MTFCA Forum

What would the paint color been called that is like an "olive drab" used on a very late '27 touring car. For all I can find it is the original color of the car. George

The encyclopedia lists blue or brown for touring and roadster, and commercial green for the roadster pickup as the official colors for 1927. If Ford painted some open cars with closed car colors late in production, then the green would be channel green or highland green. What colors those greens actually are is anybody's guess. Les Henry of the Ford Museum wrote a book back in the 1950's and identified channel green as the same as model A kewanee green which is wildly used today and is kind of a lighter army green.

Paint color matching is sort of like which is the best oil to use. To each their own. What’s close for one is not quite for another.

My '27 touring is March '27 production and is green. It has been repainted in the distant past, but I can find no evidence that the original color differed significantly from what it is now. It's color either is or is close to Channel Green.

The '27 touring would be painted in Pyroxylin lacquer and was Ford name " Highland Green". Other colors for the closed cars were Royal Maroon and Fawn Gray (Moleskin) along with the Highland Green. 1927 Open cars, Highland Green, Phoenix Brown, and Gunmetal Blue.

This photo is the deck underside of an original Highland Green '27 Coupe, you can see the color as was new, and satin in tone, as the lacquer finished wasn't rubbed to a high gloss by Ford.

Note the news article on satin finish for the new Fords.
And, these late Improved cars were striped, the open cars also. The Highland Green touring would be narrow striped with a Creme color.

That green kind of reminds me of the old AT&T green they painted their vans and trucks when I was a young'un.

Strange as it may sound, I actually like the semi-gloss finish Pyroxylin gave... Shiny but not glossy.

Dan & Susanne, Thank you for your replies, and thank you to also to John, John & Jeff. Highland Green it is, at some point I will try to post a couple pictures. Dan it has the remains of the stripe, it looks like a straw but I am sure that it has aged with 93 years. I have been in the process of cleaning out the condo under the seats and building materials under the top (pads). Sadly this car suffers from less than desirable storage and is a excellent example how not to store a open top car (the top was folded down). Washing the exterior with WD-40 & a spray bottle & spraying all the door latches, door hinges, hood hinges, all the under hood hardware including the vaporize (it will need to come apart for a little restoration) and WD-40 on all the top pivots. Prepping for storage for the winter will get back to it next spring. George

Ford #15,000,000 is pretty late in production. It was repainted sometime in the thirties, but I would guess it's pretty close to the original color.

posting.php?mode=reply&f=2&t=16972#

All paint, after 100 years will dull and change color with age, so I doubt if there is any way to compare original paint to get an idea of what it looked like when it was first painted. For that, we have to rely on color advertisements from the day. Here is a photo of a touring painted in a very nice green that, I believe, approximates the shade of green shown in the period coupe advertisement. It also looks a lot like the shade of green on the 15 millionth T, which would have been much brighter and vibrant when re-painted by Ford 65 years ago in the ‘50’s. I certainly would not paint my newly restored T olive drab with the thought that the olive drab was the original green that T’s were painted in. I’m pretty sure that Ford would have chosen a much more appealing green to paint his cars in to appeal to the masses, for by that time, Ford was competing with numerous other auto manufacturers that offered their cars in bright colors and I think most of you will agree that olive drab is not an appealing color. Jim Patrick

It occurs to me that we should refer to the encyclopedia where Bruce lists the colors and gives their numbers.

Jim , It clearly is not the dark green shown in your picture or as represented on the 15,000,000th. car, there are plenty of spots that are in areas that should not have faded.

Steve, Bruce's book while a great resource lacks any color chips to verify, I have gone around in circles looking at (for) a period color that I think is on this car.

Dan, Your photos of the underside of you coupe trunk seem to be the closest color I have seen, I will try to get some photos today & see if I can post them. Thanks all George

Caution regarding the 15,000,000 model T touring. It came off the assembly line painted blue with silver lettering. It was overpainted in green during the 1950's, the current white lettering was applied recently.

