J.Ukrop submitted a new blog post: Lime Gold. That’s What I’m Told Continue reading the Original Blog Post
I recall a ‘57 Pontiac Safari wagon parked at a house in a neighborhood I frequently passed through. That was when the car was new and I was about 13/14 years old and already a ‘long time’ car nut. It was that color, which I soon found out was called Lime Fire Green. Very unusual for the time but it was available on Pontiacs of the day. I don’t recall seeing on other GM models of the time, but perhaps it was. That Safari was a standout overall, it wasn’t just the color, but that did catch one’s eye. Ray
Man... the mid sixties was a wonderful era for hot rods......I really wish people would build cars like this lime gold 32 today. Hot rods were so simple yet sooooooo cool.... can't really explain it but I sure like em.. Kinda like this T pictured here, why can't people build simple mid sixties cars like these today?
I'm real curious as to how the body was channeled 4" and the fenders stayed in the same relative position to the rear body feature lines. Shortened on the front edge?
According to the PHR feature, he even installed a stereo to play “Exotic sounds” (whatever those are). In 1957, Martin Denny covered Les Baxter's "Quiet Village", with exotic bird calls and a vibraphone instead of strings, which established the sound of the Polynesian styled music. The song reached #2 on Billboard's charts in 1959 with Denny's Exotica album reaching #1.[8] Soon the new technology of stereo further opened up the musical palettes of Denny and other prominent exotica artists such as Arthur Lyman and Juan García Esquivel. The distinctive sound of exotica relies on a variety of instruments: conga, bongos, vibes, Indonesian and Burmese gongs, boo bams (bamboo sticks), Tahitian log, Chinese bell tree and Japanese kotos. Additionally intrinsic to the sound of exotica are bird calls, big-cat roars, and even primate shrieks which invoke the dangers of the jungle. Though there are some standards which contain lyrics, singing is rare. Abstract, sirenish ululations, chants, vocalized animal calls, and guttural growls are common.[2][8]
I think that color is a '67 (+ another year or two) Ford color, Lime Gold (not "Lime Fire Gold"). It was my very favorite car color - so much so that I had my first two cars ('57 Chevy and '66 Vette) painted that color. I never thought it would work well on a pre-war car, but damn it looks good on that '32.
Considering the “LIMEFIRE DEUCE” feature article was in a 1965 issue of Popular Hot Rodding, I’m guessing it’s not the same “Lime Gold” metallic.
Well duh, that's what I get for not reading carefully enough. Good catch, my bad. It does look similar to the Ford Lime Gold, and I was just too fast to jump to conclusions. I wonder how the rest of my day will go, haha.
This lime gold 32 5 window is in Oregon. Still channeled full fendered with the y block but most of it is in grey primer. My 32 5 window is channeled with full fenders also.
I saw a lime fire green roadster at Cliff Roberts tire shop in Oakland in 1964 with pin stripes by TTGH. Also saw a rail job run at Fremont that the booth guy said was "lime fire green " with a Kent Fuller frame. Great color however you want to slice it !!
I have to agree. I've always felt that the mid-late '60s was the truly golden era of rod building. Sure, there was bumps in the road; the resto-rod and wide-oval tire crazes for sure. But take those out of the mix and what's left was some outstanding rods. Even most of the fat tire cars would need little more than a wheel/tire swap to look 'right'. One detail both the T and the '32 share is their actual, real chrome reverse wheels. Very, very rarely seen these days, the modern versions just aren't the same. You don't even see painted versions, which to me shouldn't be that hard to duplicate.
I will also agree that the mid 60s were the high mark for hot rods. I still have a trunk full of old Hot Rod magazines from that era because I loved the look. I tried to build my 34 truck to reflect that era.
I also dig the mid-'60s style. A metallic green or blue full-fendered Deuce roadster with a Pontiac 389 and a four-speed, rolling on redlines and Raiders would be A-OK with me.
There are several Lime Golds. Some more green and some more yellow. I like em all. And that flopper was so clean and classy. Admired it since I was a little kid
I painted the Mysterion House of Kolor Lime Gold candy over white pearl. Came out lemon yellow although it had a green hue in the paint booth just after spraying it. Rumor is it is yellow over white base , lime over silver base. I never checked that one out. I chose the color since old articles on the car said Watson sprayed the original with a similar sounding paint color.
