1981 Paint Code Question
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,009
Likes: 0
From: St. Charles MO.
1981 Paint Code Question
On my 81...the tag says it's code 80. Anyway...Corvette action center calls it "Autumn Red" but after checking the link posted in the 80-82 pic thread, I found that corvettepaintcodes.com calls it "Claret Metallic" Can someone clear this up...I dont want to sound uneducated when I tell someone what color it is. Also it appears this was a 1 year only color with only 1,505 produced? Is this true if there are any experts out there.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,545
Likes: 3
From: 406ci SB, AFR 180 Heads - 490 HP @5,600 RPM 529 lb-ft @ 4,100 RPM
Last edited by Glass Act; Feb 10, 2008 at 09:04 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,009
Likes: 0
From: St. Charles MO.
ok...going by this list from that link....does that mean autumn red is only a 2 tone color? I'm sorry to make this difficult but my trim tag says "80U 80L" which is pointless with 1 color car but anyway...this list implies that it was only a 2 tone color and the "claret metallic" option originally in question is not even on here so now I'm really confused because i figured maybe it was autumn red on a 2 tone and claret metallic on a single color car or something wierd.
Here's the list from that link.
Body colors this year were
Mahogany Metallic
White
Silver Metallic
Black
Bright Blue Metallic
Dark Blue Metallic
Yellow
Beige
Red
Maroon Metallic
Charcoal Metallic
Four two-tone combinations were available:
Silver and Dark Blue
Silver and Charcoal
Beige and Dark Bronze
Autumn Red and Dark Claret
Here's the list from that link.
Body colors this year were
Mahogany Metallic
White
Silver Metallic
Black
Bright Blue Metallic
Dark Blue Metallic
Yellow
Beige
Red
Maroon Metallic
Charcoal Metallic
Four two-tone combinations were available:
Silver and Dark Blue
Silver and Charcoal
Beige and Dark Bronze
Autumn Red and Dark Claret
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,545
Likes: 3
From: 406ci SB, AFR 180 Heads - 490 HP @5,600 RPM 529 lb-ft @ 4,100 RPM
here's another link that may help you. It says #80 is Claret only
http://www.corvettepaintcodes.com/
http://www.corvettepaintcodes.com/
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,009
Likes: 0
From: St. Charles MO.
here's another link that may help you. It says #80 is Claret only
http://www.corvettepaintcodes.com/
http://www.corvettepaintcodes.com/
1. Corvette Action Center- Code 80= Autumn Red
2. www.corvettepaintcodes.com- Code 80= Claret Metallic
3. The other link you posted above Doesn't list either as a single body color, only the autumn red as a 2 tone color.
NCRS people feel free to clear this up!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,223
Likes: 124
From: Apple Valley Minnesota
I read 80U 80L to mean that the car was painted autumn red top and bottom, or more simply put the car was painted one color autumn red, if it had been a tu-tone car the paint code would have read 80U 98L for upper/lower, just my opinon
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,009
Likes: 0
From: St. Charles MO.
http://www.corvettelink.com/corvette....asp?Year=1981
http://www.web-cars.com/corvette/opt...ptionyear=1981
And also Roger's Corvette I found list it as Autumn Red. So to recap...
the car is 1 color, it is Code 80...which I am trying to determine the name of. Also still wondering if it was only a 1 year color. That's kind of cool that this color is only 3.7% of the production run, and one year only.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!
Joe Kucinski
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,009
Likes: 0
From: St. Charles MO.
Spede, that could be the case...It was built Sept. 26th 1981 in Bowling Green. As far as I know its the 6,616th built there. Hopefully somebody with a BG car will chime in.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,359
Likes: 57
From: Mundelein Illinois
You should contact the Corvette Museum for a build sheet. Since your car was built at Bowling Green they will send you a build sheet and original window sticker. I think its 35 or 40 bucks
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,161
Likes: 280
From: Springfield MA
St. Jude Donor '10-'11-'12, '19, '21
The Corvette Bible, (Corvette Black Book), states that code 80 is Autumn Red. The only other two tone that is close is code 80/98.(That's Autumn Red and Dark Claret). Also, Autumn Red #80, only shows up in the 1980 production cars.It further states that Bowling Green color quantities are understated by about 6% because they were counted through Aug. 31, 1981, before production ended.
Hope this brings a little more light.
Dave
Hope this brings a little more light.
Dave
