Orange 68 gto
 

Do any of you have or know of a 1968 gto with factory Orange paint? I'm interested in learning more about the paint code.

I don't know of one. As far as I know, Carousel Red was only available on a small number of Firebirds in 68, some sort of market research test. It was originally called Carnivale Red. It became a RPO for F-bodies in 69. My chip book doesn't show Chevy Hugger orange (same color) until 69 as well.

Hi,
Here is the color chart for 1968 GTOs. Car may have been repainted, check under some of the bolts that hold the front fender on. Original color may be there. Also check the body tag. It will give you the original paint code.
Mike

Yup - Solar Red was/is the only color close to be offered in 68. My 68 GTO has that paint code.... and I saw the original color red (Solar) and I thought is was horrible. The red in 69 and after was better.

If you're going original and have a high option car and want to make the best profits you can make Solar red might be the thing to do.

Hi,
Here is another paint chip for 68 GTOs.
Aleutian Blue is paint code L.
Private messages doesn't allow posting pictures.
Mike

Thanks for posting the charts. No input on the orange however. If memory serves me correctly (haven't seen my car in a very long time) it's April gold,black vinyl top with april gold interior. Looks like someone had painted it green at one time but I can see the gold underneath in the door areas. Stealth black for now. This site is awesome. Stirring new thoughts of actually doing something with it instead of just dreaming of someday. Sucks to think this might be a 20 year project before I even put a hand on her. Might have to farm her out for restoration but I really want to fix her up myself. Took 2 years of college body and fender just to restore her and sister RS. Rambling. Thanks and Happy New Year

1968 orange= CARNIVAL red (exact same as 1969 carousel red). i know carnival red (orange) was an special optional paint mid year for 68 birds...said 'SPECIAL" on the trim tag...ioe seen other special paint '68/69 Birds have --- instead of SPECIAL...

anyhow i know 68 orange Birds existed since i owned one (ram air 1 car to boot)....however i am not sure if that color was avaialble on A-bodies in 1968 . maybe someone else can chime in...

The car in question has 1-29 1 PAINT on the cowl tag can anyone help with decoding this Thanks

1-29 1 doesn't really sound like a paint code. You sure you're reading it right?
Mine says K2. K is for the lower portion of the car, Meridian Turquoise. 2 is the top of the car, black vinyl top.
It should have two letters if it's all paint. One letter followed by a numerical digit if it's a vinyl or convertible top.
Study this page and see if you can make sense of it...
http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/stats...ataplate+price

Yes that's what I see 1-29 1. I wonder if people with P.H.S. papers on their cars might chime in?

I'm not sure what you want, i have PHS on six different 68 GTO's, there's nothing on them about special paint codes that I see. How about a pic of that trim tag?

Probably 99.9% of the members here have PHS docs on their car. I have a PHS doc but I still can't figure out what that 1-29 1 means. Never seen a code like that.

Orange 68 GTO trim tag
 

I've finally gotten a picture uploaded of the tag on my '68. As you can see, there is some of the color overspray on the tag. I'm wondering if anyone has any information on this paint number, or has or knows of another car with this paint code. Is this 1-29 a code used by a paint supplier to GM? Any help would be appreciated,Thanks.

Wow, I don't know this one. Hmmmm. However, the over spray would not have been there from the factory.

I'd be curious to see the paint on the cowl... The orange visible definately isn't factory applied.

Baltimore built 02B Convertible

I - Autumn Bronze
224 - Parchment Interior
1 - Ivory-White Convertible Top.

Just my guess....pull the fender, check the cowl for overspray.

Interesting cowl tag for sure. I saved it and zoomed on it. Definitely looks like 1-29 and not I-29
Did you ever get the PHS?
Maybe a bit easier than pulling the fender, pull one of the kick panels, a door panel or part of the carpet. Usually, a bit of the original color overspray will be there.

I have a 1968 Orange GTO project car. Have had car since 1989. After reading this post I checked it out more today. I do have PHS on car and will attach as many pictures as I can. It does have orange under the cowl tag as well as under the sealer on cowl. Floors & package tray & dash metal have orange on them. Car has chrome front bumper was told probably had this since orange was not a regular production color. Car had white vinyl top. As you can see on plate 1-1 is paint code not I-I. PHS shows color 11 no space between numbers.

More pictures

Orange GTO

Back in 1988, I bought a '69 Olds 442 just because it was unusual. Olds division did not offer Carousel Red or Hugger Orange, but this car was C.R./ H.O from the factory. Paint code on data tag read SPEC. Back in the day, if you laid down the green, they would build almost anything you wanted. The orange 68 may have been borrowed from one of GMs other divisions but would most assuredly have SPEC as the paint code.

68 GTO Pictures

http://firstgenfirebird.org/firebird...anual/R-5.html

The fact that it's an Endura-delete makes it MUCH more promising . . . time for PHS!

PHS

Very interesting car Bill. I'll bet that car was beautiful when it was new.

PHS one more time

Damn, that trim tag looked like it had 24267 on it!

It's even Orange under the Ivory Cordova top.

