Shell Pink 1955 Desotos

Ron,

'55 Model Year Coordinator here, however, not ready yet to wear the "expert" title. Every time I think I know the answer somebody provides evidence otherwise.

Funny you should raise this topic, i.e., "pink" '55 DeSotos. Fellow NDC member Bob Terpak and I have carried on this debate for many years. It started with now deceased former member Joe Paolucci's nicely restored '55 Fireflite hardtop. It's likely one of the pink cars you've seen in print over the years. When questioned at meets back in the '90's about the color, Joe swore that it was the original color on his California built '55. Like you, I refer to the '55 color chip chart and dealer color and trim album which clearly does not include pink as a '55 color.

Since that debate with Joe, I've sent Bob Terpak several online ads for '55's painted what appears to be shades of pink. As the years go by, Club members have noted several differences with California built cars. It is possible that color choices were slightly different but as yet no documentation exists to support that.

Within the past couple months a member supplied the trim code from his '55 data plate in hopes we could identify his original upholstery fabric. None of my dealer only reference material had his trim code, so again we see something unexpected and not easily explained. You can find those exchanges on this message board.

Were there pink '55's? We may never know for certain.

Mark

Does anyone have Technical Service Bulletins for 55 Desoto ? I think this kind of addition would be documented there. Otherwise, how would body shops know the paint code for refinishing a car in this color ?

Ron

Ron

All Paint Shops and etc have a Lasor Type of unit that looks at the color
and then matches it to what is used today to achieve the same color.

For The 1956 production year - The Imperial Division had what they
called "Desert Rose" . http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/index.htm .

Is this even close to what you have ?

Rodger & Gabby
COS

Roger -

I was thinking more of what they did 'back in the day', rather than what we're capable of today.

I was thinking that it might have been a spring color, since shell pink was available for '56 Desotos.

Ron

Ron

Back in the day - they had a printed "cheat sheet" which told the mixing person
to add ...

10% of this shade of _______
25% of _________
12% of _________
and etc in order to get what ever Shade/ Hue of what ever color that is being
made.

From division to division the same mixture is not always called the same
marketing colour name.

If you are trying to get a close as possible era color - MaaCo is very good for
this. Use the words of "Single Stage Paint" and they will know what you are
talking about. Even though you may balk at the thought of MaaCo - their
finished product is better than what your car came with.

Rodger & Gabby
Colo Spgs

Ron,

I've got a pretty complete collection of '55 Service Bulletins which includes paint chips for '55 and pink is not one of the selections. There is one about "spring special" colors and Bob Terpak noted these in his recent article about the '55 DeSoto in DeSoto Adventures. Neither of the spring special colors was the shade of pink you are describing.

Here is my theory on why some folks believe pink was an official color for '55: Many of the '56 DeSoto paint chip charts assembled by paint suppliers are titled "Late 1955 and 1956 DeSoto Paint Colors". The late '55 are the spring special colors of Taffy Rose (or something like that) and Coronado green. Pink is clearly listed under the '56 colors, but some liberally interpret the paint chip chart as saying any color on that chart is good for '55. My theory only...

Mark

Mark -

OK, so what I'm hearing is that the cars that I see in magazine articles, on ebay, etc. that are shell pink are actually cars that have been repainted that color at some point in their life.

What issue of Desoto Adventurers had the article on 1955 Desotos ? I rejoined the club right before the Lake Elmo convention, after being absent for a few years. So I don't know if I have that one.

Another thought: It would be great to have those TSBs scanned and put onto a DVD. Has anyone attempted this ?

Ron

Now for my 10 cents worth.
First of all, the device that Rodger referred to is a "Spectrophotometer" that's being used by pretty much anyone who mixes paint. They are relatively expensive so most shops don't have them but they have access to one through their paint supplier.
Most manufacturers did offer "custom" colors at a considerable cost with a generic color code on the plate. Not sure if this was true for Chrysler in this time frame.
Nextly, it's very rare that during a total repaint that all the jambs, inner edges and flanges under the weatherstrips would get the new color. Also, you may find at least traces under the step plates on the rockers. These areas will not experience the sun fading that the exterior does, so you may find a way to ascertain the original color.
Barrett Taft is the club librarian and may have been able to collect a number of TSB's
that could be digitized. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the digitzing of past issues of the Adventures and that could be expanded to include a lot of the technical info that we have. All we need is more volunteers.
Hopefully some of this may be helpful in solving the "Pink" mystery.
Best regards to all as always,
Geoff

As Mark has indicated, we are always trying to learn about our DeSotos

With respect to 1955 Shell Pink, I went to my Service Bulletin file to see if I could find. Bulletin 918 dated 10-22-58 shows the 1958 colors complete with samples, codes and cross reference numbers for Acme, Martin-Senour and Sherwin-Williams. On page 4 it charts out the 1957 colors with the codes and cross references. It includes Spanish Gold for the FF and FD which was added in the spring. It also notes 2 different Dusty Oranges with a * denoting West Coast only

Page 5 does the same for the 1954 model year including the Coronado colors-Sahara Beige and Cadiz Blue

Page 5 for the 55s. Coronado Green, Light Taffy and Copper Rose are shown. No Shell Pink

We will keep looking at the data plates and back checking against the codes

Ron: With respect to the 55 in the newsletter; we had a major article by Roberta Lewis in the early 90s and one that I did on the 1955 sweep which featured Mark's car and one with Taffy/Copper Rose combination. Do you have those?

Bob -

Can you tell me the month/year of the most recent 55 Desoto article ? It would be a lot easier to reference it that way.

Ron

Roberta's article Nov-Dec 1991

1955 article on the sweep March-April 2011