1918 paint

[zzzzzzz]

in 1918

i know ford was black .

what was maxwell ,briscoe, and others ?

what green was used in the ww1 war on cars ?

my car is not a ford and i keep getting told all cars are black in 1918 by someone that does not know . this is why i ask

as i redo my car , i think about doing a ww1 staff car , but i do not have info on that yet

[Rusty_OToole]

They definitely were not all black. Ford used a type of black paint that was usually used on fenders and chassis because it was the cheapest, quickest drying paint available.

Most makes had a standard color that was the default choice but would paint other colors on request. The standard color was usually gray, dark green, maroon or similar but one car used Poppy Orange, an eye popping color later seen on tractors. The orange car was either Case or Chalmers.

Early cars were often bright colors with brass fittings gleaming like gold, and decorated with pinstriping like an old fire engine. This sort of thing went out of fashion, and from 1915 to 1925 darker colors and plainer looking cars were popular. After 1925 colors and two tone finishes became fashionable.

Even Ford used other colors than black in the early days, and on the last Model Ts in 1926 and 27 he offered color choices.

[Rusty_OToole]

The color used on military vehicles was called khaki or olive drab.

As a pacifist, Ford refused to supply military vehicles, weapons, or other war materials in WW1. But he did make a lot of ambulances, for saving lives not taking them.

Cadillac was a leading supplier of staff cars for the US Army but they used other makes. I think they bought a lot of Dodges too, based on Black Jack Pershing's successful use of Dodge cars against Pancho Villa.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Guest cben09]

Someone said the Aberdeen Md proving ground has a museum,,or exhibit,??

Cheers,,Ben

[TerryB]

They do, I saw it quite a few years ago. It is (was) fantastic. It had been closed to the general public after the 9/11 disaster but may be open again. I have not looked into its status for several years.

Terry

[Guest cben09]

There was a rumor of a Packard truck-snow plow,,

fitted with a v-12,,Liberty engine [bS=5x7]

overhead cam eng,,maybee,,,Ben

[Guest Texas Old Car Guy]

Check out this link to a paint supplier who has early colors:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/ant.html

Once you open the website, click on the "Colors of the Era" book on the lower right and I think number 8 "Luckite Gray" would look good on a WWI vintage staff car. Even though it's called Luckite Gray, it has a khaki look to it and it's not too shiny.

Fred

[JFranklin]

Most makes used standard colors like dark green, maroon, grey, royal blue, etc. if colors were requested or used. Most early cars were black because it was an easy color to touch-up. Many colored cars had black fenders and hoods just for that reason.