Two more period color advertisements showing that olive drab was not a Model T color. What the olive drab color in the above photo was before age did its’ damage (if it is even the original color, which I have always doubted) is anyone’s guess, but I urge you not to use it on your T in the assumption that it will make your Model T more original. What you do today will be used by future owners to interpret what the original color was, just like some are using that olive drab color in their interpretations, just because someone was persuasive in their arguments that it is original paint. I question if that color is even original instead of a past restorers interpretation of some other restorers interpretation. In order to make the Model T as appealing to the eye as possible to attract new members to our hobby, we should use our own good taste and common sense and try to arrive at a beautiful vibrant green color as close to the original depicted in the three color ads that I found, that represents the exciting jazz age, instead of an ugly drab color that is representative of Henry Ford’s personality . Jim Patrick

Hello All, I did get some photos late this afternoon, they should have been taken closer to noon time because the sun is setting low this time of year so it is hard to get any decent photos.
Susanne, Jim, I believe it looks more like "Ma Bell" AT&T green and not as dark as a VietNam era Olive Drab, I seem to think earlier military colors may have been lighter going by what I have seen on vehicles in such places as the U.S. Army Transportation Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia. Anywhere I look on this car all I see is the same color, where the paint has peeled due to poor storage there is bare unprimed metal w/o any sand paper type scratches. I have known about this car for over 30 years. The owners father then a retired farmer bought it off the original family 35-40 years ago about 25 miles from where he lived here in Central NY. I am more interested in the history of this T, I am only "charged" with putting it in operating condition, I put it in storage today for the winter & will try to get the steering wheel, rear floor boards & replacement fuel tank renovated this winter as well as some items for my own fleet. The engine #14947xxx shows in Bruce's Book as a May 9 1927 & carries the same frame number. George
download/file.php?mode=view&id=72003htt ... w&id=72005

George

Those photos of your original 27 touring show the color to me that appears as ‘Phoenix Brown’. Esp since the car has orange appearing stripe that is correct for the brown hue.

Yours doesn’t seem to be green , but aged paints give different hue. But a green car would have creme or straw like stripe.
Original Highland Green with Creme or Straw stripe just like Ford adv.


Note colors and striping colors:

Dan, I’d like to see someone see if they can expose the actual original color underlying the old oxidized layer by compounding an intact area with “Meguire’s Rubbing Compound”, then bring out the original finish with “Meguire’s Paste Wax”. Jim Patrick

Dan, I agree that stripe looks orange, but it is rust bleeding thru. On the drivers side in a area toward the drivers door hinge the stripe appears to be golden, my guess is that it is cream. The cowl, under the dash & inside both seat frames & under the cardboard panel of the front seat frame all exhibit the same color. The finish brightness is due to the WD-40 "wash" George

Hello all,
The second photo shows an original 27 touring door that I purchased a few years back.
The paint is original as is the straw colored stripe. The green is a very dark green.
It’s a 27 door which features the embossed in curtain rod socket on top of the door less the zinc ferrule.
The other photos show my 27 that is currently in re restoration. The color is Hillcrest Green as noted in Bruce’s book.
I believe it’s a 1953 Mercury color.

Brent, I am unable to open your 2 photo links. George

Here’s the photos.
Bottom is the original door.

Brent. What would you say about compounding a small area on your door to reveal the underlying original green and posting a hi def picture? Thank you for your consideration. Jim Patrick

Dan, I'm a bit confused as to the new colors letter that you posted. It lists two new colors for the open cars, neither of which is Highland Green. I know that the 15 millionth touring car was Highland Green, as is my '27 touring car. Mine has an old repaint, but it was not a restoration and I have not found anything that would lead me to believe that the color was not original. Were they already offering Highland Green when that letter was written, or was it added later?

I will get a photo of the door once I polish out a section. I have to get it out if my storage garage.

Here’s a photo of the door polished out. Being that satin pyroxylin lacquer, there’s not much polishing.
But, here it is. I believe that the color name was Deep Channel Green.

The article regarding the 15 millionth color was written by the Matt Anderson, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford, in the May-June Model T Times. Here’s a photo of the page indicating the original color of the car. It’s really hard from the photo, but the lettering does look to be silver.

Brent, would you be willing to find an automotive paint shop that can match the color and provide the paint code for your origional channel green color? Folks have been guessing model T colors for decades, it would be an invaluable resource to the hobby to have the definitive true and documented color at long last.

Thank you Brent. That does look a lot like the green color depicted in the ads I posted. Did you apply any wax. Wax will serve to remove any compound residue left on the finish that may be dulling the surface. Thanks again. Jim Patrick.

PS. Most automotive paint dealers have scanners that can match up a color and tell you the paint name and number.

George, that looks like Army Tank Green to me.

Is it possible that the olive drab Model T’s pictured here were painted with military surplus paint left over from the war? Free paint or paint sold for pennies a gallon is hard to resist. Jim Patrick