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Original Austin colours

Hello all..

I've searched the forum and had a conversation with Google but can't find what I'm looking for. Does anyone know if there exists a colour chart of original Austin seven colours that actually shows the colours rather than just the name?

I'm getting close to needing to make my mind up regarding colours for my project (Rod Yates body arrives in 3 weeks) and would like to use an original colour but I'm not sure exactly what they are. I've found several Lisa but none actually show the colour itself..

Any help greatly appreciated
Cheers
Robbie

Location: Horsham, West Sussex

Re: Original Austin colours

Robbie,

this is the best image I have (this is for mid 1930's):

 photo 1935_Colour_Brochure_2.jpg

Re: Original Austin colours

Here's another:

Re: Original Austin colours

Hi Robbie,

I have a set of original Austin colour cards for 1936 as supplied to Austin dealers which are in as new condition and show the colours clearly. You are welcome to have a look at them.

Location: Stretham, Ely.

Re: Original Austin colours

has anyone got a modern pic of a car painted in Atlantic Green as per the "Sports model" colours in R's second attachment?

Re: Original Austin colours

I'm currently involved with a '35 AAK that's yellow. It seems that was never an offered colour at the time, but rumour has it you could have any colour in the Austin catalogue.

The colour of the paint closest to (what remains of) the metal shows green. It's been decided to re-paint it Ford commercial green, the closest match described in The Source Book.

Re: Original Austin colours

the original colour is known as Westminster Green. The nearest I have found is Rover Cameron Green, although that probably isn't easily found now.

Location: Stretham, Ely

Re: Original Austin colours

Hi Lance,

It would be good to have some good photos of the colour cards (perhaps alongside a modern car paint colour chart for comparison?) if that's possible?


Nick

Location: Horley

Re: Original Austin colours

I've emailed VAR about the Atlantic green. Odd that whilst it was approved for Sports, I've never seen a 7 painted in that colour. Perhaps it was late 30's colour chart. Just says "30s" in the Heritage Trust archive.

Re: Original Austin colours

Hello all,

At this very moment Austin Ten Drivers Club are doing a matching exercise using an original boxed set of colours and they have originals of those brochures seen on the previous messages.
The problem is whether 1920s 30s or 2016 it is still only a printers go at putting onto paper a representation of actual paint on metal. The backs of cars is a good misleading example, highlights and shades make good selling eyecandy but the banded sections are nearer to actual.

Second problem is the base colours quoted are not coded and totally unknown to todays manufacturers.

Try for instance asking at Brown Bros for Kingfisher Blue using Monastral Green Monastral Blue etc. "Monastral what" they asked me in 1976/77 when I got my 1925 chummy up to respray stage.

Best way is always to find paint untouched or unexposed. I did when the running boards came off mine. The undersill had some original and I found it so very near to BMC 1950s Kingfisher that was the one to use.

The Science Museum resto of the prototype OK 3537 in 1997 went through the same trail, finding old paint under the windscreen and under the front scuttle when the wing was removed (spotwelded on by BMC in 1952-3 for presentation to the nation) Under 3 other colours in 1997 was the original green and they had 2 goes at mixing that before the resulting green it now has.

Westminster Green? Use Ford Henley Green that I have matched to an ORIGINAL slice of Ruby body cut from a scrap car in Scotland and T-cut back. Decades ago a Pearl was lovingly restored by the late Tom Duxbury in "original Westminster Green" He used Ford Galleon Green hmmm.

For a turquoise Nippy in Switzerland I found Rover Turquoise the best match.

The work Tony Mealing and members of A10DC are doing started as a project for their thirties models but as we know from the original literature Any colour from the Austin range could be ordered on any car.
A study of the 4 surviving Seven ledgers at Gaydon reveals a few variants on the standard colours.

On we go.

Phil.

