A collection of paint color information
for Chrysler 300 Letter Cars


Revised May 6, 2013


Instrument panel colors:

C300: Saddle Beige, Ditzler (PPG) # 21181
300B: Sand Dune Beige, Ditzler # 21185
300C: Desert Beige, #21281 (Also an exterior color for 1957)
300D, 300E, and 300F: Saddle Beige, #21181



Exterior Paint Color

Year

Code

Name

Old Ditzler Number

Page #
Old Formula Book

New Ditzler Number

1955

01

Black

9000

 

 


25

Tango Red

70525

 

71899


30

Platinum

8096

 

8680

           

1956

01

Raven Black

9000

 

 


37

Regimental Red

70643

 

71568


41

Cloud White

8036

E-66

 

           

1957

A

Jet Black

9000

 

 


F

Parade Green

41826

DYE-DDL

2205 w/less poly


N

Copper Brown

21018

E-180

 


P

Gauguin Red

70693

DYE-DDL

70618 little darker


X

Cloud White

8036

 

 

           

1958

AAA

Raven Black

9000

 

 


HHH

Aztec Turquoise

42150

 

R-195


MMM

Mesa Tan

21447

 

2467


OOO

Tahitian Coral

70779

 

60398 too light


PPP

Matador Red

70791

 

71946


XXX

Ermine

7131

E-67

 

           

1959

AAA

Formal Black

9000

 

 


KKK

Turquoise Grey

42263

E-292

 


RRR

Radiant Red

70791

 

 


WWW

Cameo Tan

21551

E-185

 


XXX

Ivory White

8131

 

 


ZZZ

Copper Spice

21550

 

22240 slightly darker

           

1960

BB-1

Formal Black

9000

 

 


PP-1

Toreador Red

71003

E-399

 


WW-1

Alaskan White

8218

E-69

R-356


ZZ-1

Terra Cotta

71053

E-400

 

           

1961

BB-1

Formal Black

9000

 

 


PP-1

Mardi Gras Red

71203

E-403

R-317


RR-1

Cinnamon

71140

 

A-309 (lacquer)


WW-1

Alaskan White

8218

 

 

           

1962

BB-1

Formal Black

9000

 

 


PP-1

Festival Red

71203

 

 


WW-1

Oyster White

8293

 

 


ZZ-1

Caramel

22095

E-194

 

           

1963

BB-1

Formal Black

9000

 

 


MM-1

Alabaster

32202

E-248

R-175


NN-1

Madison Grey

32305

E-251

R-176


TT-1

Claret

71348

E-406

R-262


WW-1

Oyster White

8293

E-71

R-73

           

1964

BB-1

Formal Black

9000

 

 


CC-1

Wedgewood

12655

E-120

R-91


DD-1

Nassau Blue

12763

E-123

R-93


EE-1

Monarch Blue

12764

E-124

R-93


FF-1

Pine Mist

43151

E-312

R-199


GG-1

Sequoia Green

43149

E-312

R-199


KK-1

Silver Turquoise

12648

E-120

R-91


LL-1

Royal Turquoise

12765

E-124

R-93


MM-1

Madison Grey

32305

 

 


OO-1

Rosewood

50635

E-366

R-238


RR-1

Royal Ruby

50638

E-366

R-239


TT-1

Roman Red

71393

E-412

R-262


UU-1

Embassy Gold

22311

 

 


WW-1

Persian White

8358

E-72

R-73


XX-1

Dune Beige

22293

E-198

R-141


YY-1

Sable Tan

22317

E-198

R-141


22-1/22-9

Silver Mist

32398

E-254

R-176

           

1965

AA-1

Regal Gold

22461

E-202

R-144


BB-1

Formal Black

9000/9300

 

 


CC-1

Ice Blue

12894

E-129

R-96


DD-1*

Nassau Blue

12763

 

 


EE-1

Navy Blue

12896

E-129

R-96


FF-1

Mist Blue

12895

E-129

R-96


GG-1

Sequoia Green

43149

 

 


KK-1*

Peacock Turquoise

12897

 

 


LL-1

Royal Turquoise

12765

 

 


MM-1*

Granite Gray

32401

 

 


NN-1

Silver Mist

32398

 

 


RR-1

Sierra Sand

22441

 

 


SS-1

French Ivory

81413

E-440

R-284


TT-1

Spanish Red

71476

E-407

R-263


VV-1

Cordovan

50673

E-367

R-239


WW-1

Persian White

8362

E-72

R-73


XX-1

Sand Dune Beige

22440

E-202

R-143


YY-1

Sable Tan

22317

E-198

R-141


YY-1

Sable Tan**

22643

E-207

R-146


ZZ-1

Frost Turquoise

12898

E-129

R-96


22-1

Sage Green

43287

E-316

R-201


33-1

Pink Silver

22444

E-202

R-143


44-1*

Moss Gold

22443

 

