Speedster color choices

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Speedster color choices
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ROBERT BERGSTADT on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 12:50 pm:

Starting to build another speedster, just wondering if some of the T guys would post some pictures of their color choices for chassis and body, interior, thanks Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike conrad on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 01:33 pm:

Robert, bought my speedster with this color combo and I added the decals didn't love all the white at first but it's growing on me.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 02:32 pm:

Want something unique? Rainbow. Red in front, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple in back. Black wheels. Or maybe disk wheels with spirals painted on them. Nobody else will have what you have.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Frank Harris from Long Beach & Big Bear on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 02:55 pm:

any color that was available in the period but never ever use a metallic paint. Use a contrasting color to accentuate good features and paint ugly things flat black.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 03:19 pm:

Frank,

I can't find any "ugly things" on my T. Every part is beautiful! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By tyrone thomas on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 04:23 pm:

Well, maybe there could be an ugly driver now and then. I see one every time I look in the rear view.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Walt Berdan, Bellevue, WA on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 04:23 pm:

Check the www.NWVS.org website for photos of new and some old speedsters. Lots of color combinations. Mine is on my profile here.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Tomaso - Milton,WA on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 04:50 pm:

To each their own their Frank ! My Racer (profile photo for Bob) is a Ford P/U silver metallic - I kinda like it ! Goes good with the red leather and red wheels !


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 05:13 pm:

One of my favorite cars, the 1913 Mercer Raceabout looked alot like a Speedster and was famous for it's snazzy yellow color with black striping. I can imagine a Model T speedster painted like this. Jay Leno has a Mercer and if you go to www.jaylenosgarage.com, you can see him tell all about it and even start it up. A beautiful car. Jim Patrick




Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bernard Paulsen, San Buenaventura, Calif on Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 01:03 am:

A Model T is black. Period.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Frank Harris from Long Beach & Big Bear on Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 01:08 am:

Henry, metallic paint is not period correct, do you have an electric fan, a down draft carburetor, and hydraulic four wheel disk brakes also ?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 02:36 am:

Whether you want your car to truly represent the cars of their original era, or just want a fun car to do your own thing with makes a big difference for color choices. The truth is, most original speedsters were not that well finished. But we we like to have ones that are reasonably nice. Most colors at that time were fairly simple. White was not used commonly. But light gray, yellows and cream to beige were used quite a bit. A variety of reds, greens, blues (all leaning toward dark shades), and darker grays were common.
Below, are four of the five speedsters I have resurrected, and their color choices.






None of these cars are pictured on the North West Vintage Speedster site. Otherwise a good place to look.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Karlsson, southern Sweden on Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 05:10 am:

How did the average speedster builder in the mid 20's paint their car? Brushing I suppose, but perhaps many of the speedster builders worked in repair shops that had some better equipment for painting customer's cars?
When did most repair shops get paint guns using air pressure?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ROBERT BERGSTADT on Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 08:57 am:

Thank you, I have built two speedsters before, one all red with black frame, the other 1911 blue with cream chassis and beige top brass car, thinking off white and grey, what do you think, this is a Syverson body I am using, Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 10:59 am:

Frank,

I wasn't supporting metallic paint, only observing that my T doesn't have any ugly parts. No, I do not have an electric fan, down draft carburetor, or hydraulic four wheel disc brakes.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Tomaso - Milton,WA on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 12:52 pm:

Who the heck cares if it is "period" correct ? How many speedsters running around out there (actually running on the road) are "period" originals ? Not many !


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ROBERT BERGSTADT on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 01:59 pm:

Here is my last speedster


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Tomaso - Milton,WA on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 03:38 pm:

After building mine 15 years ago - I kinda wish I would have fabricated some sorta top for it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred McDonald on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 06:22 pm:

Choosing a color for a speedster is difficult. The desire to be period correct is OK but when most folks built speedsters, they were a personal expression of their work. Don't let anyone try to tell you they know what is right because it comes down to personal tastes. I think what is right is in "The eye of the Beholder". Since Speedsters are so much personal expression of the builder, just do your own thing. We did and hopefully the result is as appealing to others as it is to us. 1921 Model T Speedster


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George_Cherry Hill NJ on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 07:22 pm:

As Fred points out, 'nice' is in the eye of the beholder, and if you go through all the work involved you may want some 'pop', may want to be 'a brute', may want to be as silent as a lamb. :-)

Choices of body paint color in the T era were limited due to pigment choices. You could get a red/red that turned to rust red in about a year, a yellow yellow that pretty much stayed yellow, a blue blue that went purple almost before it dried, and of course a Black black and a white white. Any other color had to be a mix because synthetic pigment was still a bit off in the future. You may have gotten the color hue you wanted by a little more of this/less of that in a mix, but you always got the stablest of the stable component with pigment fade (Why greens go yellow in time). Ironically this same problem came around again in the 70/80's on the 'royal' colors on production cars.

Color in the late 20's/early 30's was a new fun thing as now there were synthetic pigments and if you look at most production cars of the era, they were mostly earth tone or at the opposite end, staying away from the middle for the most part.

To a colorist (and therefore what folks 'see'), monotone against black (and black tires) says 'serious and brutish'. To the same colorist, 3 colors maximum plus either a white or black (white can then be a color so 2 others left)gives the maximum amount of 'pop', any more colors other than bright metal then just says whimsical. So there's your basic rules depending on 'image' you want.

Now there is a neat trick industrial designers use because just like Ralphie posted with his little b/w photo that turned to color when you stared away...we only see gray contrast, and the brain turns into a super computer before we associate. The trick is find something you like in color combine, get color chips, and stop by an art store or neat paint store with a good sized color wheel, that circle with lots of colors and hues on it. Say 3 colors is one you like on someone else's, and trace the dots of your 'other guy looked great', and spin your dots about the center until you find a new biggest color to your liking that matches his biggest color dot...where the other 2 land will 'work' on the visuals in the same way as his :-) Grab some chips and think about it for a bit or try a 'spin' again.

I said 'find a car' as that was your original request, but the trick works on everything that you see that really pleases you, from machinery, to painted houses as your 'reference'.

FWIW...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Harold Schwendeman - Sumner,WA on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 08:17 pm:

Black with bright red wheels and seats!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Danuser on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 06:36 pm:

If you buy the latest Rod and Custom August 12 issue you will see some of the speedsters from the 5th speedster function held last summer at Speedy Bill Smiths in Lincoln Neb. I've not missed any yet, ready for the next one in 2013


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Byron Hight on Sunday, May 27, 2012 - 02:13 am:

Not quite the '13 Mercer Raceabout, but a barrel of fun anyway, and is also a '13. I like Yellow I don't care what color it is.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron White on Sunday, May 27, 2012 - 04:47 pm:

Here is a picture of my new 1913 Speedster, it just got a new paint job.



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