About

Why this exists

Body colours for classic cars are compiled everywhere. Engine colours are compiled nowhere outside the United States. The answers live in forum threads that never conclude and in retailer product names that cite no source.

This site compiles them. Each record names its sources, carries a grade for how strong they are, and says so plainly when they disagree. The method page sets out how a record is made and what each grade means.

Measurement comes next. The plan is a spectrophotometer reading for every colour, taken from an original part wherever one survives. No record carries a reading yet, and each one says so. Until it is measured a record shows an approximate patch of the colour its name describes, labelled as approximate, with no numbers beside it.

Who writes it

The site is written and maintained by James, who also runs carrust.co.uk, on rust treatment, and classiccarclubs.uk, a directory of UK owners' clubs.

How it is paid for

Through buying links. Where a page links to a product on Amazon, the link carries our Associates tag, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Nobody pays to be listed, and a link has no say in which product a record names. The privacy page covers what is recorded when you use one.

Corrections

The reference is only as good as its sources, and owners and clubs know things the documents do not. Every record has a link for suggesting a correction. A correction that is applied is logged on the record and on the changelog, with its source and the date.