Location: Market harborough

Re: Original Austin colours

Hi Phil,

My boxed set of Austin colour cards was produced by Belco for 1936 and is in excellent condition. When I was respraying my Box saloon, I checked the Westminster green card against original paint behind the patents plate and it was a perfect match, so they must have produced them accurately.
My father was an apprentice paint sprayer at Marshall's of Cambridge in the early 1950's, they were our local Austin agents and he saved the cards when all the pre war stock was being disposed of.
Anyone is welcome to come and look at them, but I will not lend them as I did one once and of course never got it back.
I think posting photos of them would be pointless for colour matching purposes. You need to see the things in the flesh or paint or card...

Location: Stretham, Ely

Re: Original Austin colours

I've used Jawel Paints Ltd (Birmingham and Wolverhampton) for the last three cellulose resprays that I've done. They reckon to have the correct mixes for all Austin colours from at least 1930 onwards and perhaps earlier.

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E", not a "T"!

Re: Original Austin colours

Hi Phil,

Once completed will the information gathered by the Austin 10 club be made available to the wider Austin community. Could this together with the information available within the Austin Seven Clubs Association archive, pertaining specifically to the Seven range be made available on the web site.

Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Original Austin colours

Hello Ian,

Available? I certainly hope so. The work started by A10DC has been helped by our recent Sevens contribution and hopefully will use the best available knowledge of 2016.

Its a meticulous task and one I would not try alone so the more info A10DC gather the better. Lance Sheldrick said he had a 30s set-Lance could you confer with Tony to see if its a duplicate or can add to their knowledge.

Phil.

Location: Market harborough

Re: Original Austin colours

Martin Prior
I've used Jawel Paints Ltd (Birmingham and Wolverhampton) for the last three cellulose resprays that I've done. They reckon to have the correct mixes for all Austin colours from at least 1930 onwards and perhaps earlier.


Thanks Martin - I've contacted them to see if they have a record for Atlantic Green.

I've been in touch with Phil and some archivists which has been very useful - but still there is nothing which matches the hue of the Austin literature when photoshop sampled to compare digitally.

Can anyone remember seeing any sort of 30's Austin (10/4 or 12/6 Tourer perhaps), in such a hue? Would be good to trace a car...


Re: Original Austin colours



My 1937 Opal is a slightly bluey green and I should like to know what the definitive colour is, as described by Austins. The car is very original and I don't have any plan to respray despite grey undercoat showing in places (plus bare metal showing in places on the bonnet top).
Would a colour phot on this forum be helpful?

Charles

Location: Norfolk

Re: Original Austin colours

Lance and others

Are the 30s Belco swatch cards now photo-archived of the same format as these (later) ones pictured in the link below? i.e. is the cover sheet of the same sort of text/form?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192150364793?euid=24b3590b900f45d38de4014774a8527b&bu=43055870992&cp=1&sojTags=bu=bu

Does anyone have any leads to anyone who might actually have the fabled early swatch of 60-odd colours? As it is remembered, surely it must have existed...

Re: Original Austin colours

No - the paint cards you can see at

http://archive.a7ca.org/collections/paints-and-colours/

are quite different. They are about the size of a playing card and come in a box. The information that relates to each card is printed on the back of them (which has also been imaged and published on the web site).

Location: Lubenham

Re: Original Austin colours

so was there something written on the box too, though? Is that digitised somewhere?

That is the key to finding something potentially 'unknown' through something like ebay... if the 1932 ones ever turn up...which they will in time.

Re: Original Austin colours

I have an image somewhere, but can't find it just at the moment. I think it says something like 'Range of Belco colours for the Austin Car Company' - or something like that. Whatever it is, it's fairly obvious..

Ah, we published an image in the Archive Project Newsletter No. 2 which I think you should be able to see here..

http://us13.campaign-archive1.com/?u=e68574074b7b18affb3cb77b8&id=5bc54e04af&e=d79462b818

Location: Lubenham

Re: Original Austin colours

that is really interesting to see their physical form - and the box - thankyou.