What if I'm restoring a Matador Red car and don't like Matador red?

davepl · Poncho Master!

What if I'm restoring a Matador Red car and don't like Matador red?

Guru

PAINTED A 1969 GTO that it is a life less couler

Mondo Poncho · Addicted!

Two words. Keep it original!

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Mondo Poncho wrote:

Two words. Keep it original!

And even though a few posts back I said do what you want, a car like this should be original.

You asked, we tell...!

65wagon · Poncho Master!

I do agree with carl, not a big fan of some of the 65 colours, white got three hate the color love the cars, not a big fan of burgundy got it too, we are caretakers get used to or tint it so its not so offensive.

davepl · Poncho Master!

I'm pretty sure it's going to be a dark blood red no matter what - I won't go further than that. I might just pick a swatch I find closer to the brochure and/or dealer catalog. So it might wind up matching the marketing more than anything. I like the Catalina in a the brochure. My first step will be to match that and see how different the formula is from actual Matador Red, then make some customization decisions.

Worst case we're talking about scuff and shooting for a color change. I can afford that indulgence, I figure.

Ideally I will wind up with a color that even people expecting Matador Red won't complain about.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

For what it's worth Dave, way back when I was in the process of the stalled restoration on my 69 Matador red rag, I too never really liked that shade. It's nice enough I suppose, but it just lacked that little extra pop that I would have liked, probably just like you feel. So for at least 5 years or so I always kept my eye open for a shade of red on a conventional car the looked appealing. I found it in what I think was a 99 - 2006 Volkswagen beetle. I've seen two shades, one commonly seen that looks like crap, and the other less frequent which a deeper shade of red, not too blingy, that at the time I though looked absolutely perfect. Anytime I saw it I thought "There it is! That's the one"! I still see it from to time and still think the same thing. It's the perfect commonly available replacement for Matador red, and would look awesome on the big car. Of course, this is subjective, but I did spend a lot of time looking at shades back then. BTW; on the internet such as google images, looking pays no justice to the reds on those beetles. It has to be seen in person. Keep you eyes peeled, you'll know what I mean when you see it. Cheers.

davepl · Poncho Master!

Thanks! I've been driving around for six months looking at red vehicles and both the current Honda Accord and the VW Beetle have some rich dark reds. Is one of these two perhaps the one you liked? The top one is sort of a '60s color, the second one a more 'modern' color (to me).

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-- Edited by davepl on Saturday 10th of March 2018 03:43:59 PM

65wagon · Poncho Master!

also be aware that the colours change with base clear as compared to the straight paints of old, I do love some of the new shades, enjoy and have fun with it

davepl · Poncho Master!

Here's kind of an interesting pic - note how much brighter the red on the door panel is where it was protected under the arm rest. And then that's my red garbage can in front of it, which is surprisingly close in color, and then some Matador Red I ordered to paint my steering column, which is sitting on the can.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I hate to say it but like the garbage can red.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Canadian Poncho wrote:

I hate to say it but like the garbage can red.

Plus one on the garbage can!

davepl · Poncho Master!

Could it be a coincidence I posted the garbage can? Or did I do it so that you would all know that it was garbage can I stole my paint color from, thereby preventing myself from deviating from Matador Red lest you all call my car "garbage can red"! The brain is a tricky thing.

But in all seriousness I too like the garbage can, and that's kind of why I included it.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I can just hear it a a car show when someone asks you if that's the original colour. ...

davepl · Poncho Master!

I was watching this show on a 1970 GTO and I really like the color. I guess it must be "Cardinal Red", which is a 1970 color. Was it used on the 1970 2+2 as well?

I assume it's actually a brighter red, and not just another name for Matador red? It looked nice, anyway:

www.youtube.com/watch%27sGarage

North · Guru

I had a 70 Judge that was factory paint cardinal red, honestly it looked very close to Matador. In 1970 Matador red was an Oldsmobile color and it is listed with the same code as Cardinal red by some paint companies. As for 69 red GM interiors the Canadian Pontiacs and the A bodies are really two tone: seats, door panels and headliner etc are a bright red but the dash, steering column, rug and windshield surround etc are a darker almost burgundy company. Some higher end GM's in 69 (including Bonneville and GP had a Burgundy rather than red interior. Those cars had the same color dash etc as our cars but the whole interior was the darker of the two reds.

davepl · Poncho Master!

I had to make a judgment call on the interior colors and told Just Dashes to do the console in the same color as the dash, rather than the weird bright red it was in.

North · Guru

I have two dashes at Just Dashes as we speak. My 69 TA dash is being redone, funny thing is they don't know what blue it should be. You'd think that in 30 plus years they'd have done a few 69 GM cars with a blue dash. All blue dashes were the same color that year, even cheaper chevies and base model pontiacs that came with the lighter blue interior had the same darker blue dash.

davepl · Poncho Master!

Hmmm... I have a blue interior '69 Camaro and a blue interior '69 Laurentian. I'll have to compare!

That blue dash that was redone by someone, but I don't know who. It's not on their samples page, though they show a blue '70.

From memory, I think it's B13 Blue.

I've long suspected all my blue dash cars used the same low-gloss blue on the metal section, and that'd make sense if they were all the same color dash as well.

davepl · Poncho Master!

Here's what my research came up with. Long story short, 1970 Matador Red is different than 1969 Matador Red.

1970 Pontiac Cardinal Red 2189
1970 Buick Matador Red 2189
1970 Chevrolet Cranberry Red 2189
1970 Oldsmobile Fire Red 2189
1970 GM Matador Red 2189

1969 Pontiac Matador Red 2076
1969 Chevrolet Garnet Red 2076
1969 Oldsmobile Crimson 2076
1969 GM Signal Red 2076

davepl · Poncho Master!

I ordered up some of each color and shot some glossy index cards. Here's 1969 vs 1970 Matador Red (or Matador vs Cardinal, if you prefer to call it that):

ABC123 · Uber Guru

So,

Dave what did you decide to do ?

My body shop threw a curve ball at me today,

I am at a lost because I am colour blind with a red deficiency.

This is what he is thinking,

However, we do have nice chunks of bondo with the current colour to use for a match.

I have lots of time to decide.

davepl · Poncho Master!

If you have color blindness, get spouse and friends to help vet color you choose - because you may not be able to see all of what you're picking!

In my case I decided to stick with Matador Red. Since I've got date coded alternator, wouldn't make much sense to deviate on the last step!

North · Guru

Good Man!