Those Exciting Spring Colors

By Ken Bounds

“I like your car.  Why isn’t it black?”  How many times have you heard this, or “We had one exactly like this, only it was….”  I’m always surprised when people think cars from our era were all black.  They are just chronologically-challenged about when Henry supposedly said: “You can get it in any color, as long as it is black.”  Most of you know why Model-T’s were painted black – if you don’t, see answer at the end of this article.

Of course there were many colors available in the V-8 era, interesting not only for the hues, but even for the names themselves.  Moselle Maroon; Winterleaf Brown; Cayuga Blue; Cloudmist Gray.  (Insert your favorite here).  But perhaps the most exciting V-8 colors were reserved for a special time of year – spring.  Ford’s spring or Easter colors were a way to boost sales in the middle of the model year.

I’ve been interested in Early Ford spring colors for many years.  Our two 1950 Fords are spring colors.  The Crestliner is Coronation Red Poly metallic over Black, while the convertible is Casino Cream - both colors were introduced in April 1950.  When I bought the convertible in 1994 it was painted bright red.  But when I saw that the cowl code showed it was originally Casino Cream I always knew it should eventually go back to that color.  I’ve taken the liberty of showing it as the photo of the month.  The beautiful view is at Colorado’s Fremont Pass on the Continental Divide during the Western National Meet last September.  Coincidentally, Stan & Joanne Stack’s 1953 featured on last month’s cover is also a spring color:  Cascade Green.

In researching this article, I found conflicting information about what colors were introduced in the spring, which ones were actually called Easter colors, and whether production was actually limited to a certain period.  It is also hard to find good examples of color chips today – charts from different paint manufacturers have conflicts and most available charts contain the original model year colors but are missing the spring colors.  Since these colors were new between 53 and 75 years ago, many of these chips have faded – not unlike our memory!  Anyway, we can still have some fun with it.

Ford General Letter #212 dated May 6, 1935, introduced five new color combinations for spring: Washington Blue with Tacoma Cream stripe; Slate Green with Silver stripe; Rusk Brown Metallic with Venetian Yellow stripe; Gunmetal Light Metallic with Apple Green stripe; and Palm Beach Gray with Cinnebar Red stripe.

In April 1936, Ford introduced five new Easter color combinations:  Armory Green with Silver stripe; Light Fast Maroon with Gold stripe; Desert Sand with Red stripe; Coach Maroon with Bright Poppy Red stripe; and my favorite - Bambalina Blue with Cream stripe. 

The first two combinations continued for the remainder of ’36 production, while the latter three were intended only for cars produced in April.  But there are still questions:  you may see the blue color identified either as Bambalina or Bambalino.  Which is correct?  Was Coach Maroon really a 1936 Easter color or was it actually a special-order color available the entire production year?

In March of 1937 Ford again introduced several spring color combinations:  Silverwing Gray with Pomegranate Red stripe; Turquoise Blue with Silver stripe; Adobe Tan with Chinese Red stripe; and Dalmation Green with Logan Cream stripe.  I was not able to find these color chips, but many of us have seen a beautiful example of Dalmation Green in this ’37 coupe owned by Bill Whites of Columbia, MO.

Spring colors continued for the next several years:  1938 – Avon Blue and Dove Gray; 1939 – Cloudmist Gray; 1940 – Garnet Maroon; and 1941 – Forentine Blue and Seminole Brown.

Obviously, spring colors stopped during the war years and for the first several post-war production runs.  The trend returned in April 1950 with Coronation Red Poly; Hawaiian Bronze Poly; Silvertone Gray; and Casino Cream.  I also found documentation of spring colors in 1951 - Carnival Red Poly; Sandpiper Beige and 1953 - Cascade Green; Dove Tone Gray, but none in 1952.

The questions continue:  were “Easter” colors used prior to 1936?  How many subsequent years did Ford continue this special program?  Were the production runs limited to April as some of the colors were in 1936?  While we may continue to discuss these issues based on old memories or conflicting documentation, one thing remains:  we can continue to enjoy the colorful names and hues of Ford’s Easter colors!

Finally, why were all Model-T’s painted black?  Actually, they “all” were not.  Between 1908 and 1914, Ford’s Model-T’s were available in red, blue, green, and black.  Colors were also available in the last two model years, 1926 & 27.  But for the 11 model years from 1915 to 1925, they were all black.  Why?  The black paint dried faster.  Ford was producing too many cars to wait for the slower drying colors – so black it was.