 


55-1

Black Plum

50672

 

 


66-1

Mauve

50671

 

 


77-1

Patrician Gold

22442

 

 


88-1

Daffodil Yellow (1)

81515

E-444

R-285

(*) Used before Dec 22 1964 then cancelled
(**) Code was changed to #22643 in Jan., 1965
(1) Daffodil Yellow was released on March 1, 1965 for the 300-L

Engine Block Color

Year


1955

Silver

1956

Silver

1957

Silver

1958

Silver

1959

Black

1960

Black

1961

Black

1962

Turquoise Green

1963

Turquoise Green

1964

Turquoise Green

1965

Turquoise Green

Suggestions from members collected over the years.
Results not verified, use at your own risk.

1960 era instrument and speedometer needles, Testor Model Master Flourescent Red #FS28915. http://www.testors.com/products/136210

1960 air cleaner gold may use Plastikote Gold (452). It probably will need clear coat to hold up in the engine compartment environment. http://www.midwayautosupply.com/p-14805-plastikote-metallic-paint-12-oz-can-gold-452.aspx

Some members have also recommended Dupli-Color DE1604 Universal Gold Engine Paint for the air cleaners.

See also http://www.chrysler300club.com/rcmstuff/1acleaner/01.html for a color comparison on H air cleaners.

Long ram paint: Cummins engine Apex red #3163075.

From Herb Rogers: Your Chrysler dealer has original factory colors. Golden Lion Gold P4529149 Mopar Performance paint. Be sure to use a red primer .
Another match is a Opel gold from a auto parts store.

From Noel Hastalis:
Re a recent group email request, here's a link provided by one of our Club members a couple years ago - www.tcpglobal.com then click on the 'autocolorlibrary' tab

A note over the list server regarding dash paint:
The color is a GM color, called "Arizona Beige" DuPont No. 45195-D. I painted half of the dash on my 300D with this paint (in a spray can from Tower Paints) and you cannot tell where the new paint ended and the original paint started. Terry McTaggart

From Gil Gunningham regarding the 300F wheel cover:
The Chrysler drawing for the 300F wheel cover (PN 2122531) states "same as #1856400 Assy - wheel cover, except Flag Red Paint C-7415, in place of semi-gloss black, C-1412-E." Since the black for the 300E cover was stated as semi-gloss, and there was no differing specification for the red, I would conclude the red is also a semi-gloss. I do not have specifics on the actual Chrysler Color number with regard to gloss.
Now, what is Flag Red? It is also the color of the red specified in all the red white and blue 300 plastic medallions. Therefore, if one has a good NOS medallion, that is the Flag Red color. It is easier to match if the medallion is smooth in the red area like those on the D, G, H, and J wheel covers.
I do, however, have an official Chrysler color master for the ram manifold red, C-7107-A. When an original medallion is held on the surface of that master, the two colors are almost a perfect match! For some time the Club has suggested using Cummins Engine Red (Apex Red) as a substitute for the ram paint, although it seems just a wee bit darker. Unless you want to try and match the medallion red, the Apex red would probably be a decent substitute for the Flag Red.
As for the "gear", I am sure they are anodized. Also, very nice reproductions are available through the Club Store.
300ly, Gil Cunningham

For the 57 era dash knobs, consider Duplicolor Metalcast Yellow Anodized #M2282.

Rich Barber writes:
I don't have any specific written reference, but here is what I have been told and have come to believe and apply to my '55 C-300.
Block, intake manifold & pan are silver/aluminum. Exhaust manifolds are raw cast iron but can be painted with a gray tone that will emulate uncorroded cast iron.
Air cleaners and valve covers are flat to semi-gloss. I re-finished mine in 1970 Cadillac Byzantine Gold with flattening agent to 80% gloss and tinted to take some of the red out of the formula made up by my painter. We were attempting to match the remnants of original paint on the Delta wing air cleaner. Less glossy would have probably been more accurate, but the results looked great. See: http://www.kolumbus.fi/paivi.autere/e12.html for a picture of a Caddy in that color. I've also been told that the gold color varied somewhat over the two-year period the Delta-Wing air cleaners were used and that there may not be an absolute color standard for the color of these items.
Plug wire covers were also semi-gloss black, but glossy looks better. I was able to order slotted pan head screws in stainless steel for the spark plug covers from Ace Hardware. The originals are chrome-plated carbon steel screws and the chrome is almost always damaged at the overly-wide slot from the stress of removal and installation. I've seen where maybe the spark plug cover screws on the 300B engines were Phillips-head pan head screws which were a stock item at Ace.
You might want to consider powder coating the items if your coater will work with you on color. Just don't get them too glossy-the wet look isn't quite right.
Properly done, the engine, air cleaner, rocker arm covers and accessories form an impressive and attractive example of mechanical art. These Brutes are as Beautiful with their hoods up as they are closed up and ready to go.

