct; it could be that the Alpine white was not as stable as expected and turned yellowish over the time, even at locations protected from the sun.