1998 Paint—Which Is Correct?

[J3Studio]

You would think that by 1998 records would be exact, but I've recently run into somewhat of a conundrum. First, here's a chart:

 

1998 brochure colors	ROA 1998 listing	PPG 1998 colors	Du Pont 1988 colors	PaintRef Riviera
Bright White (16)	Bright White (16)	Bright White (16)	Bright White (16)	Bright White (16)
Silvermist Metallic (17)	Silver Mist Metallic (17)	Silvermist Metallic (17)	Silver Mist Metallic (17)	Silvermist Metallic (17)
Twilight Blue Metallic (27)	Twilight Blue Metallic (27)	Regal Blue Metallic (27)	Regal Blue Metallic (27)	Regal Blue Metallic (27)
Midnight Blue Pearl (28)	Midnight Blue Pearl (28)	Navy Blue Metallic (28)	Navy Blue Metallic (28)	Navy Blue Metallic (28)
Emerald Green Pearl (38)	Emerald Green Pearl (38)	Dark Caribe Metallic (38)	Dark Caribe Metallic (38)	Dark Caribe Metallic (38)
Black (41)	Black (41)	Black (41)	Black (41)	Black (41)
Majestic Teal Pearl (43)	Majestic Teal Pearl (43)	Majestic Teal Metallic (43)	Majestic Teal Metallic (43)	Majestic Teal Metallic (43)
Sandstone Beige Metallic (50)	Sandstone Beige Metallic (50)	Olympic White (50)	Olympic White (50)
Bordeaux Red Pearl (51)	Bordeaux Red Pearl (51)	Dark Toreador Metallic (51)	Dark Toreador Red Metallic (51)	Dark Toreador Metallic (51)
Santa Fe Red Pearl (53)	Santa Fe Red Pearl (53)	Light Toreador Metallic (53)	Light Toreador Metallic (53)	Light Toreador Metallic (53)
Slate Green Pearl (61)	Slate Green Pearl (61)	Slate Green Metallic (61)	Slate Green Pearl Metallic (61)	Slate Green Pearl (61)
Bright White Diamond Tri-Coat (78)	Bright White Diamond Metallic (78)	Bright White Diamond Tricoat (78)		Bright White Diamond Tri-Coat (78)
	Platinum Beige Metallic (83)	Light Antelope Metallic (83)	Light Antelope Metallic (83)	Light Antelope Metallic (83)

 

 

—I don't care much about minor changes in color names (Silvermist versus Silver Mist, etc.), but there's more confusion afoot. In order, the columns are the colors as listed and shown in the 1998 brochure, the ROA's 1998 listing (both on the website and in a Riview from 2000), PPG's GM paint chips for 1998, Du Pont's GM paint chips for 1998, and PaintRef's 1998 Buick reference, which explicitly calls out which colors were available for each Buick model.

 

A little background; by the eighth-generation cars, Buick adhered fairly tightly to twelve color choices each model year, so the brochure's listing makes sense. The ROA information adds a fly to the ointment by adding Platinum Beige Metallic, giving us thirteen colors. Both PPG and Du Pont then drop a bomb by using color code 50 for Olympic White, which is … white—definitely not beige or metallic. PaintRef wraps this all up by stating—with unknown sourcing—that there were only twelve Riviera colors for 1988 and that the beige metallic was code 83 rather than code 50.

 

Thoughts, questions, wild accusations, better data?

[RivNut]

I've noticed something along these lines but it has to do with what name the division gives to each color.  Same color code and formula, but Pontiac has a unique name for it, likewise for Chevrolet, Buick, and Oldsmobile.  Cadillac didn't share many colors but those that they did share had their own unique names.  

[Pat Curran]

There was a fair amount of color sharing back in the day but each division had there own name.  My 64 Impala was Daytona Blue and my 64 Riviera was Diplomat Blue.  Both cars had the exact same color.

Some divisions had exclusive colors.  An example would be Verdoro Green.  Pontiac had an exclusive run of 3 years with this color and it seems like every Pontiac you saw in the late 60’s were painted this color, particularly the Grand Prix’s.

[J3Studio]

10 hours ago, RivNut said:

I've noticed something along these lines but it has to do with what name the division gives to each color.  Same color code and formula, but Pontiac has a unique name for it, likewise for Chevrolet, Buick, and Oldsmobile.  Cadillac didn't share many colors but those that they did share had their own unique names.  

 

Absolutely, and you see this change in marketing names all the time. What gets me here is that the formula designation (for example, PPG's four number code) is completely different.

I'm leaning toward PaintRef being correct, and color number twelve being code 83 Platinum Beige Metallic/Light Antelope Metallic. A search does find images of 1998 Buicks in Platinum Beige Metallic. Perhaps Sandstone Beige Metallic was a last minute scratch after having been available in 1996 and 1997.

Edited December 12, 2020 by J3Studio (see edit history)

[RivNut]

I wouldn't trust your monitor screen to give you a true color or te camera that took the picture to give you a true color either.  If you're trying to match a color and you know the car hasn't been repainted, find the code on the door jamb or the SPID sticker and get the color code from it. If you're just doing this to satisfy an itch, find a different itch to scratch. You'll go nuts otherwise.

[dship]

Buick sometimes even changed the names of colors offered.  At one point during the 7th generation Riviera, "Black Sapphire Metallic" was changed to "Midnight Blue Metallic" (WA8743, code 28)...same color. 

Edited December 12, 2020 by dship (see edit history)

[J3Studio]

1 hour ago, RivNut said:

I wouldn't trust your monitor screen to give you a true color or the camera that took the picture to give you a true color either.  If you're trying to match a color and you know the car hasn't been repainted, find the code on the door jamb or the SPID sticker and get the color code from it. If you're just doing this to satisfy an itch, find a different itch to scratch. You'll go nuts otherwise.

 

I trust my display (hardware calibrated every month) but you are right that camera variability is a thing. However, that's not what I'm getting at here—I just want to know what colors were actually produced in 1998.

[dship]

Go to PaintRef.com.  Loads of paint info there to look into.

[J3Studio]

36 minutes ago, dship said:

Go to PaintRef.com.  Loads of paint info there to look into.

 

Absolutely. They were one of the sources for my question.

[J3Studio]

Hah! I thought of searching newspapers.com, and it's looking good for Platinum Beige.

 

A casual estimate would tell me that almost half of the 1998's were either Bright White or Bright White Diamond Tri-Coat. Also, there's a ton of these Rivieras sold in Florida.

Edited December 13, 2020 by J3Studio (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Is the 1998 year covered in Darwin's Options not Included articles?  If so, he'll have this information broken down by percentage for every color.

[J3Studio]

5 minutes ago, RivNut said:

Is the 1998 year covered in Darwin's Options not Included articles?  If so, he'll have this information broken down by percentage for every color.

 

Alas, no—the furthest forward Darwin comes is 1984. Those are absolutely superb articles.

Edited December 13, 2020 by J3Studio (see edit history)

[RivNut]

[J3Studio]

A little more confirmation—the ROA site doesn't believe that Platinum Beige Metallic was a new color in 1999. Thus, it must have returned at some earlier point.