Paint: Rose paint on '63 Hawk

[savannahgreg]

My production order was Champagne Gold but clearly the car was originally painted maybe in Rose Mist or something close because it was Mauve, Mauve, Mauve, with Mauve seats and interior. But there is no 63 color chip really close. I found no evidence anywhere, and I pulled all the panels and trunk carpet off, underneath wires, etc of another color. How could that be?

[swvalcon]

Are you sure the vin number and body tag match your title and po. If it matches up either someone swaped out the tags or it was completely disassembled and painted a color change.

[63 R2 Hawk]

In the '30s, probably even earlier, Studebaker dealers were known to offer to paint a car any available color if it meant selling a car. I have read that you could get an early Studebaker delivered in primer if the buyer wanted a color not offered by the factory. I'm sure dealers would be willing to jump through a few hoops to sell a car even in the '60s.

[BobPalma]

Not necessarily, Greg; your 1963 Gran Turismo Hawk could indeed have had Champagne Gold Exterior with "mauve" interior. The "mauve" you cite was a pretty color...known as Chestnut in 1963.

As you see by these two charts from the 1963 Color and Upholstery Salesman's Guide, Red was the standard interior color with Champagne Gold exterior, but Blue, Green, and Chestnut cloth (or vinyl) was available at no extra cost:





BP

[savannahgreg]

Yes the VIN and body numbers match. I like the idea that a dealer got the color changed. The seats are vinyl so the cloth materials don't make sense, but the Chestnut color is way off, if I use Chestnut as we think of it today. The seats and interior vinyl were reddish-pink, if that makes sense. And they were (are) two toned, pink on the outside, whiteish on the inside. I have one photo of the seats before I changed them to brown, in keeping with the paint which was apparently sprayed Bronze metallic sometime in the 90's.

[StudeRich]

The Color shown in Post #5 sure looks like the '63 Maroon Vinyl, apparently with White Vinyl Inserts, but in the right light it could be Chestnut.


I don't think the Interior Color matters in determining the Body Color since as Bob P. pointed out several options were available.

It sounds like all of this is of no importance now anyway, since you now have a Bronze Metallic Car with a Brown Interior.

Is there a Paint Color Label glued on the bottom of the Glove Box where it was when New?

Wait a minute!: QUOTE: "I found no evidence anywhere, and I pulled all the panels and trunk carpet off, underneath wires, etc of another color."

TRUNK CARPET? Studebakers do not HAVE Trunk Carpet, this is not an original Car, so pretty much anything is possible.

[savannahgreg]

True enough. It is somewhat academic now. The carpet is a black/white checkerboard covering, not carpet in that sense. I think that material is original as I have seen it in other Studebakers. Covers the spare also. I couldn't find a sticker inside the glove box or underneath.

[Xcalibur]

More than a half-century down the road it is nearly impossible to know what has or hasn't been done to any given car without relevant documentation contemporary to such work. Color changes CAN be done so as to be undetectable, but such are rare, at least with cars of "lesser" value like most Studes. I've two cars with complete color changes with no telltale evidence, but they were both frame-off restorations. You may never know the real story on your car. Be prepared to enjoy anyway, and move on.

[Hallabutt]

Look at the back of the gas door. No matter who did the repaint, few take the time to paint the back of the GD. It also will be one of the most virgin original paint areas, because it is not faded by the sun.

[joncon]

I just bought a gallon of Rose Mist to repaint my 63 Cruiser, pretty color. Mine looks pink now, with the fading.

[57pack]

The Rose Mist is a very fetching 1963 color.
I missed buying a 1963 Daytona Wagonaire years ago that was painted Rose Mist.
Always regretted missing out on that car.
My 1957 Packard is painted Arctic White-Inca Cream and was when left South Bend according to the PO.
There is a completely different color combo on sticker on bottom of glove box.
We surmised the dash had been swapped some point as a recall or something because of the poor quality padded dash boards.

[stude dude]

Yes the VIN and body numbers match. I like the idea that a dealer got the color changed. The seats are vinyl so the cloth materials don't make sense, but the Chestnut color is way off, if I use Chestnut as we think of it today. The seats and interior vinyl were reddish-pink, if that makes sense. And they were (are) two toned, pink on the outside, whiteish on the inside. I have one photo of the seats before I changed them to brown, in keeping with the paint which was apparently sprayed Bronze metallic sometime in the 90's. [ATTACH=CONFIG]46403[/ATTACH]

The vinyl shown in the photo is not of the correct grain for a '63 Hawk, so there is a very good chance the covers have been changed. And it doesn't appear to be the correct shade for any of the original 1963 colors.

Chris.

[savannahgreg]

So it's indeed possible that someone went to extraordinary lengths to repaint the car in toto. The gas filler door inside is a grayish primer. I have not tried to peel the vinyl back from the seats in any place. When I took the seats out to do some floor work, I should have looked inside the bottom cushion. Would that tell me anything?

[StudeRich]

Since they removed the Carpet and re-painted the floors and under the door panels, they certainly would have to have seats out, so No, the seats would not show any paint except the Black factory paint on the springs.

IF you really wanted to know if it was a repaint you could look under the Heater Box on the right inner fender or under the Wiper Motor. If someone really wanted to do a through paint job the only way to find it would be to sand through some of it, on the bottom of a Door maybe.