Ray Melton writes:
I recently had the air cleaners and valve covers for my 1957 Chrysler 300C repainted in what I believe to be the correct shade and gloss level as originally supplied. On the back side of the oval ends of the air cleaner housings, I found what I am certain was the original Chrysler color, untouched by previous owners who had painted the exterior only. I had a local paint and body shop match the old paint color by trial and error until I was completely satisfied with the color - when the custom mix was sprayed right on top of a masked portion of the original paint, I could hardly see the transition. The parts were painted with a urethane primer, sanded, then two coats of the urethane color base coat, followed by a clear coat with approximately 50% flattening agent to give a satin gloss level. The final outcome was a tint slightly more silvery and less reddish-gold than the Plasti-kote #452 that had previously been applied, and with a more subtle satin gloss, rather than a too-bright high-gloss.

However, since the color matching was a multi-step trial-and-error process (add a little green and silver here, take out some red there, add more black, etc.) there was not an easy way for the painter to replicate the color for future applications, either by myself or someone else. So, I took the finished pieces to my local paint specialty shop and had them analyze the color using a special hand-held electronic color matching device. In less than five minutes, they were able to come up with the formula for tinting, and I thought I would share that with other interested members.

The starting point for the color base coat was one pint DuPont Chromabase clear. I don't know what all the numbers and letters mean, but your own paint specialty person will! Also note that a urethane-compatible primer must be applied before the color coat.

259663 K CC: M CHROMABASE BC Alt: (EUR)
Daewoo - 67U
Mix size: 16.0 oz. (pint)
Tinting Guide: Formula #259663
882J LS yelo oxide 27.1 (I was told this means YELLOW)
811J Med aluminum 45.4
891J Transox Red 62.1
819J Fine bright aluminum 69.8
806J HS Black 75.5
833J Green Gold 79.0
1005S Gold Pearl 89.6
1009S Super Green PL 95.2 (I was told the "PL" means PEARL)
150K B/C Balancer 317.1
175K Binder 444.5

The top coat was DuPont Chromabase clear, with ~50% flattening agent to yield a satin gloss level. Not being an automotive painter myself, I was shocked at the price for this base coat/clear coat paint: the base coat alone was $112 for one pint, plus a few bucks more for the activator! On the other hand, the guy who painted my parts mixed up only 8 ounces of color base coat, and there was still some left over after applying two coats of color, so that would be only ~$56.00 for a half-pint of the color coat. I didn't ask about the cost for the clear top coat, but it will be considerably less. I had the parts stripped and bead-blasted by another place ($55.00 - and careful NOT to strip the inner surfaces of the oval air cleaner end pieces to preserve for subsequent color-matching!) before taking them to the automotive body/paint shop -- the final charge for priming, sanding and painting the two air cleaner housings and both valve covers was $280.00.

Note: I've had no need to try out this formula myself, since my parts are already painted, but if you decide to go with the formula above, you might want to do a bit of custom color-matching yourself: do a test shot on a few square inches of a smooth metal surface (tin can lid?) and see how you like it, then add/subtract tint components to fine-tune to your personal preference.

Hope this helps some of you out there, so you won't have to go through the somewhat tedious trial-and-error approach that I did.

Henry Schleimer writes:

A couple of years ago when I had my air cleaners and covers painted, advice from some club members was to use Mercedes Benz Byzantine Gold colour from the 1970's. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this in this (and other) threads.

Did that and they look terrific. My car isn't going in a museum so close is good enough for me. It isn't a bright gold - which is good. Here is a link to an advertised car that is pretty much how it turned out.
http://bringatrailer.com/2011/03/24/bat-exclusive-1973-mercedes-benz-450se/

This may suit others who just want to tell their painter a known colour. Might be even able to get it in a rattle can.

Hello 300 Fans: Would one of the members please let me know the paint code for passenger side of the dash board (beige) for a 300B. Sincere Thanks Ross

Hi Ross: The color that I use is stock no. 9886 BASF/ limco acrilic enamel. It is called camel beige, it fits a 79 -86 Chevy pick up. Color code 64 / wa8057 . I leave the red oxide out and put in 25 more units in one pint of paint. This color matches Gary's vinyl very well. Bob Hayen

Click here for a reprint of Gil Cunningham's article on L interior colors

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