Need Info On Tahitain Red Paint code

I was wondering if any of you knew what the color code was for this color or how I could find it. I know its called Tahitian Red and thats It. I dont think its a manufacterer color code and Im pretty sure its a custom color but I could be wrong. I have a Picture of the car wearing the color. Thanks

 

I think the color is actually called "Titian Red". Popular in the mid to late 50's.

54' Buick Titian Red Metallic code 54-17 DUCO 1753-H
55' Buick Titian Red Metallic code 55-R DUCO 1753-H

Use the search engine in the upper right hand corner.type in Titian Red.

 

1956 Buick had a Tahitian Red I believe. Looks like your picture .

 

I don't think Buick ever did call their Titian Red 'Tahitian.'

I'm guessing too that the formula may have been changed due to it faded pretty bad on the Buicks.
I think GM painted their cars with lacquer at that time, but I do remember mixing enamel for a lot of hot rods and customs.

1957 or 58 was when GM dropped the Titian Red and mixed up a darker color to replace.
Called Honduras Maroon, it was a nice color in its own right, but it was tough to get a better looking red metallic than Titian Red.


That three window in the pic really speaks to me.
It's got something I can't quite put my finger on.
Whether it's the righteous chop, the stance or tire sizes, I dunno.

Any chance you have some other pics and views of the car?

 

C9---
Probably the laid back a - piller
Sorta like the Doyle Gammel coupe.

 

If you use the search function you'll get plenty of good info.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263318&highlight=tahitian+red

 

ditzler ditzco titianred poly enamel d c e 50568 bought at als auto supplyco. 5501 torresdale ave phila pa i hope this helps car crazyjohn ditzler is now ppg let me know how u make out called my father he remembers it well deffinately buick he used 56 he told me to tell you to try hibernia he stocks the old colors but their laquer

 

Ditzler is now PPG............

 

TRJ did a feature last quarter. Pebble beach winning "Bakan Coupe". A search here or a google should net a shit load of pics.

 

C9, If you can get your hands on one, the October 1957 issue of Hot Rod features the Lloyd Bakan Deuce on the cover with an article inside.The Rodder's Journal issue 41 has a beautiful feature on the car.

 

The Buick color seemed to be darker as I did do a search but didnt find anything that looked like that color. I am painting a Model A for my brother and he wants it this color. Thanks guys

 

According to the article in Rodders Journal they had a hard time matching that color when they restored the car and had to custom mix a color and tint the clears they were putting over top as well.

 

This car is Titian Red.....A lot more copper to it than the Bakan Coupe..

 

mopar "inferno red crystal pearl" is a REAL close match to the buick titian red. deep color and tons of micro flake too... the stuff really is awesome

 

Looks pretty coppery to me

 

carcrazyjohn are you saying that there is a paint store in philly that stocks lacquer paint????????

 

This Color looks like a Candy to me.

 

Yeah...especially in that pic, but the Don Conley RPU in my pics definately has a duller, brown, tint to it, and the Bakan Coupe has more red to it...I've only seen the one car in person.

I know that by the Rodders Journal story, they had a tough time matching it up to the old paint....If it was factory Titian Red, I don't think that would have been that much of an issue...Right?

The coupe has an almost candy look to me.

 

I agree....It looks like candy red over gold instead of silver, but again, hard to tell from pics.

 

nope, read C9's post... the stuff faded bad. so if it WAS the factory color, they would naturally play hell matching it

 

well you learn something everyday.i've been in acrylic eurethane (collision repair) land to long.

 

O.K......How about this...straight from THE RODDERS JOURNAL article issue 41, page 89:

"Although some people have thought the coupe's vivid color was a variation of '54 Buick Titian (sometimes incorrectly called Tahitian) red, a popular rod and custom hue in that era, Lloyd says it was a custom blend by the Altadena shop."

Like I said...if the car was Titian red after the powder blue...there would be no trouble matching the paint during the restoration...just buy some Titian Red. I'm sure there would have been some spots under upholstery or whatever, that the sun hadn't faded.

 

I figured It wasnt the 54 Buick color. Thanks dv8.

 

No problem!

 

i dont read TRJ... but you have a very good point about someplace where the sunlight wouldnt get at it to fade it out, i hadnt thought about that one

 

It is interesting as the picture you are going off is almost universally agreed upon in the RJ article as to not represent what the original color of the car looked like. It had been altered in the print format of the day so even if you knew what color it was actually painted the color in that picture would not be the same.

 

Don't want to get off track here, but you could come up with some interesting colors when mixing paints.

And, if you didn't keep good notes, sometimes you couldn't go back.
I whipped up a bright metallic orange one day and never could get back to the knock your eyes out orange.
The metallics kept knocking the orange factor down.

My first car - a 50 Shoebox sedan - was black, then Titian Red.
Nosed and partially decked then painted all in the same day and early evening in the oil field garage where dad worked.

What made the Titian Red interesting was that dads pal Ed who'd painted quite a few cars along the way, got some gold powder somewhere and mixed it into the paint.

Sorta looked like a real fine metalflake and you couldn't see the gold until you got close.
Neat touch and all I ever told anyone was that the car was painted Titian Red and didn't mention the gold powder.

Later on, couple years down the road the car was shot 56 Chevy Dusk Plum, mixed just a touch dark.
Not like the Burple (sic) that had been so popular in the 40's.

Said Burple being a mix of purple and black toners.
Made for a heck of a color and it definitely found its way onto more than a few early customs....

 

Colors are everything at times, huh?

On lacquer, yes it's still available from most manufacturers. Apparently the musical instruments industry and custom wood product industry still need it. PPG hasn't changed the formula for their DCA468 clear in close to 30 years, this from a lab tech there that long.

Mixing color is relative to those doing it. Many see things different and indeed even a person's eye color changes the perception. Sometimes it's easier to get the "feel" vs the exact match. I don't agree with the Chrysler "Inferno Red" comparison. I have a Grand Cherokee that color and it's more orange than copper. It has a nice feel but I don't get a traditional vibe from it at all. FWIW, most dark red/maroon families of color fade to a nasty copperish oxide.

 

Around 1959 when I was a kid, A friend, Richard Strock bought the Bakan car. We were told the car was Honduras Maroon. When Richard had his '57 Ranchero painted to match the coupe, it didn't.

 

Excellent points.

I hear you on the maroon.
It was one of the final choices for my 32 . . . after red, cream, then maroon.

I never did find a maroon that didn't change to brown under subdued light.
Finally gave up and painted the roadster a dark shade of black.

Then I found a nice maroon on a mid-80's ChryCo car.
It held the maroon pretty well in less than bright light and went to a dark red at night.


Kinda doing the same thing now with the 31.
Dad always loved two tones and his 50 sedan had a Crestliner strip added to it along with a patch of bright yellow against the mostly black car.
Been leaning that way myself.

Still like the bright almost a metallic blues and may go that way.

Black is trad, but I'm getting a little tired of it on the 32.

Now that I've mentioned Burple, that may be a nice way to go with the 31.

Good discussion and info on this post.
I'm enjoying it.