Head light envy..., anyone know what brand those cute little headlamps are on either of the two cars in the lead photograph? Fat O.E. lamps, or E&J's just wouldn't (& typically don't) look right. -Dave
the 60's era hot rods are where I am stuck. That 5 window is so righteous to me. Love that lime fire green and have seen it on a few sweet rods and customs. Great article, throw backs are ok with me.
Hi fellow HAMB:ers. Limefire is doing fine and it made its first appearance after restoration in Hot Rod & Rock Show 40th anniversary fair 2019 in Tampere Finland. Restoration was approved by Cappel brothers . Color is Pontiac Limefire from 1957 (one year only what I heard but someone can prove me wrong)
Thanks! We have been working with it couple years with my brother and also kept close contact with Cappel brothers to document its history. Limefire has been in few magazines back then and photographed by Eric Rickman HRM. Interior and trunk upholstery is pretty much original and lasted almost 60 years. Here Timo Lindholm is pinstriping it as it was in photos from -60's.
Growing up there was farmer that had a Limefire 57 Starchief Coupe. I always loved that car....especially that color. There's a Kia color from 2 or 3 years ago that seems very close to the Pontiac color (IMO). Great looking coupe!
Hello, That Lime color (on hot rods and cruisers ) was popular even before the mid 60s. My brother told me that one of his favorite desserts he ever tasted was Key Lime Pie. It was the Yellow color of his 1951 Oldsmobile 2 door sedan that he bought as his first car at age 15. He said that pie was the same color as his new Olds and it tasted outstanding. Then one day he tasted a greenish pie, also called Key Lime Pie. Afterwards, he learned that Key Lime Pie, despite the name, is not colored Green. 57 Chevy factory color 57 Ford 57 Cad COLOR CHOICES IN 1957... I am curious as to the label of the Pontiac Limefire Green paint. In 1956, my brother was 15.5. He had his eye set on a Pale Yellow 1951 two door Oldsmobile Sedan. It had the look, the price was right and he wanted a car, right now. Nothing was going to stop him from getting this car. He had saved up enough money from his after school jobs to buy it without any parental help. We all laughed at his wild idea because he did not have a driver’s license as yet. But, he finished his driver education and training courses at 15.5 and nothing was going to stop him from his chosen car. Back in those days, it is always hard to sit by and see a close friend get his first car and cruise around in it. But, being a young 10th grader did have disadvantages. He was determined. He came home one day, had a bag of money, and my dad took him to get his “new” car. He drove it around the neighborhood block many times. But, never to school, until he turned 16 and finally got his license. The car was my first maintenance project from the day my brother bought it. If I wanted to go somewhere, I had to do some maintenance on the Oldsmobile sedan. This went on to have me install new rims, hubcap spinners, finally those ever cool, screw in, Moon Discs, as well as a wash and wax detail jobs. Then after a slurry of chrome stuff, and some speed stuff, he decided to build a Model A coupe for a street and strip, do-everything, hot rod. He actually wanted a car that would go faster than his best friend’s 34 Ford coupe with a big Olds motor in it. When we had our sights set on an old Model A, up pops a brand new 1958 Chevy 348 Impala. But, before he could buy the Impala, he had to sell the 51 Olds sedan. (That was supposed to be my hand me down, first car in a couple of years…) Jnaki He somehow got wind that another friend would buy his Olds sedan if it were not yellow. So, a few days later, without telling anyone, up rolls this same previously Pale Yellow 1951 Olds Sedan in a shiny Lime Green color, still with the Moon Discs. So, the big question was and always has been, who painted the 51 Olds sedan that Limefire Green? Was it an Earl Schieb paint contract for those one-day painting jobs? It was a pretty nice paint on that Oldsmobile Sedan. 1951 Lime Fire Green Olds Sedan? The 51 Olds Sedan sold instantly and he now had enough to buy the new 1958 Chevy Impala… He also sold the Model A we found, to another friend. So, now he was happy, drove a fast car and the mods were endless, if he wanted to go that way. (For me, at the time, my future car ownership was in dire straits with nothing in sight…) In a recent conversation with the friend that bought the Olds, he mentions that the color of Lime was pretty outstanding. As time flies, he/we could not remember much more that the movie that I took provided. A little research after lunch provided an interesting set of Limefire Green information. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/my-57-pontiac-safari-from-rust-to-glory.262861/ a modified factory chart for Pontiac 1957. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/so-cal-back-in-the-day.1017743/page-2#post-11598112
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