Rare paint colors
#3
Team Owner
There are a number of colors that were never ordered in large quantities and I don't think they are necessairly "rare", just not popular.
Copper Metallic in '94 was an example of a "rare" color with only 166 cars in that color. But GM had lots of problems with the paint so it was dropped as a color choice. Its a striking color when you see a Copper Metallic C4, but with tthe paint problems, it never had a chance to become popular.
In '89 there was an Artic Pearl with only 27 cars painted that color. In '87 there was a Dark Orange with only 87 cars in that color; the following year, it was a "pilot color" and only 5 cars got that color.
OVer the years, there were a variety of colors ordered that were not that popular in a given model year. Yellow as an example never selected for much over 400 to 500 cars in any single year model year.
This link will show color selection and numbers for all the C4 years. Just click on the year to the right of the "Select" box to page thru to the 96 cars. This data will also be available in the Corvette Black Book.
Copper Metallic in '94 was an example of a "rare" color with only 166 cars in that color. But GM had lots of problems with the paint so it was dropped as a color choice. Its a striking color when you see a Copper Metallic C4, but with tthe paint problems, it never had a chance to become popular.
In '89 there was an Artic Pearl with only 27 cars painted that color. In '87 there was a Dark Orange with only 87 cars in that color; the following year, it was a "pilot color" and only 5 cars got that color.
OVer the years, there were a variety of colors ordered that were not that popular in a given model year. Yellow as an example never selected for much over 400 to 500 cars in any single year model year.
This link will show color selection and numbers for all the C4 years. Just click on the year to the right of the "Select" box to page thru to the 96 cars. This data will also be available in the Corvette Black Book.
#4
Race Director
#5
Drifting
That is an interesting question. I looked at this about a year ago using the Corvette Action Center data and made some Excel documents grouping colors by year.
I cannot seem to attach anything, which could be my lack of skill, so if you PM me your e mail, I'll send you the document. In short, I put the exact description and made a generic color grouping in a pivot table by year. I know, this is a little nerdy, but I'm a stat kind of guy.
Here are all of the colors that had less than 1000 Corvette's produced (using exact RPO color description):
Dark Orange (Pilot) - 5
Yellow (Plain) - 8
Arctic Pearl - 27
Dark Orange Metallic - 87
Copper Metallic - 120
White / Silver 2 Tone - 195
Dark Beige Metallic - 245
Gray/Black 2 Tone - 316
Silver / Gray 2 Tone - 403
Lt & Dk Beige 2 Tone - 447
Medium Brown Metallic - 488
Dark Purple / White - 527
White / Silver - 693
Gray Metallic - 869
Here is color (using generic color description):
Orange - 92
Copper - 120
Brown - 488
Beige - 692
Purple - 1896
Turquoise - 2210
Black Rose - 4088
Gold - 5015
Bright Aqua - 5733
Yellow - 7549
Bronze - 11008
Green - 15976
Silver - 17443
Gray - 20207
Dark Red - 26123
Blue - 26437
White - 57122
Black - 60922
Red - 93632
I cannot seem to attach anything, which could be my lack of skill, so if you PM me your e mail, I'll send you the document. In short, I put the exact description and made a generic color grouping in a pivot table by year. I know, this is a little nerdy, but I'm a stat kind of guy.
Here are all of the colors that had less than 1000 Corvette's produced (using exact RPO color description):
Dark Orange (Pilot) - 5
Yellow (Plain) - 8
Arctic Pearl - 27
Dark Orange Metallic - 87
Copper Metallic - 120
White / Silver 2 Tone - 195
Dark Beige Metallic - 245
Gray/Black 2 Tone - 316
Silver / Gray 2 Tone - 403
Lt & Dk Beige 2 Tone - 447
Medium Brown Metallic - 488
Dark Purple / White - 527
White / Silver - 693
Gray Metallic - 869
Here is color (using generic color description):
Orange - 92
Copper - 120
Brown - 488
Beige - 692
Purple - 1896
Turquoise - 2210
Black Rose - 4088
Gold - 5015
Bright Aqua - 5733
Yellow - 7549
Bronze - 11008
Green - 15976
Silver - 17443
Gray - 20207
Dark Red - 26123
Blue - 26437
White - 57122
Black - 60922
Red - 93632
Last edited by Andrew; 11-03-2008 at 12:35 PM.
#6
Instructor
Member Since: May 2008
Location: Tyler TX
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I get compliments over my Admiral Blue everytime I take it out on the road! Even myself I can't stop looking at its just something bout that color..addicted to it... Thats why I'm keeping it longer but sold the Black C5 earlier this year...
#7
Team Owner
#10
Drifting
That is correct, but they also made 4 in 1986. It has the same RPO description, but I'm not sure if it is the same paint mix code as the 94 version or not. Both the 86 and 94 even had the same RPO code of 66, but the 94 had a U after it. Maybe that means a slightly different mix.
Last edited by Andrew; 11-03-2008 at 03:30 PM.
#11
Team Owner
The letter U typically refers to Upper in terms of the original two-tone paint schemes with an L being the "lower" color. Build sheets and the Service Parts Identification decal should show the paint RPO code as a 2 digit numeric value with a U as the last character.
#12
Competition Yellow is pretty rare.
#13
Drifting
#14
Racer
Member Since: Mar 2008
Location: Seattle / Tacoma area Washington
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Thank-you for your time.
Harry in Bremerton
#15
Le Mans Master
#17
Race Director
There are a number of colors that were never ordered in large quantities and I don't think they are necessairly "rare", just not popular.
Copper Metallic in '94 was an example of a "rare" color with only 166 cars in that color. But GM had lots of problems with the paint so it was dropped as a color choice. Its a striking color when you see a Copper Metallic C4, but with tthe paint problems, it never had a chance to become popular.
In '89 there was an Artic Pearl with only 27 cars painted that color. In '87 there was a Dark Orange with only 87 cars in that color; the following year, it was a "pilot color" and only 5 cars got that color.
Copper Metallic in '94 was an example of a "rare" color with only 166 cars in that color. But GM had lots of problems with the paint so it was dropped as a color choice. Its a striking color when you see a Copper Metallic C4, but with tthe paint problems, it never had a chance to become popular.
In '89 there was an Artic Pearl with only 27 cars painted that color. In '87 there was a Dark Orange with only 87 cars in that color; the following year, it was a "pilot color" and only 5 cars got that color.