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Croyden Cream Paint Color 1930-1940s

Started by Anthony Montano, March 21, 2006, 12:29:34 PM

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Anthony Montano

Looking for a paint chip or formula for Croyden Cream R&M 242-51389 which was used only once on a 1939 Lasalle convertible show car for the 1939 NEW YORK WORLDS FAIR.

Lou 19028

I made a few calls for you today.. RM(BASF) has no listing. I got to thinking,even if there was a formula it would do you no good. The tinting bases would be discontinued. You will need to get your hands on a sample of the color so it can be duplicated.
Regards,Lou

Barry Wheeler #2189

I tried several years ago to contact DuPont about custom 1941 colors, with no success. These one of a kind, and low volume custom colors are most likely lost forever.
I imagine that for the full custom 1941 colors, there were only about a dozen chip sets made up for the premium dealerships in the great cities where 95percent or better of the custom work was ordered.
Thus, the chance of finding a set for auction on eBay is slim to none. One can only dream.
Who is to say what that actual color you are looking for is like, anyway. What you might do is find an artist friend, or acquaintance, and get their idea about what a cream color for a Worlds Fair car might have been, and go from there. By using the word association of "Croydon" they might come up with something slightly different than the usual cream shades. After all, color is only a preception in our individual eyes. Or, mess around with white and yellow model paint till you find the one shade that really floats your boat, have it read by a scanner and mixed up. Good luck!

Doug Houston

There were probably 3 special colors for 1941. One that I know of was "Bravo Brown". It was done, as I understand, for a show car or cars. It was very close to Managua Beige, a truly gold- bronze color. There was a character in the Detroit area who was desperate for individuality, so he bought a couple of gallons of Bravo Brown for a 41-6229 sedan he was going to restore. After changing hands a few times, the car was finally painted in the Bravo Brown, and doesnt look bad. I was on a CCCA tour in 1994, and that car was parked alongside a 60Special in Managua Beige. There was very little difference in the two colors, though they were indeed different.

Remember that Cadillac was supplied by Rinshed-Mason for its paints at that time. The R-M dealer that we went to for our paint was Dawes Paint Company, who is no longer in business. Carl Dawes had the formulas for the special colors and that was how the guy got the Bravo Brown.

No need to say, R-M changed their mixing colors long ago, so even if we found the formula for the color, wed still be out of luck. Right now, Im having my 41 convertible coupe repainted in the original Monica Blue. The painter has some connections with DuPont, and is going through a ballet to get a new formula for it. They do it by densitometers now, thet break the color into its components, and develop a new mix formula, as they explain it to me. The results are suipposed to be pretty close.

Barry Wheeler #2189

Doug is referring to spring colors, as Carl Steig went through all the build sheets for all the 60S cars, finding such colors as Cloud Mist Grey, copper, peach, red, and one in yellow/black two tone from the "special order color sheets." Even body #1 60S built for the treasurer had a four digit code for the black it was painted rather than the usual #51. In the mists of time, before he passed away, Hollis Weighe told of attending a North-South meet and the speaker was a R-M representative. Supposedly, there was another maroon, the Brava (or Bravo) Brown, and something else. Others have spoken of a blue/green. And of course, you could pick from previous colors, and even any current GM car. All for $25.00. Unfortunately this is not the $25.00 we know today which wont buy a carton of cigarettes and definitely not a tank of gas.

Rhino 21150

I put "Croyden Cream" into Google and surprise! Apparently the Chicago elevated trains used that color. Mercury Green below the windows, Croyden Cream above and Swamp Holly Orange roof. Zowie! Perhaps this acn provide a lead?
http://www.chicago-l.org/liveries/index.html TARGET=_blank>http://www.chicago-l.org/liveries/index.html
Harley-Davidson painted bikes that color.
http://home.san.rr.com/harley/paints.htm TARGET=_blank>http://home.san.rr.com/harley/paints.htm
All of this was in the thirties. It would make sense that a La Salle would be painted the color of the El if was to be shown in Chicago.
Hope this helps!

Bob Hoffmann CLC#96

Thats really great. As an old Chicago boy, it brings back memories...  Now if someone could find me Suntone Yellow, a show car color in 1941. That would make my day!!! Bob

Doug Houston

The 62 Harley that I had was done in a two-tone of bronze and tan. It was a special factory color, and one of the handsomest Harleys Id seen. I did check with the factory and they looked up the file on that VIN, and gave me the DuPont paint codes for it.

On the special colors for Cadillac, my 41 club coupe was done in a brown beige, called "Aberdeen Beige". It was bought from Greenlease-Moore in Oklahoma City. From what Ive been able to learn about it, the guy must have stopped at the dealer, got the big color catalogue, gave it to his wife, and told her to pick out a car for a gift. The 62 coupe was the car, and she must have said that she liked the color in the picture. Problem: that color wasnt in the standard selection. The dealer had to order the car in a special color that matched the picture in the catalogue. By the time I got the car in about 1969, it had been painted in black enamel. The spare wheel was in Aberdeen Beige, and I wasnt in love with the color, myself, so I painted it in Color combination 60: Dusty Gray lower, and Rivermist gray upper.

On the maroons: GM offered two maroon colors in 41. One was for all divisions except Cadillac. It was a lighter maroon, and on Chevrolet, it was called "Ruby maroon". My 41 Chevy is done in that color. Cadillacs Valcour Maroon is noticeably darker, and I believe I see a little purplish cast to it. I did my 41 convertible sedan in that color. Cant you imagine that someone might have ordered a Cadillac in the lighter maroon?

Then, the 1938 90 coupe that was the Dr. Brinkley car. It was done in "Carnival red", with green wheels, and a green interior. Carnival red was never a Cadillac color, though shown as a Packard color from about 1936. That car is currently in a leaf green.  

.....And there are lots more tales like these.