History two tone paint hierarchy

NOTE: i just posted this on Ford Barn, but maybe will get some good information here, too.

how are the colors of two tone paint jobs determined?

maybe i mean shades, but some cars have fenders dark & roof light. some vice-versa. some have trim lined body panels dark or light against the main body color.

is this more a color analyst question?

i'm a dark low/ light high guy, but now sure where that comes from.


AND while we're on the subject, when was it determined maroon and red were a good combination? this might be more of a hot-rod thing, so i'm going to post it on HAMB, too.

thanks,

sid

 

Avoid 'fishing lure' paint jobs. you know, the top half is one color, below the belt line is another color. thats streetrod crap

 

I for one don’t care for anything after 1940 with a two tone. Except for maybe a few pickups
Before 1940… cars with two tone fenders look good. Chosen Colors should always be within the time period of the vehicles manufacturing dates.
Just my opinion…..

 

On mid-fifties Chevys:

• Lighter color was on top, darker color on the bottom. This was supposed to make the car look lower.
• At least one of the colors was a neutral (black, gray or white) color.

Hope this helps.

 

Dark/heavy colours on the bottom to ground the vehicle, same concept in buildings/architecture. For example black fenders and other colour on top. Throw a google out for your body style and two tone, you will soon see what you don’t like.

 

i think this is what i'm getting at and is reinforcing others understand my perspective. yet every time i make a "rule," something comes along to contradict it.

for example, i see some traditional model As painted almost the same color, yet darker shade from the belt line up, separated by a completely unrelated pinstrip color, and really "railway worker safety green vest" wire wheels, that look fine in context.

 

Looking at Tri-fives, in 56 and 57 they stuck to the light on top a bit more. In 55, they had several two tone combos with dark on top. The coral and charcoal is a cool combo to me.

https://news.classicindustries.com/1955-1956-1957-chevy-colors-paint-codes

 

Good points.
Agree on the coral & gray combo.
Also, IMO, '56 Bel Airs display some of the best two-tone paint divisions ever created.

 

Agreed, 56 is my least favourite tri-five front end design but the two-tone lines are awesome.

My takeaway is that manufacturers would change things up to try and see what appealed to buyers from year to year. Generally you're probably right with the light on top but there was certainly some experimentation going on.

 

56 is the best looking tri 5. Funny how that works. Never cared for a 57 that much

colors?
Don’t care. Depends on the vibe of the ride.
I think the manufactures in the 50s painted cars whatever color combos would attract female buyers as they were a growing demographic of car owners and families buying a 2nd car.

most of mine have some rust on top, color in the middle some rust on the lower portions.
One has orange fenders on front from its donor vehicle, faded white with rust on the rest of it.
With blue accent stripe down the middle. It’s a tri tone.

 

Hierarchy... makes me think of pecking order
It was originally School Bus Yellow on Yellow and I just couldn't go there and I guess commercial colors are different...
you know who usually comments about their love of the colors? women....it is a safe area for them to comment on.
I usually pick colors that will be easy to match when the paint finish gets messed up.
United Airlines Corporate and Vulcan grey

 

interesting, I'm the exact opposite. Black fenders on a car with color on the body just looks weird, unless the fenders are not really part of the body, such as on a T.

And the 50s had the best two tones...of course, the good ones were sort of rare among all the really awful weird stuff that was available.

this is the important part. Different things look good to different people. So don't expect to get one answer from a post like this, you'll get a wide variety of opinions.

(btw I think the dark gray top tri five chevys don't look very good)

 

i think i dated her sister.
but she was nice, and could cook, so i just went along for the ride . . .

 

thanks for the link and great color chart; very helpful both.

i had a great aunt who, in the early '60s, had her bathroom tiled in pink & black. but only halfway up the walls. the top half was some hokey Parisian wallpaper with dancing poodles & metallic gold gee-gaws & doo-dads all over it.
every time our family visited she would take mom, dad, & myself into the bathroom to show it off.

that picture made me shiver a bit!

 

i agree that opinions are subjective, but sometimes i need input to make mine!

nice links on your web page: Selectric Typewriter Museum - Cars - 1961 Cragar Catalog

the Jalopy Journal offered some reprints about 15 years ago that were, as the kids say, "Boss."

 

The boxed-out grille on a curvy car will never make sense to me. It looks more 50's Ford design language to me. The 55 grille design is just so much more elegant.

 

55s look like an overgrown rambler/poor man’s Ferrari.
57s look like a chrome catfish
56 got it right.

But what do I know.

as far as paint color “rules”. Screw em
If the owner digs the colors, that’s all that matters.

 

I'd say that there really isn't any rule of thumb about about light or dark colors that works for all vehicle designs. You will see some two tone paint jobs that look terrible with certain color choices and the same scheme would look good with a different choice of colors.

