Art & Inspiration I see a red door and I want it painted black

I want something on my model A that won't matter when it gets a rock chip. I sold my chevelle, I drove it a lot and every time I cleaned it up it had 3 or 4 new chips. Everybody is done it but I still love the looks of satin black. White also looks real good, clean and any chrome added makes it stand out that much more.

 

Hey H,

In our meager stable cars over the years, red has been the predominant color. There were 2 red (supposedly red/orange) 1940 Ford Sedan Deliveries, a 1965 red El Camino and several other red cars (3) that were hot rods in the modern era, just not HAMB traditional.

But, out of all of the red cars, the pure black 1958 Impala was the most impressive car owned. That shiny black paint from the factory stood out right off of the showroom floor. But, as a preteen and then teenager, it was my job to keep that shine going every day. My dad had received a cloth that was for dusting custom cars and it worked without leaving any scratches in the black paint. If I did not keep up the waxing, then daily dusting, I could not go anywhere in the Impala.

At first, the shine was from that old Vista Wax, then we discovered Cadillac Blue Coral from a car show display. Blue Coral gave the deepest shine, but it was so hard to put on and take off. If you left some on too long, it was a real hassle to get it off. From that point on until Classic Car Wax came out, it was once a week for a full “wax on, wax off” on the Impala, if I wanted a ride somewhere. That Classic Car Wax made life a lot easier for this teenager.

Jnaki

It did not matter what kind of wheels we put on the Impala, that deep, black paint made everything look good. Sitting in the pits at the drags, going down the dragstrip, parked in the back row of the local hot spot drive-in restaurant, that Impala stood out really well.

When I started driving the Impala in 1960, now, all of those years of detailing and upkeep were ingrained in me, so it continued. Once, I was asked to put my car in a show, but I turned that down. After all, it was stock on the outside. It was just a deep dark shine on the black paint…courtesy of those constant wax jobs. (and a big fast motor/trans combo...)


Then in 1962, a friend of mine enrolled in a UC school and proceeded to paint his whole dorm room black. That was just a classic move. He took the black theme one step beyond. When we visited on a surf tour up north, that room was the envy of all of us teenagers. My mom would not allow us to paint our bedroom and den black. Awwww.

 

My 64 'vette was red when I first got it. Looked great 'till it was under a street light...23 different reds. I had it blocked out and got new bumpers, painted it black. MAN! That thing reflected to the max. But I was scared to death to drive on a gravel road, up a driveway that had any low hanging tree branches etc etc.
Didn't learn. I've had several cars painted black since then and every new car I've bought except one was black.
No more.

 

Man, Rocky, That is a cool photo, It would be nice if you could get that photo fixed up or restored

 

My 37 Ford was Vermillion, loved it. I’m in Black mode now.