Late car, look at that EUN! 810337

What are codes 674 & 556?

Bill,
Nice project there, have you tried to actually match up paint to see if the car is Carnival Red/Carosel Red/Hugger Orange or something else?
Did you get any notes with your PHS about the special paint or chrome bumper?

Didn't they also sometimes just put "- -" in the paint area for special colors?

I own an Endura delete car also. Only 2108 made.

Cool.

I parted out a Carousel 68 GTO years ago, it had a chrome bumper... The car was very rough. I think I kept the cowl tag off of the car. Back then, I didn't care what the original options were. Assumed a repaint. I do remember it was a very late production car. I wonder...

Both of the cars in this thread having "1" on the data plate in the Paint space can't be a coincidence..
I'm thinking that the original car in this thread belonging to wase may be a repaint but a repaint of the original color, Carousel Red.
That would explain the messy overspray in the dataplate/cowl area.
Wase, have you pulled a kick panel, fender, etc. yet?

In my book that car's a builder.

I Like Chorme bumper cars!

Mike

The '68 Pontiac A body chrome bumper is the best chrome bumper of the entire 1960s. Everybody else's bumper was just hung on their cars like an afterthought...a necessary evil but the Pontiac bumper is artfully blended into the body of the car.
The '69 is close but not nearly as pretty as the '68.

...the 69 is not even close in my mind.

Wait - this is 2 cars we're talking about.

Wase - is your car a Convertible? Do you have the PHS?

Took you awhile to figure that out Boss?


IT looks like BIll's got a helluva collection there.

MIke

Bill, note the number in the upper right hand corner of your data plate--99539. The Carnival Red order number on the special order exterior colors sheet from the '68 dealer album is also 99539!

RPO code 674 was the Endura Bumper delete code number.

Does anyone have a '68 with a confirmed special-order color and endura bumper?

Anyone else have a Pontiac-built, special-order color '68 GTO with Endura delete? Does your data plate have the same info embossed in the upper rh corner?

Yeah, "The Boss" has it right. We are forgetting that GM often would get a number 1 interchanged with a letter capital I, & the reverse. So even though the GTO's Trim Tag was stamped with a 1, it really stands for an I. And I was Autumn Bronze, a late model year Special Exterior Color for both "F" & "A" bodies. He also correctly noticed the second 1 (I) after the 29. This would stand for an Ivory Cordova Top if a htp., or an Ivory-White soft top for a convert. I also see a note that any of these Special Exterior Colors ordered on a GTO would have required the option of a chrome front bumper, since the Endura bumpers were not offered in these S.O. colors.
The other late year S.O.colors were; Pink Mist, Carnival Red, Windward Blue & Marigold Yellow.
Now, the 29. Could that be a code denoting the neccessity of a chrome front bumper? A Build Sheet from a chrome bumper GTO might confirm that. Anyone have one to look at? Only a guess on this possibility.

Oh, come on Mike, You know I have that unique ability to overlook the obvious. ;)

We all have that ability.

Mike

I have paint books back to 40's & 50's. Have owned autobody repair since 1968 & worked in body shop since 1965. The books I have (Dupont,RM,Acme,Sherwin Williams,Martin Senyour) all show the same chip & mixing formula for Hugger Orange & Carousel Red. Have not found a chip for Carnival red but will keep looking. I have 1969 Ram Air IV auto Judge nearly complete. It is Carousel Red. The chips match my Judge and the 1968 GTO. Checked package tray,kick panels & behind door panels. More & More to ponder. Bill

that's quite a collection of older cars. I wish you were closer.

Yeah, I is Autumn Bronze but the white convertible top is 1 (One). Since he has the numeral one in both spots, they would have had to stamp the body color wrong and the top color correctly at the same time.
The only difference between wase's tag and Bill's is the 29 between the ones.
I still think he may have a Carnival or Carousel car that's been repainted at some point.

Sorry guys, I got confused by us talking about two different GTO's. AS YOU WERE!!!
I'll slink back over to the Firebird section now!

Paul,
Do you have a picture of the cowl tag from your parted out '68 you could share?

Greg,
Autumn Bronze has been suggested as a possible color for my car before, I don't think mine was, but that would be a nice color on a '68,(imho) has anyone seen one of those?

Bill,
I took the trunk lid off my car to a paint shop for them to check the color with a "spectrumchromatic scanner" (sounded like that). They checked the underside where the original paint was in good shape. They found no exact match, not Hugger Orange, not Carousel, or Carnival Red. They said the closest was Big Bad Orange from Chrysler, but still not exact. I took a bolt from the door hinge to a NAPA which has old books for Martin Senyour. I believe I found an exact match with 1956 Packard Naples Orange code "T", M-S # 61T-2491. Do you have any info on the '56 colors that you might be able to compare?

68gtoMN,
Yeah cool! lighter too. I used to think owners changed them, as Pontiac advertised the Endura and Hideaways as new innovations for the GTO, and chrome noses were seldom seen.

PHS P.S.B. 68-24 attached for those who may not have seen one.