I would suggest getting one of the computer programs that let you insert a picture of your car/truck and allow you to insert different color schemes onto it. Print a few of them out and post them and gather some opinions about how they look. It doesn't matter what scheme you choose, the wrong choice of colors will ruin it.........and vice versa. Expect to get a range of opinions varying from " dislike" to "great" and then maybe even a few suggestions...........but in the end pick what you like.

It's just a whole lot easier if you get some software that lets you see what you will have before you buy the actual paint.


Below is a picture of a professionally built car displayed at the Street Rod Nationals. Its not a normal paint scheme for this model, but the choice of colors gives the car kind of a rich exquisite look and works very well with the other chrome components. You can bet they spent some time looking at colors on a computer before actually deciding.





Here is another example: (IMHO) I don't think this model car looks good in white, and I also think the design used doesn't do anything to improve the cars appeal. I can't imagine any other colors that would help that design. BUT.............the guy who owns it likes it and thats whats important. It's his version of a dream, and I'm glad we all don't build exactly the same way.

Had to edit this because of the wheels so pic didn't go to the right location. Its at the bottom.

View attachment 6423336


Here is one where instead of using paint for the two tone effect, the convertible top sets off the color choices. Clean and nice looking. I'm wondering if something on the running board might break up
the solid side color.........but it's still a very nice car.





View attachment 6423339

The general idea though is to get some software that allows easy color changes and see first hand how your ideas will look before you have to live with them.

 

I think dark on the bottom is traditional history. When Henry finally offered colors on late Model Ts and Model As, he still dipped the fenders in black paint.

 

in my next life i would like to be the guy that makes up the names for colors.

there are so many shades of 'black', i cannot understand why it would be ever used except as an accent color.

probably a reason why the color chip chart is 20 feet long at the local Benjamin Moore dealers, the gals take 30 sample cards to paint the dining room, and then need to go have coffee because it's so exhausting. oh; and still end up painting the room 'white'; you know, because it goes with everything.

 

My car in 1972.
Buic k colors I think.

 

don't forget the trucks!

 

Those last two are sure to cause some distress here...

 

This '54 Ranch Wagon belongs to the boss lady, I went against the norm when I used the lighter color around the window area between the same darker color top & lower portion of the car. HRP

 

Hey Danny,
Funny, I've seen pics of Brenda's wagon dozens of times and never really noticed the lighter color around the windows...it looks so natural...like it belongs there. Is that something the factory did on Ford wagons?

 

Jack, they offered the tutone and the solid paint, I believe they offered the light color top and bottom with a darker color in the middle, at least in the brochures. HRP



We even toyed with the idea of copying the Chevrolet paint styles of the fifty's and paint the top half of the car magnum cream and the lower half green, it was just too much, thank goodness Brenda didn't like it. HRP





If you look closely the fellow in the dark shirt is the late Randy Nash (Deuce Roadster) he hauled the car for me in his enclosed trailer, the guy in the red shirt is Dendy Hanley, the gentleman that painted the car. HRP

 

What are you painting? I've had to sort out lots of ideas over the years. Specifically Packard in most cases, and that gets touchy because those high end cars were sold to the desire of the customer. In fact its mentioned in the Packard salesman handbook but it also says "...but the salesman should make an effort to dissuade from the bizzare." So even though you could get a pink body with apple green fenders it was recommended to talk them out of it. Politely of course. How about a Duesenberg Derham Tourster in primrose yellow and sea foam green fenders? I know "Eew, WTF!" right? BZZZT! You'd be wrong. Color should be sourced from what was available and an effort to remain in the realm of good taste. I tend to "date" a restoration from back when based on color. You see tan and brown, probably late 60s thru the early 70s. 2 shades of red? Probably late 70s thru mid 80s. I won't even touch on hot rods. Model A? Black fenders, period, unless it's a pickup used commercially. 32-3 Ford same thing. The rest, there's enough literature out there to pick a theme. 1 danger though. Sometimes a wild color choice would show up in an artist's rendering for an ad back then where the point was just to get you to look, not that they recommended a blue body with purple fenders. But it caught your eye in that old magazine, huh? Oh yeah, that "Eew..." color combo?

I don't care what anyone says, all I'd change is ownership. Likely never copied, but Gary Cooper's color choice is stunning and so fitting for both profiles, his and the car. I think it works. Anyways, I will always stand by the fact that color is the most import visual decision you'll make on any build or restoration.

 

i was going to say something but thought "nah; they're what the owners wanted." i think they just jump out in contrast to the content of the site by comparison.

just like bicycles & trains, there's a common thread among enthusiasts. carbon fiber or all steel, steam or diesel, even tuners & brass era, enthusiasts share the love, so let them be who & how they want.

let's face it, at some point we've all gone to the dark side of somewhere !